Piper Delivers Eight Archers to Dallas Flight School Location

Sales of Piper's Archer TX helped boost the manufacture's sales in 2018.

Sales were up last year for Piper Aircraft and the Florida-based GA manufacturer hopes to improve on that success. And it looks like they're on track. Earlier this month, ATP Flight School took delivery of eight of Piper's Archer TXs.

The single-engine trainers come Garmin G1000 NXi equipped and were shipped to the flight school's Dallas location. There they will be used put into service for American Airlines' Envoy Air Cadet Program, which trains future pilots.

The delivery is part of a $37 million deal that will eventually bring 100 Piper planes to ATP. Currently, the company has 114 Archers in operation. And 22 additional Archers are scheduled for delivery in 2019. ATP operates 40 flight training centers across the country and is the nation's largest flight school.

Piper Aircraft touted the order alongside news that it saw huge increases in billings and deliveries in 2018. In a press release, Piper President and CEO Simon Caldecott noted the company experienced a 38 percent increase in billings and a 48 percent increase in aircraft deliveries.

"2018 was an exceptional year for Piper Aircraft as we continued to deliver a measurable impact for customers and our employees," said Caldecott said in the release. "Over the past year, we have increased strategic investments in our facilities and products to better position Piper Aircraft to support the growing but stable demand for our diverse product lines."

According to a February report from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association aircraft shipments increased by 4.7 percent and billings went up 1.8 percent worldwide.

Plane & PilotStaff