Shares in low-fare European carrier Virgin Express in early March were up 30 percent over the initial public offering in November 1997, but off 15 percent from its high of $23 reached in early January. Apart from some profit-taking, Solomon Smith Barney suggests the sluggishness in the stock is because of a one-day strike by pilots and worries that CEO Jonathan Ornstein and CFO Jim Swigart might return to the United States to run Mesa Air Group, in which both have a sizeable stake.
Encouraged by an 8.3-percent increase in student pilot starts in 1997, GA Team 2000 efforts this year include a series of cable television and magazine print ads. The TV ads will run from April 13 to June 28 and July 6 to August 23 on CNN Financial, The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, The Golf Channel, Speedvision and Wingspan, a new all-aviation channel scheduled to debut this month (January, page 30). Magazine ads will be designed for aviation as well as non-aviation publication
Lynton Group's recent purchase of Jet Systems at New Jersey's Morristown Airport makes the Group's Lynton Jet Center the sole FBO on the field. Jet Systems will continue to own and operate its remaining FBO-the Avitat facility at Westchester County Airport.
DOT's Standard Industry Fare Level (SIFL) rates until June 30 are: zero to 500 sm-$0.1729; 501 to 1,500 sm-$0.1318; more than 1,500 sm-$0.1267. The SIFL terminal charge is $31.60. SIFL rates are used to satisfy the IRS requirement for operators to compute the value of non-business transportation aboard employer-provided aircraft. The formula applies on a per-flight, per-person basis when a seat is occupied by a guest or family member not traveling on business. The rates normally are revised twice a year.
U.S. Customs will no longer base agents at Ohio's Akron Fulton Airport due to a lack of business. Only two aircraft were processed by customs in 1997. The airport still can be used for international arrivals, but with customs clearances provided by agents from Canton Regional Airport.
Meriam Instrument has introduced the Model 353-AI0900 Precision Altimeter Tester that, in one keystroke, displays altitude, rate of climb or leak-check results. This microprocessor-based static air data tester has an accuracy of plus/minus seven feet at sea level and plus/minus 38 feet at 36,000 feet. It includes all effects of linearity, repeatability, hysteresis and temperature over the range of 23 degrees F to 122 degrees F. Price: $1,125. Meriam Instrument, 10920 Madison Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44102. (216) 281-1100; fax: (216) 281-0228.
-- A melange of maintenance knowledge will be served up May 11-15 in San Antonio at the NBAA's 13th annual Maintenance Management Conference, Maintenance Manual Workshop and Inspection Authorization Renewal Certification Review. The conference on May 12-13 ($450 for members, $475 non-members) will cover maintenance challenges of an interior refurbishment, maintaining the glass cockpit and fuel farm operations.
Photograph: Christiansen: ``there should be a very careful examination as to whether [fractionals] should be Part 135.'' The issue is "operational control." Who controls the schedules for fractional-ownership corporate airplanes-the owners or the companies that operate them for the owners? The debate is raging and it appears the FAA may have the last word. Sheryl Israel, an aviation lawyer with the Washington, D.C.
AirCell received FCC approval to resume operations of its GA air-ground cellular voice/data telecommunications system under temporary "experimental" authority. In May 1997, the FCC banned the Louisville, Colo. company from continuing its evaluation after several major cellular providers made allegations of potential electronic interference. The FCC said that potential interference is likely to be low and transitory. AirCell has been trying to obtain permanent FCC approval since 1992 (January 1993, page 22).
Ronald A. Herman was promoted to vice president and general manager of this business aircraft engine overhaul and repair facility, which is a part of Sabreliner Corp.
The sands may be shifting beneath the regulations governing fractional ownership, but the concept itself has established a firm beachhead in business aviation. By year-end 1997, more than 1,000 owners had shares in 166 aircraft in EJA NetJets, Bombardier FlexJet and Raytheon Travel Air, according to data presented at New York-based Strategic Research Institute's fractional ownership conference in March. Raytheon forecasts fractional ownership overall will grow to 550 aircraft and 3,300 fractional owners by 2001.
Cessna expects full certification of its Citation Excel later this month at the earliest and retail deliveries to begin this summer, several months later than originally planned. When the Excel program was announced in October 1994, Cessna scheduled certification for fall 1997 and slated customer deliveries to begin in December 1997. The latest delay was caused by the need to fine-tune the Honeywell Primus 1000 flight director.
You'd think that the Clinton administration had more than enough to worry about these days without futzing around with issues that already have been resolved.
The ground-based infrastructure designed to support wide-area augmentation of GPS position information data is now being fielded. Raytheon, which recently acquired the Hughes division responsible for developing the WAAS infrastructure, had five reference stations in place as of mid March, and a total of 25 are scheduled to be installed by June 3. The FAA plans to begin commissioning sites in May. The reference stations calculate a correction to the GPS signal, and broadcast a correction matrix to aircraft via a geosynchronous communications satellite.
If you are noticing excessive EMI in your avionics while operating on an airport at night and don't understand why, the cause might be constant current regulators (CCRs) in runway landing lights, according to FAA Southern Region officials. Region officials say the FAA is developing an advisory circular that will describe new technical specifications for CCRs to reduce their potential for causing radio interference.
Trajen Flight Support opened its new general aviation terminal in early March at Sacramento Mather Airport, formerly Mather Air Force Base. The 15,000-square-foot facility includes a crew lounge, flight planning room and tenant offices.
When you go it alone on a trip, you have to shoulder it all: flight planning, securing weather information, fueling the aircraft and piloting. Hiring a second pilot can go a long way toward easing that workload. But how do you find a qualified pilot, what can you do to check out their qualifications, and under what circumstances does it make the most sense to hire a second crewmember? B/CA asked several owner/pilots about their experiences. While safety was always the paramount issue, the specific reasons for hiring a safety pilot varied:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta ruled in late February that TPI International Airways should have a 1993 DOT Inspector General report that it said would exonerate the small cargo carrier from alleged violations leading to its FAA shutdown in August 1990. The decision has major ramifications and will become "case law" regarding the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), B/CA was told.
The 42 aircraft reported stolen in 1997 is nearly double the 24 reported in 1996, an upturn in thefts not seen since statistics were first compiled in 1980, says the Aviation Crime Prevention Institute of Hagerstown, Md. ACPI figures show that California led the nation with 20 thefts. Single-engine Cessnas accounted for 29 aircraft. A King Air and a Learjet also were reported stolen (February, page 24).
Photograph: SJ30-2 certification target remains mid 1999. Whether the SJ30-2 is certificated under the commuter standards of FAR Part 23 or the normal standards of Part 23, the business jet will be a performer and will be certificated, Sino Swearingen asserts. As the San Antonio-based company awaits an FAA decision on its request to permit certification of the SJ30-2 to the commuter standards, Sino Swearingen continues to develop the aircraft to meet its latest revised cer-tification target of mid 1999.
SkyWest surprised the regional airline industry in late February with a firm order for 20 new Embraer Brasilias plus 40 options just as some of the industry's more knowledgeable pundits were declaring the turboprop dead, mort, finis! The age of the regional jet has arrived. Right?
