Business & Commercial Aviation

Citing slower business jet engine aftermarket shipments and defense and space business declines, Honeywell International said early last month it expected to report up to 2% lower core organic sales for the third quarter of 2016.

The National Business Aviation Association's annual compensation survey of members shows all Part 91 flight department positions enjoyed an increase in average salaries in 2016.

The first Legacy 450 mid-light business jet assembled in Embraer's Melbourne, Florida, facility made its first flight in early October and is on track for delivery to a customer in December.

Comlux, The Aviation Group, has become the first to retrofit an Airbus ACJ319 with Sharklets, the company said. The sharklets give the aircraft a fuel savings of up to 4% and a corresponding range improvement. The retrofit was performed by TAP Maintenance and Engineering as part of the first turnkey project managed by Airbus Corporate Jets.

Offshore helicopter operator CHC has secured $450 million from investors to rebuild the company once it emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Acorn Growth Companies, an Oklahoma City private-equity firm, announced Sept. 26 that it has acquired Seattle-based Raisbeck Engineering from founder and Chairman James D. Raisbeck. Founded in 1982, Raisbeck's company has developed dozens of modification systems for general aviation, utility and jetliner aircraft.

On-demand private jet charter operator XOJET and JetSmarter, a private jet mobile marketplace charter consolidator, have formed a partnership, saying it signals the continued evolution of private access.

Questions for Boeing Business Jets President David Longridge.

Singapore-based Zetta Jet has added a Bombardier Global 6000 jet to its fleet, which will operate out of Zetta's North America hub in Los Angeles. It is the first Global equipped with Ka-band high-speed inflight internet connectivity.

Blackhawk Modifications has announced details of its new engine upgrade for the King Air 350. Blackhawk is developing the STC to permit installation and operation of the Pratt & Whitney 1,200-shp PT6A-67A to replace the 1,050-shp PT6A-60A.

Nextant Aerospace, which builds the 400XTi, and Constant Aviation, which offers MRO services, have partnered with Rockwell Collins to offer a Next Gen flight deck package for Beechcraft 400X/XP aircraft.

Meanwhile, days earlier Cessna delivered a Citation M2 to Helitrip Charter, which is leasing it to Catreus Ltd. a British charter operator.

Robert Sumwalt from the National Transportation Safety Board has won Bombardier's 2016 Safety Standdown Award, which was presented at the event held Sept. 27-29 in Wichita.

Daher recently completed its 800th TBM single-engine turboprop, a TMB 930 that rolled off the assembly line at Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrenees Airport in France.

Gulfstream says it will cease production of the G150, the smallest aircraft in its lineup, after a 10-year run; the last G150 will be delivered in mid-2017.

The long-running fight over Santa Monica Municipal Airport (SMO) entered a new phase recently when the FAA initiated an investigation requiring the California city to explain its rationale for issuing eviction notices to two FBOs at the key business and general aviation facility after the municipality declared its policy included closing the place.

Embraer is cutting 1,463 employees from its workforce in Brazil as it moves to reduce costs in the midst of a challenging market. The departing workers represent 99.5% of those who applied for a Voluntary Dismissal Program, the company reported.

The Citation Longitude, Cessna Aircraft's entrant into the super-midsize business jet category, flew for the first time Oct. 8. The flight from Beech Field on Wichita’s east side where the aircraft was assembled occurred less than a year after the jet was publically detailed. “Today’s successful first flight of the Citation Longitude was performed exactly as we anticipated,” said Scott Ernest, president and CEO, Textron Aviation.

Gogo is overhauling its ground-based connectivity system over the U.S. and Canada to bring inflight speeds in line with its satellite-based offering.

Rockwell Collins’ offer to buy B/E Aerospace is a pricey ploy that will take more work to see to fruition, but it could secure the former as a leading provider of aircraft content while finding a successful exit for the latter.

Gulfstream’s newest aircraft is setting a new benchmark in business aviation technology. BCA Senior Editor Fred George strapped into the left seat of the new $44.65 million G500. Read his pilot report.

When pilots first belt into the cockpit of the G500, they will discover a Honeywell flight deck that has little in common with any Gulfstream they have flown.

The G500's electrical distribution and data communication network is far more advanced than found in previous Gulfstreams. Taking advantage of the latest Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet architecture, introduced on the Airbus A380 and the latest military fighters, it uses distributive processing and ARINC 664 communications protocols to slash wire count, reduce weight, decrease power consumption, boost reliability and increase system redundancy. Virtually every component on the data concentration network (DCN) has a redundant communications link.

Rated at 15,144 lb. thrust for takeoff up to ISA+15C, Pratt & Whitney Canada's PW814GA is the most advanced general aviation turbofan in its thrust class. Up front, it has a single-piece, wide-chord, 50-in.-diameter damper-less titanium fan and a two-stage, axial-flow, low-pressure booster with single-piece rotors that are powered by a three-stage low-pressure turbine.

Post-hurricane helping hand: It’s hard to know its worth until you need one.