Business & Commercial Aviation

With more than 400 letters of intent in hand for its new Model 505 Jet Ranger X, Bell Helicopter is working fast to convert those into purchase orders, after the five-seater was awarded type certification by Transport Canada in late December.

It looks like the gap in Embraer's business jet lineup—an entry in the ultra-long-range category—will not be filled any time soon. Speaking to an editorial roundtable of Aviation Week Network editors in Washington in December, Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, president and CEO of the Brazilian aircraft maker, said a recent assessment of the marketplace revealed that the Legacy 450 and 500 “can cover 98.5% of the business jet missions in the world.

Piper Aircraft has received a type certificate for its single-engine M600 from Transport Canada, so the company now can deliver the aircraft to the Canadian market.

Jet-A and avgas per-gallon fuel prices—January 2017

Canada-based Wanfeng Aviation, part of China's Wanfeng group of companies, has acquired a 60% interest in Diamond Aircraft Industries.

Constant Aviation has expanded its aircraft-on-the-ground mobile team coverage in the central U.S. with the addition of Denver and Rifle, Colorado.

UK-based BBA Aviation and Gama Aviation have joined their U.S. aircraft management and charter businesses, with a combined fleet of 200 aircraft.

Triumph Aerostructures has initiated litigation against Bombardier to recover $340 million in additional development costs incurred by a redesign of the Global 7000 wing. In response, Bombardier planned to sue Triumph for losses resulting from the program's two-year delay.

Textron Aviation is incorporating Garmin's upgraded G1000 NXi integrated flight deck into its piston product line, including the Cessna Skyhawk 172, Skylane 182, Turbo Stationair HDT206, Beechcraft Bonanza G36 and Beechcraft Baron G58.

Dassault Aviation netted orders for just 21 Falcons in 2016, further confirming a sluggish business jet market.

On Jan. 10, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving Flytenow, an online flight-sharing service that wanted the high court to overturn lower court decisions that supported FAA's prohibition of the activity.

Austro Engine GmbH, a division of Diamond Aircraft Group, has reached 1 million flight hours for its AE300 jet fuel aviation engine.

Astronics Max-Viz, a division of Astronics Corp., was awarded certification for its Max-Viz 1200 Enhanced Vision System for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.

Take some time to put together a plan that offers the opportunity for you and your flight team to gain additional knowledge and continue to grow your operation’s safety culture.

For the business aviation community, at once both a broad but thin and rarefied sliver of society and the body politic, the way forward is rife with questions, opportunities and concerns.

David Sneed discusses the scope and operations of Delta Private Jets, which provides charter and jet card services to companies and individuals.

A new report, commissioned by the Los Angeles World Airports, has found that the Van Nuys Airport contributes $2 billion to the local economy and supports more than 10,000 jobs. Van Nuys Airport tenants are in the midst of capital improvement projects valued at $43.4 million. The study is a “success story about how airport businesses . . . can join together on issues that rise above individual tenant concerns to create positive change, jobs and economic growth,” said Curt Castagna, Van Nuys Airport president.

Canada has selected the Airbus C295W twin turboprop as winner of its fixed-wing search and rescue competition, fully 12 years after the government originally called for a modern platform to replace six 40-year-old de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo turboprops. The $2.4 billion (Canadian) deal involves 16 aircraft and five years of in-service support, as well as an option for 15 years of additional service, which would raise the total value to $4.7 billion.

Even before taking office, President-elect Donald Trump is shaking up the business world, taking credit for keeping UTC jobs in Indiana that might have gone to Mexico. “Companies are not going to leave the United States anymore without consequences,” Trump says. The parent company of Pratt & Whitney may have been motivated to stay to remain in a Trump administration’s good graces.

StandardAero is offering global high-speed broadband connectivity for the business aviation market for Falcon aircraft. Working with Honeywell’s new JetWave Ka-band system, the cabin completion and MRO facility has completed an STC for the Falcon 900B, C and EX series, as well as for the Falcon 50 series. The new system was first fitted for a Falcon 900EX operator. Documentation has also been submitted for European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) validation.

Astronics Corp. has been selected as a supplier for Textron Aviation's new Cessna Denali single-engine turboprop. Astronics will supply an aircraft power system that features Astronics’ Corepower Induction Starter Generator System and Corepower Electronic Circuit Breaker Unit and the 28-Volt DC Empower In-Seat Power Supply. The Empower in-seat power systems allow passengers to simultaneously use and charge multiple personal electronic devices in the air. The Denali’s first flight is expected in 2018.

West Star Aviation has received a supplemental type certificate for the installation of a Future Air Navigation System (FANS) Controller Pilot Data Link Communications application on Dassault Falcon 900B aircraft. The application updates and supplements current communications equipment and allows direct exchange of text-based messages between the controller and pilot and improves communication capabilities in areas that usually require third-party HF communication relay such as oceanic and en route airspace.

Business aviation professionals say they are optimistic about the Middle East private jet market, a new survey shows. In research from Global Jet Capital, a provider of financing for corporate aircraft, 59% of 200 business aviation professionals surveyed said the Middle East private jet market is currently attractive for finance companies, while 15% say it is unattractive. Over the next three years, 41% of those surveyed said they expect the market to become more attractive, while 13% said they believe it will become less appealing.

Marco Tulio Pellegrini, CEO of Embraer Executive Jets, believes that for business aviation to break free of its nearly decade-long slump it needs to change the way it operates. Accordingly, Embraer is proposing a business model in which leasing companies buy business aircraft to lease to charter companies that then operate scheduled point-to-point services between cities with high business-passenger traffic.

GI Aviation has earned an air operator's certificate from the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority to enable the start of commercial flights with its fleet of Pilatus PC-12NG aircraft in the Gulf region. GI Aviation has been working to begin new entry-level service for business aviation in the region, which has been dominated by larger business jets. GI Aviation worked with Hendell Aviation in Finland to help it obtain the air operator’s certificate.