Business & Commercial Aviation

Sierra Nevada Corp. in September filed a bid protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) over the U.S. Army's decision to cancel a competition to replace its Beech C-12 Huron and Fairchild C-26 Metroliner turboprops.

Flying Colours has completed maintenance, avionics upgrades and extensive interior reconfiguration for a pair of Bombardier Challenger 850 aircraft for an undisclosed Fortune 500 company.

Luxaviation Helicopters has acquired Starspeed, a British helicopter management, charter and training company,

Satcom Direct has become the first service provider to activate the Inmarsat Jet ConneX technology for a Brazilian registered executive aircraft, the company said.

A new forecast by JetNet IQ predicts demand for 8,436 new business jets valued at $223 billion at list prices for 2017-26. Company says percentage of used business jets on the market is at its lowest level in more than nine years.

C&L Aerospace and Securaplane Technologies have developed a Supplemental Type Certificate for the Securaplane sealed acid batteries for Saab 340 aircraft. The two companies have entered into an agreement that designates C&L as the worldwide distributor for the batteries. The batteries are maintenance free and directly replace existing nickel-cadmium batteries.

MRO provider Constant Aviation says it has more than doubled its automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) sales compared to the same time one year ago.

SevenJet Private Travel has expanded its aircraft maintenance facility in Clearwater, Florida, where it offers light aircraft maintenance, inspections and other services for Piaggio, Avanti, King Air, Citation, Beechcraft and other aircraft.

CAE Oxford Aviation Academy in Mesa, Arizona, has placed an order for its second CJ1+ Level 5 Flight Training Device from Frasca International.

Texas Turbine Conversions has received European Aviation Safety Agency approval for Hartzell Propeller's four-blade composite swept propeller designed for single-engine Supervan 900 aircraft.

Seeker Aircraft America has formed a partnership with KAHA Aviation Solutions, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as it expands into a new market.

French manufacturer Daher has opened an aerostructures manufacturing and logistics site in Queretaro, Mexico. to produce doors for Airbus A320 emergency exits and cargo bays.

Clay Lacy Aviation in Seattle has earned the first North American IS-BAH Stage II registration after undergoing a rigorous third-party audit, resulting in the first stage of the registration. Only three other ground-handling operations have reached the milestone.

Business aviation flights swelled by 28% Aug. 21, as pilots and passengers headed for airports located in the path of totality during the solar eclipse, according to Argus International TraqPak data.

VistaJet has launched VistaJet Direct, a digital membership app that provides members access to empty-leg flights on VistaJet's fleet of more than 70 aircraft.

Readers' Feedback (October 2017) Letters To The Editor

The increasingly ubiquitous weather information now available to pilots in flight is largely behind an FAA move to decommission 30% of the approximately 2,100 remote communications outlets (RCOs) used to provide mostly general aviation pilots with weather and advisory information.

Prompted by a brutal 2016 wildfire season, Los Angeles County has purchased two Sikorsky S-70i helicopters for conversion to Firehawk firefighting and other missions.

Continental Motors Group has signed a letter of intent to develop its new $25 million, 250,000-sq.-ft. headquarters and manufacturing facility at the Mobile, Alabama, Aeroplex.

Houston billionaire and businessman Toby Neugebuer is the launch customer for Nextant Aerospace's Challenger 604XT, featuring a Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion flight deck.

Gulfstream Aerospace is launching a Connectivity Service program, which includes a bundled suite of inflight internet, voice and entertainment offerings for Gulfstream operators.

Caverton Helicopters, a subsidiary of Caverton Offshore Support Group in Lagos, Nigeria, has signed for eight Bell 407 GXP helicopters along with Customer Advantage Plans support for them. Deliveries are scheduled to begin later this year.

With firm orders for 12 of its new SKYe SH09 rotorcraft and letters of interest for about 100 more, Marenco Swiss Helicopters recently began flying its third prototype and anticipates adding a fourth to the certification program in early 2018.

Pilatus is ceasing production of its PC-6 Porter multirole aircraft, which has been produced without interruption since 1959. Production will end in early 2019.

Gulfstream Aerospace's fleet of G280 super-midsize business jets has accumulated more than 100,000 flight hours in less than five years.