Mooney Born Again … And Again

It’s the little airplane company that seems to refuse to die. For the third time this century (the new one), new owners and new management at Mooney are vowing to revive the legendary name and restore it to prominence. In fact, it’s like Mooney is starting all over again. That’s just fine with Gretchen Jahn, who is the latest to fill the CEO’s chair. Jahn comes to Mooney as the former president of the Colorado-based Knotridge group, which specializes in the evaluation and management of start-up companies. “The main thing is to be consistent, to make promises that we can keep … and to show evidence of our stability and ability to compete in the market,” she told the San Antonio Business Journal. (She probably meant consistent from now forward …) As if to back up her statement, Garmin announced on Monday that its G1000 glass panel has been certified for the Mooney Ovation2 GX and the Bravo GX. That puts Mooney in the same company as virtually all major piston manufacturers in offering the electronics. Garmin calls the suite “the perfect complement to these high-performance airframes.” Meanwhile, back in Kerrville, Mooney hopes to deliver more than 50 airplanes by the end of this year and about 70 in 2005.