Impresa Aerospace LLC, a parts maker involved in the manufacture of Boeing Co.’s 737 MAX airliners, has filed for bankruptcy protection after losing revenue due to the aircraft’s grounding in the wake of two fatal crashes, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Boeing’s 737 MAX planes were grounded after crashes on takeoff in 2018 and 2019 killed everyone on board. The 737 MAX was a major source of revenue for the private-equity owned Impresa, which filed for chapter 11 protection Thursday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. Private-equity firm Twin Haven Capital Partners LLC, Impresa’s majority owner and secured lender, plans to buy the company out of bankruptcy for $10 million, unless a better offer is made, according to court papers filed by Impresa Chief Executive Steven Loye. Like others in the aerospace industry, Gardena, Calif.-based Impresa had chased the coveted 737 MAX business, investing heavily in production ramp-up for parts for the aircraft, which Boeing planned to make in large numbers. Then, in October 2018, a 737 MAX crashed on takeoff from Jakarta, Indonesia, killing all 189 people on board. In March 2019, another 737 MAX crashed during takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 157 people on board, all of whom perished. Regulators grounded the aircraft in early 2019, but Boeing continued to produce it throughout the year, expecting it to be returned to service. In December 2019, Boeing announced production would halt in January. Production didn’t resume until this summer, and then at only a fraction of previous levels as the Federal Aviation Administration weighs whether to lift the grounding order, Loye said.
