The people behind one of the great names in aviation, Bendix/King, have been busy of late coming up with a plan to re-create the brand. Once the dominant force in GA avionics with a broad and brilliant lineup of panel-mount avionics for every segment of the market, the company lost its lead in the 1990s with a string of lackluster products and missed opportunities. Parent company Honeywell contends Bendix/King is, however, still the number two light GA avionics supplier, based on the strength of its huge installed base.
The new Bendix/King, which will still be a part of Honeywell, is led by Kevin Gould, former president of Piper Aircraft. Gould explained to Flying that Bendix/King will be run as a business enterprise under Honeywell, giving the brand a level of autonomy and control it had never previously enjoyed as a branded product line under the parent company. Gould explained that he and his team have been working for the past six-plus months to, first, find out if the brand was still a viable one — the answer, Gould said, was an unequivocal “yes.”
