ICON Aircraft

ICON Aircraft is a privately held American aircraft design and production company. It is currently working on the production of the ICON A5, an amphibious light sport aircraft.

History
ICON Aircraft was founded in response to the 2004 Federal Aviation Administration establishment of the light-sport aircraft (LSA) class of aircraft and Sport Pilot certificate class of pilot. Kirk Hawkins and Steen Strand founded the company in 2006. Hawkins had previously flown F-16s in the United States Air Force and Boeing 757s for American Airlines. Strand's background is in product design, marketing, and finance, and he founded Freebord, a skateboard company. The two met at Stanford University in a Product Design class in 1993.

A proof of concept aircraft was built in 2007-2008, and made its first flight in July 2008. The company publicly launched the A5 in Los Angeles at a private event on June 11, 2008. ICON has also acknowledged the possibility of releasing additional models in the future, but maintains that it will focus on the light-sport aircraft market.

From 2008 to 2014, the proof of concept aircraft flew more than 700 development flights, and the construction of the first production aircraft began in early 2014. It made its first flight in July 2014 and the company announced that the first customer deliveries were expected in May 2015.

ICON Aircraft has completed four rounds of equity financing. It completed its A round in June 2006 and its B round in July 2008. A $25 million C round was closed in June 2011 and a $60 million D round was announced in June 2013.

In May 2016 the company announced that only 20 aircraft would be completed in 2016, instead of the previously planned 175 and that all these would go to training centers. Customer deliveries were announced as being delayed until 2017 at the earliest, due to the need to improve the manufacturing processes to build the aircraft design. The company also announced that, as a result of issues involving starting production, it would lay off 60 employees and terminate 90 contractors, leaving 160 employees at work. The CEO indicated that the company has the investors and funding required to continue operations through this period, before production is increased and the company can become profitable.

In May 2017, a factory-owned ICON A5 crashed on the shore of Lake Berryessa in Napa County, California, near the company's training facility. Killed in the accident were two Icon employees: lead engineer and chief company test pilot Jon Karkow, who was the pilot in command; and Cagri Sever, Icon's director of engineering, who was a passenger on the flight. Karkow had been involved in the design of the A5's folding wings as well as parts of the aircraft's control systems. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the cause was "the pilot's failure to maintain clearance from terrain while maneuvering at a low altitude." The board found no fault with the aircraft.

Hawkins resigned as CEO in November 2018. He will stay on at the company in an undefined role and President and COO Thomas Wiener will head the company on an interim basis.

Products
ICON Aircraft's first model is the ICON A5, an amphibious two-seat, light-sport aircraft to be priced at approximately $189,000. Its folding wings facilitate transportation and storage, and it will have a range of approximately 300 nmi and a top speed of 105 knots (120 mph).

The company has assigned nearly 1400 production positions as of August 2014 and anticipates the first customer delivery will occur in May 2015.

On July 28, 2014, ICON Aircraft unveiled the first production ICON A5 built with production tooling and using production methods and components. This aircraft successfully completed its first flight July 7, 2014.

In April 2016 the ICON A5 purchaser's agreement was made public and was noted by the aviation media as containing many controversial elements not usually found in aircraft purchase agreements. These include contractually-required pilot training, maintenance, agreements not to sue, and a camera and recorder to monitor pilot behavior, that is owned by the manufacturer but must be maintained by the owner. Owners also must agree to be "supportive" of the company. In the case of a resale, future owners are required to sign the same agreement or face penalties. There are indications that a number of A5 position holders have canceled their purchases based on the wording of the agreement.

In May 2016 the company admitted that the released contract had been a mistake. Company CEO, Kirk Hawkins, stated, "it should not have gone out in the form it went out without an explanation. [Customers] had a right to be taken aback." The company issued a revised contract that removed many, but not all of the controversial elements.

Facilities
ICON Aircraft's headquarters are located in Vacaville, California where all manufacturing, engineering, design, training, sales, and service functions are consolidated. It also has an office in Los Angeles, California where the company was founded. ICON formerly operated an engineering and manufacturing facility in Tehachapi, California where the A5 was initially developed and tested.

On August 6, 2012, it was announced that Cirrus Aircraft would become one of the key strategic supplier partners for the ICON A5 amphibious light sport aircraft. The companies agreed that Cirrus, the manufacturer of the leading SR20 and SR22 lines of high-performance single-engine aircraft, will produce a significant portion of the composite airframe components for ICON Aircraft in their Grand Forks, North Dakota, facility.

In September 2016 the company announced that production of the composite parts would be undertaken at a facility in Mexico.

Directors

 * Bart Becht - Former CEO of Reckitt Benckiser
 * John Dorton - CEO and president of MasterCraft
 * Satyen Patel - Former head of Nike, Inc. in Asia
 * Linden Blue - Vice Chairman of General Atomics

Advisors

 * Henio Arcangeli, Jr. - Former President, Motorsports Group Company, Yamaha Motor Corporation USA
 * David Beach - Professor of Manufacturing, Stanford University
 * Philip M. Condit - Former Chairman and CEO of Boeing
 * Esther Dyson - Journalist and entrepreneur, President EDVenture
 * Bruce Holmes - Former director at NASA
 * David Kelley - Chairman and founder of IDEO
 * Troy Lee - President, Troy Lee Designs