Adam Aircraft Lays Off 300 Workers
18-Jan-2008
By Karen Di Piazza
Crunched for cash, more than a third of Adam Aircraft Inc.'s workforce was laid off yesterday. Company spokesperson Shelly Simi said that not all of the layoffs are taking place at Centennial Airport (APA) in Englewood, Colo., where the aircraft manufacturer is headquartered. Of the 800 previously employed, 500 were based at APA; 170 of those workers have been laid off, as well as 80 in Pueblo, Colo., and 50 in Ogden, Utah. In October 2006, the company broke ground on a 96,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Ogden. Nearly a dozen machine shop employees remain in Pueblo; all other work formerly conducted at the facility will now be handled out of APA. Operations in Ogden, according to Adam, will be suspended until summer.
Nine days ago, the company said it was focusing its resources on its A700 very light jet, to obtain type certification from the Federal Aviation Administration, and that it was on target for its twin-engine VLJ certification in 2008. Recently, the FAA approved type inspection authorization on the A700 jet. Last week, Simi confirmed to Headline Industry News that the company's three test aircraft were conducting flight data testing. At present, there's no indication suggesting that flight data testing has been terminated.
The company said last week it aimed to boost production of its A500, a twin-engine, all-composite piston aircraft, though its new Make Production Fly program. Now, production is said to resume at full speed this summer.
Adam Aircraft President Duncan Koerbel, said, "The strategic adjustment in operations is designed to focus on two key objectives: obtain a TC on our A700 jet and complete our MPF initiative." In order for the company to survive, to meet its production goals on the A500 and to prepare for production on the A700, Koerbel said the reduction in personnel is "regrettable and temporary."
Adam raised $93 million in funding in 2006 and $105 million in 2007. Despite the company's current financial woes, it hopes to receive $75 million to $150 million in additional capital from investors through its partner Citibank. The plane maker is equally hopeful it can produce 1,000 aircraft in the next decade.
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