Contributor - Business Aviation

Mario Pierobon

Pilatus Aircraft (Static AD_307) is focusing on airplane completions and the expansion of its service-center network in the U.S., according to Tom Aniello, v-p of marketing at Pilatus Business Aircraft, the Swiss company’s U.S. subsidiary. He also discussed how Pilatus is managing its supply chain in terms of spare parts and production rates for 2023 and beyond.

 


Pilatus Business Aircraft, which is based in Broomfield, Colorado, and is also Pilatus’s general importer, grew quickly since it was established in 1990 to conduct all interior completions work for PC-12s delivered to customers in North and South America. The subsidiary is also responsible for managing its authorized sales and service center network, marketing, final assembly work, and direct sales to fleet and government customers.

 


Late last month, the company further expanded its presence in the U.S. market by acquiring aircraft sales and maintenance provider Skytech. Founded in 1976, Skytech counts two East Coast bases—in Baltimore, Maryland, and Rock Hill, South Carolina—and has served as a Pilatus-authorized sales and service center since 1993.

 


“As part of an upcoming succession plan, Pilatus has decided to take over Skytech, and the entire workforce of 120 or so will continue to be employed by the Swiss aircraft manufacturer,” Pilatus said. It added that the business will still operate as an independent company under the Skytech brand, with responsibility for servicing and sales of PC-12s and PC-24s on the East Coast, in addition to aircraft types from other manufacturers.

 


According to Pilatus, Skytech CEO Justin Lazzeri, along with his current team, will continue to lead the company. However, Skytech co-founder and owner John Foster is stepping down following the sale.

 


Pilatus said this acquisition will allow for expanding its direct involvement in the U.S. market, which it termed to be of “great importance to the company.” The Swiss company said it will use the acquisition of Skytech to further improve the continuity and quality of customer service on the U.S. East Coast.

 


Pilatus has nine primary authorized service centers in North and South America, supplemented by more than 20 satellite service centers managed by the primary centers. “This coverage enables the majority of our customers to have access to expert, factory-trained support within 90 minutes’ flight time,” Aniello said.

 


“Each service center maintains a spare-parts inventory sized to the fleet of aircraft operating in that center’s region. In addition, we provide customers and service centers with 24/7/365 factory technical support through company personnel based in Switzerland, Colorado, and Australia.”

 


Aniello said that Pilatus acquires most of its spare parts from the same suppliers that provide components for new aircraft production. “We constantly monitor field service issues to understand trends in spare-parts usage, system and component reliability, service bulletin implementation, and spares inventory levels across our global network of authorized Pilatus service centers,” he noted.

 


At Pilatus, the chain of communication for every aircraft-on-ground (AOG) situation in the global fleet of more than 2,000 aircraft also includes the top management team, according to Aniello. “We have increased the number of supply-chain managers in the company, both in Switzerland, where the aircraft are manufactured, and in the United States, where many suppliers are based,” he said. “In many cases, we even have Pilatus personnel on site with suppliers to assist them in achieving reliability targets and production rates to match the needs of our after-market services and new aircraft production.”

 


Future production rates for the Pilatus PC-12 and PC-24 depend on how rapidly the aviation and aerospace supply chain and shipping networks are able to ramp back up to their pre-pandemic levels of volume, efficiency, cost, and quality, Aniello said. “Currently, demand for both aircraft exceeds what we are able to supply,” he added.

 


Once the supply-chain issues are resolved, production rates will be driven by demand, affirmed Aniello. “If demand for business aircraft continues as we have seen it over the past 18 months, we will increase production rates accordingly,” he said.

 


“However, there are significant global economic and geopolitical factors which could easily disrupt this demand very quickly. It has been a core philosophy of Pilatus to understand our customers’ needs and conservatively produce slightly fewer aircraft than the market demands. This avoids saturating the market, helps maintain high residual values for owners of Pilatus aircraft, and enables Pilatus to manage to a steady year-to-year production rate,” Aniello concluded.

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