Business & Commercial Aviation

Million Air celebrated its grand opening at Westchester County Airport, New York, in May. The 52,000-sq.-ft. hangar is part of Million Air's $80 million expansion and upgrade at the airport. The two-story hangar features 28-ft.-high doors, radiant heated floors, eight customizable offices with storage space and 7.25 acres of ramp space.

Business Jet Center at Dallas Love Field is returning to the Paragon Network. It is the only award-winning FBO at Love Field and continues to place at the top of operator surveys.

The Jetex Global FBO Network is charged up over electric aircraft, so much so that it has joined U.S. startup Wright Electric to develop charging stations for its 30 FBOs.

Flying in Alaska and Canada’s northern provinces is tough: It takes ingenuity, skill and constant vigilance. Complacency is a killer.

Weston Aviation, a UK- and Ireland-based business aviation and FBO specialist, has achieved continuous growth since its opening in 2011 at Humberside International Airport.

There are airline pilots who make far northern or even transpolar flights on a regular basis. Business aviators become familiar with the requirements for these flights, but we seldom do it often enough for it to be considered routine.

Piper Aircraft delivered 34 aircraft during the first quarter of 2018, as compared to 25 aircraft a year earlier.

There were smiles all around in Stans, Switzerland, because Pilatus delivered 115 aircraft in 2017, grossed sales worth $987 million and closed out the year certifying and delivering the first PC-24 twinjet.

Textron Aviation recently chalked up orders for 52 Cessna 172 Skyhawks from two Cessna-authorized sales and service representatives in China, with deliveries expected to be completed this year.

Citation VII, the second-generation Citation CE650, built from 1992 to 2000, made up for dozens of shortcomings found in the original model.

Textron Aviation has halted production of its Cessna Turbo Skyhawk JT-A, which was certified by the FAA and European Aviation Safety Agency just last year.

Clay Lacy Aviation has opened a 65,000-sq.-ft. aircraft maintenance facility at Waterbury Oxford Airport in Oxford, Connecticut.

Within days, the aviation world began to understand the dangers of volcanic ash, its effect on turbofan engines, and how to survive an encounter.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao on May 9-10 revealed the local, state and tribal governments that her department has selected to participate in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Integration Pilot Program (IPP) to test small drone applications within their jurisdictions.

Aero Star Aviation has received FAA Part 145 repair station certification for its Dallas Love Field operation. The facility provides maintenance for Embraer Phenom 100s and 300s and capabilities on Cessna Citation 500s and 600s.

J.A. Air Center in Sugar Grove, Illinois, has joined the Air Elite Network. Based at Aurora Municipal Airport, the FBO has a 11,000-sq.-ft. terminal facility, 100,000 sq. ft. of heated hangar space and a 20,000-sq.-ft. arrival canopy.

Gulfstream Aerospace plans to build a $55 million, 202,000-sq.-ft. service center at its Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport campus in Georgia, and employ an additional 200 people there.

Fred Schrameck, the former CEO of Epic Air of Bend, Oregon, recently pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud for a scheme involving his consumer aviation company, Aircraft Completion Services.

The Town of East Hampton, New York, cannot divert airport revenue to pay for legal fees resulting from its unsuccessful effort to restrict access at East Hampton Airport, according to an appeal to the FAA filed by the National Business Aviation Association.

Fractional aircraft operator Flexjet plans to move its Richardson, Texas, operations to the Braniff Center at Dallas Love Field. A private terminal and 60,000-sq.-ft. maintenance hangar are scheduled to open in mid-2019.

News of business aviation promotions, appointments and honors.

National Distillers' Gulfstream II became the first corporate jet to fly the Atlantic Ocean nonstop from Teterboro, New Jersey,to Gatwick, England. Time en route for the 3,045-nm flight was 6 hr. and 55 min.

A privacy watchdog organization has filed suit against the FAA’s Drone Advisory Committee, charging that the industry-government group has failed to release records and make subcommittee and task group meetings open to the public.

The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements reports that among those U.S. workers exposed to radiation while on the job, flight crews get the largest annual effective dose.

Duncan Aviation has moved its Satellite Avionics Shop at Fulton County Airport in Atlanta to a new facility at the Hill Aircraft FBO.