Mooney Ceasing Production
Closes Kerrville Plant, furloughs hundreds of employees
The Kerrville Daily Times is reporting that Mooney International has ceased manufacturing operations at its Kerrville Airport factory at Kerrville Municipal Airport (KERV), Texas. In the move, a company spokesman said, the company laid off 229 employees, bringing Mooney employment down to around 90 workers. None will be producing aircraft parts, however, which is certain to concern Mooney owners.
At the same time the company, which is owned by the Chinese investment company Soaring American Corporation, says the move is "temporary" and that it will restart production when the market for its singles returns, though prospects for that don't look promising. Despite best-in-class performance, a recently updated design that includes larger windows and a second, pilot-side entry door, the aircraft have sold poorly even at a time when sales of some competitors' planes have held steady or surged.
The company had operated research and product development facilities in Southern California until 2017, when it closed that facility and relocated all operations to Kerrville.
Mooney was founded in the 1920s by the Mooney Brothers, produced planes in Wichita, Kansas, for a time and moved to Kerrville in 1953. Since then the company has changed hands 11 times by our count.
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