The TSA’s controversial Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP) proposal came under fire as incomplete and a “waste of time” at the first two of five public meetings that packed rooms and drew some 100 speakers who unanimously testified in opposition. General aviation industry executives were pleased by the attendance and comments at the hearings, but cautioned that LASP opponents must continue to express their concerns at the remaining hearings, and e-mail or mail written comments for inclusion in the NPRM docket by the Feb. 27 comment deadline.
William Quinn, director of aircraft sales and acquisitions for Cerretani Aviation LLC—the Boulder, Colorado-based aircraft acquisition and sales organization—declared recently, “Certain segments of the market are essentially in what could arguably be characterized as a ‘free fall.’ Inventory levels are rising and values are beginning to erode.” “I think there are three factors that are currently driving the aircraft market—the financial meltdown, public scrutiny of publicly held corporations and a normal market cycle,” explained Quinn.
A number of aviation groups expressed concern in late December about a new TSA “Security Directive” (SD) that would dramatically increase the number of people required to undergo background checks, be fingerprinted and meet other standards to qualify them for airport identification badges at hundreds of commercial airports across the country.
Your reference to my flying BCA editors during the 1958 NBAA convention (“Business Aviation 50 Years Ago,” October 2008, page 38) took me back. It was during that time that I had my most exciting flying experience and by then I’d had my share. I flew torpedo bombers for the Marines in World War II, and fighters in Korea. After that, I worked as a test pilot — for General Motors.
AOPA Airport Support Network volunteer John F. Betsill Jr. testified at the Jan 8 LASP meeting in Atlanta. According to the TSA, the LASP would initially affect 270 FAA-designated reliever airports and another 42 airports that serve general aviation aircraft with MTOWs of 12,500 pounds or greater.
Ask AS350 AStar operators about their aircraft and they’ll readily tell you they love its smooth ride, roomy cabin and crisp handling, along with its versatility, reliability and rugged airframe. These aircraft take full advantage of composites to both reduce weight and lower maintenance costs. They have three-blade main rotors with hinge-less “Starflex” rotor heads along with fiberglass composite main and tail rotors. The fuselage also uses composite construction for the shell. The substructure, however, is fabricated from aluminum and steel.
The NBAA has given Sharon Forbes of DuPont Aviation the first Schedulers & Dispatchers Outstanding Achievement & Leadership Award. Created in 2008, this award recognizes individuals who have shared their outstanding business aviation industry expertise, provided extraordinary service, exhibited leadership and made significant contributions to the scheduling and dispatching function. Forbes is the supervisor of scheduling operations and facility manager of DuPont’s flight department headquartered in Wilmington, Del.
EclipseJet Aviation International, a subsidiary of Roel Pieper’s Luxembourg-based ETIRC, was the sole registered bidder for the assets of insolvent Eclipse Aviation at the Jan. 13 deadline for filing intentions to bid in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware. In the absence of qualified competitive bidders, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Mary Walrath, who is handling the Eclipse case, as we go to press is due to hear motions to sell Eclipse’s assets to EclipseJet. ETIRC currently is Eclipse Aviation’s largest shareholder.
Emissions trading is not the only pushback against grandiose Eurocontrol plans. In January, more than 100 participants concluded a two-day workshop in Brussels on the impact of expected future European pilot and avionics equipment requirements on business and general aviation and to encourage industry to develop affordable avionics equipment to meet those requirements.
Brent Wouters becomes CEO of Cirrus Design Corp. in addition to president and chief operating officer effective Feb. 1. Alan Klapmeier, who founded the company in Duluth, Minn. in 1984 with his brother Dae, will continue as chairman of the board of directors with Dale as vice chairman. Wouters joined Cirrus in early 2002 as executive vice president and chief financial officer, and was promoted to president and COO in March 2008.
On Jan. 12, Cirrus announced new features, upgrades and option packages for its aircraft lineup including “Known Ice Protection” on SR22 and Turbo models; an all-new “X-Edition” premium interior; paint upgrades across the model line; and CMX, a branded “assurance by the 100-hour” pre-purchased maintenance and service program. Cirrus Chairman Alan Klapmeier said the line now ranges from an SR20 S starting at $269,900 to a Turbo GTS with known ice protection for $598,500.
Dallas Airmotive, BBA Aviation engine repair and overhaul subsidiary, has relocated its Phoenix area Regional Turbine Center from Scottsdale Airpark to a new, larger facility adjacent to Deer Valley Airport in North Phoenix. At 7,500 square feet, the new facility has twice the space of the old one. The Phoenix facility performs OEM-authorized repairs including hot section inspections on Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A and JT15D turbines and repairs and overhauls on Rolls-Royce Model 250 turboshaft engines.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) introduced a bill to exempt airport bonds and other private activity bonds from the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) penalty, a move the airport industry has long supported. The bill, S. 139, is co-sponsored by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.). The bill would repeal the AMT from interest earned on more than 60 percent of airport bonds.
General Electric’s acquisition of Smiths Aerospace in May 2007 marked an expansion from engine building into aircraft systems. No sooner than the ink had dried on the purchase contract, the Cincinnati-based OEM was busy developing a strategy integrating cyber-based aircraft systems with its engine products.
Meanwhile, in a letter to Hawker Beechcraft employees, Chairman and CEO Jim Shuster wrote that the general aviation market has slowed and new orders have fallen off “considerably.” “As we enter 2009, we see the economy continuing to erode and find ourselves facing a highly uncertain and unpredictable business climate,” he continued. “As a result, we are forced to substantially decrease our 2009 production levels and take the painful step of reducing our workforce accordingly.” Shuster took pains to reassure that the company is “extremely healthy” with a solid future.
Who would have believed it? Embraer’s then-president Maurício Botelho convened a press conference at the Corcoran Museum of Art in May 2005 in Washington, D.C., He introduced Luís Carlos Affonso, whom he said would direct the design, development, manufacture and certification of a VLJ and a light jet, the Phenom 100 and 300 — and bring the Phenom 100 into service in 2008. Most of the reporters in the room were taken aback since Embraer was then primarily a builder of airliners.
The NBAA cancelled the February 2009 Hong Kong ABACE event and scaled back its first Light Business Airplane Conference (LBA2009) to a two-day event “to address unprecedented changes in the economy,” the association announced. Originally planned as a three-day conference, LBA2009 will now take place March 13-14 in San Diego. The NBAA reduced LBA2009 attendance fees by 50 percent and exhibitor space fees by 20 percent.
FlightSafety International acquired Glass Mountain Optics Inc. of Austin, Texas, the company announced Jan 9. Glass Mountain Optics is a leading provider of simulation visual display systems and massive industrial optics.
Noting that terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the attacks on the bus and subway system in London happened shortly after new administrations came into power, the AOPA is urging pilots to report any suspicious activity around airports. “This is a time for all Americans to exercise heightened vigilance,” said Craig Spence, AOPA vice president of security. “General aviation pilots already have a program in place that they can follow — AOPA’s Airport Watch” (www.aopa.org).
