Richard (Dick) Cross is president and CEO of Cirrus Flight Operations, Inc., a family-owned business located at Anoka County-Blaine Airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He founded the company in 1977.
Cirrus Flight Operations began as a flight school and is today a full-service fixed base operation.
Cross holds an ATP Certificate and has more than 24,000 hours. He is type rated in the Learjet, Beechjet, and Cessna Citation, and in the Boeing 727, 737, and DC-10 as a flight engineer. He is a flight instructor and advanced instrument ground instructor, and holds a CFI Gold Seal Certificate.
Cross began his aviation career as a part-time flight instructor at Skyline Flight School in Minneapolis (1970-1973).
He flew a Beech 18 and Volpar Turboliner as pilot in command with Viking International Airfreight (1973-1974), and then a Learjet for Kallestad Laboratories in Minneapolis (1975-1976).
He was a flight instructor at Cirrus C & N Aviation in St. Paul (1976-1978), a chief pilot for Chicago Cutlery in Minneapolis (1978-1989), then a pilot with Sun Country Airlines (1989-2013).
Cross is currently seeking consultant opportunities in aviation, from line service and lease negotiations, to equipment evaluation, acquisition, maintenance and operation. Additional areas of expertise include customer and public relations, flight services and support, operations efficiency, charter operations, aircraft management, Metropolitan Airport Commission relations, sales and marketing/aircraft sales, business development, and property management.
Cross has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics with an emphasis in Environmental Economics from the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis.
He has served on the Minnesota Aviation Trades Association (MATA) Board of Directors since 2013, and can be reached at 612-859-6404 or via email at cirrusair@q.com.
