US buyer settles with aircraft-maker

Pacific Aerospace, the Hamilton aircraft-maker that laid off a quarter of its workforce yesterday after losing a major contract, has made its American defaulter pay some but nowhere near the $24 million it was owed.

Brian Hare, majority owner and managing director, told the Herald a financial settlement had been reached, therefore he was bound by a confidentiality agreement not to name the American buyer.

However, he said: "The settlement is nowhere near enough to allow us to avoid the restructuring we've now undertaken."

On Friday, the Waikato company laid off 45 workers, some of whom had just been recruited from Britain.

Andrew Little, national secretary of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, said many of the workers "were too upset to speak" to the media and not sure if the layoff would affect their immigration status.

He noted that the company did all it could and even "kept people on through a time that they didn't have any work".

The facility was shut down on Friday to give workers time to deal with the news.

Hare said 10 companies had contacted Pacific Aerospace offering to hire many of the workers.

The lost contract has caused the company to review the way it conducts business.