Some readers may be surprised to find Honeywell's AirSat1 satcom telephone system listed in the Satcom table again this year. It turns out that the reports of the demise of the Iridium satcom system were premature. The Iridium constellation of 76 satellites, which was virtually at the point of being turned to toast when the spacecraft were to be de-orbited in summer 2000, has been rescued by the Pentagon under a two-year, $72 million deal, which will guarantee a maximum of 20,000 users, and cover up to 60 percent of Iridium's operating costs.
Fairchild Dornier 728JET launch customer Lufthansa Group has been named an authorized training provider for the aircraft. Lufthansa, which will offer flight crew and maintenance training on the 728JET, has 60 firm orders and 60 options for the aircraft. The airline expects to launch 728JET service in mid-2003.
Executive Jet Aviation has ordered 25 firm and 25 optional Dassault Falcon 2000EX aircraft and six additional Falcon 2000s for its NetJets fractional ownership program. Unveiled at the 2000 NBAA convention, the 2000EX is designed to provide 25-percent more range than the current 2000 variant, allowing transatlantic flights under most wind conditions. Pratt&Whitney Canada is developing the PW308C turbofan for the 2000EX; the aircraft also has additional fuel tanks. FAA and JAA certification of the aircraft is planned for late 2002.
TAG Aviation USA won FAA approval to operate Bombardier Global Express aircraft under FAR Part 135, which TAG says is the first such approval for the long-range business jet. The new Global Express will be based in Seattle.
Hartzell Propellers, Piqua, Ohio, has named Brian Meyer as the manager of the aircraft applications engineering group. Formerly the manager of Hartzell's STC programs, Meyer is responsible to ensure quality in engineering applications.
Sydney International Airport is up for sale, but the Australian government will limit foreign ownership to 49 percent valued at approximately $5.8 billion. The successful bidder will receive the option to build and develop a secondary airport within 100 km of the city's center -- but only if the need can be justified. Potential bidders are believed to include the U.K.'s BAA, which operates Melbourne Airport; the Dutch Schipol Group; and the Changi Airport Group from Singapore, which already holds a share in Auckland International Airport in New Zealand.
Regardless of its specific outcome, the walkout by Comair's 1,350 unionized pilots could speed integration of regional pilots into major airline seniority lists. The strike is the first to directly challenge the perception that regional airline pilots should work harder and earn less than their mainline counterparts -- trends that have defined the U.S. airline industry for decades.
Despite continuous and growing opposition to the closing of Meigs Field on Chicago's lakefront, Mayor Richard Daley is obdurate toward continuing Meigs beyond spring 2002 -- one year from now. He fully intends to close down Meigs and make it into a ``beautiful park.'' Business and private aircraft will have to use Midway or Palwaukee. Midway is already crowded and Palwaukee . . . well, suh, you might as well use Waukegan. Unless you have business in Skokie, Glenview or Evanston, Palwaukee is way out in the tewlies.
All U.S. airliners weighing more than 7,500 pounds with more than one flight attendant will be required to carry automated external defibrillators (AED) within three years, under the terms of a recently enacted FAA rule. The regulation also requires airlines to expand what they carry in onboard enhanced medical kits (EMK) to include: IV administration kits, AMBU bag (which assists breathing following defibrillation), CPR masks and such medications as oral antihistamines, non-narcotic analgesics, aspirin, lidocaine, atropine and a bronchodilator inhaler.
NTSB Investigator Al Dickinson is heading a team looking into the apparent icing-related upset of Comair EMB-120 on March 19. The Embraer Brasilia was damaged substantially in the incident, but the 22 passengers and three flight crewmembers were uninjured. Comair Flight 5040 was at 18,000 feet on autopilot, nearing the end of a leg from Nassau, Bahamas, to Orlando, when the aircraft entered IMC.
March was a tragic month for corporate operators and regional carriers, with accidents resulting in 41 fatalities. Two of the acci- dents occurred at two of the world's most challenging and appealing destinations: Aspen, Colo., and St. Barts in the Caribbean. The following is a chronological list of noteworthy mishaps.
An independent panel of industry and academic experts has recommended that the United States continue to fund work on the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) -- the FAA's controversial effort to use satellite signals as a primary means of aircraft navigation. In its report to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, the WAAS Independent Review Board (IRB) concluded that WAAS will provide ``enormous benefit'' to all GPS users, given the FAA's full commitment to the project.
Airline holding company Great Plains has purchased a stake in Columbia, Mo.-based Ozark Airlines. The carrier, which began service in February 2000, links Chicago and Dallas with two Fairchild Dornier 328JETS. While Ozark has a loose affiliation with American Airlines, other alliances are desired. A proposed association with start-up Access Air fell through when that carrier ceased operating and filed for bankruptcy. No terms of the deal were disclosed, although Great Plains is believed to have its eye on regional jet service linking Tulsa with the East Coast.
CargoLifter, a German company with plans to re-create the age of the super dirigibles, has selected General Electric's CT7-8 tuboshaft engines to power its new behemoth. Each of the 850-foot-long CL160 airships will be fitted with eight CT7-8 engines producing a combined output of approximately 30,000 shp. Buoyed by 15.8 million cubic feet of helium, the airship is designed to haul over 160 tons of cargo, 6,210 miles at a maximum altitude of 6,500 feet. CargoLifter said first flight of the $44 million airship should occur after engine delivery in 2002.
More than two months have passed since FAA Administrator Jane Garvey signed off on the notice of proposed rulemaking that would establish a new Subpart K of FAR Part 91 governing fractional aircraft ownership programs and modify operating rules for Part 135 air taxi companies, and sent the measure to the DOT for a 60-day review. No ``showstoppers'' have surfaced at the DOT, but the transition of the new administration and the need to fill key positions at the department apparently has delayed the review process.
Bombardier Aerospace has changed the management of its Flexjet fractional aircraft program, naming former Pratt&Whitney Canada executive Clifford Dickman as president. Dickman joined Bombardier as vice president and general manager of the company's Business Aircraft division and will now assume responsibility for Flexjet operations in the United States and Europe as president of Business JetSolutions. Michael McQuay is joining Bombardier as vice president and general manager of Flexjet North America.
FAA and Canadian officials have lifted the airspeed restriction limiting the VNE speed of the Bell 407. The FAA ordered the restriction earlier this year, reducing the VNE speed of the Model 407 to 110 knots due to questions surrounding a 407 crash in December 2000. The agency said then that the restrictions were ``intended to prevent tail-rotor blades from striking the tail boom'' and causing separation of the aft section of the tail boom.
Geneva-based charter operator PrivatAir has acquired Ogden's Flight Services Group operations in the United States and its Transair FBO at Paris' Le Bourget airport. FSG says it will keep its corporate identity for the immediate future, though it will be identified as part of the PrivatAir group.
