Piper has appointed its VP of operations, Simon Caldecott, as its new interim president and CEO, with immediate effect, and has announced it is reviewing the future of its Altaire (formerly PiperJet) very light jet program.
Caldecott replaces Geoff Berger, who was appointed interim CEO in mid 2010, while also departing the company is executive vice president Randy Groom. Prior to joining Piper in 2009, Caldecott held senior roles in Raytheon and Hawker Beechcraft, and before that worked with British Aerospace on the Hawker business jet line.
“While the company continues to achieve internal financial and delivery targets for the existing turboprop and piston product lines, we have initiated a review of the Altaire business jet development program,” Caldecott announced. “This is being undertaken to ensure the company is properly aligning business goals and light jet market forecasts with investment strategies and economic forecasts.”
Piper says it will announce the findings of the review into the Altaire program “as soon as possible”.
