Less Gloom

Somehow a version of my "Gloom" post (which I also posted on the
Cherokee Pilots Association's "Cherokee Chat") ended up in Phil
Boyer's in-box.

AOPA President Boyer apparently questioned Piper's management about
the status of Piper's support (or reported lack thereof) of our
"ancient" aircraft, prompting the following statement from Mark S.
Miller, Chief Corporate Spokesperson of Piper Aircraft, Inc.:

"Contrary to rumors, inaccurate representations and misinterpretations
in respect to Piper Aircraft's position on parts availability, Piper
has not and will not set a cutoff date for spare parts availability.
Published reports that Piper President & CEO Jim Bass announced such a
cutoff are unfounded and untrue. Piper maintains a total of more than
15,000 active spare parts and manages a total of approximately 25,000
spare parts. Our goal is to try and support all certified models that
we have produced in our 70-year history whenever possible."

Ah, spin control. Some day I want to have a "Chief Corporate
Spokesperson" in my company who will clarify and sanitize all the
stupid things *I* say... :-)

Seriously, however, I think the clamor (especially amongst members of
the Cherokee Pilots Association) over Piper CEO Bass's speech at last
weekend's CPA fly-in is truly an example of a victory for us "little
guys".

In my opinion, Mr. Bass was either floating a trial balloon idea about
cutting off support for old, out-of-production aircraft, or he just
got carried away during his speech and injected his own personal
opinions. Either way, this reaction -- sudden, vociferous, succinct,
loud, and unanimous -- from the pilot community has effectively and
surely shot it down.

Suddenly, there is less to be gloomy about!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 22:31:59 -0700, Jay Honeck
wrote in om:

In my opinion, Mr. Bass was either floating a trial balloon idea about
cutting off support for old, out-of-production aircraft, or he just
got carried away during his speech and injected his own personal
opinions. Either way, this reaction -- sudden, vociferous, succinct,
loud, and unanimous -- from the pilot community has effectively and
surely shot it down.

From his statement, it seems to me that nothing could be further from
the truth. He is merely saying Piper has no date certain for cutting
off the supply of spare parts. Likely they just won't be
manufactured, and existing stocks of parts will be allowed to run out
as they are shipped to customers over time.

In article om,
Jay Honeck wrote:

Somehow a version of my "Gloom" post (which I also posted on the
Cherokee Pilots Association's "Cherokee Chat") ended up in Phil
Boyer's in-box.

AOPA President Boyer apparently questioned Piper's management about
the status of Piper's support (or reported lack thereof) of our
"ancient" aircraft, prompting the following statement from Mark S.
Miller, Chief Corporate Spokesperson of Piper Aircraft, Inc.:

"Contrary to rumors, inaccurate representations and misinterpretations
in respect to Piper Aircraft's position on parts availability,

So, Bass either lied or didn't know what he was talking about. Hardly
encouraging.

[snip]
In my opinion, Mr. Bass was either floating a trial balloon idea about
cutting off support for old, out-of-production aircraft, or he just
got carried away during his speech and injected his own personal
opinions.

Neither of those options speak well for Bass or Piper. :-(

--
Bob Noel
(goodness, please trim replies!!!)

Recently, Jay Honeck posted:

Somehow a version of my "Gloom" post (which I also posted on the
Cherokee Pilots Association's "Cherokee Chat") ended up in Phil
Boyer's in-box.

AOPA President Boyer apparently questioned Piper's management about
the status of Piper's support (or reported lack thereof) of our
"ancient" aircraft, prompting the following statement from Mark S.
Miller, Chief Corporate Spokesperson of Piper Aircraft, Inc.:

"Contrary to rumors, inaccurate representations and misinterpretations
in respect to Piper Aircraft's position on parts availability, Piper
has not and will not set a cutoff date for spare parts availability.
Published reports that Piper President & CEO Jim Bass announced such a
cutoff are unfounded and untrue. Piper maintains a total of more than
15,000 active spare parts and manages a total of approximately 25,000
spare parts. Our goal is to try and support all certified models that
we have produced in our 70-year history whenever possible."

In other words, "...we won't do anything to negatively impact the ability
to unload our existing inventory..."

[...]
In my opinion, Mr. Bass was either floating a trial balloon idea about
cutting off support for old, out-of-production aircraft, or he just
got carried away during his speech and injected his own personal
opinions. Either way, this reaction -- sudden, vociferous, succinct,
loud, and unanimous -- from the pilot community has effectively and
surely shot it down.

Suddenly, there is less to be gloomy about!

I didn't "hear" anything different from your original post, Jay.

Neil

On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 11:07:12 GMT, "Neil Gould"
wrote in
:

I didn't "hear" anything different from your original post, Jay.

You'll find that Robert Poole, the Reason Foundation's founder who has
been pushing hard for user fees, employs the same corporate
double-speak:

(Click here (http://www.avweb.com/alm?podcast20070618) to listen
to the Reason Foundation's Robert Poole on why aviation user fees
would be good for airspace users.)

Jay Honeck wrote in news:1182317519.821816.6690
@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com:

Ah, spin control. Some day I want to have a "Chief Corporate
Spokesperson" in my company who will clarify and sanitize all the
stupid things *I* say... :-)

There aren't enough hours in the day or enough skilled communicators in the
trade to handle that assignment.

"Tom Guess" wrote in message
...
Jay Honeck wrote in news:1182317519.821816.6690
@q75g2000hsh.googlegroups.com:

Ah, spin control. Some day I want to have a "Chief Corporate
Spokesperson" in my company who will clarify and sanitize all the
stupid things *I* say... :-)

There aren't enough hours in the day or enough skilled communicators in
the
trade to handle that assignment.

Better put a " :~) " after that.

In article om,
Jay Honeck wrote:
In my opinion, Mr. Bass was either floating a trial balloon idea about
cutting off support for old, out-of-production aircraft, or he just
got carried away during his speech and injected his own personal
opinions. Either way, this reaction -- sudden, vociferous, succinct,
loud, and unanimous -- from the pilot community has effectively and
surely shot it down.


Quite frankly, I don't see anything in Piper's statement that retracts
anything. All the statement appears to say is that Piper hasn't set a
piston-engine "date for death" right now. Noticeably absent from the
statement is any long-term commitment to the piston business, probably
because there isn't any.



JKG

Quite frankly, I don't see anything in Piper's statement that retracts
anything. All the statement appears to say is that Piper hasn't set a
piston-engine "date for death" right now. Noticeably absent from the
statement is any long-term commitment to the piston business, probably
because there isn't any.

Wow -- just when I thought that *I* was the most cynical, hard-headed
******* out there, you guys go and prove me wrong. Thanks!

:-)

Seriously, I think you're being too hard on them. Piper has been
forced to respond to what we heard Bass say in that speech last
weekend. They are publicly denying that there are any plans to cut
off support for older planes -- which, unless they are REALLY being
diabolical, can only be good news for those of us who are flying
around in "antique" planes. (What *is* the defininition of "antique"
now, anyway? My plane is now 33 years old -- where's the cut-off?)

(And, hell, while we're at it, why is "publicly" also properly spelled
"publically"? Inquiring minds on a sunny June day.... ;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

They are publicly denying that there are any plans to cut
off support for older planes...

But that talk is cheap. The expensive talk is what we don't hear.
"Piper =will= =continue= to supply parts for =all= the airplanes it has
=ever= manufactured, for as long as we are in business." (and even that
doesn't say that they won't charge $700 for a $2 microswitch.)

Jose
--
You can choose whom to befriend, but you cannot choose whom to love.
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