Russ Meyer Jr. obit

Aviation Legend Russ Meyer Jr. Dies At 93

 

He was not on the list.

WICHITA—Arguably the most influential leader in general and business aviation of the last 50 years, Russ Meyer Jr., the longtime chair, CEO and chairman emeritus of Cessna Aircraft, died March 4 in Wichita at the age of 93 after a brief illness.

Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech, William Piper and others built the early aircraft, but Meyer catapulted general aviation to the forefront, said Jack Pelton, former Cessna CEO, who followed Meyer in the role. He not only grew Cessna into a major aircraft manufacturer, but with his work in the broader industry, “he had this incredible vision of where this all could go,” said Pelton, now chair and CEO of the Experimental Aircraft Association.

Born in Davenport, Iowa, Meyer was a Harvard-educated lawyer and a former Marine Corps fighter pilot. After practicing aviation law, he became president and CEO of Grumman American Aviation Corp., serving until Dwayne Wallace, Cessna board chair and Clyde Cessna’s nephew, invited him to join the company in 1974.

Meyer served as chair and CEO of Cessna, now Textron Aviation, from 1975-2003, remaining as chairman emeritus.

Meyer will long be credited with saving the general aviation industry with the passage of a bill limiting manufacturer product liability. Whenever there was an accident of any kind, it was the manufacturer who was sued no matter the cause, and costs skyrocketed.

As a result, Cessna, along with almost every manufacturer, halted production of all single-engine piston aircraft in the mid-1980s. It was the toughest decision of his career, Meyer once told Aviation Week. Paired with an economic downturn, employment dropped to a record low. Meyer helped lead a lobbying effort in Congress, resulting in the 1994 passage of the General Aviation Revitalization Act, limiting product liability. It revitalized the industry—Meyer made good on his promise to restart production.

Nicknamed the “father of the Citation line,” under Meyer’s leadership, Cessna delivered nearly 5,000 Citation business jets. His favorite was the Citation X, he once told Aviation Week, a fast jet with a top speed of Mach 0.92.

Meyer loved to fly. He would sit in the left seat of the Citation X with his chief pilot on the right, said Dave Franson, a former Cessna manager of public relations.

Meyer liked to write many of his own speeches and comments. Once while flying to a speaking event, Meyer, as pilot-in-command, set the cruising altitude and autopilot, then took out a small legal pad and a No. 2 pencil. He then crafted his remarks for the event ahead, writing carefully on every other line, Franson said, resulting in, as typical, the most eloquent of speeches.

He was a dynamic speaker, who knew how to win people over with persuasion, Franson and Pelton said.

Al Higdon, a Wichita former advertising and public relations executive, met Meyer in the 1970s. Meyer became the big brother he never had, he said. At the time Meyer was a young Cleveland lawyer representing golfer Arnold Palmer, who had just purchased a Learjet. Meyer and Palmer bonded over a mutual love of aviation and became lifelong friends.

“[Meyer] was the guidepost for ethics and credibility and leadership,” Higdon said.

Meyer created a special atmosphere at Cessna where everyone was family, a former long-term employee said. Those years were “Camelot.”

“We all looked after each other and that started at the top,” said Teresa Ortega, an administrator in international sales, now co-owner of Ortega Aviation Services. One time, after many days in Europe culminating at the Paris Air Show, the team went to dinner at a rose garden. Meyer surprised Ortega at the dinner with a birthday party saying no one should be away from family on their birthday, and they were all family.

“There’s never going to be another one like him,” Ortega said.

Meyer launched the company’s Citation Special Olympics Airlift, recruiting Citation owners to donate their aircraft and pilots to fly athletes and coaches to the games and back. He opened the Cessna 21st Street Training program, touted by then-President Bill Clinton for providing skills training and jobs to struggling adults completing the program. He and his wife, Helen, spearheaded construction of a 42,000-ft.2 Boys & Girls Club facility and campaigns for GraceMed Health Clinics, providing healthcare to low-income families.

He also helped create and promote the Be A Pilot program, a national initiative to reverse the decline in new student pilots.

Meyer earned about every award one could earn in the industry—the Aviation Week Laureate Award in 2025, the Robert J. Collier Trophy, George S. Dively Award, Wright Brothers Memorial Award, Meritorious Service to Aviation Award, Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame, National Aviation Hall of Fame, the R.A. “Bob” Hoover Award and others.