Pilatus Aircraft Ltd: The storied Swiss aircraft maker
Forged by necessity and perfected through tradition, Pilatus Aircraft has spent over 80 years building versatile aircraft, through Swiss craftsmanship with a heritage of quality.
Pilatus Aircraft was born from necessity, not ambition. In 1939, as war began closing in around neutral Switzerland, the country faced a challenge: It needed aircraft that could be built and maintained within its borders. In a quiet valley below Mount Pilatus, a small team soon set out to create just that—an industry of aircraft designed, built, and supported at home. What began as a patriotic wartime need became a legacy of Swiss engineering; a legacy that still defines Pilatus more than 80 years later.
Pilatus Aircraft Ltd, as it’s known today, began as a small maintenance operation supporting the newly formed Swiss Air Force. Even in the very early phases of Pilatus, the company was constructing entire aircraft from available spare parts, cementing their ambitions to eventually design and build their own aircraft, purpose-built for the demanding alpine environment that surrounded them.
Early efforts such as the forward-swept-wing, radial-powered SB–2 Pelican, and the two-seat P–2 trainer established the newly-formed Pilatus Flugzeugwerke AG’s reputation for rugged, functional design. By the mid-1950s, the new P–3 trainer had become the Swiss Air Force’s primary training aircraft (after a bold aerial demonstration by test pilot, Hans Häfliger), and helped position Pilatus among the world’s leaders in propeller-driven trainers.
Then came a breakthrough. In 1959, the piston-powered PC–6 Porter took flight: a short-takeoff-and-landing (STOL) workhorse capable of operating from the most remote airstrips on earth. Its turboprop successor, the PC–6 Turbo Porter, with its balanced field length of around 1,500 feet, would go on to serve a predictably wide array of missions. Whether mushing through snow-capped Himalayan peaks, being the lifeline of isolated villages in the South American jungle, or even undertaking covert operations in the Vietnam War, the Porter quickly became a Swiss icon of precision, versatility, and grit for more than six decades.
Through the following decades, Pilatus evolved rapidly without losing its identity. The new PC–7 and PC–9 trainers cemented the company’s global reputation for versatility, reliability, and mission effectiveness, chosen by air forces around the world to train their next generations of pilots.
In 1991, the PC–12 ushered Pilatus into a new era. It quickly became an industry standout in business aviation; combining a spacious executive cabin with the robust versatility and capability that has always defined Pilatus. It remains the world’s best-selling single-engine turboprop, equally at home on a snow-covered gravel strip in Northern Alaska or a corporate ramp in Zurich.
After hearing real world feedback from owners and operators of the PC–12, the PC–24 was certified in 2017—blending jet speeds with a larger cabin and the versatility of a Pilatus.
Today, all Pilatus aircraft are still built in Stans, Switzerland, in a hangar constructed of sustainable local timber, where generations of engineers and craftspeople carry forward a tradition that began more than eight decades ago. Remaining privately held allows Pilatus to focus on craftsmanship, long-term quality, and the needs of its customers.
Pilatus is a rare success story; a small Swiss company with a global footprint, thriving not by scale, but by staying true to what made it special from the very start—a philosophy that keeps every aircraft unmistakably Pilatus.
Learn More:
For more information about Pilatus Aircraft, check out the YouTube video below, or head to www.pilatus-aircraft.com/en.
