Hansueli Loosli has been elected as the new chairman of the board of directors at the Pilatus annual general meeting. In addition, the AGM elected two further notable members: Martin P. Furrer and Mario Rossi.

Oscar J. Schwenk, the longstanding chairman of the board of directors, has decided not to stand for re-election to the office of chairman this year. Having served as chairman of the board for over 15 years, the 76-year-old will hand over to his successor Hansueli Loosli. The latter has served as chairman of the board of directors of Coop and Swisscom and has been awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year prize, among others, for his outstanding achievements in the past. He has already been inducted and will take up his duties at Pilatus with immediate effect.

After joining the company in 1978, Schwenk steadily worked his way up to the position of CEO and, ultimately, chairman of the board of directors. He has played a key role in shaping Pilatus, turning a company formerly focused on subcontracting work into an aircraft manufacturing plant with a clear product strategy, namely to build the world's best aircraft in its niche.

Under his guidance, Pilatus created aircraft such as the PC-12, now the world's best-selling single-engine turboprop in its class, the PC-21 military trainer and the first ever Swiss business jet, the PC-24.

Schwenk held the office of chairman of the board of directors for over 15 years, having served as both CEO and chairman prior to that. Although the company was in the red when Schwenk took over, Pilatus has always achieved positive year-end results under his leadership. Sales alone have doubled during this period. At the same time, Schwenk has remained steadfast in his commitment to Switzerland as a place of work and has consistently pursued this goal. Today, over 92 percent of Pilatus employees work at the Swiss site in Stans. In Switzerland, the workforce has also practically doubled over the past decade, currently standing at over 2,000 full-time employees.

Moving forward, Schwenk and his many years of experience will remain with Pilatus on a mandate basis. He will bring his wealth of know-how in the aviation sector to bear in supporting the company's strategic direction in the future. At the same time, he will continue as honorary chairman and chairman of the board of directors of subsidiary Pilatus Australia.

Besides electing the new chairman, two additional members were also voted onto the Pilatus board of directors: Martin P. Furrer, member of the executive board and partner of Baker & McKenzie Zurich. The 56-year-old is one of the leading lawyers in his areas of expertise. Mario Rossi, 60, has also been elected as a further member. He worked for Swisscom for over 20 years in various functions. Most recently, he was CFO with this Swiss telecommunications company.

Dominik Burkart, who previously served as a member of the board of directors, did not stand for re-election. He will continue to back Pilatus as a shareholder. Pilatus would like to thank him for his constant support and his work as a member of the board.

The Pilatus board is now composed as follows: Hansueli Loosli, chairman; Gratian Anda, vice chairman; Lukas Gähwiler, member and the two newly elected members, Martin P. Furrer and Mario Rossi.

Schwenk says: “I am delighted to have won Hansueli Loosli, an extremely experienced chairman of the board of directors, for this most important office. The other two members are well-known business leaders too, and the know-how they bring with them make them ideal additions. Our board members and investors will support and continue to drive forward our strategy as an independent Swiss aircraft manufacturer. Together, our goal is to strengthen Pilatus' market leadership position even further and sustainably safeguard the more than 2,000 jobs at our site in Stans.”

The management and staff of Pilatus owe a debt of gratitude to the retiring chairman. They would also like to assure the newly elected members under the leadership of Hansueli Loosli of their fullest support.