Executive Aircraft files Chapter 11

Executive Aircraft Corp. (EAC), founded in 1974 by Stan Roth, has filed a voluntary petition for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11. According to company president Skip Madsen, the move was made necessary by a dramatic decline in aircraft sales.

Besides aircraft sales, EAC operates an FBO at its Wichita Mid-Continent Airport headquarters and main facility, and has business divisions devoted to avionics, maintenance, completion and refurb and engineering. The completion and refurb division, located in Newton, Kan., had been and continues to do particularly well, according to Madsen. The Newton facility designs, engineers and builds the aircraft interior components and ships them to the Mid-Continent site for installation.

Asked if the company’s problems were related to a sagging economy, Madsen replied, “Absolutely. It has been really, really tough.”

Work is now progressing on a three-year plan for reorganization required under Chapter 11. A finished plan is expected within 60 to 90 days. Madsen declined to discuss details of the plan, but he did note, “For now we’re pretty much out of the aircraft sales business.”

Executive Aircraft was founded by Roth in Newton as an airplane brokerage firm, and sales had remained a core business as the company expanded and moved to its current Mid-Continent headquarters. Roth and his younger brother Jim managed the company until 1998, when both men were killed in the crash of a Sabreliner piloted by Stan.

Madsen, a 20-year aviation industry veteran, was appointed president of Executive Aircraft in February. At the time, EAC chairman Ben Ames Jr. extolled Madsen’s broad-based management skills, “particularly as we move farther beyond our roots as a broker with completion capabilities toward the realization of our full potential as a total coverage completions and service center.”

In June this year, EAC received two STC approvals for interior upgrades to Bombardier’s Challenger 600 series for installation of the company’s executive cabin. The third STC permits installation of terrain awareness warning systems in the Challenger 600, 601 and 604.  More recently the company signed a three-year training contract with FlightSafety International.

While undergoing reorganization under Chapter 11, Madsen said the company continues to meet its contractual agreements, and at the same time, he added, “We are truly grateful for the continued loyalty of our customers and clients.”