VERO BEACH — Piper Aircraft Inc.'s Altaire business jet program is "under review" and two of the company's top executives have been released.
Piper spokeswoman Jackie Carlon on Monday morning said there have been no layoffs and construction of the jet's manufacturing building is still ongoing.
The company said in a release that it will announce the conclusion of the review to employees and the industry as soon as possible.
In July, the company said almost 200 engineers and workers had been assigned to the development of the new single-engine business jet. The total workforce at the time was about 840 people.
At one time, Piper said it had about 160 advance orders for the new jet, which it redesigned and renamed the Altaire to much fanfare last October. The company traveled to various events throughout the United States with a mock-up of the model during the past year.
Piper was seen by some industry observers to have a leg up on the competition because of the investment being made into the program by its parent company, Imprimis. The corporate financial and investment management firm, in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance of Brunei, acquired Piper in 2009.
Carlon said the review is to determine whether the company should proceed with the business jet based on current and forecast market conditions.
President and Chief Executive Officer Geoffrey Berger and Executive Vice President Randy Groom are no longer with the company. Groom joined Piper as executive vice president in June 2010, while Berger joined the company as chief executive officer in July 2010.
Simon Caldecott, vice president of operations, has been named interim president and chief executive officer. Caldecott was named vice president of operations for Piper in November 2010.
In a prepared statement, Caldecott, said "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. This is being undertaken to ensure the company is properly aligning business goals and light jet market forecasts with investment strategies and economic forecasts."
The construction of the PiperJet and the jobs it would produce was a selling point that company supporters used in obtaining government incentives to keep the company in Vero Beach. The county and state came up with a $32 million incentive package to keep the company, successfully competing with several other communities that were trying to lure the company away. The package called for providing $12 million in county money and $20 million from the state if the company met certain benchmarks in investments and employment.
The company used about $4 million of incentive money from the county and $6.7 million from the state in 2008, combining that with its own money to make various capital improvements and repairs to its buildings. The company has not met the numbers needed for additional payments and could have to repay one-seventh of the money it received from the county if it fails to meet certain benchmarks by the end of the year.
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