Field Aircraft Reports Second Quarter Losses
Fields Aircraft Spares in Simi Valley announced a net loss of $1.1 million or 46 cents per share for the second quarter ended July 2, compared with a loss of just over $1 million or 32 cents per share a year earlier.
The company reported second-quarter sales of $5.4 million, a 6.2% drop from the $5.7 million reported for the quarter ended July 3, 1998.
Company officials blamed the decline in both revenues and profits on rescheduling by airlines of interior cabin maintenance. In response to that, Fields has taken a series of actions, including cutting the number of employees by 46%.
“Due to continuous high demand for air travel, our major customers have deferred grounding their aircraft for cosmetic cabin interior maintenance and servicing,” said Alan Fields, president and CEO. “This has had an adverse effect on both our redistribution and manufacturing businesses.”
Fields said the negative impact of the rescheduling is expected to continue into the third quarter, when sales could fall as low as $4.3 million.
Besides reducing the number of employees from 234 to 126, the company cut executive compensation by 19% and consolidated management of its subsidiaries, Flightways Manufacturing and Skylock Industries.
Fields is seeking to sublease its Simi Valley facility and move all manufacturing to its Monrovia location. This would save the company approximately $70,000 per month.
