The former chairman of the board of directors and head of Pilatus Flugzeugwerke Oscar J. Schwenk is dead. The company confirmed a report from the “Nidwaldner Zeitung” to SRF. Schwenk died on Saturday at the age of 79.
Pilatus did not provide any further information on the death on Monday. According to the first report, the workforce at the aircraft factory was informed of the death of their former boss in the morning. The death of Schwenk came as a surprise.
Caption: Pan, portrayed on February 11, 2019 in front of a Pilatus PC-24 aircraft in the Pilatus assembly hall in Stans. KEYSTONE/Christian Beutler
From 1994 to 2021, Oscar Schwenk was Managing Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pilatus Flugzeugwerke. After graduating, he initially worked at the Federal Aircraft Works in Emmen. In 1979 he moved to Pilatus aircraft works. These are known for their PC-6. These planes do well even on very short runways.
Schwenk sat in the cockpit of the Stans-based company for almost 30 years. In 1994 he became Chairman of the Management Board. He held the post until 2012, with one short break. From 2006 to 2021 he was also Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Pilate’s face
Schwenk was considered the real face of Pilatus aircraft works. He was never at a loss for clear words. He vehemently defended the export of Pilatus training aircraft to countries such as Saudi Arabia. These aircraft are not considered war material. Most recently, however, Pilatus threatened a ban on maintenance work in the Arab world in 2019.
The manager successfully ran the company with a niche policy. Since 2001 it has employed more than 1000 people at its headquarters in Stans. In 2013, sales exceeded the billion mark. Today, Pilatus has more than twice as many employees in Stans. In 2021, when Schwenk gave up the helm, sales amounted to 1.3 billion francs.
Caption: Olivier Queloz, LTDB military pilot, speaks in front of a new Federal Council PC-24 aircraft February 21, 2019 at Belp Airfield. KEYSTONE/Anthony Anex
With a great deal of skill, Schwenk made the rollout of the PC-24, Pilatus’ first jet aircraft, into a folk festival in 2014 with 35,000 people. One of the distinguishing features of the business aircraft is that it can also take off and land on short natural runways.
Schwenk also managed the fortunes of Pilatus-Bahnen for 16 years as Chairman of the Board of Directors. He formed the former mountain railway company into a modern tourism company. He also took over Mineralquelle Bad Knutwil AG in the canton of Lucerne.