News
D-Jet, 200 workers idled as Diamond restructures
Feb. 26, 2013, London, Ont. - Diamond Aircraft has suspended its D-Jet program and laid off most of its 240 workers while it tries to restructure.
February 26, 2013 By The London Free Press
Poor sales of its piston aircraft and high costs of D-Jet development
have forced the company to restructure, Peter Maurer, president and
chief executive, said in a release Monday night.
“We want to hire back as many employees as possible, as quickly as
possible, but the exact number and timing will be determined as we
develop our restructuring plans in the coming weeks,” Maurer said in the
release.
“Regrettably we need to suspend activity on the D-Jet program, pending the securing of additional funding.”
A small group of workers will continue to fill orders for aircraft and parts, and provide service to customers, Maurer said.
The D-Jet, a five-seat, light, single-engine jet that will sell for about $1.5 million, has had a turbulent ride at Diamond.
In 2008, Diamond got approval to build the D-Jet with a $19.6-million
research and development loan from the federal Strategic Aerospace and
Defence Initiative.
It also received $10 million from the Ontario government.
But the next year, hit hard by the recession, Diamond asked for
another $35 million from the federal government because of cost
overruns.
The federal government rejected the request in 2011, leading to hundreds of layoffs.
But things seemed to be turning around by the end of 2011 when
Diamond's London operations were sold to Medrar Financial in
Dubai.
Last March, the company reported sales of its pistonpowered aircraft were climbing, increasing by 33 % over 2011.
