Longview Aviation Capital Corp. has paused production of its Q400 and Twin Otter aircraft, resulting in the combined total of 980 employees being laid off because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company owns De Havilland Aircraft’s Q400 plant in Toronto and Twin Otter facilities at Viking Air in Victoria and Calgary. The pause only applies to the new-production parts of Longview’s business. Conversion of CL-215s to CL-415EAF waterbombers will continue as will the ongoing support of the former De Havilland and Bombardier aircraft for which it now holds the type certificates will continue as will its leasing business.
“This is a period of considerable challenge for our industry and for our customers, and we must adapt to this new – hopefully temporary – reality,” said David Curtis, Executive Chairman, Longview Aviation Capital Corp. “In this context, we will focus our efforts on supporting our customers’ existing in-service fleets and delivering the other services our companies provide to the global aviation industry. We will remain in close contact with our customers and continue to monitor the evolving situation. We will make further adjustments to our operations as required.”