William P. Cutter

Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame
Enshrined 1995

No name in aviation is better known nor more respected in the American Southwest than Cutter. A pioneer barnstormer who gave the Navajo Indians their first taste of flight, the late William P. Cutter began a family tradition in aviation that has no equal. In 1928 he and his wife Virginia founded Cutter Flying Service in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a business that would involve second and third-generation Cutters as it steadily grew.

The firm trained U.S. naval aviators and military glider pilots in World War II and later became one of the country’s top centers for Beechcraft sales and service. The company opened its Phoenix facility in 1958 and, under the leadership of son William R. (Bill) Cutter, it has become a major factor in the Arizona economy.

In recent years Cutter also expanded operations into Texas. Today Bill Cutter, himself a veteran fixed, rotary wing pilot, and a champion balloonist, heads Cutter Aviation’s tri-state network and plays a key role in the development of civil aviation in all three states. And it’s likely the Cutter family tradition of providing professional aviation services of the highest quality will continue for many more years to come.