Lufthansa Aviation Group, Frankfurt, Germany, named Aage Dunhaup as the new press spokesman for Lufthansa. He will be based in London and will direct and coordinate communications and press activities for the Lufthansa Group in Europe.
FlightSafety International, La Guardia Airport, N.Y., appointed Anthony van de Geest as assistant center manager of the Long Farnborough Training Center.
Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) has delivered the 400th PW150A turboprop engine to Bombardier Aerospace for the Q400 regional airliner. The 5,000-shp PW150A went into service on the 70- to 80-seat airliner in 2000. Equipped with a dual-channel FADEC and advanced diagnostic capabilities, the PW150A is the latest member of P&WC's PW100 family, which has over 100 million operating hours to its credit.
Part 135 has never been on the FAA's front burner the way it is now, and for many operators experiencing life in the pressure cooker of inspections and compliance issues, these are harrowing times. Even operators who don't hold certificates know that their 135 brethren owe it all to a runway overrun at Teterboro. As JDA Aviation Technology Solutions, an aviation consultancy founded by former FAA executive Joseph Del Balzo, states in one of its brochures, "The entire 135 industry 'went through the fence' at Teterboro in 2005, not just one bizjet."
Federal agencies involved with aviation, volcanoes and weather have created a new system of working together to track volcanic ash plumes and report the risks to the aviation community and keep air travelers out of harm's way. Standardizing and coordinating, detecting, tracking and forecasting hazardous ash clouds, and adequately warning the aviation community on the present and future location of the cloud should significantly reduce danger, a NOAA announcement said.
Epps Aviation, Atlanta, announced that Daniel M. Lane has been granted a Certificate of Designation from the FAA as a designed airworthiness representative (DAR).
What do "A008," the FAA's new operational control specification for FAR Part 135 commercial operations, and Sanskrit have in common? Tom, a friend and scholar, explained recently that Sanskrit, one of the world's most ancient languages, was also one of its most challenging because "for every rule of grammar there are 14 exceptions, and the exceptions are more important than the base rule!" The regulatory scribes at the FAA would be impressed since within the new A008, the details seem to be more important than the basic regulation!
Business is so good at FlightSafety International's Farnborough operation that the company is planning to double in size from 14 to 28 simulators over the next few years. Business is coming from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Pakistan and even South America because of the TSA requirements in the United States. Student throughput is currently 2,500 but will reach a ceiling of 3,000 next year. To cope with this, FlightSafety Farnborough will need another 30 instructors by early 2008, and it takes four to six months to train the trainers.
FAA officials are being urged by industry trade groups to take action on recommendations developed by the FAR Part 135/125 Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) two years ago. The Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association and the National Air Transportation Association both sent letters to Nicholas Sabatini, the agency's associate administrator for aviation safety, asking him to get the rulemaking process rolling.
(Wichita) - Raymond Bennett is the company's new regional sales director for the Upper Midwest, which includes Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. In his new post, Bennett is responsible for new King Air B200GT, King Air 350 and Premier IA sales in this territory. Bennett previously was vice president of sales and the Southeast sales director for Cleveland-based Flight Options.
(Englewood, Colo.) - Steve Crowley is this aircraft manufacturer's new vice president of sales, marketing and customer support. Crowley has 25 years of aviation industry experience, having held executive positions in sales, marketing, finance and program management. He most recently served with Bombardier Aerospace.
The city of Phoenix will spend $84,000 to provide Behavior Pattern Recognition (BPR) training to the Sky Harbor Police Airport Bureau. Sky Harbor Police Lt. Rick Gehlbach said his force had watched the progress and researched the BPR program since 2002, when it was first taught to the police officers at Boston Logan International Airport. Miami International began offering all employees BPR training a year ago. "Most security measures at airports are reactive in nature.
General aviation was not spared Blakey's rod. "I also think that our business jet and GA partners need to take a step in the right direction -- to be part of the solution," she said. "It's time to face up to the fact that your practices need to change as well. Flying to and from wherever you want whenever you want is not a free utility.
The Isle of Man business aircraft register is up and running and exceeding expectations. The island's Civil Aviation Department was besieged with requests for registration even before its May 1 opening, and two aircraft were on Ronaldsway Airport's ramp, on day one, sporting distinctive "M" prefix registrations. By early September a dozen aircraft had been registered, with another 10 in process. Most of the business is coming from European sources but U.S. companies have also been in contact.
(Moline, Ill.) - Mick Harrison, a longtime aircraft support executive, has been named president and chief operating officer of this aircraft sales and service company, marking the first time in the firm's 71-year history that someone outside of the Elliott family has held this post. Wynn Elliott remains chairman and CEO of Elliott Aviation.
Russia has cut import duty on large business aircraft from 20 to 10 percent, which applies to aircraft in the 15-20t class. Reports suggest that this lower tax will also be applied to aircraft in the 2-15t category later in the year. Rumors had circulated for the last few years that the Russian government was planning to do this and encourage Russian business aviation growth. As many as 200 business aircraft around the world could be Russian owned but the vast majority have been operated under foreign registries to the present time.
Eclipse Aviation formally opened a new, two-story 41,500-square-foot Customer Training Center at Double Eagle Airport II (KAEG) on Sept. 13 with a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house. The Center, located on 3.5 acres of the company's 150-acre site, is the first Eclipse facility on the west side of the city of Albuquerque, and will serve as the transition leader as all other Eclipse facilities are moved there. The Center will house 100 employees, four simulators, four classrooms and eight briefing rooms.
One night in 1969 in the village of Kien Duc in Quang Duc province, Republic of South Vietnam, two RVN soldiers were in their hooch playing cards and drinking beer. They began to argue and one shot the other with his service rifle, an old Garand M-1.
Under the terms of a teaming agreement signed in June, ARINC Direct will become a worldwide value-added reseller of Flight Explorer's FE Professional ASD. As a result of the partnership, ARINC Direct customers will be able to get global aircraft position reports for their 1,500-plus aircraft on the FE Professional aircraft situation display. The agreement follows hard on the heels of a link-up between Flight Explorer and SITA.
