Kenny Dichter is at it again, making business aviation more accessible to a wider group of users as he did when he cofounded the Marquis Jet Card program piggybacked on the NetJets fractional ownership operation. But the twist in his latest venture, Wheels Up, is that the turboprop and jet program isn’t based on 25-hr. jet cards but memberships.
Gatwick-based Air Partner, which numbers among its clients the British royal family, is reaping an upsurge in chartered jet travel, having raked in 5 million pounds ($8.3 million) in JetCard sales in the first six months of 2014.
“In the U.S., charter is still picking up in heavy and midsize jets. There are some new, midsize models that might be feeding that.” The speaker is Air Charter Guide Product Director Bettina Gentile, presenting her assessment of the 2014 business jet charter industry. The publication maintains details on 2,400 active charter operators in its database. “Europe was growing but is now stagnating,” she continued. “Heavy and midsize categories are declining, while very light jets are increasing — Phenoms and the like.”
With some Fortune 500 companies examining their flight departments’ costs and exposure — with some prominent closures as a result — does this foretell a trend? And will upper management issue jet cards for business travel? B&CA asked principals of charter brokerages and operators marketing jet cards their opinions:
Textron Aviation is betting that its much-improved, 3,000-nm range Cessna Citation Sovereign+ will offer the quickest point-to-point trips for six passengers on many business missions.
These graphs are designed to illustrate the performance of Citation Sovereign+ under a variety of range, payload, speed and density altitude conditions. Textron Aviation senior sales engineer Dave Champley provided the data for all charts. Do not use these data for flight planning purposes because they do not take into account ATC delays, and less than optimum routings and altitudes.
Designers attempt to give exceptional capabilities in all areas, including price, but the laws of physics, thermodynamics and aerodynamics do not allow one aircraft to do all missions with equal efficiency. Trade offs are a reality of aircraft design.
The Sovereign+’s avionics suite, featuring Garmin G5000 equipment, is the most-advanced flight deck ever developed for a Citation. It’s also the most-capable G5000 system in any current-production business aircraft. Yet, the Sovereign+’s cockpit is also one of the least cluttered of any business aircraft flying. Frequently used systems all have dedicated cockpit control panels. Some manual functions are automated and seldom-used functions, such as cockpit and cabin temperature control and cabin lighting, are controlled through avionics system submenus.
Rated at 5,907 lb. thrust for takeoff up to ISA+16C, the PW306D is a 2% higher output and reduced emissions version of the 306C that powers the original Sovereign. The engine is a conventional twin-spool turbofan with a 4.4:1 bypass ratio.
The FAA is taking the next step toward a rewrite of FAR Part 27 and Part 29 standards, planning to establish an international “forum” to look at possible changes to the standards for helicopters. The agency in February 2013 solicited comments on potential interest for realigning the standards, including whether the weight- and passenger-based thresholds should be re-evaluated. Part 27 is currently restricted to helicopters with a maximum weight of 7,000 lb. or nine or fewer passenger seats.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association named Jonathan Archer director of engineering and airworthiness. Archer brings 24 years of aviation industry experience to his new role, formerly serving as an associate with Booz Allen Hamilton where he provided support to both the FAA and Joint Planning and Development Office. There he helped facilitate a pilot study involving safety management systems for FAR Part 21 design and manufacturing organizations as well as on NextGen air traffic management initiatives.
