Last year we spoke with many of you at NAAA and in the field, we listened to your concerns and developed a plan to address them. We made promises to improve our aircraft, our operational performance, and our customer service. Our goal was to strengthen Thrush and rebuild a company innovative and durable enough to withstand any uncertainty; to earn your trust and confidence. I’m proud to say those goals have been met, and in many cases exceeded. We bought Thrush for the chance to work with great people, making a great product, in support of one of the world’s most important professions.
We’ve brought financial stability to the company and our supply chain, standardized dealer and service center networks, modernized our aircraft, and revolutionized product support capabilities. The dedicated efforts of a success-driven factory and dealer team around the world has resulted in a secure and progressive Thrush.
We’ve had a great year despite the impact COVID-19 has had on us all. In fact, thanks to the monumental efforts from everyone at Thrush, we’ve been able to maintain production and delivery schedules, as well as increase our levels of support – all while ensuring strict adherence to national health guidelines. Best of all, we’ve seen the results of these efforts reflected in our order books, which continue to be filled for virtually every model of aircraft in our product line.
One of our most noteworthy achievements this year was the completion of our Illustrated Parts Catalog and the addition of online ordering capability – a first for the ag aviation industry. In addition, we partnered with highly regarded information services company ATP to place all of our support publications online. This enables service-related publications, as well as technical and regulatory information for all Thrush aircraft and their components, to be continuously updated.
We have a great team of dealers and service centers and we’ve made good on our promise to build upon their capabilities. This summer we appointed Africair as our authorized distributor in north and sub-Sahara Africa – and their affiliate, Tropical Aviation Distributors, for the Caribbean – a combined region that spans more than forty countries.
Adding this well-known dealer, and others like them, are part of our strategic worldwide growth plan which focuses on facilitating easy access to our products in a customer’s own language and region – from Kansas to Kenya. All to ensure everyone who chooses a Thrush has the absolute best purchase and support experience in the business.
But the promise we’re most proud to keep is to continually look for ways to increase the safety of our aircraft. We continually research technology and develop improvements to increase the safety of our aircraft for the people who fly them. Whether spraying crops or fighting wildfires, Thrush has always built aircraft designed to bring pilots home safely each night. Now, our leadership team has taken that foundational commitment even further by investing in engineering and component enhancements designed to improve safety and provide operators even greater confidence in their aircraft – so they can focus on flying.
From the factory floor, to the front office, to the world’s fields and forests – this year has seen Thrush become a much better company. The pandemic has made things hard on everyone – but hard times bring out the best in people, and we’re seeing affirmation of that every day. We feel blessed for the past year and excited about the coming year.
Thank you for your continued support and friendship – and warmest wishes for a safe and healthy winter, and an even better year ahead.
