Epic Aircraft says it's working with customers and creditors to try to restore operations after economic issues forced curtailment of activity at the company's Bend build center last week. Company spokesman Mike Hooper told AVweb Tuesday that all but about 15 staff have been furloughed but that customers are allowed access to their partially completed aircraft. He said some work is being done but not at the rate before the furlough. "It's been scaled dramatically back," he said. Hooper said parts and service departments are in operation to support the existing fleet. The furlough appears to mainly affect the build center. "We have owner airplanes that are in varying stages of completion," Hooper said. He also said he's hopeful the problems can be resolved. "We have a plan afoot," he said. "Everyone's working to make a solution." AVweb has also confirmed that Epic is involved in at least two current legal actions.
Related content: An owner's claim against Epic and Epic's response.
The Portland office of the U.S. District Court has confirmed that Epic is the defendant in a case brought by BlueSky AvGroup, one of the customers with an aircraft under construction at the build center. Epic is also suing Williams International, which supplies turbine engines for some of its jet aircraft. In the first case, BlueSky is seeking the appointment of a reciever and Epic is fighting that. In Epic's case against Williams, Epic is claiming that Williams defaulted on an agreement to supply engines for the Victory Jet program. While we could find Epic's statement of claim, we were unable to find a reply from Williams and unable to contact the company before our deadline so those documents will be on our site later.
Email this article
Epic Aircraft says it's working with customers and creditors to try to restore operations after economic issues forced curtailment of activity at the company's Bend build center last week. Company spokesman Mike Hooper told AVweb Tuesday that all but about 15 staff have been furloughed but that customers are allowed access to their partially completed aircraft. He said some work is being done but not at the rate before the furlough. "It's been scaled dramatically back," he said. Hooper said parts and service departments are in operation to support the existing fleet. The furlough appears to mainly affect the build center. "We have owner airplanes that are in varying stages of completion," Hooper said. He also said he's hopeful the problems can be resolved. "We have a plan afoot," he said. "Everyone's working to make a solution." AVweb has also confirmed that Epic is involved in at least two current legal actions.
Related content: An owner's claim against Epic and Epic's response.
