The Company Has Come A Long Way From "The Red Baron's" Triplane

Tuesday marked 90 years to the day since aviation pioneer Anthony Fokker started the ‘Nederlandsche Vliegtuigenfabriek’ (Dutch aircraft factory) in Amsterdam, with the main aim of building and selling aircraft. At that time Fokker was one of the first to see the opportunities of commercial aviation, and the revolution that this new form of transportation would bring. Many of the legendary flights in aviation history were made with Fokker aircraft, including the 55-day flight in 1924 to the Dutch East Indies and later the flight over the North Pole.

Together with the Netherlands National Aerospace Laboratory NLR and the Dutch airline KLM, Fokker was involved right from the start in the successful Dutch aviation industry. Specialists and skilled employees at Fokker still collaborate closely with universities, knowledge centers, customers and suppliers worldwide, which means the Fokker name is linked around the world with aviation, aircraft building, professionalism, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Now, ninety years later, with 3700 employees and as part of the Stork group, the Fokker companies hold a prominent position in the aviation and aerospace industry as a leading player in the market for electrical systems, aerostructures, aircraft maintenance and services. With a balanced portfolio of programs and innovative technologies used by virtually all major customers in the aircraft manufacturing industry, as well as by many operators of Fokker aircraft and other platforms.

Fokker 100 File Photo

The present Fokker fleet consists of 800 aircraft worldwide, most of them Fokker 50, 70 and 100 types. These are safe, modern and economical aircraft which are maintained and serviced by Fokker companies in the Netherlands, USA and Asia.

In addition, state-of-the-art aircraft such as the Airbus A380, Lockheed Martin F-35 JSF and the new Bombardier C series are equipped with complex electrical wiring systems from Fokker Elmo, which has locations in the Netherlands, Turkey, USA and China. The fuselage panels, wing sections, control surfaces and tail of the Airbus A380, Boeing 747-8, JSF and the latest Gulfstream G650 business jet, respectively, are made by the Aerostructures division, which is renowned for the development of new materials such as Glare and thermoplastic composites.

It can all be traced back to the strategic vision of Anthony Fokker in 1919. He was commemorated Tuesday by four historic Fokker S11 aircraft owned by the ‘Fokker Four’ foundation, which toured the Netherlands, including flyovers at the Dutch locations of the Fokker companies in Hoogeveen, Helmond, Woensdrecht, Papendrecht, Nieuw Vennep and Schiphol.

FMI: www.fokker.com