Execaire, Montreal, appointed George Nader as director of sales and marketing. Kenneth F. Dandy joined the company as sales manager in Vancouver; John O'Brien is the new sales manager, maintenance and avionics repairs in Winnipeg and Harald Maron is sales manager, aircraft management and charter sales in Toronto.
The TSA is considering using a video game developed in house to train airport screeners. The game will help transportation security officers with object recognition.
Switzerland's Airport St. Gallen-Altenrhein continues to market aggressively to business aircraft operators and reports gains in traffic, aided at least in part by an increase in NetJets fuel business, officials report. The upcoming World Economic Forum, better known for its site in Davos, Switzerland, a remote ski resort with a population of about 12,000 where the WEF began meeting in 1971, will find thousands of world leaders flocking there.
A bill to transfer airport employee badging responsibility from airports to the TSA for access to Federal Special Security Zones (FSSZ) has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in the wake of the arrest of 30 undocumented workers who carried illegal badges at Chicago O'Hare Airport. H.R. 4177, introduced by Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), would give the power to create FSSZs to the TSA administrator. Areas that could be covered include ramps, baggage-handling areas, baggage-loading areas and any other areas deemed appropriate.
The cover of Business & Commercial Aviation's January 1958 issue - our very first - featured an air traffic controller testing a then experimental television-aided radar display. Choosing such an image rather than, say, an aircraft for our debut might seem curious, but it was not. At the time radar and technically advanced ATC equipage was very much on the minds of those operating within the National Air System.
Both the National Air Transportation Association and the NBAA were asking for a delay in the compliance deadline for a new rule governing ETOPS published in January 2007. Schedulers and dispatchers can keep an eye on the NATA and NBAA information boards for the latest developments as the compliance date in February 2008 draws near. The rule broadens ETOPS (it's now "Extended Operations) to govern all multiengine aircraft in FAR Part 121 and 135 operations and introduces guidance for polar flights.
Jet Aviation will provide maintenance services at Moscow Vnukovo International Airport. When announcing the agreement in late November 2007, company officials said this makes Jet Aviation the first international business aviation maintenance company to provide services for business jets in Russia. Vnukovo handles 70 percent of all business aviation traffic in Russia. Under the agreement with Vnukovo Invest, Jet Aviation will provide line maintenance and AOG services at a hangar located next to the Vnukovo 3 FBO building.
GAMA, Washington, D.C., has elected Alan Klapmeier, chairman and CEO of Cirrus Design Corp., as its chairman for 2008. The board also elected Mark Van Tine as GAMA's vice chairman. Van Tine is president and CEO of Jeppesen.
As the relentless process of FBO mergers and consolidation rolls on, Signature Flight Support has acquired the former Marathon Flight Services at Kissimmee Gateway Airport (ISM) in Florida. Signature's expansion to the new stop in central Florida near Walt Disney World was based on strong growth in the market there, the company said. (Signature is itself owned by London-based BBA Aviation.) Following the acquisition last summer, the company said it would be finishing a fuel farm project that was under way.
Executive Jet Management, Cincinnati, has appointed Charlie Hughes as vice president, aircraft management sales. Brent Smith was named chief financial officer.
On Nov. 20, 2007, Japan added several procedures at its customs checkpoints for all visitors age 16 and older entering the country. Digital fingerprints of the index fingers of both hands and headshot photographs will be taken simultaneously in a process that is expected to add about 30 seconds for each visitor's total processing time. Individuals who are entering in certain official capacities or by invitation of government agencies may be exempt, but even foreign residents of Japan will be re-checked at the time of every entry into the country.
Your December 2007 Cause & Circumstance was well researched, and told an interesting story ( page 95). I'd like to add a bit of thinking that has been around for a long time. The Aerospatiale Gazelle helicopter, circa 1970s, had a warning light that was on if the pitot heat was not turned on - simple, but effective. I'm surprised that a large commercial jet that would certainly be climbing into below freezing temperatures on every flight didn't also have this as a standard feature.
THE INTERFACE AND TRANSITION of technologies always carries with it risk and requires of us heightened alertness. Those interconnections are common in aviation -- pistons to turboprops, turboprops to jets, steam gauges to glass panels, fly-by-cable to fly-by-wire all are examples. So to our subject this month -- the transition of flight-directed approaches to flight-managed approaches.
Flight Options in December 2007 finalized an order valued at nearly $1 billion for 100 Embraer Phenom 300s and options for up to 50 more. The order was placed as the private equity investment firm H.I.G. Capital closed on the purchase of the Cleveland-based fractional aircraft ownership provider from Raytheon Co. The sale of Flight Options to H.I.G. was announced in late October. "This order is a defining moment for Flight Options and represents, in turn, a commitment from H.I.G. Capital to the long-term growth of this company," said S.
Honda Aero held a groundbreaking ceremony in late November 2007 for the company's corporate headquarters and jet engine plant in Burlington, N.C. The $27 million 102,400-square-foot facility will include 36,000 square feet of office space, a 58,400-square-foot production plant, and an 8,000-square-foot engine test cell. Honda Aero, a joint venture between Honda and GE Aviation, expects the plant will produce 200 GE Honda engines within one year of production startup. Honda Aero plans to manufacture an engine family with thrust ratings between 1,000 and 3,500 pounds.
On Nov. 28, 2007, officials of Cessna and its corporate parent, Textron, Inc., struck an agreement with China's Shenyang Aircraft Corp. under which the Chinese firm will become the exclusive manufacturer of the Skycatcher. Cessna's new light sport aircraft, the Skycatcher is a high-wing, two-seat aircraft that carried an introductory price of $109,500 when Cessna began taking orders for it at last summer's Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis.
Pending the output of Special Committee 203 of the RTCA, which has been charged with formulating technical specifications for UAVs in civil airspace, the FAA has been dealing with these unique aircraft (it prefers the UAS nomenclature) on an ad hoc basis. The feds have made it very clear that the guidance issued to hobbyists operating scale-model aircraft with radio controls, as found in Advisory Circular 91-57, does not extend to sheriff's departments or police chiefs who want to use pilot-less aircraft to search for perps in backyards before sending a patrolman in.
The Challenger 300 made its entry into service in late 2003, accompanied by lofty promises from Bombardier. Priced at $14.25 million for early buyers, the manufacturer assured buyers that this super-midsize business aircraft would deliver unprecedented value. With popular options, most aircraft were delivered for $16 million to $18 million.
Two overseas operators have signed letters of intent with Project Phoenix, a program to convert Bombardier CRJ-200 regional airliners into executive transports.
Cobham plc has purchased general aviation autopilot specialist S-TEC Corp. from Meggitt plc for $38 million. S-TEC employs 180 people at its facility in Mineral Wells, Texas. Cobham said the company is "an excellent technological and market fit in the development of a Cobham cockpit of avionics." Airplane manufacturers increasingly want autopilots included in an overall avionics package, particularly as they move toward EFIS displays, Cobham said. S-TEC also has a strong presence in the retrofit market which Cobham can leverage, the company said.
IBA, London Gatwick, U.K., announced that Owen Geach has returned to the company as commercial director overseeing sales and market, business development, commercial contracts and public relations.
