Claim: Tijuana Plant Expected To Be Operating Early Next Year

Icon Aircraft, after failing to produce a workable manufacturing operation here in the states, will be shifting its composites fabrication to a plant to be built in Tijuana, Mexico early next year, according to reports in the Mexican media.

ElTijuanense.com reports that the company plans to invest more than $150 million in the plant, which will fabricate the composite components for the fuselage of the aircraft and ship them back to California for final assembly and flight testing. It is expected that more than 1,000 people will be employed at the plant.

Icon claims to have more than 1,800 deposits for the A5 amphibian airplane, according to the company... a number questioned by a number of industry observers. Tijuana was selected for its 'established industrial infrastructure, skilled labor force, and location near the final assembly plant in California', the report said.

The company has faced several questionable self-imposed challenges in bringing the A5 into production. While they made a big splash with the "delivery" of the first airplane at AirVenture in 2015 ... an airplane that was put on a truck and shipped back to California... their presence at AirVenture 2016 was muted, without so much as a news release a full year later. Statements about the capabilitiues and performance of the company have often been proven to be false and many of the claims made by the company are now viewed with suspicion.

Icon was planning a news conference in Mexico late Thursday to officially announce the construction of the manufacturing plant.

(Image from file)

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