As thousands of Van’s Aircraft customers ponder new terms, including a substantial price increase, attorneys representing the company in bankruptcy court cited the outcome of that effort as a key unknown they expect will be resolved by the end of February, according to a news report by Jim Moore of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA).
The story notes that a status report filed Jan. 2, 2024, by the company states that the company has developed a reorganization plan that hinges on two significant unknowns: What the company owes and to who.
“This cannot be reliably estimated until the debtor knows the number of customers that either accept the new contract pricing and terms for their aircraft kits and related components, or reject their contracts providing the customer with a claim,” the status report states. “Jan. 30, 2024, is the termination date of the debtor’s offer to modify orders for its kits. Customers whose kit orders are not modified and are subsequently rejected will have 30 additional days to file a rejection claim.”
Customers initially had to make up their minds about accepting a 30% price increase on their kits by Jan. 15. That deadline has been pushed to Jan. 30, which “gives thousands of customers about two additional weeks to consider the new offer, including a roughly 30% price increase. For those customers who opt to reject the proposed price increase, the court set a Feb. 12 deadline to file their claim,” the report states.
The court filings also delve into one of the biggest problems facing the company: Defects in laser-cut parts.
The company worked with its own equipment — not the vendor who supplied the laser-cut parts — to produce replacement parts, delaying kit shipments for months, the AOPA report noted.
Click here to read the full AOPA report.
For more information: VansAircraft.com
Note that laser cut parts have been used with great success for many years throughout aerospace. Lasers are highly flexible and have low tooling costs, the reason they have become the primary means to cut sheet metal in many industries in recent decades. As with all CNC machinery, they must be operated correctly. Alternatives such as punching and routing have their pros and cons, too.