Midwest Express Holdings has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering (IPO) of 5.140-million shares of common stock. Holdings is a newly formed Delaware corporation that will own both Midwest Express Airlines and its subsidiary, Astral Aviation, which operates as Skyway Airlines. Both are owned by Kimberly-Clark, which will retain approximately 20 to 30 percent of Midwest Express. Salomon Brothers, Goldman Sachs&Company and Robert W. Baird&Company are managing the underwriting group.
The Air Line Pilots Association unit at Delta, meanwhile, is seeking an injunction that would prevent the airline from turning over those jet routes to ASA. In a petition filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the union said that Connection carriers traditionally have flown aircraft of 70 seats or less.
The under $4-million Premier I, the first business jet designed by Raytheon Aircraft, is scheduled to fly in late 1997 and receive FAA single-pilot approval in late 1998. Formally introduced at the NBAA convention in September, the Premier I is a six passenger, 11,450-pound aircraft that will be powered by two Williams-Rolls Royce FJ44-2 turbofans rated at 2,300 pounds-thrust each.
Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota, in partnership with Hamilton Standard, hopes to receive FAA certification by the end of the year of an aircraft version of the V-8 engine that powers Toyota's luxury car, the Lexus. The 360-hp, water-cooled engine features twin turbochargers and a dual-channel full-authority digital engine control (FADEC). Hamilton Standard is supplying the FADEC in addition to a four-blade, composite propeller. Most recently, the engine has been flying as the right-side powerplant on a Cessna 340 testbed aircraft.
Another try at certificating a P&WC PW305-powered Falcon 20 retrofit is under way. If all goes as planned, Greenwich Aircraft Corporation (GAC) of Sausalito, California will receive FAA approval of the modification in 1997, and GAMCO of Saudi Arabia and BizJet International in Tulsa will perform customer conversions. An earlier attempt at a similar program, led by the now-defunct Volpar Aircraft of Van Nuys, California, failed five years ago to achieve certification after more than 50 hours of flight-test in a PW305-powered Falcon 20.
The U.S. Department of Commerce selected Sam Williams, Ph.D. to receive its 1995 National Medal of Technology. Dr. Williams was honored for his ``unequaled achievements as a gifted entrepreneur, risk-taker and engineering genius in making the U.S.A. number one in small gas-turbine-engine technology and competitiveness, and for his phenomenal leadership and vision in revitalizing the depressed United States general aviation, business jet and trainer jet aircraft industry.'' The award is scheduled to be presented to Dr. Williams at White House ceremonies this month.
British, French and Italian civil-aviation authorities have certificated the new 46- to 50-passenger ATR 42-500. At a cruise speed of 305 knots, the -500 produces a lot more ``umph'' than earlier models. It is powered by Pratt&Whitney Canada PW127E turboprops, with six-blade Hamilton Standard Ratier 568F propellers.
One of the most effective ways to modernize an aircraft-and preserve its value-is by refurbishing the cockpit. Upgrading to new avionics and other instrumentation can pay off in reduced crew workload, enhanced safety, additional capability, improved dispatch reliability, increased efficiency and higher resale value.
Delta Connection Atlantic Southeast Airlines-in a competition that saw two British Aerospace subsidiaries pitted against one another-has selected the 88-passenger BAe 146-200 quadjet as its first jet aircraft. The carrier will place four in operation on December 1, and a fifth on February 1, 1996. It holds options on an additional 15, which would place a value of $160 million on the deal. Sources tell B/CA that ASA obtained extremely good five-year lease rates on the aircraft-as low as $60,000 per month, and perhaps much lower.
Twelve RAA associate members have been named to the trade group's new Associate Member Council (AMC). During the RAA's annual spring meeting in San Antonio, the AMC was voted into existence expressly to: -- Provide a source of specific expertise for the RAA on technical matters; -- Provide a forum to voice associate-member interests and concerns to the RAA board of directors and President's Council; -- Provide resources to assist in developing industry positions on issues; and
The latest members of the top management team at The New Piper Aircraft include Larry Bardon as director of marketing and sales. Bardon was previously with Pilatus Aircraft's U.S. office. Dan Elliott, most recently with Rohr Industries and a 13-year Piper veteran, returned to Piper as manager of manufacturing. And Margaret Napolitan left a four-year hitch at the NTSB to join Piper as manager of air safety. The New Piper Aircraft, Incorporated emerged earlier this year from Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. (See also this month's Observer.)
Society of Automotive Engineers, at the request of the FAA, has formed a task group to write a ``recommended practice'' for measuring the intensity and flash rates of strobes. The group includes members from lighting manufacturers, the FAA, trade organizations and the scientific community. A draft report is scheduled to be available in July 1996. The report will contain guidelines on when strobes should be repaired or replaced, among other recommendations.
An FAA proposal to modify the Salt Lake City International Airport Class B Airspace area would maintain the ceiling at 10,000 feet msl, subdivide and redefine five existing sub-areas by altering their floors and boundaries, and create nine additional sub-areas. If the revision is adopted as proposed, the Salt Lake City Class B Airspace would contain a total of 14 sub-areas.
Delta Connection SkyWest is operating with dual codes out of its Los Angeles hub effective September 1. The St. George, Utah-based carrier has signed a code-sharing agreement with Continental to operate simultaneously as a Continental Connection. It will not affect the regional's current relationship with Delta.
There were five new jets delivered to customers in the United States in August compared to 10 such sales in August 1994. Cessna Aircraft added two more Citation Ultras to its tally, along with another CitationJet. One Gulfstream IVSP was delivered, as was one Learjet 31A. There were 33 resales recorded in August 1995 compared to 88 in the same month last year.
Northwest Airlink Business Express, as expected, will begin seasonal service between Northwest's Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) hub and Aspen/Snowmass, Colorado. The carrier will use a 69-passenger Avro RJ70 in the market. The carrier, which has three Avro quadjets, will offer two daily roundtrips beginning December 16 and running through March 31, 1996. The service could prove to be a shot in the arm for BizEx's jet operations, which are in the red.
The National Transportation Safety Board is focusing on propeller-blade fatigue in the August 21 crash of an Atlantic Southeast Embraer Brasilia near Atlanta. Five of 29 aboard perished. Investigators were looking for part of a blade the separated from the left engine while examining the 13-inch stub that remained after the airplane came down. They also were investigating why the aircraft did not continue to operate with its remaining good engine.
A Canadian firm has started marketing telephone systems designed to provide voice, fax and data services on business jets via American Mobile Satellite Corporation's AMSC-1 satellite. Cal Corporation of Ottawa, Ontario said its CalQuest phone services will be available in AMSC-1's coverage area, which extends from Alaska to the Panama Canal-including the Caribbean-and 200 miles off the North American coasts. The cost of phone equipment starts at $15,500.
Raytheon's Beech Aircraft has a long history with Collins Commercial Avionics, positioning the electronics firm well to be a key supplier for the Premier I. The challenge was to install new technology without driving up the cost. The solution was to design more functional integration into the displays and add more power to the well-proven, integrated avionics processing system (IAPS) that forms the central hub of the hub-and-spoke architecture of the Pro Line 21 avionics suite. (See Pro Line 21 report in this issue.)
There were two new turboprop sales to domestic customers reported in August, including one Raytheon Starship 1A and one Pilatus PC-XII. Last year, there were four new-turboprop sales listed for the same month. Resales totaled 25 compared to 74 the year before. July revisions affected neither the July nor year-to-date totals for new-turboprop sales. However, 54 additional resales posted brought the July total to 59. For the year, 32 new turboprops have been delivered to U.S. operators and 512 previously owned jetprops have changed hands.
