“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.
Cessna has set up a new Internet site to guide operators of Citations with a takeoff weight of more than 12,566 pounds (5,700 kg) who plan to regularly fly in the European Union through the process of registering their aircraft with the EU’s aviation Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The scheme requires emission reporting in 2010 and mandatory use in 2012 of carbon allocations for all flights in EU airspace.
The FAA’s draft Hudson River VFR corridor procedures, revised in response to the Aug. 8 midair over the river, has garnered approval from the NBAA, AOPA and NATCA — the air traffic controllers union. FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt unveiled the plan based on input from an industry and government working group. “The FAA’s plan for new safety procedures in the low-level airspace over the Hudson River appears to be reasonable and workable,” the NBAA’s Steve Brown, senior vice president for operations, was quoted in the association’s e-bulletin.
The CEO and the chief financial officer of Honeywell Aerospace have left the company for greener pastures. Honeywell Aerospace CEO Rob Gillette left to head First Solar, an Arizona-based manufacturer of solar and photovoltaic modules, Honeywell said in a statement. CFO Bob Hau is leaving to be CFO of Lennox International, a Texas-based heating and cooling equipment manufacturer, that company announced. Honeywell has appointed Tim Mahoney to lead its aerospace division. Mahoney was formerly chief technology officer of Honeywell Aerospace.
Lee County Port Authority, Fort Myers, Fla., announced that Katherine (Kitty) Green has been appointed to the Lee County Port Authority Airport Special Management Committee.
Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals issued a stay order in late August against the eviction of Opa-Locka Flightline, the embattled FBO that lays claim to be the only business of its kind in the nation owned and managed by African-Americans. The FBO has been engaged in a lengthy struggle to block its eviction by AA Acquisitions, a Miami real estate company that holds a development lease on Opa-Locka Executive Airport. After the court issued its stay, AA filed a petition that effectively requested a review of the stay order.
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.
“After almost nine months of no pre-owned market activity, the Legacy market showed its first signs of life,” according to the second-quarter edition of Business Air International’s Embraer Market Newsletter. The Texas-based aircraft acquisition, sales and brokerage company, which specializes in handling Embraer Legacy and Lineage aircraft, noted in August that three sales, valued at between $16.5 million and $18.5 million, have been concluded recently.
