Company

Simon Caldecott was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Piper Aircraft in October 2011. One of his first initiatives was to recommit the company to manufacture advanced pilot training aircraft. He joined Piper in 2009 and was formerly the Vice President of Operations. With over 40 years in aviation, Caldecott is a seasoned and successful aerospace executive with international experience at the senior level in European and North American companies. Prior to joining Piper, Caldecott was Vice President of Assembly Integration and Testing with Raytheon Aircraft and more recently Vice President Assembly Operations with that company’s successor, Hawker Beechcraft. Caldecott is a Green Belt in the Six Sigma process improvement program. His education includes studies in Aeronautical Engineering in Wales and programs in Business Management at the London School of Business and the Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Caldecott worked as a design engineer for British Aerospace on development of the Hawker midsize business jet, rising to be responsible for manufacturing, assembly, flight testing and completion of Hawkers. He also completed Lean Training with Kawasaki, which included studying and touring Japanese manufacturing facilities to better understand how Lean is successfully applied across products from automotive to aerospace. Caldecott has an extensive track record of success in guiding cultural change within sophisticated manufacturing companies. Under his leadership, Piper introduced a new aircraft, the M600, in 2016, a derivative of the Piper Meridian which was introduced in 2000.

Mr. Caldecott is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Vero Beach Chamber of Commerce having served from 2011 to 2017. Additionally, he is very active with the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) as a member of its Board of Directors, and was the 2016 GAMA Vice Chairman and GAMA Chairman for 2017. He further served as the Chairman of the GAMA Safety and Accident Investigation Committee from 2014 to 2016.

He also sits on the Advisory Board for PEGASAS, The Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility and Sustainability (PEGASAS), a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Center of Excellence for General Aviation.

John Calcagno was named Chief Financial Officer in 2012. He joined the Piper team in March 2010 and is responsible for information technology, enterprise resource planning, financial reporting (US GAAP and IFRS), treasury and cash management, cost accounting, tax and general accounting. He has extensive executive experience in the finance, operations, distribution and sales areas. Previously, he served as a consulting partner with The Acerra Consortium. Prior to joining The Acerra Consortium, he served as Vice President, Director and Controller with Alltel (Supply) Communications Products. He also has held roles of increasing responsibility with Coca-Cola, C.R. Bard and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, where he obtained his public accounting experience.

Mr. Calcagno holds a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, with minor emphasis in Political Science, from Southern Illinois University. He is a Certified Public Accountant, and is an active member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Calcagno is a founding Board Member, and currently serves as the Treasurer of the Jimmy Graves Foundation. Mr. Calcagno also serves as an Airport Commissioner of the Vero Beach Regional Airport.

Mr. Calcagno is an Honorably Discharged veteran of the United States Air Force.

James W. Funk joined Piper in January 2013, and is responsible for aircraft manufacturing operations, production engineering, logistics and quality. He brings nearly 35 years of operations management, manufacturing engineering and program leadership experience to Piper’s senior leadership team. Funk has held many leadership positions in electronics and the aerospace industry. Before joining Piper, Funk was Bombardier Learjet’s General Manager of Operations for the Learjet 85 program. Prior to that, he was Vice President of Operations for Hawker Beechcraft Corp. and its predecessor, Raytheon Aircraft. He was responsible for the company’s turboprop and piston programs.

Funk holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Trenton State College in Trenton, N.J., and has completed numerous advanced courses in leadership, quality and manufacturing disciplines.

Buddy Sessoms was named Chief Technologist in 2018.

Buddy joined Piper Aircraft in 1998 and has held product development positions of increasing responsibility in design, flight sciences, test operations, and certification.  As Senior Director and Chief Engineer he was responsible for leading the conceptual design, flight sciences, and test operations for the M600.  He is responsible for strategically implementing technology throughout Piper’s business and products.  The application of technology in a manner that improves safety, ease of operation, performance, and customer centered product development is his highest goal.  In addition, he continues to provide technical guidance throughout the engineering process and is an active pilot of Piper products for travel and within experimental flight test.

Prior to joining Piper he worked in product development for Sensenich Propeller and Pratt & Whitney.

Buddy holds a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Central Florida.

He is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in addition to the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.  He is also a former Federal Aviation Administration Designated Engineering Representative and Piper Aircraft Designee.

Kevin Keegan joined Piper Aircraft in March 2016 as Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary. As Piper’s General Counsel, Kevin is responsible for all corporate and legal matters including litigation, risk management, government affairs, transactions, and corporate governance. In addition to Piper’s legal function, Kevin also manages the company’s Human Resources, Environmental, Health and Safety, and Records Management Departments.

Prior to joining Piper Aircraft, Kevin served as Vice President, Legal and Corporate Development for Fiskars Brands, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Finland based Fiskars Corporation. Kevin joined Fiskars in 2004. Prior to joining Fiskars, Kevin spent four years with London based Invensys, plc as the Division Senior Counsel of its Automation Systems division headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Prior to Invensys, Kevin spent four years at Chicago based Specialty Foods Corporation as the Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of its bakery division which included Metz Baking Company, Mother’s Cake and Cookie Company, and Archway Cookies. Prior to his time at Specialty Foods, Kevin was a defense trial attorney and partner with the Omaha, Nebraska based law firm of McGill Gotsdiner, Workman & Lepp.

Kevin graduated from Law School at the University of Notre Dame and earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Creighton University (majoring in Accounting). Kevin is a member of the Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska, and Colorado Bar Associations. Kevin is also an Authorized House Counsel with the State of Florida.

Ron Gunnarson is the Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Customer Support at Piper Aircraft. Appointed to this position in January 2017, Gunnarson is responsible for developing and executing global sales and marketing strategies to continue Piper Aircraft’s growth, as well as contributing to Piper’s overall product and business strategic development. Ron also leads Piper’s global customer support team.

Ron brings 30 years of General Aviation Marketing experience to Piper Aircraft. Prior to joining the Piper team, Ron served as the Vice President of Marketing at Textron Aviation where he was responsible for strategic brand development, product positioning and tactical execution for all global marketing efforts. Ron also previously served as Vice President of Marketing for Beechcraft Corp. and Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Hawker Beechcraft Corp.

Ron is a former demonstration captain with over 2800 hours of flight time and type ratings in the Hawker 400XP and the Beechcraft King Air 350. Ron holds a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Studies as well as a bachelor’s degree in Communications/Public Relations from the University of North Dakota.

Greg Spadaro joined Piper Aircraft as Director of Materials in April 2010, responsible for Scheduling/Planning, Production Control, Purchasing, and Sourcing.  He was appointed Senior Director of Materials in 2011 expanding his responsibilities to include the implementation of a new ERP platform (Infor LN).  He brings over 24 years of Supply Chain management with a background in Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma experience to Piper’s senior leadership team.  Before joining Piper Aircraft, Greg was a Materials Director for fourteen years in the marine industry working for Pursuit Boats. Prior to that, he worked in an electronics manufacturing company with responsibilities in both scheduling and procurement.

Spadaro holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Management with a Minor in Computer Science from Central Connecticut State University in Bridgeport, CT.  He also attended a training program in Trust Administration and Estate Planning at Williams College in Williamstown, MA.  He has also taken numerous courses in Lean manufacturing, visited best practices companies in lean manufacturing for benchmarking, has completed his Green Belt in Six Sigma, and has certifications in APICS.

Eric Wright was appointed Senior Director of Certification and Compliance of Piper Aircraft on September 2, 2019.  In this new role, he is responsible for all engineering and production regulatory compliance oversight systems including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) designees at Piper Aircraft.  He continues to serve as the FAA Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) administrator and was appointed to this role by the FAA in 2013. He joined Piper in 2011 and was formerly the Sr. Director of Certification and Technical Affairs. With over 29 years of experience in aviation, Wright is a successful aerospace executive leader with domestic and international experience spanning his career.  He has led various certification programs while at Piper.  His most notable program at Piper was the certification and introduction of a new model aircraft, the PA-46-600TP “M600” in 2016 which is a derivative of the PA-46-500TP Meridian introduced in 2000.

Wright is a veteran of the United States Air Force and the Oklahoma Air National Guard. Prior to joining Piper, Wright held various leadership positions on important projects.  He was a Flight Test & Structures Aviation Safety Engineer (ASE) with the FAA, Lead Structures Engineer for initial development of the Cirrus SF50, Lead Structures Engineer for FEA/Analytical Methods on the Eclipse EA500, Project Engineer for MarathonNorco Aerospace and Stress Engineer for NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) at Raytheon Airborne Integration Systems/L3 Communications Airborne Systems.

Wright holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma. He has earned a Graduate Certificate in Engineering Technology Management and is nearing completion of a Master of Science in Engineering Technology Management from Oklahoma State University.

Mr. Wright was active in developing the airworthiness policy for Alaskan fuel hauling as a new restricted category special purpose flight operation under the provisions of § 21.25(b)(7) in agricultural aircraft.  He works with the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) on various certification process improvements. Wright worked with the FAA and GAMA on the Part 23 Reorganization ARC and supported development of the ASTM F44 processes.

Marc Ouellet was appointed Sr. Director of Engineering in September 2019. In his new role, Ouellet leads the Engineering, Service Publications and the Program Office. In addition, Marc is responsible for identifying and implementing best practices as well as ensuring that the correct engineering skill sets, processes and tools are in place for designing, integrating, building, testing, certifying, delivering and supporting Piper airplane products.

Marc brings over 30 years of General Aviation Engineering experience and has been with Piper since 1998 in various role from Powerplant & Mechanical Systems Engineer to multiple leadership positions.

Prior to joining the Piper Team, Marc worked as a Powerplant engineer for Bombardier in Montreal working on the CL-415 and for Boeing in Seattle working on the 747 Rolls-Royce engine certification.

Marc holds a Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University Laval in Quebec City, Canada.