Duncan Aviation’s Interior and Upholstery Teams Make Masks and Gowns

Duncan Aviation, an aircraft service provider, recently found that they needed face masks for their team members.  When they began searching for masks they found that supplies were depleted, not only for them, but also for health care workers and others in public service jobs.

The company’s interior and upholstery teams, who normally upgrade aircraft interiors, reached out to a local hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska, and asked for help designing a mask and advice about what they might do to support hospitals.

Using mask templates created from hospital specifications, Duncan Aviation digitized the designs and began cutting them with its automated fabric-cutting machine. Up to 900 masks can now be cut per hour and, to date, the company has cut more than 15,000 masks.

Upholstery professionals at the company’s facilities in Lincoln, Battle Creek, Michigan, and Provo, Utah have been sewing the masks along with over 300 local volunteers.  The company has also cut and begun sewing hundreds of medical gowns for area health facilities.

“This all started with a team of employees who recognized a problem and had the means and desire to solve it,” says Aaron Hilkemann, President and CEO of Duncan Aviation.  “It is indicative of the creativity, compassion and initiative found in our team members.  And we are happy to help our communities in this manner.  We feel it is the least we can do and appreciate the opportunity to show our concern and gratitude to those working on the front lines of this pandemic.”