When Richard Santulli invented the concept of fractional ownership in 1986, he created the company we know today as NetJets. Member-owners hold title to part of an airplane, one-eighth, say, entitling them to use an airplane that’s shared with seven other people. Santulli has since stepped down as CEO of the company, but the concept of expanded utilization of resources is firmly established.
The advisory commission for Scottsdale Airport has recommended that the facility adjust its business plan to increase the aircraft weight limit from 75,000 pounds to 100,000 pounds to support its long-term growth.
As an aging pilot, I was extremely interested in your article, “Staying Sharp with Age” (September, page 41). But the main cause of memory lapses was omitted. What the researchers overlook is why the brain tends to go on vacation at just the wrong time. This is a major cause of pilot error, but few are addressing it. I have given many FAA Wings lectures to pilots on this very subject — electrolyte deficiency. Drinking water is not enough anymore as most of it is processed, filtered and otherwise depleted of electrolytes, which are the charge for our brain’s battery.
Embraer, São Jose dos Campos, Brazil, announced that Carlos Eduardo Camargo is the company’s new external communications director and Andre Gaia will become the head of investor relations, a post that was formerly held by Camargo.
Are executive/VIP-configured turboprop transports a trend? ATR announced that the Royal Thai Air Force took delivery of its first VIP-configured ATR turboprop transport yesterday (Sept. 9), ATR announced. The ATR 72-500 is the first of four VIP ATR’s ordered in 2007 with a VIP cabin interior and optional front passenger door. The RTAF VIP fleet mission is to transport the Thai royal family and government and military officials.
Almost all business aircraft in China, however, are corporate owned but managed by third-party charter companies or affiliated with airlines. “Right now you can’t have a private operation in China due to regulatory issues, so you have to have an AOC [air operations certificate] or be allied with an airline or charter provider,” explained Pat Dunn, an American who is employed as aviation manager for the Genting Group in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. “They are welcoming foreign operations under those conditions.”
The NTSB Bar Association in Washington, D.C., has established the Joseph T. Nall Award to recognize individuals who make significant contributions to aviation and transportation safety. The first award will be presented at the group’s annual meeting in Washington, Nov. 12. The award is named after Joseph Nall, a member of the NTSB from 1986 through 1989 when he died in an aircraft accident in Caracas on official NTSB business. See NTSBbar.org.
“Our latest data show evidence of stabilization in the bizjet market, but no improvement,” said the business jet industry analysts at financial services company JP Morgan in the August edition of their Business Jet Monthly report. “In the used market, inventories remain at record highs, but have not gotten much worse, staying in the 14.4- to 14.5-percent range for the fifth consecutive month, and prices continue a steady downward march toward supply/demand equilibrium.”
European private jet operator Jet Republic abruptly closed down Aug. 19, according to communication director Lysbeth Fox, who was contacted by phone. The next day, Bombardier issued a terse news release stating, “Bombardier Aerospace has terminated its firm and conditional order purchase agreement with Jet Republic in respect of all aircraft. The order for 110 Learjet 60 XR aircraft, consisting of 25 firm orders and 85 conditional orders, to Jet Republic was originally announced on June 20, 2008.
Management consulting firm AeroStrategy of Ann Arbor, Mich., announced a study on the $50 billion-plus global civil MRO market. North America (United States and Canada) accounted for $19.4 billion of the total. When induced and related economic effects are considered, the MRO industry’s impact on the U.S. economy is $39 billion per year. While North America is a slight net importer of heavy airframe maintenance services, it has $1.4 billion and $1.2 billion trade surpluses in the engine overhaul and component maintenance services markets, respectively.
Comtran International has won EASA certification for a Dornier 328-300 JET conversion. The approval enables the Texas-based aviation company, known best for its MD-80 hush kits and head-of-state aircraft completions, to sell the 12-passenger executive twinjet to European customers. Comtran, which earlier received FAA certification for the retrofit, calls the Revolution Series 328 VIP aircraft a low-cost alternative to expensive, large-cabin business aircraft.
That photograph on your driver’s license is probably your least favorite likeness, but the chances are it never affected you the way Joshua Doyle’s did. His driver’s license portrait changed his life.
The Obama administration nominated Erroll Southers to be the fifth administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, DHS announced Sept. 10. Southers, a former FBI agent, is currently an assistant chief for the Los Angeles World Airports Police Department’s Office of Homeland Security and Intelligence. He also serves as the associate director of the Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events at the University of Southern California, where he was previously an adjunct professor of terrorism, homeland security and public policy.
Embraer and Fokker celebrated significant anniversaries this summer. Fokker observed its 90th anniversary on July 21, and Embraer marked 40 years in business on Aug. 19. Nine decades after Anthony Fokker, the father of Dutch aviation, formed his company to build pioneering transport aircraft, some 3,700 employees of the Fokker companies (which now are part of the Stork group) produce electrical systems and aerostructures and offer aircraft maintenance and services while continuing to support 800 Fokker aircraft worldwide.
FlightSafety International, La Guardia Airport, N.Y., named Debbie Jones assistant manager of the company’s Hawker Beechcraft operations. Nora Ann Brozek was promoted to assistant manager of the Learning Center in Tucson. Jim Dolle was named manager of the company’s Quality Management System.
IS-BAO has received official recognition as an industry standard for business aircraft operations in Europe. The approval, announced Aug. 25 by the European Union’s standard body, should facilitate recognition of IS-BAO in the upcoming EASA Implementing Rules. IS-BAO, the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations, was developed and is overseen by the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) in Montreal, Canada.
Aerospace Filtration Systems, Inc. and Metro Aviation have partnered on the development of a Eurocopter EC135 Inlet Barrier Filter system. The IBF system features multiple long-life filter assemblies that are internally mounted to the existing EC135 cowlings, resulting in no drag penalties and no potential for environmental harm associated with mounted designs. The STCed product is scheduled for certification in time for Heli-Expo 2010.
Operating in the PRC is expensive, as there are fees for everything. First, entering China with the intention to land triggers the “China Compensation Fee” assessed to non-mainland-registered aircraft (which means Hong Kong operators must pay it, too) of $3,000. Charter operators get hit even harder with “reimbursement fees” for equivalent air fares that can run as high as $6,000 for Gulfstream-class aircraft.
