Adam Aircraft Case Study
Introduction
Rick Adam and John Knudsen founded Adam Aircraft Industries (AAI) in the year 1988. AAI is an aircraft manufacturer company and it produces aircraft for civil and government markets. Adam Aircraft is situated in the South of Denver, Colorado at Centennial Airport (KAPA).
AAI provides a variety of general aviation aircraft, which includes the centerline thrust twin-engine Adam A500 and A700 twin-engine personal jet. Need
Rick realized that most of the aircraft at that time were based on old designs. It was tough to fly and also expensive to own and operate. Demand for used planes were high as they were cheaper than the new ones. But the airplanes become unsafe, as it gets older even when strict maintenance is done.
Thinking about the ageing factor, Rick felt that the only solution would be an entirely new invention of aviation products. He was more convinced of launching an aircraft company when he heard from other pilots that there was a lack of new products.
Customers
Two important markets for A500 were the owner-flown and the professionally flown. Almost 70-80% of the A500 customers were owner-operators who were more concerned about the performance of the aircraft, the electronic systems and its handling characteristics. Professionally flown are more focused on the passenger requirements like the seat comfort, available baggage area etc.
AAI believes in complete customer satisfaction and they have a unique design modularity (i.e. the easy-to-access systems) that plays a vital role in serviceability.
Competitors
The main competitors were Beechcraft and Cessna. But Beechcraft ceased their production in the early 1990s. Citation Mustang of Cessna (6 seats) is still a challenge with the cost of 2.295 million dollars.
With Cessna, Embraer, Honda and Eclipse in the market, Adam Aircraft made a new category of smaller and lighter jet. They wanted to keep the development costs low and meet rigorous necessities for FAA certification as soon as
Rick Adam and John Knudsen founded Adam Aircraft Industries (AAI) in the year 1988. AAI is an aircraft manufacturer company and it produces aircraft for civil and government markets. Adam Aircraft is situated in the South of Denver, Colorado at Centennial Airport (KAPA).
AAI provides a variety of general aviation aircraft, which includes the centerline thrust twin-engine Adam A500 and A700 twin-engine personal jet. Need
Rick realized that most of the aircraft at that time were based on old designs. It was tough to fly and also expensive to own and operate. Demand for used planes were high as they were cheaper than the new ones. But the airplanes become unsafe, as it gets older even when strict maintenance is done.
Thinking about the ageing factor, Rick felt that the only solution would be an entirely new invention of aviation products. He was more convinced of launching an aircraft company when he heard from other pilots that there was a lack of new products.
Customers
Two important markets for A500 were the owner-flown and the professionally flown. Almost 70-80% of the A500 customers were owner-operators who were more concerned about the performance of the aircraft, the electronic systems and its handling characteristics. Professionally flown are more focused on the passenger requirements like the seat comfort, available baggage area etc.
AAI believes in complete customer satisfaction and they have a unique design modularity (i.e. the easy-to-access systems) that plays a vital role in serviceability.
Competitors
The main competitors were Beechcraft and Cessna. But Beechcraft ceased their production in the early 1990s. Citation Mustang of Cessna (6 seats) is still a challenge with the cost of 2.295 million dollars.
With Cessna, Embraer, Honda and Eclipse in the market, Adam Aircraft made a new category of smaller and lighter jet. They wanted to keep the development costs low and meet rigorous necessities for FAA certification as soon as
References: Bygrave and Zacharakis, 2004, Entrepreneurship www.linkedin.com/companies/adam-aircraft