The scenario was all too familiar in the regional airline business. A $1.7- million net loss in calendar/fiscal 1993 grew to a whopping $25.1-million net loss in 1994. Something was very wrong. Washington-Dulles-based United Express carrier Atlantic Coast Airlines appeared to be another victim of a senior partner reputed for eating its young.
Photograph: The Honeywell cockpit for the Hawker 800XP. Ahead of the Hawker's distinctive ``ram's horn'' yokes, pilots will find five small-format CRTs flanked by a blend of traditional analog gauges. The factory-standard avionics package is based on the Honeywell SPZ-8000 integrated avionics system.
Business aircraft operators and FBOs continue to navigate a strained, though mutually necessary relationship. So what else is new, except that by now, you'd think they'd have figured each other out. The dominant sentiments rising out of this year's B/CA survey of aircraft operators are that the operators believe FBOs are pricing their fuel at comfortable margins-and, in some cases, are gouging their customers.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) sponsored a meeting in May to address operators' questions about ``how and where the pieces fit'' for complying with special ATC procedures now in place for the Olympic Games in July and August in Atlanta. To augment FAA information, NATCA and other speakers supplied ``tips'' for easing compliance, particularly on the procedures applying to VFR reservations.
Photograph: The ACRM program was developed under an FAA grant. Team members include the FAA, Atlantic Coast Airlines, researchers from George Mason University and private consultants. THE ACRM GRANT Atlantic Coast Airlines' advanced cockpit resource management (ACRM) program is the result of a grant from the FAA's human factors office. According to the FAA's Eleana Edens, a research psychologist specializing in air carrier training issues, the research was undertaken in response to the agency's airline ``safety summit'' (B/CA, February, page 39).
Photograph: The ``bottom line'' of B/CA's 1996 operator survey is that flight department managements are generally skeptical of FBO claims that their profits are marginal, those purchasing the most fuel being the least sympathetic. Some operators are countering what they feel is excessive fuel pricing by joining purchasing cooperatives or maintaining fuel farms at their home bases and tankering on trips.
Horizon Air was virtually shut down April 24 when fire at a US West telephone switching station eliminated the airline's ability to communicate with its aircraft. The station served that carrier's central dispatch facility in Portland, Oregon, and forced the cancellation of at least 300 flights between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
FAA has released the second edition of the Human Factors Guide for Aviation Maintenance. The Windows-compatible CD-ROM, with over 2,000 pages of text and graphics, improves on the earlier edition by adding maintenance resource management chapters covering communication, human error and information transfer. CD-ROMs are available free from Scientific Atlanta at (770) 491-1100. Text versions are available for $45 from the Government Printing Office at (202) 512-1800 (stock #050-007-01098-2).
The NTSB, concerned along with the rest of the aviation community over the growing number of ATC center computer glitches, recently completed a special investigation into ATC equipment outages (NTSB/SIR-96-01).
Participation in the current essential air service (EAS) program is a ``bad business decision,'' says Great Lakes Aviation Chairman Doug Voss. He told a recent hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee that subsidies should be replaced by an exemption to aviation excise taxes and proposed user fees as well as an expanded exemption from passenger facility charges and increased access to slot-controlled airports.
AAR Corporation (Elk Grove Village, IL)-Don Ward is the new president and general manager of AAR Oklahoma, an aircraft parts supplier's maintenance and aircraft services facility. AMR Services (Dallas)-G. Jim Gunn was promoted to president of this FBO chain. He succeeds Tom Metzler, who left the company. BFGoodrich Aerospace Avionics Systems (Grand Rapids, MI)-Adrienne Stevens was named vice president of sales and marketing for this avionics manufacturer.
National Ocean Service (NOS) has contracted for an additional 106 Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) to be installed at small, towered airports from the middle of this year to mid 1997. Although more than 700 of 868 AAI Corporation ASOS units ordered by the NOS have been installed, the FAA has commissioned only 62. Massachusetts' New Bedford Regional Airport is the latest commissioning. The entire ASOS program has been steeped in controversy and delay (B/CA, November 1992, page 32 and July 1995, page 20).
San Antonio-based Fairchild Aircraft said at press time it was negotiating with Daimler-Benz Aerospace to acquire the German company's Dornier Aircraft unit. Dornier's main product is the 30-passenger Do-328 twin-turboprop commuter, while Fairchild builds the 19-passenger Metro twin-turboprop commuter. At press time, the sale to Fairchild was far from a done deal: A letter of agreement had not been signed between the two firms, and DASA said other companies were expressing interest in buying Dornier.
FAA not only refuses to support business and general aviation efforts to prevent Chicago Mayor Richard Daley from closing Meigs Field (B/CA, April, page 22), but also the DOT has appointed one of Daley's top legal aides to head the FAA's entire airports program. Susan Kurland, who managed legal activities for Meigs and other Chicago airports, now is the FAA's associate administrator for airports. One of her duties will be to administer the agency's $1.4-billion annual airport grant program.
Illinois DOT's order for four Automated Weather Observing Systems (AWOS) brings to 90 the number of AWOS units Artais Weather Check has supplied to Great Lakes region states. The recent order will result in installations at Fairfield Municipal Airport, Morris Municipal Airport, Pontiac Municipal Airport and Sparta Community Airport. AWOS continuously broadcasts temperature, dew point, wind speed, visibility and cloud height.
St. Louis-based Sabreliner Corporation will purchase the AlliedSignal TFE731 engine overhaul business, including core zone inspection capability, from UNC Incorporated of Annapolis, Maryland. UNC agreed to sell the business as part of its proposed acquisition of Garrett Aviation Services, which already is a factory-level TFE731 overhaul facility (B/CA, March, page 31). The sale was made to satisfy government anti-trust concerns and clears the way for UNC to wrap up the Garrett acquisition. AlliedSignal officials in Phoenix support the proposed transaction.
Large companies are likely to limit the number and level of employees who travel together, according to two recent surveys. Rochester, Wisconsin-based Runzheimer International says its survey of 345 companies revealed that only 41 percent have a policy that limits employees traveling together. However, 68 percent of the largest companies in the survey have limits, compared to just 17 percent of the smaller firms.
A project that JR Engineering of Kirkland, Washington and Vertical Aviation of Sanford, Florida are undertaking promises to significantly reduce exterior and interior noise of a Papillion Airways Sikorsky S-55 used for scenic tours over the Grand Canyon. The joint effort, which could be applied to other helicopter models, involves reengining, installation of intake and exhaust mufflers and extensive modifications of the gear box and rotor. Certification is expected soon.
Attendees hoping to visit Disneyland or other sights near and around Anaheim, California during the NBAA's 51st annual convention in 1998 will instead have to amuse themselves with the glitz of Las Vegas.
After January 1, 1997, VHF transceivers with 320 channels (50 kHz spacing) will no longer be authorized for use as aircraft radios. As of that date, radios must have 720 channels (25 kHz channel spacing) and meet more stringent frequency stability tolerances. The Federal Communications Commission set the cutoff date five years ago, and virtually all business aircraft radios now have 720 channels (B/CA, September 1991, page 28). However, many small personal aircraft still have 320-channel transceivers.
Cessna Aircraft and Raytheon Aircraft are investing $100,000 each to be members of Wichita State University's new Aircraft Design and Manufacturing Research Center. The goal of the Center, which also has attracted other airframe manufacturers' expertise and funds, is to ``significantly reduce costs and improve the quality of aircraft design and manufacturing.'' Initial projects include research into deicing using ``shape memory'' alloy composites and an ``integrated design approach'' to aircraft interior noise reduction.
The FAA's recent decision to delay full implementation of the Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) program in the North Atlantic (NAT) track system perhaps for as long as a year brought a feeling of relief to many corporate aircraft operators who regularly transit the Atlantic. Instead of full implementation, the FAA has agreed to a gradual phase-in schedule. The plan calls for 1,000-foot separation minimums to be implemented in January 1997-initially between FL 330 and FL 370, instead of FL 290 and FL 410 as originally planned.
Avionics equipment might not be the only requirement for admission to Central Eastern Pacific (CEPAC) and Northern Pacific tracks during periods of high traffic density. Maintaining 50-mile nose-to-tail separation also depends on sequential aircraft flying at the same speed. Most transoceanic airliners cruise at 0.82 IMN to 0.86 IMN on average, but long-range business aircraft typically cruise at 0.75 IMN to 0.80 IMN to conserve fuel.
The Learjet 60 is the latest business jet on which the Collins GPS-4000 sensor has received FAA certification. The system enables aircraft with FMSes to perform GPS-based en route and terminal navigation, as well as non-precision approaches. Also, the equipment is capable of being upgraded so it can be used for sole-means navigation and precision approaches, including use of the Wide Area Augmentation System and Local Area Augmentation System. The GPS-4000 sensor processes up to 12 GPS satellite transmissions, although only a minimum of four satellites is required.
In a bid to increase durability and drive down maintenance costs, Allied-Signal Aerospace is offering a new upgrade for TFE731-3 powerplants. The -3D program includes a new fourth-stage compressor disk and seal system, a new controlled-fit combustor, a more durable HP turbine nozzle assembly, a new HP turbine rotor, new first-, second- and third-stage LP turbine rotors and new carbon seals.
