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.