Business & Commercial Aviation

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.

AirFlyte has changed its name to Rectrix MRO. The rebranding stems from the 2013 acquisition of AirFlyte by Rectrix and reflects the company's corporate MRO services and presents a united brand.

Bombardier Commercial Aircraft has delivered its first CRJ200 Special Freighter to Gulf & Caribbean Cargo, its launch customer. The jets are converted from the passenger version by Aeronautical Engineers of Miami.

The FAA has issued new rules that make it easier and cheaper for certain recreational general aviation pilots to gain required medical certifications to fly.

FlightServ, an independent fixed-base operation, opened Jan. 1 at the Trenton-Mercer Airport in New Jersey. The FBO was founded by a team from its sister company, Aviation Charters.

The FAA is proposing a dozen new high-altitude jet routes along the U.S. East Coast as part of a modernization strategy to replace legacy ground-referenced routes with GPS-supported, performance-based navigation routes.

Air Methods Corp. has acquired three Airbus H145 helicopters for hospital-based air medical transport, to replace older aircraft now in service.

JetSuiteX has begun selling seats for charter service to and from Santa Monica, California. Flights begin Feb. 6 to Las Vegas, San Jose and San Diego County airports.

In December, FAA issued its final rule on the new Part 23 which is intended to reduce the time and cost to certificate aircraft under 19,000 lb.

Piper Aircraft has taken a firm order for 50 Piper Archer single-engine aircraft from China Air Shuttle. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2017.

Italian helicopter maker Leonardo-Finmeccanica is finding eager buyers among the Chinese. The company reports that it has sold more than 180 helicopters of various types to operators there.

Indicative of the community's growing importance to China, business aircraft operators have joined to form the Beijing Business Aviation Association.

Cirrus Aircraft has launched the G6, the latest upgrade of its SR series of single-engine piston aircraft. The new models feature Garmin's Cirrus Perspective+ flight deck.

Executive AirShare, the Lenexa, Kansas-based fractional aircraft provider, has moved into hangar and office space at Col. James Jabara Airport in northeast Wichita from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport in west Wichita.

328 Support Services GmbH and Duncan Aviation have partnered to deliver and certify a full cabin completion on a Bombardier Challenger 604.

LifePort, a Sikorsky company, has received FAA airworthiness certification for its Patient Loading Utility System for Pilatus PC-12/47 and PC-12/47E 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.

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.

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.

Jet-A and avgas per-gallon fuel prices—December 2016