With the entire kit-built aircraft community reacting to the news of Van’s Aircraft filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, AVweb sister-publication Kitplanes has posted a reaction to the legal filing titled “How Did They Get Here?” While noting that Chapter 11 is the track typically resulting in reorganization and a continuation of the business, as opposed to liquidation, the Kitplanes analysis of the legal papers points to a confluence of circumstances leading up to the financial straits Van’s finds itself in.
In summary, the Kitplanes report concludes: “That in the effort to catch up with demand the company also lost track of internal costs and failed to increase kit prices (as one remedy) is one inescapable takeaway from the factual descriptions in the Chapter 11 declaration—and a good indication of the remedies needed to define its path forward.”
