Russell Chew, who just stepped down after three-plus years as chief operating officer of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization, is going to be COO of JetBlue Airways. Chew had accepted the top operations job at Hawaiian Airlines, but changed his mind when the New York-based low-cost carrier stepped forward with its $300,000-per-year proposal. Chew's new employer urgently needs to restore at least some of its near-mythical reputation as the passengers' friend.
Children regularly travel aboard business aircraft and in an actual emergency, a delay caused by a parent waiting for someone to take his or her child could very well mean that other passengers still in the airplane may not survive. In a May 10, 2001, accident involving a Spanair McDonnell Douglas MD-83 on a runway at Liverpool, England, the evacuation was delayed because of uncertainty as to the best method for evacuating small children and infants (U.K. Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), Accident Report 4/2003 (EW/C2001/5/1) 2003) .
Alpha Aviation, Hamilton, New Zealand, has appointed Gretchen Jahn as the new general manager, replacing Richard Sealy, who is the new deputy group managing director for Gregory Australia Ltd. Jahn was formerly CEO of both the Mooney Airplane Co. and the Mooney Aerospace Group in the United States.
Multiflight of Leeds Bradford Airport has opened a new FBO to meet corporate demand in northeastern England. Leeds has fast become England's second-largest financial center, and is seeing strong growth in business aviation. The FBO is the latest in Multiflight's capital investment of around $17 million over the last five years and includes the construction of two 3,000-square-meter (32,292-square-foot) hangars and a huge increase in ramp space. Visiting aircraft movements topped 6,000 in 2006 and nearly 50 business aircraft are currently based under Multiflight's care.
Meanwhile, Embraer is investing more than $100 million in customer support initiatives, including building three new service centers in the United States and a fourth at Le Bourget airport in Paris. Embraer expects the customer support network to comprise seven wholly owned and 38 authorized service centers worldwide by the middle of 2008. The company also has signed an agreement with CAE for pilot and ground crew training.
MY FIRST MEETING WITH Al Ueltschi, the founder of FlightSafety International, occurred at a Gulfstream operators' dinner in Savannah. After the hello handshake, he began to speak animatedly not about simulators or learning centers or ab initio training, but rather about a new project with which he was involved. It all centered on a derelict airplane.
The British Business and General Aviation Association (BBGA) has launched a voluntary carbon trading scheme for its business aircraft operators to offer to customers. The Carbon Balancing Scheme means customers will pay the operator an extra 1.5p (2.94 cents) per liter of Jet-A1 consumed to help balance CO 2 emissions. The money generated is to be passed on to the World Land Trust (WLT), a charity that invests in environmentally worthy programs in developing countries.
Britain's Meggitt plc, in a move that would further expand its presence in the U.S. aerospace market, has struck a tentative agreement to acquire aircraft wheels and brakes supplier K&F Industries for $1.8 billion. The deal, which includes $1.1 billion in cash and the assumption of $700 million in debt, represents a premium of about 10 percent above K&F's stock closing price on March 5.
A Beech 95, registered to Northwest Jersey Airways, Inc., experienced an inflight loss of control and collided with the ground during takeoff from Spruce Creek Airport in Port Orange, Fla. The pilot called the UNICOM to announce that he was departing from Runway 23. A witness reported that the airplane became airborne and "yawed" to the left." It climbed out slowly with the landing gear extended, then the "left wing dropped and it went straight down." He did not hear any loud engine noises or power changes.
Von Essen Hotels has bought the freehold of the London Heliport and terminal building, together with an adjacent development site for a seven-story 70-room boutique hotel, for around $97 million. PremiAir, part of the Sir Robert McAlpine Group and England's leading business helicopter operator, will manage the Battersea Thames-side heliport in partnership with von Essen.
Fletcher Aldredge, publisher of the Vref Aircraft Value Reference and its companion Market Leader newsletter, said in the most recent edition of the latter publication that the final three months of 2006 "was another strong quarter for turboprops. Eclipses have started to deliver, and we do not detect any negative impact in the turboprop market at this time."
Raytheon Aircraft Co. is moving its international sales headquarters from Geneva, Switzerland, to its production and service facility in Chester, England -- the birthplace of the Hawker series. The Chester facility serves as the center for Hawker service and support in Europe, and is a major heavy-maintenance service facility for NetJets Europe. Meanwhile, the sale of Raytheon Aircraft to Goldman Sachs and Canada's Inex Corp. moved a step closer in March as European Union regulators gave it their blessing.
In the event of an emergency evacuation, the assistance of a preselected "able-bodied passenger" could be vital. ICAO guidance to airline crews suggests the best people to choose as able-bodied passengers typically are off-duty crewmembers from any carrier, military personnel, police officers, fire fighters, emergency medical personnel, physicians and nurses. In Australia, "the operators usually see the wisdom in training their cabin crew to identify the most likely passengers to be able-bodied passengers. . . .
A Bombardier Challenger 605 demonstrator has been test flying steep approaches at London City Airport (LCY).To qualify to operate at LCY, an aircraft must demonstrate its ability to be flown safely at a 5.5-degree (or greater) approach angle, take off and land on LCY's 1,319-meter (4,327-foot) runway, and meet the local noise requirements. If the CL605 achieves this, it will be the first of the Challenger series to do so.
The belly of a Eurocopter SA330J hit the runway surface at Lake County Airport in Lakeview, Ore. The pilot, student and a third passenger were not injured, but the aircraft, which is owned by Sky Cats Puma Corp. and operated by Evergreen Helicopters International, received serious damage. According to the pilot, during a simulated single-engine minimum ground run landing, the flight crew forgot to extend the landing gear and the helicopter touched down on its belly, driving the external load hook up into the airframe.
Flying nonstop from San Diego to Atlanta isn't a typical mission for a TBM 850, but that's precisely what B&CA did in late February with the help of average 65-knot tailwinds. Departing San Diego-Montgomery Field at 7:46 a.m., we arrived at Atlanta's DeKalb-Peachtree Airport at 4:10 p.m. and landed with healthy VFR fuel reserves. That's a distance of 1,700-plus nm, using the most direct available ATC routing that day and accounting for vectoring by ATC in the Atlanta area.
Turbine-powered and some piston aircraft operators can now expect more from their battery. Gill Battery's new 7638-44 sealed, valve regulated lead acid (VRLA), 44 AH 24-volt batteries will deliver more power and significantly better shelf life than traditional VRLA batteries, according to the company. Developed in-house by the engineering team at Gill Battery, a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies, Inc. and thoroughly tested by an independent test and measurement firm, the 7638-44 employs an optimal lead alloy to enable the best possible performance in this chemistry.
Delta Connection Academy is partnering with Southern Aero Medical Institute (SAMI) to develop and operate high-altitude recovery training programs for pilots and flight attendants. The programs, designed to prepare crewmembers in case of cabin depressurization, will incorporate high-altitude physiological training and computer-based training. The course, initially offered exclusively to Delta Academy students, will be held at the SAMI campus in Melbourne, Fla.
President Bush has designated Thomas J. Barrett, currently the administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), to become acting deputy secretary of the DOT. Before his appointment to head the PHMSA in 2006, Barrett was vice president and chief operating officer of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. He had a 35-year career with the U.S. Coast Guard, rising to vice commandant. In that role, Barrett was second-in-command, agency acquisition executive, and responsible for the coordination of the Coast Guard Leadership Council.
I am writing to request a correction and clarification to "Doing the Math: The Providers Response" sidebar in David Esler's "Formerly Fractionalized" feature in the February issue (page 66). In Flexjet's response to Complaint 1, Flexjet would like to clarify that Jet Solutions LLC, a U.S. air carrier, operates the Flexjet 25 jet card program. Jet Solutions also leases aircraft from Flexjet to meet the needs of Flexjet 25 card owners, therefore not disrupting service to fractional owners.
I enjoyed your Viewpoint on the FAA's "Morning's Mayhem Review" (January, page 7), especially the item on the Dash 8 running out of runway. Reminds me of the incongruous yarn about the midair refueling tanker that crashed due to fuel exhaustion! I wrote a few paragraphs featuring a Dash 8 that I thought your readers might enjoy.
