VLJ manufacturer Eclipse Aerospace merged with Kestrel Aircraft, developer of the K350 turboprop single, to form One Aviation, the new company announced on April 15 at Aero 2015 in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Kestrel founder Alan Klapmeier is CEO of One Aviation, and Eclipse Aerospace chief executive Mason Holland is One Aviation’s chairman; Eclipse Aerospace president Ken Ross is president of the new company.

“The concept of One Aviation started coming together quite a while ago,” Ross told AIN during Aero 2015. “Mason, Alan and I have been friends for many years, and we’ve talked for some time about [bringing] together the most innovative products with the best sales, service and support.”

The newly formed company will be headquartered at Eclipse’s primary facility in Albuquerque, N.M., though Kestrel’s existing facilities in Superior, Wis., and Brunswick, Maine, will be maintained at least for the near future, as will Eclipse’s service facility in Chicago. Initially, the new company’s bread and butter will come from the Eclipse side of the operation as it continues to manufacture the new-build, six-seat Eclipse 550 VLJ, while also upgrading earlier Eclipse 500s built by the former Eclipse Aviation and providing maintenance for the combined fleet.

Helping the Kestrel Take Flight

One Aviation will also continue development work on the K350, which trades the Eclipse jet’s speed advantage for a larger cabin, longer range and the ability to operate from shorter, unimproved runways. “The two aircraft complement each other quite well,” Klapmeier said. “There’s a compelling market for an airplane like the Kestrel, but I also have a lot of trips without the same payload or runway requirements that can be flown a lot more quickly with an Eclipse.”

Klapmeier formed Kestrel Aircraft five years ago, and while the company has performed extensive design and engineering modifications to the initial Farnborough Aircraft design since then, Kestrel has struggled to attract funding to build a conforming prototype.

Although the merger brought with it a capital infusion (neither Klapmeier nor Ross would say how much, or from where that money came) that amount “isn’t enough to finish the K350, nor was it intended to be,” Klapmeier added. “What we do have now with One Aviation is an income stream that we can point to, resolving concerns from potential investors and the financial community about our cash flow.”

The company also has plans to expand its product line, with Ross identifying  “a short-takeoff aircraft, a product you could put floats or skis on” as one of many possible options in the future.

“Within five years, we expect to have a range of products to offer to customers,” Klapmeier added. “All of them will be like the Kestrel and the Eclipse, in that some will call them niche aircraft. I prefer ‘differentiated.’ It’s all about matching the right airplane to the right buyer.”

The first order of business in the months ahead, however, will be to introduce the One Aviation philosophy to the market. “We’re aiming for a more inclusive, and even holistic, approach to how our customers interface with the product and the company,” Ross said, adding that the company will extend that singular theme throughout the aircraft purchase, training and ownership processes.

 “We must educate the customer about who we are, which truly is One Aviation, instead of Eclipse and Kestrel,” Klapmeier concluded. “We are now one company. Our name encompasses who we are, why we’re doing this, and why that should matter to customers and the market.”