Old before its time

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01 November 2005

Bankruptcy meant that the Fairchild Dornier 328 Jet never really found a market, and with Delta parking aircraft, its value is unlikely to recover.

The past five years have been tough for owners of Fairchild Dornier aircraft. Aircraft residual values always fall when a programme ends and owners of 328 Jets have been concerned since November 2001, when the company admitted that it was having financial difficulties and tried to arrange a state loan. The loan failed and, in March 2002, the manufacturer announced that it was losing $50 million a month and desperate for a strategic partner.

Boeing was spoken of as a possible partner and some Russian investors were said to be interested. However, no deal closed and Fairchild stopped building aircraft in 2002.

In March 2003 AvCraft signed a deal to restart production. This looked like good news for 328 Jet owners. Fairchild's administrator announced that it had sold all the remaining white tails and lessors placed a few older aircraft.

Then it all started again. AvCraft filed for bankruptcy earlier...

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