Honeywell pulls repair capabilities from dealers

This letter was just sent to most, if not all, dealers that have done our repairs on Bendix/King avionics. It appears that the parent company, Honeywell, wishes to go another 'direction'. We no longer have an option to choose if we wish not to choose Garmin when it comes to higher end avionics. According to this letter, units that Bendix/King wishes to keep supporting will no longer be supported at the dealers but must be returned to the factory to be repaired. They have become Garmin (2). Anyone care to guess the turn around time for repairs? Especially this next year?

I shouldn't be to dismayed as most of us have seen this part of our industry change from repairable units to non repairable ones. I see the difference here, from a business built on that model and one that's just flipped a switch to become that model. Imagine being a dealer and opening the email that tells you that your supplier has just decided that you are now an install shop.

Can you tell I'm a bit peeved? Upset? Miffed? Naw. Just plain pissed off. My estimate is that 80% of the aircraft I work on have Bendix/King equipment installed. Now I'm trying to figure out if I can even recommend installing their stuff. It all needs to be worked on from time to time. Dim display? Yep. Radio dropped and broke the channel selector? Done that a time or two. How about the customer that just drops of a couple of radios and says 'have them checked out. Fix it if it's not to much'. What am I supposed to do now?

Crap.

Web

Ouch, glad I got mine fully flossed last year.

That's been the trend in a lot of industries for a number of years now. I repaired to component level and it really pisses me off that what I knew to be a $5.00 item and 15 minutes of work ended up being a 2 month wait and $300.00, (unless of course you want to pay an $100.00 expediting fee). And if you do the work it voids the warranty. What's left is out of warranty work and installs.

I've dealt with Honeywell in other industries and am not a fan. Their equipment is ok, but they are all about screwing you for every dollar they can get. Well, I'd better go or I'll get on my soap box about how unadulterated greed is the cancer that will kill capitalism.




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Web, That sounds like what NARCO did a few years back. Pretty soon it was bye bye, no more NARCO. Sounds like a good sales pitch to sell Garmins from now on.

Is there anybody out there that works on the 496s

Wow, what a nasty deal. I just had a squelch problem with a KX-155, and I'm mighty glad it cleared up with a little contact spray. Easier to buy an ICOM or Garmin. Looks like they actually want out of the business, cause that's going to cause a lot of hard feelings. Hope I'm wrong about this somehow.

I was told once that Garmin was started by two Bendix King engineers who tried to sell B/K management on GPS being the next big thing in avionics. B/K mgmt didn't buy it, so those two engineers quit B/K and started Garmin, which is located right across the road from B/K headquarters, conveniently (look up the two addresses). The name Garmin is a composite of the first names of those two engineers... Gary and Min.....Garmin

I don't know if that is all true, but the addresses part is for sure.

How'd you like to be those B/K managers having to drive to work every day, and drive past that Garmin facility?
Bendix King died several years ago. Somebody forgot to tell them. Too bad, they made good stuff, but it sounds like management is still making bad decisions.

MTV