Pilatus pauses Swiss roll in US

opinion

by Alasdair Whyte

August 16, 2025

Photocredit: Pilatus.

Aviation journalists love writing about Pilatus because you can throw in as many clichés as private bankers in Zug.

Pilatus aircraft are as precise as a Audemars Piguet watch; as versatile as a Swiss Army knife; and as tough as four-day old cheese fondue. But this week the manufacturer’s home country has counted against them.

President Donald Trump has hit Swiss exports to the US with a 39% tariff. Only Syria, Laos and Myanmar have higher tariffs. (Brazil could soon head the list if a threatened 50% tariff is imposed).

This week Pilatus said that it was “temporarily” halting deliveries of its PC-12 and PC-24 aircraft to the US because of the tariffs.

This is significant. Pilatus typically delivers around 40% of its PC-12 and PC-24 production to the US each year. Last year the PC-12 was the most flown aircraft in the US.

“The new customs tariff imposed by the US authorities represents a significant competitive disadvantage for Pilatus. In the short term, the tariff will lead to a temporary halt in deliveries and thus to a temporary interruption of US business,” said Pilatus.

Pilatus had already announced plans to assemble aircraft in Sarasota, Florida and has service centres in the country. The company is also considering cutting hours and not replacing staff. It is doing everything it can to avoid having to cut its skilled workforce.

The tariffs are clearly bad news for the Swiss company but should not be overstated. Pilatus has always been as conservative as a good Swiss private bank. It had a very good year in 2024 with profit of SwFr243 ($300m). It delivered 153 aircraft worth SwFr1.6bn and booked SwFr2.2bn of new orders (96 PC-12NGXs turboprops, 51 PC-24 super versatile jets and six PC-21s trainers).

From Flying Doctor evacuations in the Australian bush, flying tourists to game lodges in South Africa, businesspeople in Canada or agribusiness in Brazil, the aircraft are as popular worldwide as Swiss chocolate. One international dealer (who asked to remain anonymous) said that while they are disappointed on behalf of the company, they are also excited that they could get aircraft to their customers faster.

Most importantly we have seen how quickly tariffs can change. The US and Switzerland are still negotiating. President Trump’s administration has shown that it is open to exempting aerospace exports from tariffs (the UK and the EU have both managed this). You would think that this could happen soon with Switzerland.

You can also be confident that US customers will wait for their aircraft. Pilatus customers are as loyal as Saint Bernard Mountain Dogs with brandy round their necks and as evangelical about praising them as a noisy cuckoo clock.