Icon Aircraft has pushed back customer deliveries until at least 2017 and has announced a major revision of its controversial purchase agreement. In a conference call held with invited aviation media representatives, CEO Kirk Hawkins cited manufacturing difficulties as the reason for the delivery delays. "We have to slow down so we can go fast," he told the conference call. In a news release issued just prior to the conference call, Thomas Wieners, the VP of manufacturing, said the "ambitious plans" to build 175 aircraft in 2016 have been scaled back to just 20 aircraft. "After completing seven aircraft, with 11 more in production and having received a total of 30 composite airframe sets, we've learned that our production process and parts of our supply chain are not yet ready for high-rate production," he said. The company will lay off 60 employees and terminate 90 contractors. A total of 160 employees will remain with the company.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/ownership/icon-delays-deliveries-amends-purchase-agreement