Business & Commercial Aviation

Red Aviation, Georgetown, Texas, has acquired DFW Instrument in Addison, Texas. Founded in 2001, Red Aviation provides parts and services. DFW Instrument provides repairs of flight-critical instrument and equipment repairs to the business aircraft industry.

Flexjet and its sister company, Flight Options, will be recognized as a single carrier within its parent company, Directional Aviation, the National Mediation Board ruled on Sept. 30.

One of the modest news announcements at last year’s NBAA Convention was that of the creation of Global Jet Capital, a business jet leasing and lending organization. Backed by three global investment firms — Franklin Square Capital Partners with Blackstone advising, AE Industrial Partners and The Carlyle Group — and overseen by business aviation veterans Shawn Vick and Bill Boisture, the future looked promising. When looking back from the 2015 NBAA Convention, set for November 17-19 in Las Vegas, that promise will have been fully realized. And thensome.

Business-aviation activity remains stagnant in Europe, as a few key markets show modest improvement while Italy and Turkey join already struggling Russia on the list of countries where departures are down.

Rockwell Collins received an FAA supplemental type certificate for Future Airspace Navigation Systems (FANS) 1/A upgrade for Pro Line 4 avionics-equipped Bombardier Challenger 604 aircraft. With FANS 1/A, Challenger 604 aircraft operators will have access to preferred wind-efficient transatlantic routes to save both time and fuel.

OneJet will select an aircraft capable of carrying seven or eight passengers update 1,000 mi. in the fourth quarter and has selected SkyWorks Capital for help in structuring and closing the transaction.

Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) have introduced legislation to clarify that aircraft management services are not subject to federal air transportation taxes.

Former Naval aviator John Koon spent his last tour on active duty assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana, where he flew the American ambassador throughout West and Central Africa in a Beech C12 (King Air 200) where he had plenty of opportunities to assess the quality of ATC and competence of controllers.

Daher has appointed Exec Aero at Orlando Executive Airport as the TBM service center serving TBM aircraft customers based in Central Florida and visitors to the area.

Dassault launched the Falcon 2000 program in 1989 as a large cabin aircraft that would have double-club seating, 3,000 nm range and operating costs nearly as inexpensive as midsize jets.

AAR, Wood Dale, Illinois, announced that Steven B. Harrison has been appointed president of AAR Airlift, which is headquartered in Palm Bay, Florida, and has operations worldwide.

Pilatus has been building rugged, versatile aircraft since 1939, and today nearly 3,000 aircraft are in service throughout the world.

Jet Aviation St. Louis has received FAA approval for the Supplemental Type Certificate for installation of its Future Airspace Navigation System for the Bombardier Challenger 604.

Textron Aviation has delivered its 2,500th Cessna Caravan. Accepting the keys to the single engine utility turboprop at ceremonies in Wichita in late September was Jim Rowe, head of Bering Air of Nome, Alaska. The carrier is taking delivery of eight Grand Caravan EX aircraft this year, and retiring an equal number. The aircraft is powered a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-140 rated at 867 shp. Bering’s Caravans operate around the Arctic Circle, hauling people and supplies in temperatures as low as -60F.

Wheels Up, a membership-based private aviation company, has completed a round of funding that will allow it to establish a base for operations in Europe and enhance the company's technology platform, the company said. With the funding, Wheels Up's valuation is now greater than $500 million.

Headquarters and production buildings are largely heated with renewable energy produced by locally grown and waste timber that is converted into gas in a complex process at a wood gasification plant.

Recently appointed to his ICAO position in Montreal, Creamer was director of the FAA’s Europe, Africa and Middle East regional office, located in the U.S. Embassy in Brussels.

How does a company that designs and manufactures specialized, turbine-powered aircraft deep within the Swiss Alps recruit a workforce with the skills necessary to compete on the world stage?

Embraer is introducing the E2VS, short for Embraer Enhanced Vision System, a two-part package that includes Rockwell Collins’ HGS-3500 compact head-up guidance systems and its new triple-band EVS-3000 enhanced vision sensor. E2VS could be a breakthrough for business aviation.

Astra, an African flight support company, has signed ground handling agreements with National Aviation Services at Felix Houphouet Boigny Airport, Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

Making timely and correct decisions is an important part of many jobs, but few professions require this skill at the level of a pilot flying a large, transport category airplane.

Aerion is looking for a home and an engine, but is satisfied it has found the right partner in Airbus. That was the message Brian Barents, the company’s co-chairman, delivered to those gathered by a Wichita Aero Club luncheon recently. He told the Sept. 21 audience that his Reno, Nevada-based company has hired a firm to help it select a site for assembling the 1.5 Mach AS2 supersonic business jet.

Selected Accidents and Incidents in August and September 2015. The following NTSB information is preliminary.

AGUSTAWESTLAND HAS CERTIFIED ITS Limited Ice Protection System (LIPS) on its AW189 super-medium, twin-engine helicopter. But the clearances, announced by the company Sept. 29, will not allow helicopter operator Bristow from beginning search and rescue duties in the U.K. with the aircraft until a full ice protection system (FIPS) is introduced, which AgustaWestland hopes to certify next year.

McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas was the destination most in demand for those shopping for charter travel with the Air Charter Guide Worldwide Trip Builder in September 2015, according to an analysis of Air Charter Guide data.