Piper Aircraft accepted an order for 152 airplanes this week from a flight school in China, the largest single trainer order ever for the company. “This is a wonderful opportunity for both organizations as we work collectively to help address the global pilot shortage,” said Piper CEO Simon Caldecott. The seven-year, $74 million order came from Fanmei Aviation Technologies, a subsidiary of Sichuan Fanmei Education Group, a leading provider of aviation education in China. “The agreement and cooperation with Piper Aircraft is the key element for our general aviation roadmap,” said Don Li, president of Fanmei. The announcement was made at the Singapore Air Show.
The flight school will take delivery of 100 Archer TX single-engine trainers, 50 Seminole twins, one Seneca twin and one Piper M350, a pressurized piston single. Deliveries will begin next month. Piper CEO Simon Caldecott told CNBC that demand for pilots is growing in Asia. “One of the things I’ve been looking at, and constantly monitoring, is the global shortage of new pilots,” Caldecott said. CNBC added that Boeing’s analysis from 2017 predicts the Asia-Pacific region will need 253,000 new pilots by 2036, about 40 percent of the global demand.
