AAI Acquisition Also Announces New CEO

AAI Acquisition -- the Russian-backed successor to the former Adam Aircraft Industries -- announced Thursday at AirVenture 2008 it plans to resume efforts to certify the A700 twin-turbofan, very-light jet... at the expense of the A500 piston twin.

As ANN reported, AAIA purchased the assets and intellectual property of the former Adam Aircraft from the bankruptcy court in April 2008, two months after Adam filed for bankruptcy. The company's announcement at AirVenture was the first public declaration of its intent since then.

AAIA also announced the naming of former Sino Swearingen exec Jack Braly as the new president and CEO of AAIA, tasked with continuing the certification efforts started by Adam on the VLJ. AAIA targets full FAA certification for early 2010.

"We are working diligently to gain certification of the A700, with the goal of getting this jet into production," said Braly, adding the FAA has given the company notice the A700 certification basis has been accepted, and AAIA has resumed the testing process.

Braly added AAIA has also begun recruiting and hiring. The company already has 150 employees, many of whom previously worked for Adam Aircraft. Braly said the advantage to AAIA is that the retained employees have intimate knowledge of the design and capabilities of the A700, which will be key to remaining FAA related activities in the certification process. AAIA plans to have about 300 employees by the end of this year, and 500 by the end of 2009.

"This has been a timely and impressive transition toward producing the best VLJ on the market," said Braly. "We are working hard to capitalize on the testing that had already been completed, in an effort to gain FAA certification as quickly as possible. That is the critical piece in moving toward production. Our goal is to sell a safe and dynamic airplane. Everything we are doing is working toward that goal."

The A700 flew for the first time under AAIA's stewardship on June 26. Since then, the company says it has completed several additional flight tests.

Braly confirmed AAIA has no plans at this time to resume production of the A500 piston twin aircraft, of which only a few were delivered by the former Adam Aircraft.

FMI: www.adamaircraft.com/