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:
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.
Cessna Aircraft’s M2 entry-level jet was granted approval from the civil aviation authorities of Brazil and Argentina, clearing the way for deliveries to those countries. The approvals follow U.S. FAA certification in December and European Aviation Safety Agency validation in June.
Embraer’s U.S. footprint expanded considerably last month when it opened it’s a new $26 million Engineering and Technology Center adjacent to its Phenom assembly and customer center at Melbourne Airport in Florida. The 75,000-sq.-ft.
Gulfstreams are favorite conveyances among the top brass in the U.S. government, but Northrop Grumman is hoping to put some G550s to work identifying bad guys on the ground. The company has conducted more than 500 hr. of flight testing various radars in the model.
The Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank of the U. S., which became a controversial subject recently — a fact that took aerospace manufacturers and other exporters by surprise — may have secured at least a short term future by now. By late September the Congress was expected to pass a continuing resolution to keep the federal government in business.
The Middle East & North Africa Business Aviation Association is planning to focus on industry growth during its next MEBAA convention Dec. 8-10 in Dubai. The event is expected to draw more than 8,000 participants, building on 20% growth in 2012 when 7,549 attended from 84 countries.
Bell Helicopter received orders from the first two customers to take delivery of Bell 429s in Poland. The orders were taken through JB Investments, Bell’s independent representative in Poland. Bell previously had sold three Bell 407GX to customers in Poland.
A Frasca Citation CJ1+ full flight simulator (FFS) recently delivered to Nanshan International Flight Academy in Longkou, China, has received CAAC Level D approval. With the notification, academy head Li Fang said, “We look forward to continuing our relationship with Frasca and to ensuring the highest quality flight t
The National Business Aviation Association is honoring two former longtime staff members — Kathleen Blouin and William (Bill) Stine — with Pillar of Association Awards. NBAA has previously only recognized two other former employees, Fred McIntosh and John Pope, with the award, formerly known as the Staff Lifetime Achievement Award. Blouin stepped down earlier this year from her role as senior vice president of conventions and forums.
Blackhawk Modifications is developing a new engine upgrade for the Cessna 208A Caravan and 208B Grand Caravan that will replace the standard 600-hp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-114 or 675-hp PT6A-114A-hp turboprop engine with the 867-hp PT6A-140 engine.
Construction of 250,000 sq ft in new production and completion space is underway at Dassault Falcon Jet’s already sprawling facility in Little Rock, Arkansas, the largest in the French planemaker’s network.
Mountain Aviation, a Broomfield, Colo.-based charter and management firm, has come under new ownership by a private investment firm, a move the company says will help it expand its core markets in the Rocky Mountain region along with looking at new opportunities in the oil and gas and government markets. The company notes that it has extensive experience operating in rugged environments, giving it “a strong foundation for expanded capabilities” in the oil and gas and government markets.
Business aircraft flight operations are poised to increase in September, marking the 10th consecutive month-over-month increase and the 17th out of the last 18 months, according to business aviation research specialist Aviation Research/U.S. (ARGUS) and FAA data. ARGUS, which tracks business aircraft flight operations in the U.S. and Canada, recently reported a 0.9% gain in business flight operations in August, and said operations are on pace to climb another 2.7% in this month.
Sierra Industries, Ltd., is offering performance upgrades to the Cessna 525 Citation Jet series. Know as the Sapphire, the program is designed to be a comprehensive package of modifications that will enhance performance, reliability and comfort for legacy CJ aircraft.
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 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.
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.
Initial testing of an unleaded avgas replacement fuel at FAA’s technical center in Atlantic City, New Jersey, is to begin this fall. The agency selected two fuels from Swift Fuels, one from Shell and another from a consortium of BP, TOTAL and Hjelmco for lab and rig testing. Following that, the FAA plans to narrow the candidates to one or two fuels to undergo Phase 2 testing on engines and aircraft. Congress set aside $6 million in fiscal 2014 to support the fuel testing, and has indicated plans to match that in fiscal 2015.
“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.”
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.
Family-owned business jet completions specialist Flying Colours will triple its outfitting capacity at its Peterborough, Canada, base by early 2016 with a major expansion that will increase its dedicated production bays from three to nine. “Our 120,000-sq.-ft.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) has begun replacing its fleet of a dozen AStar helicopters with new versions of the same. The department has contracted with Airbus Helicopters up to 15 AS350B3e helicopters. The initial order is for three new AStars, with deliveries beginning in December.
