Termed "part of a strategic reorganization meant to ensure the [company’s] continued strength and viability," Tamarack Aerospace announced June 12 that former chief engineer Jacob Klinginsmith has been named the company’s president and Nick Guida, Tamarack founder and inventor of the active load-alleviation system (Atlas) winglet, will serve as CEO.

Tamarack filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early June following FAA and EASA airworthiness directives over reports of control issues involving Textron Aviation Cessna CitationJet, CJ1, CJ2 and CJ3 aircraft fitted with the Atlas winglets.

The ADs effectively grounded those aircraft and halted sales of the system, which offers improvements to fuel economy and performance gains without the weight penalty of structural reinforcement required for traditional winglet installations.

Klinginsmith acknowledged Tamarack has "some significant short-term challenges to overcome” in the current environment, but he also expressed confidence that the FAA and EASA will ultimately sign off on two previously issued company service bulletins as resolutions to the ADs and return Atlas-equipped Citations to service.

"We will continue to work closely with authorities to lift the restrictions on the fleet," he continued. "We see Chapter 11 as a temporary situation, and we look forward to continuing to support and grow our customer base."

That includes exploring new potential Atlas applications for other aircraft types even as the company works to resolve its current regulatory hurdles. “Our commitment to our customers to quickly resolve this imposed hurdle is our main priority each day,” said Guida. “[H]owever, looking beyond the current situation, there is much to be optimistic about.

"The outstanding performance and benefits of the active winglet technology have been proven on the Cessna Citation 525 series and we made a healthy profit last year,” he continued. “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.”