HondaJet, planting its feet firmly on the ground in Greensboro, N.C.
I'm just back from the HondaJet announcement, which was a tremendous amount of fun.
Dan Lynch, president of the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance, mentioned that he felt like he was going to the prom. He had a sleek and sassy "date," the fast, efficient blue-and-white light jet that's going to be produced at Piedmont Triad International Airport.
Oh, yeah. Honda Aircraft's "international headquarters" is here, too.
It means good-paying jobs and worldwide visibility. This jet is going to be noticed. Although the first, beyond the protype, won't be ready until 2010, the company already has more than 100 orders and now is planning to expand capacity beyond the 70-per-year pace first envisioned, president and CEO Michimasa Fujino said.
Fujino revealed that the prototype first took off, from PTIA, on Dec. 3, 2003 -- almost exactly 100 years after the Wright brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk.
"North Carolina, very famous as the birthplace of aviation, is also the birthplace of HondaJet," Fujino said.
It was clear that Honda loves Greensboro and North Carolina. Fujino, who first visited in 1999, felt an early connection.
"I am very fortunate we found Greensboro and North Carolina a place where people share our vision and our values," he said.
HondaJet has lofty goals, but Fujino added, to the applause of government and business leaders gathered in the company's hangar at PTIA: "Today we are planting our feet firmly on the ground in Greensboro, N.C."
Update, 3:45 p.m.
Here are some of the headlines Greensboro is getting, thanks to HondaJet:
More later ...
And ...
OK, you get the point.
Comments (8)
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It must have been that payback from High Point of $100,000 that put the deal over the top.
I heard the Honda average annual pay is going to be in the 70,000+ range.
Manufacturing jobs are where the money is for the common man.
Posted on February 9, 2007 2:24 PM
The common man better get him some education if he wants one of those jobs. GTCC will be working with Honda to develop specific training programs.
Posted on February 9, 2007 2:30 PM
He had a sleek and sassy "date," the fast, efficient blue-and-white light jet that's going to be produced at Piedmont Triad International Airport.*Doug all excited and ready to float like a butterfly
But! But! Doug! Will it really fly or are we looking at the Flight of the Phoenix 3? Have they already got the front end money from the Oil companies for the orders yet?
Posted on February 9, 2007 5:49 PM
He had a sleek and sassy "date," the fast, efficient blue-and-white light jet that's going to be produced at Piedmont Triad International Airport.*Doug all excited and ready to float like a butterfly
Doug! You better think twice about this. These are the same people who produce the Zero in WW2, I think? Or was it that midget battle tank they use in China that couldn't craw out of a homeless gutter?
Posted on February 9, 2007 5:55 PM
Wrong again, Connie. Mitsubishi produced the Zero. Yes, the HondaJet flies.
Posted on February 9, 2007 9:46 PM
...this is a bit of topic, but why is our airport referred to an an international airport? Where do the international flights go? to Costa Rica to pick up rum? The airport on Sunday evening is mostly empty. Regional Airport sounds much better and more honest.
Posted on February 9, 2007 10:57 PM
Wrong again, Connie. Mitsubishi produced the Zero. Yes, the HondaJet flies.*Doug
Yep! You trick me again Doug.
This jet is going to be noticed.*Doug
You better believe that, with a jet power motorcyle engine mounted on the top of the wing.
Posted on February 9, 2007 11:42 PM
At one time there were daily flights to Toronto.
I think they claim the I, though, because it's possible to get on a plane there and not get off that same plane until you're in another country -- even if the plane sets down somewhere in the U.S. in between.
Posted on February 10, 2007 8:25 AM