Universal Avionics, Tucson, Ariz., announced the Corey Wilkinson has been appointed to the newly created position of sales manager for the Latin America sales region. He will be responsible for developing the business aviation market for the company in Latin American, including Mexico. He will be based in St. Louis, Mo.
Air Culinaire Worldwide, a Universal Weather and Aviation company, is now operating an inflight kitchen at Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC). The kitchen is located within the Atlantic Aviation FBO and is the only inflight kitchen based on the field. The new facility is the fourth kitchen based in California (Los Angeles, San Francisco and Van Nuys). Air Culinaire Tampa, Fla. (813) 449-6000 www.airculinaireworldwide.com
Supercooling fog so it disperses as snow, increasing visibility, has been tried with some success at Orly Airport, France. One problem is the reaction of nearby residents to the resulting light snow fall.
National Business Aviation Association, Washington, announced that Greg Voos is the new regional representative for the Southeast U.S. He succeeds Harry Houckes who retired in February. Voos is an NBAA Certified Aviation Manager as well as an IS-BAO auditor. He has held positions at Home Depot flight department and Delta Airlines.
NationAir Aviation, West Chicago, Ill., added Dirk Olsen to its team of aviation insurance professionals as director of business insurance. Olsen is based at the company’s headquarters at DuPage Airport in suburban Chicago.
JetSuite, Irvine, Calif., named Frank Buratti as its vice president Technical and System Operations. He worked as director of System Operations at JetBlue Airways for over 14 years and has held positions at El Al Israel and Pan American Airlines.
Bombardier handed over the first Mexico-bound Global 6000 to Aero Angeles S.A de C.V. The delivery comes as Bombardier anticipates growth in the Latin America market, forecasting 2,300 business jet deliveries to the region over the next 20 years. The company sees an uptick driven by economic growth, globalization and an increase in the number of billionaires in the region.
Embraer’s Phenom 100 surpassed the 300-delivery mark. The company handed over the 300th Phenom 100 to Brazilian agribusiness Laticínios Bela Vista. Embraer announced the very light jet in 2005 and delivered the first 100 in December 2008. The aircraft is powered by two P&WC PW 617F-E engines, rated at 1,695 shp ea. The current B&CA equipped price for the Phenom 100E is $4,161,000.The aircraft is operating in more than 25 countries.
Hawthorne Global Aviation Services is expanding its maintenance operations to accommodate an increased demand from both in-house and transient customers at its Long Island MacArthur Airport (KISP) location. It has added a second shift to provide extended hours seven days a week at the facility. The location has been an FAA-approved repair station for nearly 30 years and employs 20 technicians and support staff. The facility, which supports ExcelAire’s fleet of more than 20 aircraft, is a factory authorized Embraer Legacy service center.
Embraer reports that it delivered 34 aircraft — 20 of them business jets — during the first quarter of 2014. In addition to 14 commercial E-Jets, the Brazilian planemaker handed over three Phenom 100s, 14 Phenom 300s, two Legacy 650s and one Lineage 1000. The company says that as of March 31 its firm order backlog totaled $19.2 billion, a $1 billion increase during the quarter in which Air Costa, an Indian carrier, ordered 50 E-Jets.
Aircell reports surpassing the 2,000th installation of its Gogo Biz system in business aircraft. The broadband service was introduced in June 2009. The company has more than 4,000 air-to-ground systems in the business and commercial aviation markets.
Robinson Helicopter Co. has delivered its 500th R66, just three and a half years after the FAA awarded certification to the five-place helicopter, the Torrance, Calif., manufacturer’s first turbine-powered machine. The milestone helicopter was delivered March 14 to Aviamarket, a Russian dealer. Aviamarket put the aircraft’s capabilities to the test last year, first in April when company pilots landed an R66 at the North Pole, and again in September when the company organized a six-week, around-the-world expedition using a pair of R66s.
