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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 0775.PDF
For the first time in ten years Piper, one of the most famous names in light aviation, faces growth and prosperity. Millionaire businessman Stuart Millar, who bought the company nearly two years ago from diversified parent Lear Siegler, has transformed it from a loss-maker, seemingly destined for collapse, to a profit-maker poised for growth. Millar became the darling of the press when he bought Piper. When the US light aircraft industry was suffering the deepest slump in its history, Millar seemed a lone voice of optimism. The combination of his boyish enthusiasm for aviation and the almost religious fervour with which he set about reviving the ailing company gave Piper employees and, some say, the industry at large, a fresh injection of hope. The new owner replaced top manage ment, relaunched aircraft that had been taken out of production, cut spares prices, and formulated plans for new aircraft through Piper's own design team and a new "thkik tank" under industry veteran Roy LoPresti. Piper now has a large and expanding model range and a $120 million orderbook providing several years of work—a far cry from earlier this decade, when production of some models was halted and staff cuts were the order of the day. As Millar's first aid takes Piper is back in profit less than two years after aviation enthusiast and entrepreneur Staurt Millar bought it from Lear Siegler. Alan Postlethwaite reports on its rebirth. Pictures by Janice Lowe. good effect, however, it is evident that tougher challenges lie ahead, and they have little to do with the way Piper is run, but are posed by the aviation community and the public at large. The famous Cub logo lives on , The cost of certificating innovative designs using new technology, the glut of used aircraft, and the industry's continuing failure to change what it sees as unfair product-liability legislation, are obstacles Millar may find harder to overcome. One Millar tactic, designed to cut the cost of developing new models, is to revamp old ones. The idea is to apply new but affordable technologies to certificated designs. LoPresti's think-tank is working on a radical modernisation of the 1946 Globe Swift. Piper's workforce and an enthusiastic band of supporters—traditionally owner- pilots—will be keen to see whether this prag matic approach to new products, combined with Millar's other moves, leads to a full recovery. Piper's fortunes first dipped markedly in 1979. Production then stood at almost 5,300 aircraft per year, but it nearly halved to less than 3,000, by the following year. It stabilised a little in 1981, but fell again to 1,048 aircraft in 1982, and dived to 691 in 1983. By 1986 Piper was making 325 aircraft per year, and for four months in that year-it made no piston-singles—its bread- and-butter product—at all. The company had shrunk from 8,000 employees and five factories to fewer than 750 employees and one active factory. The orderbook was worth less than $7 million, says Millar. Other US FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 25 March 1989 45
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