Piaggio has selected a new avionics suite for the unique Avanti
twin-pusher business airplane, says new Piaggio America president
and CEO Tom Appleton.
Formerly with Bombardier, Appleton took over from founding
president Steve Hanvey in August. Negotiations over a new avionics
system are not complete, Appleton says, and neither the identity
of the supplier nor the schedule for the project can be disclosed
as yet, but Appleton notes that such projects usually take 12
to 18 months from announcement to delivery.
New avionics are important for the Avanti, which made its first
flight in 1986 but is virtually a new airplane to the U.S. market.
The original Piaggio company ran into financial difficulties and
ceased production, and the airplane was rescued in 1998 by an
investor group that includes members of the Ferrari family. Today's
Avantis are delivered with the small-screen Collins EFIS-85, which
was the latest thing when the airplane was designed but looks
like a Pong game compared with modern big-screen systems.
Another boost for the Avanti has come from Italy's high-technology
government investment agency, Sviluppo Italia, which has taken
a 20% stake in the company in return for a $23 million investment.
Piaggio will use this money to increase the Avanti's production
rate, says Appleton.
Year after year, Piaggio has promised more airplanes next year,
but has never been able to perform. Avanti production currently
runs at about 14 to 18 airplanes per year, says Appleton. "It's
not ideal," he acknowledges. "You'd like a number that
is sustainable at the bottom of the cycle. As the economy improves,
we need to start ramping up." Increasing the production rate
is a key to improving efficiency, making production more profitable,
expanding the fleet -- there are 35 Avantis in the United States
now, a great improvement since 1998 but still not a lot of airplanes
to sustain a support network -- and boosting customer confidence.
Apart from the avionics, no major changes to the airplane are
contemplated, says Appleton. Although new entry-level aircraft
are entering the market, "there is really no comparison"
to the Avanti, which offers the speed of a CitationJet and the
cabin of a mid-size airplane, combined with lower fuel burn and
overall operating costs than all but the new, small jet airplanes.
The Avanti proved its speed capability once again in February,
when owner/operator Joe Ritchie and record-setting balloonist
Steve Fossett captured four world records previously held by Chuck
Yeager in a Piper Cheyenne 400LS. In a flight from San Diego to
Charleston, N.C., Ritchie and Fossett averaged 546.81 mph, setting
a class transcontinental record and, in the process, establishing
new point-to-point records from El Paso to Charleston and Fort
Worth, and from Fort Worth to Atlanta.
Ritchie describes himself as "madly in love" with
the Piaggio. Appleton's job is to make sure that more owners fall
in love with the curvy Italian - and transform that emotion into
a lifetime commitment.
