By LIAM DURKIN
COME Josephine in my flying machine.
A momentous day in local aviation was recognised last week, with GippsAero officially announcing it was back in production.
The company has been in hiatus for the last five years.
The original founders have bought back the company, and much like The Blues Brothers, are putting the band back together.
The buy-back has been 18 months in the making, after GippsAero co-founder George Morgan decided to do a deal with Indian conglomerate Mahindra Aerospace.
Mahindra’s original deal was reportedly worth upwards of $100 million 15 years ago, but following a skydiving incident, changed their business plan and ceased building aircraft at the Latrobe Valley plant in 2020.
Since then, GippsAero laid virtually dormant in the wings of Latrobe Regional Airport, but locals now have reason to be optimistic, with work recommencing at the plant, welcoming a workforce of more than 40 people.
A Laying of the Keel was held last Thursday (June 12) at GippsAero to formally mark the start of the next chapter.
It is envisaged GippsAero will recommence production of new aircraft for 2026 under its Airvan model. The Airvan flies in nearly 50 countries, servicing tourism, skydiving, surveillance, and humanitarian and freight.
As GippsAero Chief Financial Officer, Sarah Morgan explained, the decision for the family to buy back the company came down to a simple case of ‘if not them, then who?’
“It was always ‘if we don’t take it back on, what happens to aviation in Australia? What happens to the Airvan?’ If they don’t take it on, no one is going to be there to build the parts and continue the business,” she said.
“Aviation as a whole is going to cease to exist if we don’t have qualified people.
“It takes a lot of effort and a big team, the suppliers, the training orgs that help train our apprentices so we can start rebuilding the industry.”
While GippsAero had still been making parts over the last few years, Ms Morgan said the company had a vision to resurrect to its former glory.
“Part of the handover was Mahindra made everyone redundant. We’ve built up from there, to the point where we’ve got 43 employees plus all the other little contractors,” she said.
“From there we’ve got to start building back up to the point where at the peak we had 170 employees and they were making the aircraft coming off the production line about every seven to 10 working days.”
Ms Morgan also acknowledged Mahindra in the handover, saying “they were very good to deal with”, and was certain the business was economically sustainable when asked by the Express.
Latrobe City Council councillors Darren Howe and Leanne Potter were on hand for the ceremony, as was Member for Gippsland South and leader of the state Nationals, Danny O’Brien, and his Nationals colleague, Member for Morwell, Martin Cameron.
Latrobe City Council owns the GippsAero facility, and Cr Howe hoped for a cohesive working relationship.
“When they were at their peak last time they were at nearly 200 employees, so if they get up to that level again, it will just be fantastic for Latrobe City,” he said.
Mr Morgan addressed those in attendance, speaking at length about GippsAero’s history.
He also paid special tribute to former Latrobe City Councillor, Graeme Middlemiss, whose support of GippsAero he said never waned.
GippsAero is seeking any qualified aircraft mechanics, engineers or those interested in learning about aviation to get in touch.
GippsAero is located at 43 Airfield Road, Traralgon, just before the main entrance to Latrobe Regional Airport.
