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They finished work on Tuesday expecting to return Wednesday morning. Instead, employees at WACO and Great Lakes Aircraft received an email telling them not to come back.
In this episode of Aviation Adventures with Captain Ron, I take a deeper look at the sudden shutdown of the DIMOR Group’s Battle Creek operation and, more importantly, what happened to the skilled people who built, sold, maintained, and supported these remarkable airplanes.
WACO and Great Lakes were never mass-produced aircraft. They were largely handcrafted by experienced craftspeople with specialized knowledge that can take years—or decades—to develop. Yet according to employees I spoke with, the shutdown came with almost no warning. Some were reportedly required to make appointments simply to retrieve their personal belongings, while specialized equipment and tooling associated with these aircraft were being discarded.
There was also a very real business problem. Aircraft such as the Great Lakes had become extremely expensive to manufacture, and the market for a handcrafted biplane approaching half a million dollars was understandably small. At the same time, the German ownership continued focusing on the Junkers aircraft program.
But this story is about more than economics.
I knew many of these people. They helped build and support my own Great Lakes. And even after the shutdown, employees including Wanda, Matt, Bob, and others remained remarkably loyal—still representing the airplanes and customers at Oshkosh while facing an uncertain future themselves.
Companies sometimes have to close. Products sometimes become uneconomical to manufacture. But how a company treats the people who gave it their skill, loyalty, and years of service says a great deal about its leadership.
This is the story behind the sudden end of WACO and Great Lakes production—and the people who deserved better.
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