Piper & ATP Reach Three-Year Fleet Purchase Deal for up to 100 Aircraft

Lakeland, FL — April 10, 2013

Piper Aircraft Inc. and Airline Transport Professionals reached a three-year agreement today at SUN ‘n FUN International Fly In and Expo for the sale of multiple Piper Archer TXs. Piper and ATP jointly made the announcement on the second day of the aviation event here in Lakeland.

Airline Transport Professionals (ATP), America’s largest flight school, specializing in airline pilot training and pilot career development agreed to initially purchase a fleet of 15 Piper Archer TX single-engine piston-powered advanced training aircraft for delivery in late 2013. In addition to the firm 15-aircraft fleet order, ATP has options for 85 additional Archers for delivery in the future. These will be the first single-engine Piper training aircraft in ATP’s fleet as it transitions to predominately Piper training aircraft.

In Addition to 30-airplane Seminole Deal

The latest order is in addition to a 30-airplane Piper Seminole fleet option placed with Piper by ATP in 2011. The 15th aircraft delivered in that transaction is on display at the Piper Booth #MD-18 at SUN ‘n FUN.

All Equipped with Garmin G500

All of the new ATP airplanes under the agreements with Piper will be equipped with Garmin G500 glass cockpit avionics suites. The G500 is a PFD/MFD dual-screen electronic flight display. Dual 6.5-in. LCDs, mounted side-by-side in the bezel, put both Primary Flight Display (PFD) and Multifunction Display (MFD) capabilities directly in instructor and student field of view to help streamline instrument scanning and enhance situational awareness.

"This large follow-on fleet transaction clearly shows continued confidence on the part of ATP in Piper Aircraft. Our training aircraft have proven themselves with millions of hours of rugged flight school training around the world," says Piper President and CEO Simon Caldecott. "ATP is transitioning our fleet to Pipers because these airplanes offer rugged dispatch reliability, technological flexibility in cockpit avionics and instrumentation and operational economy,” said ATP Vice President Jim Koziarski. ATP currently operates 107 Piper Seminoles, five Diamond DA40s, 93 Cessna Skyhawks and a CitationJet.

As a classroom, the Piper Archer provides everything needed to learn to safely fly. Standard instrumentation includes the Garmin G500 glass cockpit system, a perfect mixture of low workload and high technology. Piper’s specially created flight school interior designed to withstand the rigors of flight training, is standard, and the option for factory-installed air conditioning adds to the Archer’s appeal as a training aircraft. It is powered by the 180 hp Lycoming 0-360-A4M and offers 128 ktas / 237 km/h cruise speed.

Piper Aircraft Inc. is headquartered in Vero Beach, Fla. The company offers aviators throughout the world efficient and reliable single-engine and twin-engine aircraft. The single-engine M-Class series – the Meridian, Mirage and Matrix – offer businesses and individuals elegant performance and value. The Twin Class Seneca V and Seminole balance proven performance, efficiency and simplicity in twin-engine aircraft. The Trainer Class Archer TX, Arrow, Seminole and Seneca V aircraft form the most complete technically-advanced line of pilot training aircraft in the world. All Piper airplanes feature advanced Garmin avionics in the cockpit. Piper is a member of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.

In 1984, ATP pioneered accelerated, professional multi-engine flight training with an emphasis on pilot career development. Today ATP’s Airline Career Pilot Program prepares pilots for airline careers with nationwide flying experience in multi-engine aircraft. In partnership with the leading regional and national airlines, ATP offers its students an airline-sponsored career track from zero time to 1500 hours, with CFI job placement and airline employment. ATP flies over 9,000 hours to provide more than 350 FAA pilot certificates every month across 28 locations nationwide. As America's largest flight school, ATP provides more pilots to the regional airlines than any other single flight school, college, or academy.