This news from Piper Aircraft comes at a time when General Aviation’s overall piston-aircraft deliveries are down. “In the last three years, Piper has moved forward on virtually every front – from new product introductions to strong sales, from strategic alliances to breaking into an entirely new segment with our all-new PiperJet,” said Piper President & CEO James K. Bass. “We are a modern-day, American success story: a company that relies on American workers to provide the next generation aircraft for the world.”
Piper’s current piston increases are driven by the unparalleled success of its all new Piper Matrix, a cabin-class, six-seat aircraft based on the world-renowned Malibu Mirage and operating with the economy of an unpressurized aircraft. That success accounted in part for deliveries of 195 aircraft in the first nine months of 2008 against 166 aircraft for the same period last year.
Of that total, 76 were from deliveries of the Piper Matrix, which the company began delivering this year. Moreover, deliveries of Piper PA-46 models combined (Meridian, Mirage and Matrix) are at record levels.
“We have orders for 101 Matrix models this year,” Bass said. “The Piper Matrix fills a niche in the market that hasn’t been truly addressed until now. To date, our entire first year of production is sold out and market demand continues to be very strong. At the same time, deliveries of our flagship turboprop, the Piper Meridian, continue unabated, with 33 aircraft for the first nine of this year and an expected 53 deliveries in total for 2008. These deliveries have continued at the same strong levels as those in 2007.”
In all, Piper delivered 195 aircraft with $150.5 million in billings in the first nine months of 2008, compared with 166 aircraft and $125 million in billings for the same period in 2007.
Source: Piper Aircraft
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