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Idaho-headquartered Tamarack Aerospace has voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy following the EASA and FAA Airworthiness Directive (AD) issued against the Tamarack ATLAS Active Winglet system, which has "effectively grounded" the fleet of CitationJets - CJ1, CJ2s and CJ3s - with the Active Winglets installed.

"The decision to enter Chapter 11 allows Tamarack to continue to operate and focus all activities on supporting the ATLAS winglet customers and to support EASA and FAA as they consider the proposal for lifting the restrictions imposed by the ADs," the company said in a statement this week, adding that it "believes that Chapter 11 will be a temporary state, and it is meant to ensure the long-term viability of the company."

The statement continued: "Tamarack is committed to the safety of its products and has offered ATLAS upgrades free of charge in the form of two Service Bulletins prior to the ADs. These upgrades improve the reliability and safety of the ATLAS winglet modification. These solutions have been proposed as the resolution of the ADs. Tamarack is working with all ATLAS-equipped CJ owners to arrange for upgrades. Currently, 73% of the ATLAS fleet is upgraded with more upgrades happening daily. The aircraft involved in the April 2019 incident that precipitated the EASA EAD was not upgraded, and there have been no reported incidents in those aircraft with the latest upgrades. Tamarack believes these upgrades will be considered the Terminating Action for these ADs.

"EASA and FAA have been reluctant to provide an estimated timeframe; but we are keenly sensitive to the day-by-day impact that this situation has imposed upon our customers. We are committed to continue working hard with EASA and FAA to enable them to have all the data they need to approve a resolution at the earliest possible hour.

"Our goal is to complete the retrofit of the fleet with both upgrades as soon as possible, in anticipation that EASA and FAA will concurrently agree that these upgrades are considered the Terminating Action for these ADs.

New leadership elected as part of reorganization

As a first step in its Chapter 11 reorganization, Tamarack Aerospace Group, Inc. has appointed new leadership. Tamarack Aerospace founder and inventor of the Active Winglet, Nicholas Guida, takes the helm as CEO and former Tamarack Chief Engineer, Jacob Klinginsmith, has been appointed President.

Klinginsmith said: “We have some significant short-term challenges to overcome as a result of the ADs, but I am confident that the technical solutions we have proposed to EASA and the FAA ADs will be accepted. We will continue to work closely with authorities to lift the restrictions on the fleet. We see Chapter 11 as a temporary situation and we look forward to continuing to support and grow our customer base.”

Guida added: “Our commitment to our customers to quickly resolve this imposed hurdle is our main priority each day; however, looking beyond the current situation, there is much to be optimistic about. The outstanding performance and benefits of the Active Winglet technology has been proven on the Cessna Citation 525 series and we made a healthy profit last year. We have already started implementing the new business plan which capitalizes on these strengths and we have identified many more aircraft that will benefit greatly from this transformative technology. I am confident that we will emerge from Chapter 11 stronger and more invigorated.”

BlueSky Business Aviation News | 13th June 2019 | Issue #514