![]() “Like everyone else, Zenith Aircraft has been impacted by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic,” says company president Sebastien Heintz. Zenith Aircraft, in Mexico, Missouri, has also been able to keep the production lines rolling. Trying to find something positive, he says, “the good news is, everyone has lots of alone time to work on airplane projects,” which will help aircraft get finished and provide Sonex and other manufacturers with revenue from kit installments and parts. “Everyone who can work from home is doing so, and we’re trying to keep moving forward with bleach in-hand,” Schaible says. His concern, like most in these smaller companies, is keeping the workforce safe and healthy. We have unmanned contracts involving both the Army and Air Force, so we have plenty of cash flow and are able to stay open as part of the Defense Industrial Base” because they’re considered an essential business or service. General manager Mark Schaible says, “We are good. Over in Wisconsin, Sonex Aircraft remains open. But we haven’t seen the virus impact sales yet,” he says. But we also have a huge backlog that’ll take us some time to get through. “We’re still getting orders and staying busy. We have stopped factory tours, but we’re still able to produce and ship airframe components and send parts to our builders.” Asked if COVID-19 has become an issue on the income side, McBean says no. “We have a large enough work space that we can maintain distancing and still work. “First of all, we’re making sure all of our employees are well,” says John McBean, company owner. In Homedale, Idaho, Kitfox Aircraft continues to work. All of them, however, have stopped in-person features like factory tours and have, where possible, made changes to enable safe in-person pickup. While everyone has seen temporary hits to productivity, these smaller companies have, for the most part, been able to keep working. ![]() ![]() Many small manufacturers have been able to stay open with a combination of work-from-home employees, reconfigured manufacturing layouts, staggered shifts, and other tweaks. While Boeing and Textron have shut down manufacturing facilities already, it’s not yet the same for smaller manufacturers and service providers. ![]()
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