Wanfeng Aviation Now Owns Diamond Aircraft Canada

Another North American aircraft manufacturer is now owned by a Chinese company... continuing a worrisome trend that has traded over 100 years of American ingenuity and innovation for hard-to-find investment dollars that US concerns have heretofore refused to provide.

The high-flying operation, with concerns in both Austria and London, Ontario, has been one of the most innovative GA manufacturers to this point, though it has had to deal with some disappointments along the way... including the cessation of development on its singe-engine D-Jet program, though its futuristic DA62 piston platform was completed to wide acclaim over recent years.

China based Wanfeng Aviation completed a deal earlier this month to buy Diamond Aircraft.

The move provides a serious capital injection to the London operation which once saw employment numbers in excess of 400 people and reductions that pared that down to some 150 staffers. Diamond expects to double current employment over the next 18 months and to expand their North American emphasis to a more global approach.

The move is not without controversy and more as more of what was once a North American industry comes under Chinese ownership... some of which went well... and some of which did not.

The Chinese buyout of Cirrus Aircraft some years ago came at a high cost in terms of the GA company's once sterling rep... now quite tarnished by a number of questionable ethical lapses in its business conduct since it dumped its founding CEO and set on a controversial course.

Here’s hoping the Diamond buyout goes much better.

FMI: www.diamondaircraft.com/