Founded in 1965, Epps Aviation has been an Authorized Pilatus Sales and Service Center since 1996. Pilatus will assume responsibility for aircraft sales within this territory, and, after the deal closes, will incorporate the Pilatus maintenance operations (MRO) from 2024 and manage them independently from thereon. The Pilatus Service Center operation will continue to operate through Epps until the deal closes. The workforce of around 40 employees will join the Pilatus Group. Based in Atlanta at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, Aero Center Epps provides sales and maintenance services for Pilatus aircraft on the southeast coast of the USA. Last year, Epps was acquired by SAR Trilogy Management, LLC.
In the context of this acquisition, the new owner decided to sell the Pilatus maintenance and repair operations to better focus on its FBO, non Pilatus maintenance, and aircraft management and charter business. Seeking to ensure first-class customer support, Pilatus has decided to continue providing MRO services on an independent basis. Comprehensive product support over the entire life cycle of a Pilatus aircraft will remain guaranteed in the future. This will include maintenance and repair services, as well as avionics and spare parts sales for the single-engine PC-12 and the twin-engine PC-24 Super Versatile Jet. In connection with the acquisition, Pilatus will also continue the PC-12 and PC-24 sales activities previously provided by Aero Center Epps.
Speaking at the contract signing, Markus Bucher, CEO of Pilatus, emphasizes: “With this acquisition we want to safeguard and further improve the continuity and quality of our award-winning services on the southeast coast of the USA. I’m delighted that we will have the expertise and the employees on board with us, and that we can continue to offer our customers a first-class service – ‘Together we create the Pilatus Class’!”
Pilatus Aircraft Ltd. is an aerospace manufacturer located in Stans, Switzerland. The company has mostly produced aircraft for niche markets, in particular short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft as well as military training aircraft. In 1973, it was decided to restart work on a turbine version of the piston engine trainer P-3, which entered production as the PC-7 Turbo Trainer. In 1979, Pilatus acquired Britten-Norman, manufacturer of the Britten-Norman Islander and Britten-Norman Defender aircraft. During the 1980s, it developed the PC-9, an improved derivative of the PC-7. In the 2000s, it also introduced a new member family of its military training aircraft, the turboprop-powered PC-21. During the 2010s, the company developed the PC-24, a twin-engined STOL jet aircraft capable of operating from unpaved runways.
