Succeeds Oscar Schwenk, Who Remains As Chairman Of The Board

At the meeting of the Board of Directors of Pilatus Aircraft Ltd on Monday, members voted to elect Markus Bucher as the new CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board with as of January 1, 2013. He will take over from Oscar J. Schwenk, who will remain as Chairman of the Board of Directors with responsibility for the strategic management of the company.

Originally from Lucerne, Switzerland, the 47-year-old Bucher (pictured)  has been with Pilatus for over 25 years, working in Production Logistics, Sales and Customer Service, with additional management experience in our Aircraft Assembly and Maintenance Units. During his time in these areas, he managed a series of highly demanding international customer projects in addition to successfully implementing a range of complex internal organisation projects. In his position as Chief Operating Officer, which he assumed in January 2011, Bucher has proven through his dedicated and professional approach that he also has the necessary managerial skills to deliver efficient solutions to complex and widely varying tasks across all areas of the company.

Schwenk is confident that Markus Bucher is absolutely the right person for the job. “I’m delighted we’ve been able to fill this important post with an experienced, pro-active Pilatus employee who is both intimately familiar with our customers’ needs and acquainted in detail with our internal processes,” he said.

As CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Pilatus Aircraft Ltd, Bucher will be responsible for implementing the company’s strategic objectives, managing major projects and expanding the existing infrastructure. In the future, Schwenk will return a greater part of his attention to his work as Chairman of the Board of Directors. “The appointment of Markus Bucher as the new CEO fully restores the basis for effective corporate governance at Pilatus,” he said.

Besides acting as Chairman of the Board of Directors, Schwenk will continue to lend support to the acquisition of major orders as well as heading up the senior project management of the key PC-24 development to ensure that this twin engine business jet grows into yet another Pilatus success story.

FMI: www.pilatus-aircraft.com