Daher

What It Is: A family-owned French industrial conglomerate, Daher produces single-engine turboprop aircraft for executive, personal, and utility transport, and aerostructures for business, civil, and military aircraft manufacturers.

How It Grew: It began in 1863 with the founding of a maritime and foundry services company in Marseilles, France. Paul Daher bought the business 35 years later and rechristened it with his family name. Daher’s aviation business dates to 1911’s launch of Morane-Saulnier, which built more than 90 aircraft models. In 1965 Morane-Saulnier became part of French state-owned manufacturer Sud Aviation and in 1966 its civilian aircraft were spun off into a new division, Socata (Societe de Construction d’Avions de Tourisme et d’Affaires). In 1970 Sud Aviation and Nord Aviation merged to form Aérospatiale, and Socata became a subsidiary, developing the TB (Tarbes) Tampico, Tobago and Trinidad single-engine piston aircraft.

In 1985 French investors arranged a joint venture with Aerospatiale for Socata to develop Mooney Aircraft Company’s prototype model 301 into the TBM (Tarbes Mooney) 700 but Mooney, experiencing financial difficulties, dropped out of the project. Entering service in 1990, the single-engine turboprop TBM 700 has evolved into models that include the TBM 850, 900, 910, and 930.

In 2000 Socata became a wholly owned subsidiary of the European Defense and Space Company, or EADS. Daher bought a 70 percent stake in Socata in 2008, renaming it Daher-Socata, and in 2014 purchased the rest. The following year the company rebranded as Daher.

This May Daher delivered the first of its flagship TBM 940s, and in June the company announced purchase of Sandpoint, Idaho–based Quest Aircraft Company, manufacturer of the Kodiak 100 utility turboprop. 

What It Offers:

TBMs. Six-place, 330-knot cruise speed turboprops. Flagship TBM 940 (Garmin G3000 flight deck) is equipped with a fully integrated autothrottle; TBM 910 (Garmin G1000NXi) has a single-lever power control.
 

Quest Aircraft. Ten-place utility Kodiak 100 Series II STOL turboprops are configurable for missions from cargo to executive transport and can operate on unimproved strips and floats.

Aerostructures. Produces airframe and interior components for manufacturers including Airbus, Dassault, Embraer, and Lockheed Martin.

Recent News: In June, Daher, Airbus, and Safran jointly announced that they would team up to create EcoPulse, a hybrid propulsion demonstrator aircraft based on the TBM.

FAST FACTS:

Founded: 1863

HQ: Tarbes, France

TBM billings (2018): $205 million (50 units) 

Employees: About 3,240

CEO: Didier Kayat

Chairman: Patrick Daher

Website: daher.com