HONDA AIRCRAFT SEEKS NEW DEALER IN NORTHEAST U.S.
COLONIE -- Honda Aircraft Co. is looking for a new dealer to handle sales and service in the northeastern United States after it and its previous dealer reached a mutual decision that the dealer would scale back here, a company spokesman said.
The previous dealer had chosen Albany International Airport as the location for its dealership. But construction never started, and the Albany County Airport Authority decided to forgo $500,000 in state funding for preparatory work on the $9 million project.
The airport could still be in the running if a new dealer decides this location makes sense, however.
"I don't think Honda Aircraft has a predisposition toward or against Albany," said Mark Lee, division director of marketing and corporate communications for Honda.
"We're still receptive to Honda," Albany County Airport Authority spokesman Doug Myers said Monday. "We have property available. We have a building available."
Myers was referring to the hangar formerly occupied by Eclipse Aviation, a light-jet manufacturer that had its regional maintenance facility here.
That center opened Feb. 27, 2008, and shut down just under a year later. The building, owned by the airport, is being marketed, although no permanent tenants have been found.
Jamie Hildenbrandt, who owns Hildt Aviation, an aircraft maintenance company based at Albany International Airport, said he's interested in providing service for Honda Aircraft.
Told that Honda also is looking for a dealer to handle sales, he said "that's something I'd like to entertain. It all depends on what their business plan says."
Hildenbrandt has seven employees who maintain general aviation aircraft ranging from single-engine piston planes to jets.
Meanwhile, Honda is moving ahead with efforts to certify its twin-engine light jet. Lee said it expects to have the engine certified in the second half of 2012 and the aircraft in mid-2013.
"We've pushed back nine to 12 months," he said.
Reach Eric Anderson at 454-5323 or [email protected]