Lantis Out As CEO; 185 Employees Furloughed
ANN REALTIME REPORTING 03.22.07 1800 EDT: Two
weeks after Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing announced the layoffs
of 59 workers, representatives with the Bend, OR planemaker tell
ANN the company has undergone a significant management and
workforce restructuring.
Bing Lantis has resigned as Chief Executive Officer of the
planemaker, with long-time Columbia Aircraft and aviation industry
veteran Wan Abd Majid stepping in as the company's new CEO. Majid
and the Company's Board of Directors also appointed new executives
to other senior management positions -- including Chief
Restructuring Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating
Officer.
Columbia officials also announced the temporary furlough of 185
employees, in order to give the company the opportunity to refine
production and more aggressively pursue Lean Manufacturing and Lean
Enterprise processes improvements.
"Our people are our most valuable resource," said Majid.
"However, the nature of the aviation industry and the realities of
our current business situation require that we take a number of
critical short-term actions to ensure our long-term success. The
fact that we must temporarily furlough a portion of our
highly-skilled workforce is an unfortunate consequence of timing.
Still, Columbia is committed to do everything possible to care for
our dedicated employees during this improvement process to ensure
that they return to a stronger company with an even brighter
future."
Columbia states the company will continue to provide medical
benefits for furloughed employees and dependents. The company will
also invite furloughed employees to participate in Lean
Manufacturing training sessions to prepare for their return to
work, and will maintain contact with them regarding their status
and anticipated Return to Work dates. The company also plans to
provide a return-to-work cash incentive.
Columbia management says they expect to recall all furloughed
employees in four- to- six- weeks. In that time, tooling will be
upgraded at the company's Bend, OR production facility. New process
improvements will be implemented, and resolution of customer
service issues will be accelerated. Columbia's remaining 335
employees will continue to deliver customer aircraft at the normal
four aircraft per week rate.
Backing Majid will the new senior management of Carl Young, CRO;
Michael Culver, COO and Rich Reighard, CFO. Columbia states Young,
Culver and Reighard each have extensive business management
experience, including backgrounds with several aviation-related
companies.
"In the coming months we will
improve the Company in a number of areas including production
efficiency and customer care," said Majid. "We're committed to
making Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation an industry
leader for years to come and providing an ownership experience that
is second to none. These initial changes are tangible evidence of
the beginning of a metamorphosis. We are all very excited about
what is on the horizon for our employees and customers."
As Aero-News reported earlier this
month, Columbia laid off approximately 10 percent of
its workforce, in an attempt to curb the effects from a series
of financial roundhouses the company took in 2006. Despite
achieving record sales and deliveries for the year, the company was
also hit with a six-month certification delay for its Garmin G1000
glass panel installation.
Just over two months after that certification was achieved,
the planemaker was hit with a freak June hailstorm that
necessitated the refinishing of more than 60 aircraft parked on the
ramp, awaiting delivery.