John was editor of Aviation Week's ShowNews for nearly two decades. He retired in 2020. His background in business journalism before joining Aviation Week includes stints at Reuters, the American Banker daily banking newspaper and as business news editor at the Milwaukee Journal and the Cincinnati Enquirer.
A lifelong aviation enthusiast, John has been a private pilot for 34 years and won an award at EAA Oshkosh for his restoration of a vintage British Auster army spotter aircraft. He is currently building a 1920s Staaken Flitzer biplane from plans. John attended his first Farnborough Air Show in 1952, when just eight months old.
Demand for cabin work and heavy maintenance is driving expansion at both the Canadian and U.S. facilities of Flying Colours, the Ontario-based business jet completions specialist. In St. Louis, Flying Colours has doubled its woodworking shop in a 40,300-sq.-ft. building that will furnish cabinetry for both centers and accommodate upholstery, avionics and engineering, while in Peterborough, Canada, two dedicated paint booths have been added and ground has been cleared for another hangar planned for 2018.
Airframe manufacturers have been investing heavily through the depressed business jet market to bring at least 20 new models to market over the next six years.
More than 100 business jets are now flying with the Honeywell-Inmarsat JetConneX global inflight broadband service, with another 50 expected by the end of the year.
