Aspen Avionics Acquired By The AIRO Group

As announced on August 4, general aviation avionics OEM Aspen Avionics has been acquired by The AIRO Group. The new owner has a fairly deep bench in aerospace, holding a portfolio of companies in a wide range of aerospace segments, including commercial and military, and piloted and remotely-piloted vehicles.

Flying spoke with Aspen’s CEO John Uczekaj about the acquisition, the state of the company’s general aviation business, and a recent airworthiness directive aimed at an inflight reset issue involving the Evolution MAX series flight displays.

“Our business has been focused in the GA market, driven by the technological changes and the competitive nature—that’s the main draw for tech companies” in the space, says Uczekaj. With the Part 23 rewrite giving more access for technology into certified aircraft—all along Aspen’s core business—the company has been poised to respond. “The customer base is demanding of new technology—the GA pilot is expecting a lot now from their aviation platform.” Aspen has survived the downturns of 2008, 2014, and now the COVID-19 pandemic, and though it has benefited greatly from accessing funds via the PPP loan program via the CARES Act, it needs new investment dollars to continue to grow.

“We saw a major downturn in April and May,” says Uczekaj, especially in the international business, but people are now showing signs of emerging from the uncertainty a little bit more comfortable spending the money on panel upgrades—balancing a use of the downtime with a desire to get back into flying. Uczekaj’s also an active pilot, and he estimates that, though his own activity is off for the year like so many of us, the local airports in Albuquerque are getting busy again. With business slowly coming back out of the darkness since May, Uczekaj notes that the company has seen the same number of open queries as before the pandemic.

Seeking a good partner for those needed investment dollars—and to demonstrate a higher growth rate to feed more into the loop—Aspen found a like-minded collaborator in The AIRO Group. Uczekaj has watched the UAV and urban air mobility segments “explode” in terms of growth—and an avionics company with deep experience in regulatory compliance, tech development, and systems integration makes them an attractive partner for AIRO. It’s in Aspen’s DNA to innovate forward.

One lingering issue Aspen has addressed stems from a trend of in-flight reboots in certain Evolution MAX series installations—which the company alerted the FAA to and issued a service bulletin for back in March. On July 31, the FAA came out with an AD to cover the issue, though Aspen had released a software fix (2010.2) earlier this spring. According to Uczekaj, the reboot is rare and only raises a concern with multi-tube installations, with a backup battery, for those lacking full redundancy. For more information, contact Aspen if you require clarification on the text of the AD.