‘He was an icon’: Remembering Russ Meyer’s impact on aviation and philanthropy

Russell “Russ” Meyer Jr. was revered by a lot of people: from workers in entry-level positions to senior leadership under him when he was the CEO of Cessna; to his celebrity friend, the late golfer Arnold Palmer; and to government officials, including former Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Meyer, whose legacy will live on through his impact in aviation and his philanthropic efforts, died Wednesday in Wichita after a brief illness. He was 93.

Meyer is survived by his wife, Helen, and their five children; Russ III (Janet), Liz Ferrari (Mark), Jeff, Chris and Carolyn; and five grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held next week for family; a celebration of life will be planned for a later time.

Russ Meyer Jr. arguably did more for Wichita and general aviation than anyone else.

“His impact on Wichita is extraordinary, and his decades of leadership helped shape our city into a better place for so many,” Guadalupe Clinic executive director J.V. Johnston, who is also a Wichita council member, said in an email to the clinic’s board members. “I believe he has done more for our city and community than anyone in the history of Wichita.”

Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech and William Piper were the founding fathers of general aviation, but Meyer “took it to levels in expansion like nobody had ever believed or dreamed that it could happen,” said Jack Pelton, a former Cessna CEO who followed Meyer in leading the company.

“But what he did was create a culture at Cessna that was very caring about the employees, the products, and the customers,” Pelton said. “And then worked really hard externally, which the entire industry benefited from.”

Meyer is credited with saving the general aviation industry with the 1994 passage of the General Aviation Revitalization Act, which limited manufacturer product liability.

Meyer was present when then-President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law.

Before the act, amid an increasingly litigious time in the U.S., manufacturers were sued whenever an accident happened, no matter the cause, forcing Cessna and other manufacturers to halt production on single-engine piston aircrafts.

The act put an 18-year cap from the time the plane was made on when a manufacturer could be liable.

Meyer, as promised, restarted production the next day.

“He was a man of great integrity. His word was his bond. If he said something to you, you could take it to the bank. He also led by example,” said Dave Franson, a former Cessna public relations manager. “Russ wasn’t just the leader of an industry. He was an icon.”

Franson, whose last title with Cessna was vice president of public relations, first worked with Meyer after Franson was hired on in an entry-level position in public relations. Franson said Meyer treated him just like he did any of his senior leadership, with respect.

Textron Aviation CEO and president Ron Draper said he was “privileged to know Russ as a colleague, a mentor and a friend.”

“Russ was a remarkable human being and one of the most respected leaders I have ever known,” Draper said. “I held Russ in the highest regard, not only for his extraordinary business acumen, but for the integrity, humility and genuine care he showed for people at every stage of his life. He led with conviction, compassion and an unwavering belief that leadership carries a responsibility to serve something greater than oneself.”

Meyer, who grew up in a family with modest means, was also known for his hard work, which he instilled in his children. His passion for aviation led all of his children to take flight lessons.

His oldest, Russ Meyer III, followed closest in their father’s footsteps, being a pilot in the military and then working with him at Cessna. The father, son and Gary Hay, Russ Meyer Jr.’s successor as CEO at Cessna, later started Citation Partners in 2018.

“I grew idolizing what he did, both flying and his work in aviation,” said Russ Meyer III. “Always wanted to be a pilot.”

He said his father went to the hospital Monday night, and he went to visit the next morning ahead of their planned meeting with Yingling Aviation.

‘He said, ‘Well I guess you are going to go to the meeting yourself,’” Meyer III said. “And he was coaching me right up to the end, telling me what I should say, what I should do and how the other company would benefit.”

Coming to Cessna

Meyer was born in Davenport, Iowa. He obtained a law degree from Harvard. He served as a jet pilot in the U.S. Air Force and then as a fighter pilot with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves.

After practicing aviation law, he became president and CEO of Grumman American Aviation Corp., serving in that position until joining Cessna, now Textron Aviation, in 1974. He became chairman and CEO a year later and stayed on until 2003. He continued after that as chairman emeritus.

Despite running a company, Meyer always made it home for dinner, but then went back to doing work later on after spending time with the family, Russ Meyer III said.

Before dinner, and as part of his decompress of the day, he would eat carrots fresh cut from his wife and drink one beer, which he never finished, Meyer III said, recalling he continued to have that the snack of carrots when he got home up until his passing.

Meyer came to know golfer Arnold Palmer as a young lawyer doing work in Cleveland for a company that had Palmer as a client. The two shared passion for aviation and had a lifelong friendship — Meyer was one of the people to speak at Palmer’s televised funeral.

“He was the most gracious to anybody and everybody, from the factory floor to the president of the United States,” Pelton said.

He was nicknamed the “father of the Citation line.” Under his leadership, Cessna delivered almost 5,000 Citation jets.

Franson said Meyer was the “best airplane salesman that ever lived” and that is because he was trustworthy, respectful of all people and had a gravitas that when he talked, you wanted to listen.

Both Pelton and Franson also said Meyer was a skilled communicator, always taking notes during meetings, and a gifted speaker. They recalled him writing with a No. 2 pencil and on a small, yellow notepad, while flying. After he put a plane on autopilot and the co-pilot assumed control, he wrote a speech he gave eloquently once they landed in Washington, D.C.

He had great penmanship and wrote on every other line, handing the sheet over to Franson after his speech, so he had his bosses’ speech verbatim for any news release he would later write.

“There is simply no one who has had a more positive and profound impact on general and business aviation than Russ Meyer,” National Business Aviation Association president and CEO Ed Bolen said in a news release. “The planes he introduced, the monumental laws and regulations he shaped, the culture he created and nurtured – not just for the company he led for decades, but for the entire industry – is a tribute to his leadership, determination, grace, integrity and compassion. We will miss him, and we wish him Godspeed.”

In recent years, Russ Meyer III said his father was happy to sit in the back seat of a plane, instead of flying, and write out emails that would send when they landed.

He was in the back seat just recently when he flew down to Lubbock, Texas, Feb. 27-28 with his son, Chris, for the Big 12 indoor track and field championship to watch a grandchild compete.

Helping others in Wichita and beyond

Besides his commitment to aviation, Meyer was well-known for his philanthropy.

In 1986, Meyer started the Citation Special Olympics Airlift, an ongoing effort that involves Citation owners donating their aircraft and pilots to provide athletes transportation to and from the games. So far, the effort has taken over 10,000 athletes to and from the games. In 1990, he started the 21st Street Training Program, a collaborative effort with local and federal government to “provide academic, personal and vocational skills training for residents of the city’s struggling northeast side,” according to Textron Aviation, which said it placed over 321 people in full-time jobs.

There were other efforts too, including leading the $8 million building of Boys & Girls Club in northeast Wichita, leading campaigns for GraceMed Health Clinics, which provides healthcare for low-income families, and helping start the Be A Pilot program, a national initiative to reverse the decline in new student pilots.

Meyer was given the 2006 Kansas Health Foundation Leadership Award for his effort with the Boys and Girls Club. An ad in The Wichita Eagle paper had this quote from Sebelius, who was governor at the time:

“Russ Meyer has the unique ability to bring together and motivate diverse groups of people. When you get a call from Russ, you usually don’t say ‘no.’”

Meyer earned a plethora of awards during his lifetime, including the Robert J. Collier Trophy, George S. Dively Award, Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, Meritorious Service to Aviation Award, Kansan of the Year and Aviation Hall of Fame enshrinement.