Aero-News Network CEO and Editor-in-Chief Jim Campbell spoke with John Calcagno, CEO and President of Piper Aircraft on opening day of Oshkosh 2024.
Jim asked about Piper in 2024 especially in the training market and John replied that Piper was very fortunate in taking advantage of a very strong market not only in the U.S. but internationally as well. He mentioned Southeast Asia as being very strong in the trainer market. John sees the strong market continuing through 2025 and likely into 2026.
Piper is very pleased with how the market has been but they are also reinvesting in it. The company has had kind of a similar model that hasn’t changed a lot since the 1960s so the company is starting to put a lot more investment into that market. The production line for the PA-28 is completely new, the quality of that product is way up from where it was so they’ll see a lot more of that kind of reinvestment. They’re not going to let a great market pass by without reinvesting some of that money back into the company.
John mentioned the company is producing 300 airplanes a year and they have the capacity to build more but the supply chain is the issue all manufacturers are facing. The supply chain is constraining the overall market and the demand is much greater than the supplies available to build. But Vero Beach has the capacity to build considerably more aircraft than what they are actually making.
Jim commented that the M Series has been very interesting but with the M700 it’s quite a step up, he asked how does Piper see itself in that very competitive and very expensive market.
John didn’t want to talk about what they’re actually working on but said that it’s imperative that Piper invests in R&D and that customers who buy from Piper today should always expect that there will be something new and improved next year and the year after that. The have a duty to the Piper brand that they constantly innovate and come out with something new, best, and customers should demand and expect more from Piper.
When asked about the Delta Hawk diesel for the Seminole, John said it’s they already have the solution for the single imperative that Piper gets a diesel solution for the twin. And yes Piper is looking forward to getting the Delta Hawk engine for the twin.
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