17 August 2007
US manufacturer Columbia has once again ‘furloughed’ (or temporarily laid off) staff due, it says, to a problem with an avionics unit.
Columbia says that it had been informed by Garmin of an ‘inherent problem’ in the AHRS (Attitude, Heading and Reference System) of the G1000 integrated system, and that this would delay shipments of the Primary Flight Display used in the Columbia 350 and 400. It is reported that up to 300 people have been laid off until a supply of avionics can be resumed.
Earlier this year Columbia – who had suffered a number of misfortunes last year including a freak hailstorm which affected the paintwork on up to 60 new aircraft – laid off over 150 workers for a period of up to six weeks, while the company ‘restructured’. All those workers were eventually recalled.
