Business & Commercial Aviation

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

For as little as $10 million, you can buy a Legacy 650, an aircraft that can fly eight passengers from London to New York, Beijing to Moscow, Singapore to Sydney or Sao Paulo to Miami.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The price for admission into today's FAA-run ATC system is a tax schedule that varies by category of activity. The airlines pay through a combination of taxes—the Passenger Facility Tax, per-takeoff fee and a 4.3 cents/gal. fuel tax. General aviation is divided between turbine and piston, with the former taxed 21.9 cents/gal. and the latter assessed 19.5 cents/gal. of avgas.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

BCA shares news of the latest products and services for the business aviation industry.

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.

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.

Tamarack Aerospace has received an FAA Supplemental Type Certificate for its active winglet system for Cessna CJ series jets.