N580WC Eclipse 550 LX Airflite (11589064064)

Kestrel K-350 prototype N352F Farnborough 20

The One Aviation Corporation, stylized as ONE Aviation, was a company formed in 2015 to merge the aircraft manufacturers

Eclipse Aerospace Eclipse Aerospace was an American aircraft manufacturer, maintenance and upgrade company. The company provided maintenance and upgrades to the Eclipse 500 fleet and was the manufacturer of the Eclipse 550. The company was formed specifically ...

and Kestrel Aircraft. The company had its headquarters in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, United States. One Aviation produced the

Eclipse 550 The Eclipse 550 is a very light jet initially built by Eclipse Aerospace and later One Aviation of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. The aircraft is a development version of the Eclipse 500, which was produced by predecessor Eclipse Aviat ...

very light jet A very light jet (VLJ), entry-level jet or personal jet, previously known as a microjet, is a category of small business jets seating four to eight people. VLJs are considered the lightest business jets and are approved for single-pilot operati ...

from 2015–2018, and was developing the

Eclipse 700 The Eclipse 550 is a very light jet initially built by Eclipse Aerospace and later One Aviation of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. The aircraft is a development version of the Eclipse 500, which was produced by predecessor Eclipse Aviat ...

. It was also developing the

Kestrel K-350 The Kestrel K-350 or Kestrel (previously the Kestrel JP10) is a high-performance, single engine turboprop, all-composite, six-seat aircraft. The proof-of-concept (POC) first flew on 29 July 2006 and by April 2010, registered N352F, had logged ...

turboprop aircraft but suspended the design in 2017 due to financial and legal challenges. In October 2018, One Aviation filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whe ...

while it underwent operational restructuring. However, in February 2021, it was reported that the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case was unsuccessful and had been converted to a

Chapter 7 liquidation Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debto ...

process.

Organization

Alan Klapmeier, the former CEO of Kestrel, and before that,

Cirrus Aircraft The Cirrus Design Corporation, doing business as Cirrus Aircraft (formally Cirrus Design), is an aircraft manufacturer that was founded in 1984 by Alan and Dale Klapmeier to produce the VK-30 kit aircraft. The company is owned by a subsidia ...

, was named as the first CEO of One Aviation, with former Eclipse Aerospace CEO Mason Holland as Chairman. The company initially produced the

, which had been in production at Eclipse Aerospace, and intended to complete

certification Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...

of the

. One Aviation had a unified management and business operation along with a single supply system and marketing and sales team, but the two previous manufacturing lines continued at their then-current locations:

and

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

for the Eclipse, and

Superior, Wisconsin , native_name_lang = oj , nickname = , total_type = , motto = , image_skyline = Tower Avenue.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Downtown Superior , ima ...

and

Brunswick, Maine Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin Intern ...

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 AERO Friedrichshafen is a trade show dedicated to European general aviation. It is held yearly in April on the shores of Lake Constance at the exhibition center of Friedrichshafen, Germany right next to Friedrichshafen Airport Friedrichshaf ...

aviation trade show. In 2016, One Aviation announced that it was devoting its resources to developing an improved version of the Eclipse 550, the

. The company suspended the

project and in March 2017 announced that it would phase out

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 The Eclipse 500 (model EA500) is a very light jet (VLJ) originally produced by Eclipse Aviation of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. The company was founded in 1998 to develop the 1997 Williams V-Jet II demonstrator. The prototype first ...

fuselage. In October 2017 the state of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

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 had repaid $865,490 of the $4M but had missed all payments since November 2016. $20 million of state-backed

tax credit A tax credit is a tax incentive which allows certain taxpayers to subtract the amount of the credit they have accrued from the total they owe the state. It may also be a credit granted in recognition of taxes already paid or a form of state "disc ...

s were tied to the creation of 600 jobs for production, but only one-tenth of that number were hired and $700,000 was credited. Kestrel received $9 million in federal tax credits instead of $90 million. The state was seeking $3.6 million in payments in 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. At the time, One Aviation was seeking external partnerships and investment. On April 26, 2018, the City of

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

ordered One Aviation and Eclipse Aerospace to vacate leased properties at

Albuquerque International Sunport Albuquerque International Sunport is the primary international airport serving the U.S. state of New Mexico, the Albuquerque metropolitan area, and the larger Albuquerque– Santa Fe–Las Vegas combined statistical area. It handles around 5. ...

or to reimburse $895,000 in back rent by May 8, secured by an Eclipse 500 prototype, then 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 its remaining hangar. The company indicated at the time that new investors should stabilize its core business: maintenance, upgrades, and parts to the current fleet of 286 airplanes, then grow the business by restarting production of the EA550 and development the EA700. At the end of May 2018, Citiking International US LLC, incorporated in Delaware seven months prior, settled all owed back rent, with $1,081,657 paid to the city. On October 10, 2018, One Aviation announced it had voluntarily filed for

. The company secured financing to carry on normal operations while it restructured, 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, following the Chapter 11 filing. At that point One Aviation had orders for 15 aircraft and was planning to deliver up to 50 a year by 2024. Its reorganization then included 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 The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS, commonly pronounced "Cifius" ) is an inter-agency committee of the United States government that reviews the national security implications of foreign investments in U.S. companie ...

of the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

for Citiking International to become the new owner of the company. On October 22, 2020 it was announced that Citiking was "ousted from the sale process" and that a United States-based company, AML Global Eclipse LLC, owned by British businessman Christopher Harborne, intends to purchase the assets of Eclipse Aerospace for $5.25M, including the Eclipse Aircraft project. The court hearing for the sale was held in November 2020, with objections from Citiking International US being heard. The Kestrel division of the company was not included in the bid. By the time its assets were up for sale in October 2020, Eclipse Aerospace and One Aviation combined had completed and sold a total of 33 aircraft, all of them

models. In February 2021, the bankruptcy court judge ended One Aviation's Chapter 11 reorganization effort and ordered it into

, saying that he had lost confidence in the company's management. AML Global will maintain support for all current Eclipse aircraft under the name Eclipse Aerospace, Inc., and Nautical Hero Group LLC has bid for assets related to the Kestrel aircraft.

Aircraft

References

External links

Official website archives
on

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

{{Eclipse Aviation Aircraft manufacturers of the United States 2015 establishments in New Mexico American companies established in 2015 Manufacturing companies established in 2015 Companies based in New Mexico Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018 Companies that have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy