Flush with a $200 million cash infusion from Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya and a $170 million order book, turboprop and VLJ maker Epic Aircraft announced that it is in initial talks with Airbus on a technology- and knowledge-sharing agreement. However, Epic CEO Rick Schrameck backed away from a statement he made on Tuesday that the value of the Airbus alliance would equal or exceed Mallya’s investment in the company. Arnaud Martin, Airbus vice president of corporate and VIP jet programs, characterized the discussions as “very preliminary” and declined to further elaborate.
Schrameck said that a delegation from Airbus was expected to visit the Epic factory in Bend, Ore., next month. He added that Epic would benefit from an Airbus alliance in terms of better understanding European aircraft certification requirements and that Airbus could be interested in Epic’s composites technology.
