Tour of Piper aircraft plant with CEO Jim Bass

Piper Aircraft is one of the legends of aviation. Responsible for some of the iconic aircraft that literally define what the world thinks about general aviation, this is a company that is determined to stay a force in the general aviation world. And, of course, the fact that Piper is about to launch the test program for its first jet project is ample testimony of their commitment to the future of the company and the position they want to play in the aviation world.

ANN's Jim Campbell toured the Piper plant a few weeks ago in the company of Piper CEO Jim Bass, a guy who not only knew his way around the plant floor, but seemed to know the name of every staffer he ran into. Bass, it appears, is a hands-on kinda guy.

Bass came to Piper in 2005 after serving in leadership positions with several major companies. Just prior to joining Piper, he served as CEO and board director of the publicly traded Suntron Corporation, leading the Phoenix-based manufacturing company’s financial turnaround. Additionally, as senior vice president of the Sony Corporation from 1992 to 2000, he was responsible for a multi-billion operation focused on television manufacturing and employing 3,000 employees worldwide. Before joining Sony, Jim held various manufacturing and engineering management positions at the Aerospace Group of the General Electric Corporation and graduated from GE’s manufacturing management program.

So, come along with Aero-TV and take a close look at this interesting plant.

Access this 8-minute, 22-second video by clicking on the link below.