Bombardier Aerospace’s Annual forecast included a 20-year Commercial Aircraft Market outlook, 2009 to 2028, that predicts 12,400 deliveries in the 20- to 149-seat market, worth approximately $589 billion.
The first-ever Wichita Aero Club Ball raised $31,000 for the United Way of the Plains to benefit laid-off aerospace workers in the region. More than 10,000 industry workers have lost their jobs in Wichita. The event attracted 200 attendees, said club executive director Dave Franson. “The original plan was to hold a black tie ball and present the club’s trophy to a worthy individual,” he said. “But with the current economic conditions and job losses, we felt it wasn’t a good year to do that,” he said.
In the view of Bob Hobbi, founder and president of ServiceElements, the roles, responsibilities and expectations regarding flight department managers and members has changed dramatically and permanently. The new circumstances must be accommodated for the department’s continuation and success. These include:
ATR is stepping up appearances at business aviation events to build interest in corporate versions of its ATR-42 and -72 turboprops as options for the business aviation market. The French-Italian manufacturer has sold 110 of its aircraft in special non-airline configurations versions, including corporate, said Vice President of Marketing Mario Formica. “So we’re not new to the corporate market,” he said.
Speaking to the Aero Club of Washington, Gulfstream President Joe Lombardo said, “Results [from the No Plane No Gain campaign] are favorable. Things have calmed down.” He added, however, that calming down only means the negative press has abated. The industry must still project a positive image. “General aviation has suffered significantly,” Lombardo said, with the downfall beginning in November when the chiefs of the three major U.S. automakers flew to Washington, D.C., on business jets.
Commercial airlines provide scheduled service to fewer than 500 cities in the United States, according to GAMA. That would seem to suffice for most companies’ routine business travel needs. However, only slightly more than two dozen hub cities have frequent nonstop commercial flights. Flying between the remainder of them requires one or more stopovers at hub airports, frequently resulting in lengthy travel times.
Over the past several months, business aviation has been beset by negative media reports and congressional criticism, which was even furthered by the president himself, all of it prompted by thoughtless behavior and furthered by misinformation and generally tough financial times. Some companies closed the hangar doors and quit flying, leaving hundreds of flight department employees out in the cold. Since that time, progress has been made by aviation’s alphabet groups and others to turn back the tide of negative public opinion.
Proposed Rules Dassault Falcon 2000EX airplanes — Conduct a detailed visual inspection to detect any sharp and unprotected edges of the web of left-hand Stringer 13 between Frames 7 and 8, and measure the trimmed length of the web. If any sharp or unprotected edge is found, or if the trimmed length is 1.57 inches (40 mm) or greater, rework or replace the web.
The NTSB rarely undertakes a full “blue book” investigation into a light-twin accident, but the loss of NASCAR’s Cessna 310R on July 10, 2007, is an exception. The Safety Board was attracted by the facts that the piston twin was part of a large turbine fleet; that questions existed about the use of the airplane under NASCAR’s standard operating procedures; and that a critical maintenance issue may have slipped through the management cracks.
DeCrane Aerospace, Wichita, appointed Brian DeCamp as general manager for the Precision Pattern Interiors division and Patty Raisor as the new general manager of the Carl F. Booth Veneers division in New Albany, Ind.
Way back in the early 1980s as a maintenance manager or senior technician, you had to plan your life around being “on call.” That meant that you had to be sitting next to a telephone just in case your crew ran into trouble while on a trip. The invention of the pager was received as a miraculous gift for those of us who had a life outside the hangar. You could actually go see your kids play ball or tap dance, go fishing or maybe see a movie. Sweet freedom! Right up to moment the darn thing went off.
Jeff Saucedo (Newport News, Virginia), Vice President, Sales & Marketing (Newport News, Virginia), International Communications Group (Newport News, Virginia)
The annual BCA Planning and Purchasing Handbook is a comprehensive and valuable resource for the business aviation community and I always read it with great interest. My interest, however, turned to dismay when I reviewed Mal Gormley’s article “Cabin Electronics” (May, page 202). I realized that International Communications Group (ICG) was conspicuous by its absence.
Analysts in the global equity research department of financial services company J.P. Morgan report that inventories of previously owned business jets are stabilizing, but at a relatively high level, indicating that a recovery in the market is not imminent.
Large UAVs and civil aircraft in the same airspace? Can this be done safely with current technology? The Defense Department and the FAA are cooperating to find ways to safely share airspace. The agencies assume onboard sense-and-avoid for UAVs will not be certificated until late in the next decade, so they have launched an initiative centered on Grand Forks, N.D., already home to Customs and Border Patrol Predator UAVs, will also be a base for Air Force and Air National Guard Predators and Global Hawks and has a commercial airport.
More than 1,000 new turbine-powered business aircraft were delivered in seven of the past ten years, but those numbers, while impressive, pale when compared to the used turbine aircraft marketplace which typically sees several times those figures — even in down years.
DOT Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt gathered representatives from the major air carriers, their regional partners, aviation industry groups and labor in Washington, D.C., on June 15 to participate in a closed-door “call to action” summit to improve airline safety. This discussion addressed pilot training, cockpit discipline and other issues associated with flight safety.
Airbus has become a full member of the SESAR Joint Undertaking, a private/public partnership to modernize European Air Traffic Management (ATM). An agreement with the 16 partners of the SJU was finalized June 12. SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) will develop and deliver the operational and technical standards for the progressive deployment of the new European ATM system — roughly equivalent to the U.S. NextGen ATM program. Patrick Gavin, Executive Vice-President, head of Airbus Engineering explained, “ATM is a limiting factor to the growth of air transport.
Rockwell Collins acquired DataPath, Inc., a global leader in creating satellite-based communication networks, the company announced June 1. DataPath, which includes a wholly owned subsidiary SWE-DISH Satellite Solutions AB, will operate under the Rockwell Collins brand as part of the company’s government systems business.
Raytheon will lead a team of five companies to study how NextGen architecture will affect the National Airspace System from 2018 to 2025. “The next generation of airspace management must support a broad array of capabilities — from classic aircraft with minimal automation to highly integrated, multi-sensor aircraft, including unmanned aerial systems,” a Raytheon official told Avionics magazine.
The actions by a group of protestors calling themselves Plane Stupid, who chained themselves to the wheel of a private jet parked at London City Airport on June 10 were called “misguided” and “politically driven” by the British Business & General Aviation Association (BBGA). The protesters were arrested and charged with criminal damage, along with breaking and entering. Plane Stupid activists have a record of pulling aviation-related publicity stunts to highlight their concerns about climate change, says the BBGA.
Mike Ellis, Hawker Beechcraft’s vice president of pre-owned aircraft, characterizes today’s market for previously owned business aircraft as “tentative.”
Dassault issued 111 more layoff notices, effective June 5, at its Little Rock, Ark., completion center, blaming the economic downturn and the business jet slump. The layoffs came largely in the initial engineering and design areas, said spokesman Andrew Ponzoni. “Our main production activities, such as building interiors, painting and flight test, were less affected,” he said. Staffing levels are now roughly the same as they were in January 2008, said Ponzoni.
Cessna Aircraft Co. announced two major single engine sales June 16. One was a signed agreement with Indonesia’s Susi Air for the purchase of 30 Grand Caravan single-engine turboprops. Eight of the new Caravans will be delivered this year, with the remainder of the order to be completed in 2011. Susi Air already operates 10 Grand Caravans. It began operations with two Caravans in December 2006, providing scheduled and charter passenger and cargo service throughout Indonesia, as well as humanitarian airlift support for the region.
I am amazed that thus far there has been little mentioned about the lack of angle of attack (AOA) or “alpha” awareness on either pilot’s part related to the Colgan Air crash in Buffalo. As a former FAA DPE (DA-20 and CE-500 series) and military combat instructor pilot (F-15 and F/A-18), I disagree with the FAA’s policy of minimizing the importance of the AOA gauge as a “secondary” instrument. Military pilots, especially U.S. Navy types, lived (and died) by AOA awareness.
