Eclipse Aviation chief executive Roel Pieper says turning a profit at the embattled very light jet manufacturer is a priority before it can begin ramping up production of Eclipse 500s from the current rate of around four a month.
Pieper, the company's biggest single investor, became chief executive in July after a boardroom coup that saw the ousting of founder Vern Raburn following a succession of certification problems and problems with key suppliers.
"This company has got to be a profitable company. We must be a survivable entity," he says.
 |
|---|
Pieper says that once new factory procedures are implemented by the end of the year, production will be increased to one a day by June and 1.5 by the end of 2009. The Albuquerque-based airframer has delivered around 265 aircraft and, despite the collapse of its biggest customer, Florida air taxi operator DayJet, has an orderbook of "more than 1,000" aircraft, representing three years of production. It expects European Aviation Safety Agency certification in the next month, allowing it to begin deliveries to Europe.
"We have taken a series of steps and a hard stand on performance metrics, productivity and yield," he adds. "We have pissed people off in the past. Our new approach is to be more humble."
The company's new approach to cost management was evident at NBAA with its large stand space empty except for an Eclipse 500 and its Eclipse 400 single-engine prototype, which Pieper says the company will take a formal launch decision on by the end of the year. "We are in a design scenario discussion," he says.
Source: Flight International
