Despite Swearingen SJ30 owners Emivest Aerospace filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Oct. 20, insiders are saying the light business jet may have a bright future and that the program is definitely not dead.
Aviation Week spoke with sources at the Middle East Business Aviation (MBA) show, who say a powerful white knight with a strong aviation background is waiting in the wings to inject $200 million to achieve critical mass production for the first time in the aircraft’s history. Emivest must find a buyer for the company by Jan. 31 or face liquidation.
Dubai-based Emirates Investment & Development (EIDC) was seen as the company’s savior when it acquired an 80% stake from previous owners Sino Swearingen in 2008 and renamed the company Emivest Aerospace, but it only managed to produce two aircraft during its tenure.
One insider goes as far as saying the aircraft company is now in a worse state than when Emivest took over, and the reasons are three-fold: “It appointed a CEO with no experience of aviation or manufacturing, it filled the board with non-aviation people and only got as far as investing $90 million ($150 million was planned at inception) before the cash ran out.”
Some say Emivest Aerospace didn’t need to go into bankruptcy protection because there was an interested buyer with a significant offer just before the company went into Chapter 11.
Enthusiasm remains high amongst people close to the aircraft program who believe that despite only four aircraft having been produced in total (two by Sino Swearingen and two by Emivest) the $7.25 million SJ30 is still, performance-wise, ahead of anything offered in the light jet segment. They say it is still fastest in its class (486 kts), has far more range (2,500 nm) than anything else in its sector, and has the unrivalled sea level pressurized cabin system that has never been matched by any other aircraft in the world.
“None of the creditors are looking just to recover what Emivest owes them. Instead they want to see the new owner provide a long term stable future,” the inside source said.
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