Piper Aircraft announced on Wednesday that they received the largest order in the company’s history for a new fleet of their training-driven aircrafts.
The order, put in by the University of North Dakota’s John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences (UND), is valued at $155 million for 145 aircraft over an eight-year period, beginning in 2027. A mix of Piper’s Archer TX and Seminole aircraft will be delivered, with a two-year option included at the end of the term, extending the deal into 2036 and adding 43 additional deliveries.
UND and Piper are known for having a strong working relationship, and the new contract surpasses a previous order UND submitted to Piper in 2016 for 112 deliveries of Archer TXs and Seminoles. Twenty aircraft from the previous order have been delivered this year and will continue to be made into 2026 before the new agreement goes into effect.
The Archer TX is a single-engine, four-seat, fixed-gear aircraft that is mainly used for primary flight and instrument training. The Seminole is a twin-engine, four-seat aircraft designed for multi-engine training, making both a great pairing for entry level and advanced flight instruction alike.
UND operates one of the largest fleets of civilian aircraft in the country, maintaining over 170 aircraft and training devices. On average, each Archer TX sees 1,300 hours each year, with around 900 hours put on each Seminole. At UND’s flagship campus in Grand Forks, North Dakota, the entire Piper fleet achieves 125,000 flight training hours each year, and an additional 65,000 hours are logged at its satellite campus in Phoenix, Arizona.
UND Places $155 Million Order For Piper Trainers
Order includes single-engine Archers and Seminole twins.
Key Takeaways:
- Piper Aircraft received its largest-ever order, a $155 million deal from the University of North Dakota (UND) for 145 training aircraft.
- The order includes a mix of Archer TX and Seminole aircraft, to be delivered over an eight-year period beginning in 2027, with an option for 43 additional units.
- This record-breaking contract strengthens Piper's long-standing relationship with UND, which operates one of the largest civilian aircraft fleets for flight training in the country.
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