Daher reported steady deliveries in 2020 of its TBM series and Kodiak 100 turboprops, carrying it through a difficult year. The company has also shuffled its executive committee as part of a restructuring plan aimed to meet the challenges of a changed aeronautical industry. Two women will join the executive committee for the first time in the Daher group’s century-long history. Daher CEO Didier Kayat made the announced updates following the report of “resilient” deliveries during the year marked so heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company also announced the Kodiak 100 Series III, which has made its first US delivery to a customer in Sandpoint, Idaho. The Series III features an eight-seat Executive Edition cabin with club-style seating, passenger and flight-deck air conditioning zones, and increased oxygen capacity. Up front, the Series III is the first Kodiak installation of the Garmin GWX 75 Doppler-capable, fully stabilized weather radar system—and the Garmin G1000 NXi flight deck and GFC 700 autopilot. The Kodiak 100 comes float-ready for seaplane operations—and a complete Kodiak Care scheduled maintenance program takes the new owner through the fourth annual inspection or 1,000 flight hours.
Daher sent 42 TBM 910 and 940 aircraft out the door in 2020, broken down into 34 airplanes that went to customers in North America, six in Europe and the UK, one in Brazil, and the first-ever TBM delivered to the United Arab Emirates, to be based out of Dubai. The company added 11 Kodiak 100 Series II aircraft to bring the total to 53, with nine of those going to North America and two into Europe. Daher has orders for 50 aircraft to deliver in 2021 thus far on the books. Daher has also continued development on the Me & My TBM app that is aimed at enhancing training within the entire model series, as well as “reinforcing relationships among the TBM aviator community.” Flying recognized Daher as an intrinsic part of the certification process for the Garmin autoland system—HomeSafe in the TBM 940—as part of its 2021 Editors’ Choice Awards.
As for the changes to the executive committee, all of those added to the roster are long-time industrial leaders. Marouchka Liarokapis replaces Olivier Dumas as senior vice president of quality, safety, and environment. According to Daher’s press release, Liarokapis is “a recognized supply chain expert in heavy industry…she will be responsible for delivering quality excellence to the group’s customers through a focus on employee safety at work during the current health crisis.”
Julie de Cevins served as Daher’s aerospace and defense program vice president beginning in 2018, and she has been appointed as the group senior vice president, programs within the executive committee. According to the company, “She will be responsible for providing support to customers across all of the group’s major projects as preparations are underway for the next generations of aircraft, and Daher positions itself with its know-how as a key player when the aerospace sector rebounds.”
The third new member of the executive committee is Laurent Schneider-Maunoury, who has joined Daher as senior vice president, industry. Daher notes, “He will be responsible for all industrial operations, including the management of factories, purchasing and industrial strategy. His goal is to meet the challenges of competitiveness and technological transformation in the group’s industrial facilities.”
