The aircraft manufacturer Pilatus has full order books. However, problems in the supply chains and the dried-up labor market are also affecting him. The company opens a branch in Ticino to recruit Italian engineers.
An employee prepares a Pilatus PC-24 aircraft for painting.
Flying in a private jet is very popular. The global markets in business aviation have never boomed as much as they are now, say the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pilatus, Hansueli Loosli, and CEO Markus Bucher im latest annual report of the aircraft manufacturer.
Best sellers PC-24 and PC-12
industry wide the number of business jets delivered increased last year by 10 percent to 710. Pilatus accounted for 45 aircraft, with the Stans-based company growing in step with the overall market. In 2020, four fewer PC-24s were handed over to customers. In total, Pilatus delivered 152 aircraft last year (previous year: 129), with the PC-12 single-propeller turboprop machine remaining by far the company’s best-selling product at 88 (82) units.
As a result, the aircraft manufacturer also managed to exceed the 2019 level. With a view to further business development, the company management points out that in the general aviation sector, which includes the marketing of the PC-24 and PC-12 jet aircraft, the order intake and order backlog have never been as high as at the end of 2021.
The company benefits from the fact that significantly more air travelers have apparently learned to appreciate the value of privacy in the course of the pandemic. Those who travel by private jet do not have to face crowds of people and are much more flexible in their choice of route. In this way, such passengers can avoid the major aviation hubs and be transported to smaller airports.
Slack in business with military customers
On the other hand, Pilatus is still not doing as well as it should in business with military customers. The corresponding segment (government aviation) contributed less than a third to total sales of CHF 1.3 billion in 2021.
Pilatus needs new large orders for training aircraft. By the end of the current year, the Spanish Air Force will have received all 24 PC-21 aircraft on order, following the delivery of the first 13 last year. Although France placed a follow-up order for 9 PC-21s in July 2021, this will not fill the gap left by the end of deliveries to Spain.
Dissatisfied with suppliers
The continuing bottlenecks in the supply chains remain a further challenge for Pilatus and for the entire aircraft industry. Countless electronic components are also used in aircraft, the availability of which has been severely restricted since the outbreak of the pandemic. Pilatus is also confronted with increasing quality deficiencies on the part of suppliers. According to the annual report, the quality of the material had to be repeatedly complained about, errors were increasingly found and delays were recorded.
The assembly of aircraft, which Pilatus does in cooperation with hundreds of suppliers, is one of the most labour-intensive industrial activities. Due to the small batch sizes, automation is only worthwhile to a limited extent. In addition, the discerning clientele expects ongoing technological advances.
According to the company, the search for skilled workers has become even more difficult in the past year. The company, which employs more than 90 percent of its workforce of around 2,300 people in Switzerland, most of them at the headquarters in Stans, wants to recruit engineers from Italy. A new location with 30 to 40 employees will be opened in Manno near Lugano. Skilled workers who previously worked for companies in the aviation industry in the greater Milan area should be able to work as cross-border commuters.
A first board member
There have been further changes in the six-member board of directors, whose presidency was newly filled by former Coop boss Loosli in June 2021. Lukas Gähwiler has replaced Gratian Anda as Vice President. Anda, who belongs to the family that owns the former armaments group Oerlikon-Bührle and who controls Pilatus with his family along with other Swiss investors, has resigned after 16 years in office.
The interests of the owners are now represented on the Board of Directors by Dominik Burkart, who has returned to the board after a one-year break. In addition, there is finally a woman on the Board of Directors, Annette Rinck. The 57-year-old manager has been working full-time as CEO of the German microscope manufacturer Leica Microsystems since mid-January 2022.