Fairchild Dornier To Be Split Up

U.S. Company Takes 328Jet Plus Company Name The prospect of Fairchild Dornier rising Phoenix-like from the ashes has now formally been put to rest, with court appointed administrator Eberhard Braun turning down both the Russian and Swiss consortiums that had bid on the bankrupt company. On Friday, Dec. 20...

For immediate service; more information; and multi-user access (site license), non-profit organization, educational institute pricing, contact Karen Garner kgarner@accessintel.com at (301) 354-1612.

This story is only available to paid subscribers. Please login below with your username and password if you are a subscriber.

Username:
Password:
	What is my password?

Subscribe     Trial

U.S. Company Takes 328Jet Plus Company Name

The prospect of Fairchild Dornier rising Phoenix-like from the ashes has now formally been put to rest, with court appointed administrator Eberhard Braun turning down both the Russian and Swiss consortiums that had bid on the bankrupt company. On Friday, Dec. 20, Braun stated that neither consortium had sufficient capital to take over the company and revive the 728 family of regional jets, and that the company would be sold off piecemeal.

It was also announced on Dec. 20 that an agreement was made with AvCraft Aviation of Leesburg, Va., for the purchase of the 328Jet program. Final contract signing making it official is expected early this month, with first delivery of the 328JET under the new ownership to follow almost immediately, according to Ben Bartel, CEO of the new enterprise. Bartel told C/R News that they already have seven airplanes requested for delivery in January and February, as well as Letters of Intent (LOIs) that cover the current inventory and a year's production, "plus pretty earnest discussions going for another two and a half year's production, so we're pretty happy about that." He also noted that they have a "contract in progress" for the 21 aircraft previously ordered by Hainan Airways of China.

Bartel said that his plan is to create a service concept behind the airplane that is unequaled by anything in the industry. "My whole background is service, not aviation, so I believe the big missing ingredient in this industry is a truly effective customer support mechanism. What we're going to do is take the principles of the company and senior staff members and anybody who needs to be involved in this decision and go out to the customer and ask them what they need. I will then build a customer support organization to reflect the customers' needs."

Production of the aircraft will continue to be in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany and Bartel is considering San Antonio, Texas for his marketing team. "But we're still working out the details. Up to this point we have been focusing on getting the deal done and ensuring that we get all the assets that we need in order to drive the company forward." Bartel also purchased the rights to the Fairchild Dornier name, so the aircraft will continue to be the Fairchild Dornier 328JET, although it will be under the parent company AvCraft Aviation.

Also sold off are the maintenance programs and production of airframe components for Airbus Industrie, which will be taken over by the Swiss company Ruag Aerospace AG. Reports from Germany indicate that there is still no resolution as to a buyer for the 728 program, which at this point appears to be headed toward joining the long list of aircraft whose time just never quite came.

>>Contact: AvCraft Avn. Ben Bartel, telephone: 703-669-0989<<