FBO Winner Aviation is expanding its offerings by joining the Avfuel Corp. dealer network. As a result, Avfuel-branded programs — including Avtrip rewards and jet fuel-savings program Avfuel Contract Fuel — will be made available at Winner’s Ohio base at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport. Winner this is incorporating Avfuel’s training and systems. To celebrate the partnership, Winner Aviation will offer triple Avtrip points on qualifying services through year-end.
The surge of laser usage to correct vision problems has led to the creation of an entire industry. When used properly by credentialed specialists, this form of treatment can result in remarkable improvements to eyesight. However, LASIK and other forms of vision corrective surgery have potentially adverse effects that could be incompatible with flying duties. According to the FAA’s online “Pilot Medical Certification Questions and Answers,” these include: Corneal scarring or opacities;
Concerned that the air taxi sector accounted for 65% of all commercial aviation fatalities over the past 10 years, the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada is planning an in-depth “Safety Issues Investigation” on those operations. Announced last week by TSB Chairman Kathy Fox, the study is set to begin in early 2015, and will cover historical data and case studies in Canada as well as accidents and incidents in other countries.
Signature Flight Support has signed an agreement to lease part of a new general aviation terminal at Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) in St. Maarten, as the company moves to upgrade its facilities and build up its presence in the Caribbean. SXM became Signature’s first location in the Caribbean when the company acquired the Arrindell Aviation Services facilities there in 2011.
FAA is proposing a $160,000 civil penalty against aviation spare parts, support services and inventory products provider Parker Aerospace of Irvine, California. The agency alleges the facility violated drug and alcohol testing regulations, hiring two people for safety-sensitive positions before conducting pre-employment drug tests and receiving results. FAA further claims the company transferred an employee into a safety-sensitive position before conducting drug tests and receiving results. Parker has until late December to respond to the allegations.
Louis Chenevert, the architect of the biggest aerospace and defense (A&D) acquisition ever and a driving force behind Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan (GTF) engine, has stepped down as chairman and CEO of United Technologies Corp. (UTC). Gregory J. Hayes, UTC’s chief financial officer, is replacing him as CEO. Edward A. Kangas, a member of UTC’s board, will become non-executive chairman. In an announcement before the stock market opened Nov.
Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) will invest more than $1 billion in research and development over the next 4 1/2 years to develop the next generation of high-performance aircraft engines, the company announced in early December. The investment includes a $300 million repayable contribution from the government of Canada under the Strategic Aerospace and Defense Initiative program.
Signs of a recovery in the business aviation sector are reinforced by predictions of a 13-consecutive-month increase in flight activity when the December figures come in. Analysts at TRAQPak estimate there will be 1.4% growth in overall flight activity year over year in December, following a 3.7% increase in November vs. the same month a year earlier. TRAQPac is the intelligence data arm of Argus International. The results by operational category were positive across the board, with Part 135 reporting the largest growth, up 8.6%.
Boeing has named David Longridge as president of Boeing Business Jets following the promotion of Capt. Steve Taylor to chief pilot of Boeing’s Flight Services unit. Longridge, a 21-year veteran of Boeing, most recently served as sales director based in the U.K., leading the British Airways, Finnair, Iberia and TUI accounts. He was previously a sales director for BBJ when the group was founded in 1996. Taylor leaves BBJ on a high note. While at BBJ, the organization sold 28 jetliners to be outfitted as VIP aircraft.
Louis Chenevert, the architect of the biggest aerospace and defense (A&D) acquisition ever and a driving force behind Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbofan (GTF) engine, has stepped down as chairman and CEO of United Technologies Corp. (UTC). Gregory J. Hayes, UTC’s chief financial officer, is replacing him as CEO. Edward A. Kangas, a member of UTC’s board, will become non-executive chairman. In an announcement before the stock market opened Nov.
Big things are happening at the Penton Business Aviation Network. As the clouds of the recession are finally lifting (no kidding this time), and once again business aviation is on the upturn, I must invoke the name of one of my favorite 1980s classics, “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades!” “ B&CA is doing what?!”
Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) will invest more than $1 billion in research and development over the next 4 1/2 years to develop the next generation of high-performance aircraft engines, the company announced in early December. The investment includes a $300 million repayable contribution from the government of Canada under the Strategic Aerospace and Defense Initiative program.
Airbus Helicopters has delivered the 2nd Super Puma AS332 C1e to the Bolivian Air Force (FAB). At the end of 2013, the FAB purchased six of these light-medium helicopters to fight drug trafficking and perform civil security and public service missions throughout the country. The first helicopter was delivered in August of this year and the four remaining helicopters will be delivered between now and 2016.
Two major milestones coincided within days of each other at Turbomeca, the French manufacturer of helicopter engines: the 40th anniversary of the first flight of its Arriel engine, and the entry into service of its latest engine, the Arrius 2B2 Plus. The Arrius B2B Plus entered service this month on an Airbus Helicopter EC135 T3 with Italian mountain rescue operator Aiut Alpin Dolomites.
Fokker Services, part of Fokker Technologies, has been selected by Boeing to carry out a green completion of a 737-800 for an undisclosed Asian head of state. The aircraft is scheduled to arrive at Fokker Services Netherlands in October 2015, with a scheduled redelivery in August 2016. The company is currently working on completion of a green ACJ319 for an undisclosed customer, for delivery in the first quarter of 2015. Its previous VIP conversions include Airbus A318, A319 and A320 aircraft, as well as Bombardier CRJ series and Fokker aircraft.
Piaggio’s latest version of the Avanti turboprop twin, the EVO, was awarded European certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on Dec. 9. U.S. certification from the FAA is expected within the next few weeks as well as Indian certification as the first two Avanti EVO aircraft will be delivered to Indian customers. The EVO has a number of significant modifications that boost efficiency, reduce operating costs, provide greater levels of comfort for passengers, and reduce internal and external noise.
RUAG Aviation recently completed the first upgrade in Europe of a Falcon 2000 with Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics replacing the aircraft’s Pro Line 4 cockpit. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and FAA-approved upgrade is also available for the Falcon 2000EX. RUAG carried out the upgrade at its Lugano, Switzerland, facility during a 3C inspection, which was itself the first performed at that location.
Downloaded CVR and FDR preliminary information from an Embraer Phenom 100 that crashed 1 mi. short of the runway at the Montgomery County Airpark outside Washington, D.C. on Dec. 8 revealed that the aircraft’s automated stall warning system sounded continuously for the final 20 sec. of the flight, according to NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt. The accident killed the pilot and the two passengers on the jet as well as a woman and her two children in one of three houses struck by debris.
Vincent Tchengang, formerly Airbus regional sales director covering airlines in Africa and the Indian Ocean, has joined the Airbus Corporate Jet Center (ACJC) as its new head of services sales. He will manage a team of sales directors dedicated to VIP services marketing worldwide.
A portable electronic device (PED) is a lightweight, electrically or battery-powered piece of equipment. These devices are typically consumer electronic devices capable of communications and data processing, such as a tablet, e-reader or handheld computer games. Please note that mobile phones are not considered PEDs in this context and thus may be used only when the boarding door is open and during taxi to the gate after landing.
Honeywell Aerospace scored two firsts for the region at the recent Middle East Business Aviation show in Dubai when it signed up construction and management giant Saudi Oger as the launch customer in the region for its Boeing Business Jet avionics maintenance plan, and an unnamed launch customer for its BBJ 131-9B auxiliary power unit maintenance plan. It also appointed Arab-owned, U.S.-based GDC Technics to retrofit its JetWave satellite communications system in Airbus and Boeing VIP aircraft.
