Pilatus Delivers PC-24 to U-Haul

When you think about U-Haul, you probably envision a small or medium sized truck used for personal moving. But this week, the company took delivery of one of the most advanced business jets on the market – the Pilatus PC-24. Featuring an orange paint scheme reminiscent of the design on the easily identifiable trucks, the Super Versatile Jet will be based in Phoenix, Arizona. U-Haul is already operating two PC-12 turboprops and will soon add a second PC-24 to the fleet.

“When Pilatus announced the new jet, we were confident that it would be a real workhorse that, alongside our two PC-12s, would help us manage our growing operations throughout North America,” Joe Shoen, chairman of Amerco, U-Haul’s parent company said as he took delivery of the airplane at the Pilatus facility in Broomfield, Colorado.

“Joe Shoen and his flight department have been on board with Pilatus and the PC-24 since we first introduced the concept to them more than five years ago,” said Thomas Bosshard, CEO of Pilatus Business Aircraft Ltd, the U.S. subsidiary of Pilatus. “Throughout the development and certification of the aircraft they’ve been looking forward to this day, and we are thrilled to celebrate it with them.”

The Pilatus PC-24 is the first business jet designed to land on unpaved airstrips. It has an impressive climb performance of more than 4,000 fpm and can cruise as fast as 440 knots, yet its stall speed can be as low as 82 kias.

U-Haul's PC-24 is the 27th production version of the Swiss business jet, and the fleet has accumulated more than 4,000 hours to date. That's an impressive number of deliveries for this clean-sheet design, which first entered the market a little more than one year ago. The PC-24 was one of Flying's Editor's Choice Awards winners.