Piper Announces 90-Ship Deal With AeroGuard Flight Training Center

Piper announced yesterday (Nov. 14) it has received an order for 90 Archer TX training aircraft from AeroGuard Flight Training. AeroGuard has four locations, three in the U.S. and one in Saudi Arabia. The company specializes in airline training, partnering with training providers at Cathay Pacific, SkyWest and Korea Aerospace University, among other airline and university partners throughout the Middle East, India and other Asian regions.

AeroGuard, which says it has graduated more than 7,000 cadets, already operates Piper trainers, and the new order will almost double its fleet to more than 200 aircraft. The 180-horsepower, fixed-pitch-propeller Archer TX (list price around $400,000) is equipped with the Garmin G1000 NXi avionics suite, including the G5 standby display. The trainer’s factory-standard flight-school interior is “designed to withstand the rigors of flight training,” according to Piper. Air conditioning is available as an option.

Joel Davidson, AeroGuard CEO, said, “With these additional aircraft, AeroGuard has the capacity to welcome hundreds of new airline cadets to our pilot training programs.” Piper president and CEO John Calcagno said, “We pride ourselves in the relationship we build with schools such as AeroGuard and on the training aircraft we provide them, known for their reliability and ease of use, to train the next generation of pilots.”

The news was released at this week’s Dubai (UAE) Airshow.