Piper To Play Role For Honda

Piper Aircraft President James Bass said the new arrangement signals the launch of “a significant and meaningful relationship” between the two companies. The synergy will extend through sales and service to engineering collaborations and beyond, he said. No merger or takeover is in the works, however, and Bass said the arrangement won’t affect Piper’s plans to develop a jet of its own. There is plenty of room in the market for a Piper jet that wouldn’t be going to head to head with Honda, he said. Does that mean Piper would offer a smaller, more personal-size jet? “You could make that assumption,” Bass said. He added that Piper will have more to say about plans for their own product line by this fall at the NBAA convention. This morning’s HondaJet news conference was broadcast over the Internet, and can still be seen online. A quick, free registration is required to access the video.