Story ID: 403
Aviation Partners Eyes Next Bizav Winglet Project
By: James Wynbrandt
Caption: Pioneering blended winglet developer Aviation Partners analyzes case for retrofits on unnamed in-service platform
Word Count: 442
Aviation Partners (Booth X33)—developer of the blended winglets seen on business jets, including Falcons, Hawkers, and BBJs (and Boeing airliners), and the inspiration for the winglets many OEMs have since designed for their own jets—may soon add another aircraft to the list of models retrofittable with the fuel-saving devices. “We are in the early stages of analyzing a potential airframe for winglets,” Aviation Partners president Gary Dunn told AIN this week at EBACE.
Though any announcement about the program, if it proceeds, would be some months off, Dunn said the platform has a large in-service fleet, in keeping with its usual practices. “Almost anything we've ever done started out as an aftermarket or retrofit plan,” said Dunn.
Meanwhile, with today’s focus on sustainability in business aviation, the company is eager to highlight its contributions to these efforts. “We were saving the planet before it was cool,” said Dunn. “We realized we’re either flying farther on the same fuel or burning less fuel for any mission, but it was only recently that we made the connection that that means we’re also reducing emissions. We haven’t done as good a job as we could have in talking about that until quite recently.”
Aviation Partners is now working with several sustainability organizations to identify ways to “help our customers benefit from proving that they’ve reduced their carbon footprint by adding winglets,” he said.
Reflecting on changes since the last EBACE, Dunn noted, “2020 was quite a rollercoaster year for us,” marked early on by both the onset of Covid and the passing of Joe Clark, company founder and well-known aviation innovator. Dunn was named president after Clark’s death. Then, “from the fourth quarter of 2020 until now, it's been busier than ever, probably the best 18 plus months that we've ever had.”
That’s largely because “as much as 50 percent of our sales are to new owners when an airplane changes hands,” he said, citing the high volume of transactions over that period.
Today, however, “We don't have the same capability to support as quickly as we once did,” Dunn said. “It’s not necessarily because we don't have the product in time, but because the capacity at our installation partners, the MROs, is pushed so far out now.” The Seattle-based company is now working with its partners to alleviate the bottlenecks.
Looking ahead, whatever its decision regarding the airframe under consideration for its winglets, “We’re also keeping our eyes open for other opportunities,” Dunn said.