Pilatus has opened an aircraft completions facility in Broomfield, Colorado, that is custom-designed to conduct aircraft interior and exterior completions for all PC-12 NG and PC-24 aircraft due to be delivered to North and South America. The 118,000 sq ft (11,000 sqm) facility features state-of-the-art fabrication and installation shops, spare parts inventory and offices for technical support personnel and business management groups. It consolidates the operations Pilatus has performed at the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan airport for the last two decades.

President and CEO Thomas Bosshard says: “We are proud to be able to continue producing and supporting the industry's highest quality aircraft here in Colorado. Over the past 20 years we have built up a tremendously talented workforce that maintains the high quality standards set by our Swiss parent company.”

The North and South American markets make up 60 to 70 per cent of consolidated annual Pilatus business aircraft sales. Typically around 55 PC-12 NG single engine turboprops are completed in Broomfield each year and the company plans for an additional 25 to 30 of its new PC-24 Super Versatile Jets to flow through the facility annually. Pilatus expects to increase employment by approximately 30 per cent over the next three years to handle this growth.

Skilled craftspeople are becoming increasingly difficult to find so Pilatus is to introduce an apprenticeship programme to meet its growing needs. Modelled after the successful apprenticeship system common in Switzerland, the Broomfield company has applied this creative employee training, education and development programme to its US workforce. By combining on-the-job training and formal classroom education, apprentices are paid to learn valuable trade skills, earn a college degree and be ready for the workforce with no college debt.

Bosshard continues: “Pilatus is truly a global company in terms of operations, in the diversity of the workforce and in meeting the demands of its customers. Staying close to our customers, listening to their needs and providing them with top-notch service is the key to our long-term success.”