, the former CEO of Kestrel, and before that, Cirrus Aircraft, was named as the first CEO of One Aviation, with former Eclipse Aerospace CEO Mason Holland as Chairman. The new company initially produced the Eclipse 550, which had been in production at Eclipse Aerospace, and intends to complete certification of the Kestrel K-350. The company has a unified management and business operation along with a single supply system and marketing and sales team, but the two previous manufacturing lines continue at their current locations: Albuquerque, New Mexico and Chicago, Illinois for the Eclipse, and Superior, Wisconsin and Brunswick, Maine for the Kestrel.
History
The merger of Eclipse and Kestrel to form the new company was announced on 15 April 2015 at the AERO Friedrichshafen aviation trade show. In 2016, One Aviation announced that it was devoting its resources to developing an improved version of the Eclipse 550, the Eclipse 700. The company suspended the Kestrel K-350 project and in March 2017 announced that it would phase out Eclipse 550 production, to concentrate on the EA700. The first testbed for the aircraft's new wing was flown in September 2017, mounted on an existing Eclipse 500 fuselage. In October 2017 the state of Wisconsin announced that it would commence legal action against the Kestrel Aircraft division of One Aviation for failure to repay US$4M in loans, plus more in tax benefits, given to the company since 2012 to develop the K-350. Kestrel has repaid $865,490 of the $4M but has missed all payments since November 2016. $20 million of state-backed tax credits were tied to the creation of 600 jobs for production, but one-tenth were hired and $700,000 were credited. Kestrel received $9 million of federal tax credits instead of $90 million. The state is seeking $3.6 million as of April 2018. Also in October 2017, the company was evicted from its Brunswick facility after falling more than a year behind on rent and laid off workers at all four locations, a move it said was part of transitioning production from the EA550 to the EA700. One Aviation is currently seeking external partnerships and investment. On April 26, 2018, The City of Albuquerque ordered One Aviation and Eclipse Aerospace to vacate leased properties at Albuquerque International Sunport or to reimburse $895,000 in back rent by May 8, secured by an Eclipse 500 prototype, currently serving as the Eclipse 700 wing testbed. On May 8, 2018, One Aviation paid $162,000 and requested a financial agreement through its restructuring but on May 16, the city refused and served a notice of eviction. One Aviation promised immediate payment of the remaining $790,000, to leave its paint and production facilities, and to continue operations from a remaining hangar. The company indicated that new investors should stabilize its core business: maintenance, upgrades, and parts to the current fleet of 286 airplanes, then grow it by restarting production of the EA550 and develop the EA700. At the end of May 2018, Citiking International US, incorporated in Delaware seven months prior, settled all back rent with $1,081,657 paid to the city. On October 10, 2018, One Aviation announced it had voluntary filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company secured financing to carry on normal operations while it restructures, including support for the existing Eclipse 500/550 fleet and development of the Eclipse 700. The company did not respond to aviation media requests for whether it will continue development of the Kestrel or not. One Aviation did not deliver any aircraft in 2018 or 2019, and had debts of nearly $200 million. A Chinese group, an investor in the company since October 2017, stepped in through Citiking International, after the Chapter 11 filing. One Aviation had orders for 15 aircraft and was planning to deliver up to 50 a year by 2024. Its reorganization includes a post-Chapter 11 debt facility of $17 million. On March 9, 2020, the acquisition was cleared by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States of the United States Department of the Treasury.
