AvBrief has learned that the Waco Aircraft Corporation has ceased operations and terminated most, if not all, of its employees. About 60 people worked at the plant in Battle Creek, Michigan. Employees left work as usual on Tuesday and shortly afterward received an email telling them not to report for work on Wednesday. A sign was posted on the front door on Wednesday confirming the bad news. More information will be available on Friday, and some employees will be allowed to pick up personal items in the meantime. Waco built biplanes based on the 1920s designs of the original company but loaded them with modern avionics and safety features. It offered two base models, the YMF-5 and Great Lakes, and also offered a Light Sport version of a Junkers A50 monoplane based on a plane developed in Germany in the 1930s.
The company was sold by its American owners to a German company in 2020 who invested heavily in new facilities at Battle Creek. The company recently displayed at Sun ‘n Fun and there was no indication it was on the brink of closing. AvBrief’s Larry Anglisano prepared this report.
That’s a real shame. I had no idea how they were staying in business in the first place when I found out that a new YMF-5 started at $590,000. That has to result in a tiny and easily saturated customer base.
Sonex and now Waco… and how many flight schools have closed recently leaving students holding the debt. I used to dream about owning an airplane, but I can barely afford renting a 172 or even an LSA. I used to have 6-7 students (a lot for a part-time CFI) and now I have 2 on semi-regular schedules… and our hourly rates are among the least expensive in the US (and we shower and brush teeth on a daily basis). Oh well.
I hope the current trend isn’t a harbinger for the future of GA.
It’s probably a harbinger of troubled, unpredictable economy. Once the steady, predictable growth resumes, general aviation will bounce back as well.
I received my private in 1968 in a Cessna 150. $10.00 an hour Tach Time including my instructor. I was a full time college student working full time for $3.50 per hour and could afford to fly. At present rates and with a comfortable income I can no longer afford to fly. This has nothing to do with the economy. Flying became unaffordable when the legal community decided to pursue aircraft manufacturers for product liability issues even though the vast majority of accidents were caused by pilot error. These additional costs have to be absorbed by the buyers and users of GA aircraft. In addition the constraints on GA have gotten to the point that 30% of the time you spend in an aircraft with the engine running is spent on the ground effectively raising the cost of flying. Flying used to be fun! Today it is not anywhere near the fun it used to be. People have decided their money is better spent on things that are more fun.
I completely agree with you. I don’t think it’s fair, though, to compare pre-90s flying with today. Before the product liability crisis, it was cheap, lightly regulated, and accessible. You’re right that the liability issue nearly killed the GA, and the mid-90s rescue bill only mitigated it a little bit. Even so, thanks to that bill, and the robust economic growth of the 90s, we got Cirrus.
I think the overall economy is still the primary factor for flying becoming unaffordable for the growing percentage of population in USA. Over the last 50 years, the US economy grew at a robust pace, on the back of worker productivity. Thanks to great leaps in technology, people were able to generate significantly more in revenue for the same amount of work hours. However, nearly all of the excess revenue from that improved productivity ended up in the C-suite, and executive compensation far outgrew average GDP growth, and even more so, median worker pay. In other words, while people were creating more revenue for the company, most of it was rewarding executives, while median worker pay remained on par with inflation, despite the healthy productivity growth. More people were relatively wealthier in the past than today, making it possible for them to enjoy aviation as a hobby.
It isn’t just that the aircraft become relatively more expensive than they used to be in the past (adjusted for inflation, and compared to median income), due to the liabilities issues, but an average American doesn’t earn comparatively as much (as a fraction of the GDP) as they used to in the past.
Fundamentally, this cannot be easily fixed, but I’m sure a period of stable economic growth would noticeably improve things for those of us still passionate about flying.
There are serious rumblings about the future status of the legacy GA fleet. Because the wing of a Piper Arrow folded at Embry-Riddle, FAA is taking a very hard look at wing spar caps and granular corrosion, which caused the wing failure of the Arrow. Every metal aircraft is facing death at this point. Getting the kits required to make the repairs if the wings fails eddy current tests is prohibitively expensive, and that is assuming you can even get them. The kits, often, cost more then the value of the aircraft.
Every time a climb into our aging 172s I wonder about what I can’t see during the preflight… but I still get in if the inspection went well (what does that say about me?). At least the 172 has struts, or so I tell myself.
I tell my students I’ve become more of a ‘chicken’ in my old age… and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
Waco had reincarnated some years ago. We had one at our local airport. So this was the second try, if I’m remembering correctly. When was that?
This is a relatively new start-up of the current century. The original Waco company was gobbled up not long after WWII, IIRC.
I currently own the aircraft shown in this article.
The folks at Battle Creek have been great to work with. This is a sad day. I hope they can reorganize, regroup, and restart their operations in the future. It may require them to scale down their operations.
TA
A beautiful Waco!
Will we see it at Oshkosh AirVenture ’26?
I suppose the ranks are thinning among us oldtimers…
#RadialsForever
lgj
That’s a long ride for me. I’m in Fla. I will give it some thought.
If you need another pilot to help fly, I live in central FL and would jump at the chance. As long as you do take offs and landings! (no tail wheel time in the past).
Stunnng plane BTW. Congratulations
Ya didn’t want to buy and Extra 300 and save some coin?
Wow, was next to them at SnF. I hope they can reorg.
Pride built the palace; reality closed the doors.
Waco Aircraft failed mainly because they chased the illusion of success instead of matching reality. After the 2020 sale, they poured millions into a massive Battle Creek campus—facilities way bigger than a niche market for hand-built YMF-5 and Great Lakes
They spent heavily on flashy events, promotions, and an oversized setup that screamed prestige, but sales stayed tiny—each plane is custom, low-volume, and the market just isn’t big enough to carry that overhead. It was classic overexpansion in a small, specialized segment.
Pride built the palace; reality closed the doors.
Every visit I made to Battle Creek to drop or pick up a plane at Duncan Battle Creek I made time to visit Waco and be inspired by watching the highly shilled craftsmen practice crafts from a bygone era woodworking, fabric, dope, radial engines an quality that came from many years of practicing arts they loved they loved. Shame on the investor that tried to change a culture and only ended up destroying all that was good in the enterprise.
I
Wonderful Airplane. I’ve owned mine for 12 years. Good news is support can still be found outside of the factory.
Wanna jump back in the boat, Peter?
I am sure there are plenty of peeps out there who are willing to put their dividends to use.
Just gotta stay small and humble with Ops.
Very sad… It sure seems like Mike didn’t have a clue about the impending closure. Let’s hope someone steps up and purchases Waco to continue the tradition.
Amen to that. The YMF is a great bird to fly. After 50 years of flying, it has brought back to me the joy of flight.
Do you want know how to make a small fortune in the aircraft industry?
Start with a large fortune.
Noooooo!
I guess they saw the duck
Good one! 😂
Good news Mike at least two of us have read the book 🙂
Everyone needs to read the Waco Duck Story. Father Time is undefeated as far as I can tell.
If you’re in NC Joe, I probably delivered a Panther Navajo to you about 30 years ago. If so, I hope all is going well.
You did. From TN as I recall. We’ve graduated a few times but have fond memories of HB.
Again, glad all is well. I’ve had some medical issues and have time to read. I will certainly pick up the Waco Duck Story, read it, and add it to my library.
It has gone the way of Mooney Aircraft in Kerville Texas. GA is becoming a very expensive hobby. I bought a Cirrus SR22T, purchase price and maintenance is pretty high. My wife has decided to get a pilots license at a Cirrus training center which is an astronomical cost. She has her own business and makes a lot of money and its on her. Frankly I dont see how Cirrus makes money, there overhead is incredible and I dont see how selling 500 SR22’s / year covers it.
I think that just goes to show how much profit Cirrus is making on their planes. They really can’t cost that much.
Seth, their base business is selling aircraft, of course they have other profit centers (training, maintenance) their overhead and top heavy org chart is so astronomical it beats me how they can be profitable. They are owned by a Chinese conglomerate, so that might figure into it. I have a HIGH volume tech hardware background and we had to fight for every $.
You can afford a decent airplane, if you are willing to do as much maintenance as you possibly can. Figure on a least (1) maintenance hour per (1) flight hour.
Interesting you mention that. I built a Zenith and I figure 3 maintenance hours for every flight hour. Even when it’s a simple plane with all new equipment and systems, there is always something that needs doing.
My SR22T must be a good airplane then, as maintenance / yr on it is about 50 hrs and I fly it about 100 hrs a year, engines are good for approx. 1200 hrs. and everything else is rock solid.
yes sadly i had to stop the cost is unaffordable
I bought a jeep instead and can get to 14,000 feet for $10
It’s a heartless company that lays off people with no warning like that
It’s WACO, an acronym, not Waco, the city.