About 60 percent of the first Van’s Aircraft customers contacted have immediately agreed to continue with their orders despite an average 32 percent price increase and reduced flexibility in customizing their aircraft. At a bankruptcy court hearing into the company’s Chapter 11 filing on Tuesday, the company reported about 300 of the first 500 customers on the notification list signed new agreements within 24 hours of receiving formal notification from Van’s. There are about 1,000 more emails to be sent and the deadline for agreeing to the new terms is Jan. 15. Those who agree will have any deposits they paid for kits or parts applied to the final cost of their orders. Those who don’t accept the new deal will lose their deposit to the pool of unsecured creditors and will have to try to recoup their money through the bankruptcy creditor disbursement process.
When it informed the court of the price increase plan at a hearing two weeks ago, the company said it estimated that about 70 percent of customers would go for the new deal. KITPLANES reported the company began sending out the notices on Monday. Only those with orders for items produced by Van’s got the notices. Those who put money down on engines, avionics and some other third-party-supplied merchandise did not get notices. Van’s is still taking to the vendors of those goods about the offers to customers.
