Simon Caldecott Talks About Altaire, Piston Line, And His Own Odds Of Longevity

In an exclusive interview with ANN's Jim Campbell Thursday, new Piper Aircraft Interim CEO and President Simon Caldecott was surprisingly candid about this week's changes at the company, and he promised to continue that candor. He stopped just short of confirming that the Altaire business jet project will be discontinued, and hinted that a focus on and freshening of the manufacturer's piston line could be in the cards.

Caldecott (pictured below) expressed confidence in some legacy Piper products, noting that the Warrior is still in production but not being marketed, something he described as an opportunity. He said he's in discussion with his team about a product strategy, "looking to see if there are some of our existing products we could enhance, or even some of our older products we could bring back, to fill in some of those market opportunities."

Caldecott noted that 28 percent of today's pilots got trained in Piper aircraft, a market that more recently has gone unappreciated in the company's sales strategy. "Several years ago, Piper announced that it was getting out of the trainer aircraft business. I am going to be driving heavily at the trainer market, and generally keep that product going."

Regarding the announcement that continued development of the Altaire business jet is being reevaluated, Caldecott explained, "What's changed is obviously the economy. It is not recovering. That whole VLJ, light jet market, with so many people trying to get into it...is it going to be as big as many people say it is? It's a gamble.

"So when you start to put all the numbers into the equation, it didn't look as attractive today as it did two years ago, and all we're doing is, we obviously want to make sure any investment we put into that project provides a return. And if it's not...why would you do it?"

Simon Caldecott is the fourth name on the CEO's office door at Piper Aircraft, Inc. in the past 30 months, and officially he's Interim President and CEO. A question that had to be asked: Will you be around long enough to follow through on any of the policies you're talking about?

"They are actually not searching for a replacement for me, that's the good news. The 'interim' is there really because this is my first time as a president and CEO, and they really want to give me a probationary period...I've got enough experience. There really isn't a part of the business I haven't been involved with over the years. So I'm pretty confident I can see this through, and turn this business around."

Hear the entire interview using the FMI link below.

FMI: www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.audiopost&episodesid=4621 ; Piper Aircraft