Manchester Airport has bought East Midlands and Bournemouth Airports from National Express plc for $362 million. The Manchester Airport group of companies also has an 82.7-percent majority stake in Humberside Airport, which now makes the group the second-largest airport owner in the United Kingdom, behind the British Airports Authority.
Atlantic Aviation, Wilmington, Del., has named Joseph Fazio as general manager of flight support for its Teterboro (TEB) FBO. Prior to working for Atlantic Aviation, Fazio served as vice president and general manager for Jet Systems at Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains, N.Y.
British Midland Commuter has converted four options for two Embraer ERJ 135s and two ERJ 145s with deliveries due in January and April 2002. This takes British Midland's firm orders for the ERJ 135 to four and ERJ 145 to 10. The airline holds six more options for the ERJ 145, taking the total contract value to $270 million. Its seventh ERJ 145 arrived in February.
Charlotte County Airport (PGD), Punta Gorda, Fla., tenants are in an uproar after a memorandum was issued by Director Fred Watts requiring a 20-gallon minimum fuel fill before a truck is dispatched to a hangar. At a recent board meeting, Lionel Schumann, a tenant, told attendees that the memo discriminates against aircraft that won't hold 20 gallons and it discourages owners from topping off their tanks.
Airport peak-hour pricing proposals are gaining momentum in Washington, D.C. as government officials grapple with ways to ease growing congestion in the nation's airways. A number of industry economists and analysts recommended allowing the nation's most crowded airports to charge higher prices for takeoffs and landings during the busiest times of the day. This concept apparently has begun to gain support from some senior Washington officials, including Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and Senate Aviation Subcommittee Chairwoman Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas).
Newly operational fractional operator CitationShares says it expects to double its fleet by the end of the year. The Cessna/TAG Aviation partnership now flies 13 aircraft and plans to add about two aircraft per month beginning in June, including six Cessna CJ1s, six Bravos and the company's first Citation Excel. CitationShares CEO Steve O'Neil says pilot hiring is to progress at a fast pace through the end of the year, with plans for 50 to 60 new hires, more than doubling the present 45 pilot roster.
Teterboro Airport is about seven miles from the George Washing-ton Bridge and is the quick way to ``Downtown Big Apple,'' notwithstanding the fact that La Guardia is geographically closer. Timewise, Teterboro wins hands down, owing to the fact that merely landing at LGA is a daunting task in itself. The Marine Air Terminal at LGA has long since been usurped by the commuters, relegating general aviation aircraft way out in the tewlies.
The FAA has adopted as an AD a manufacturer's service bulletin prohibiting the flight of Learjet 45s into known icing conditions. The restriction resulted from an incident in which a Model 45 aircraft experienced anti-ice system difficulties, generating a warning to the flight crew of an overheat condition of the horizontal stabilizer. The AD requires replacement of the anti-ice manifold assembly within 100 flight hours, whereas the alert service bulletin required such action within 25 hours.
Austrian Airlines President Dr. Herbert Bammer announced that it will buy Rheintalflug, a small regional airline based in Austria, subject to regulatory and anti-trust approval for an undisclosed amount. Rheintalflug currently operates a fleet of two Dash 8-Q300s and three Embraer ERJ-145MPs for Team Lufthansa.
What criteria do you use in choosing a handling service? Diane Heine, a dispatcher at AirFlite, Inc., a charter/management company in Long Beach, Calif., offered some suggestions -- and an interest-ing story:
The experts speak. B/CA consulted two veteran international business pilots on how they organize complex trips abroad and the checking processes they employ to ensure that everything works out according to plan. Implicit in this is how they interact with and use their handling services.
A new online course is being offered to reduce runway incursions. The Air Safety Foundation's new Runway Safety Program incorporates three-dimensional graphics and audio to enhance pilots' knowledge of ground operations at busy airports. Working air traffic controllers contributed audio for the project, which also contains an arrival sequence at Long Beach Airport in California, a departure from Pittsburgh International Airport and a quiz.
British European has ordered 20 new Avro RJX-100 airliners from BAE Systems. Valued at more than $600 million, the deal includes firm orders for 12 of the 112-seat aircraft and options for eight more. The British regional carrier currently operates a fleet of 17 BAe 146s throughout Europe and the British Isles. RJX-100 flight testing is expected to begin this month, with certification and initial deliveries planned for the first and second quarters of 2002, respectively.
The 11th annual Head in the Sand Awards lampooned manufacturers and government regulators for contributing to ``the denial, the discounting or the ignoring of significant aviation risks or opportunities.'' Top honors went to the FAA's Airspace and Rules Division for permitting construction in Anchorage of a 497-foot-tall tower in a special VFR corridor requiring flight below 600 feet msl.
AC-U-KWIK is offering FBOs real-time flight information through its Web site. The program enables ground service providers time to prepare for an incoming aircraft's arrival. Information can be accessed on any aircraft that has filed an IFR flight plan; individual flight details are displayed when viewers click on a specific aircraft icon. AC-U-KWIK also will place a subscribing FBO's icon on its Web site that will link to a form that when submitted alerts the FBO to service requirements of arriving aircraft.
Eclipse Aviation founder Vern Raburn has been named one of Time magazine's Top 100 Innovators of the 21st Century, now in its second year. Calling the proposed Eclipse 500 a ``baby jet'' and ``the ultimate escape vehicle,'' the magazine lauded Raburn's early success attracting $120 million from investors and several dozen orders for the $837,500 twin jet and cited his alliance with Dr. Sam Williams of Williams International as a key to the project's success.
Raytheon Aircraft Services, Wichita, has received the FAA's Diamond Certificate of Excellence Award for training at its Houston William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) FBO. In addition, 30 of the FBO's technicians have received individual awards for training.
Bombardier has made its first CRJ700 sale to Africa with an order for one of the 68 seaters plus a CRJ200 to Cameroon Airlines of West Africa. Delivery of the CRJ700 is set for first quarter 2002 while the CRJ200 is due in the fourth quarter of this year. The Douala-based airline intends to use the CRJs on regional service to the surrounding countries of Gabon, the Republic of Congo, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast and Chad.
To help pilots round out their knowledge of modern aircraft systems and equipment at an affordable price, Sporty's is introducing the ``Five Dollar Educational Program.'' For a sawbuck, pilots can obtain informational CD-ROMs and videos on a variety of subjects including Ground Proximity Warning Systems, Airborne Flight Information System, GPS, comm/nav, engine management, aviation oil, tailplane icing and icing for regional/corporate pilots. Price: $5 Sporty's Pilot Shop, Clermont County Airport Batavia, Ohio 45103-9747
Metro Business Aviation Ltd. has signed a long-term contract to support the Flexjet Europe fleet of Learjet and Challenger aircraft at London Luton Airport. The agreement is to provide maintenance to JAR Ops 1 standards on a 24-hour basis as well as complete aircraft handling services which includes cleaning and fuel provision. Metro, owned by the Harrods Group, has bases at London Heathrow and London Stansted as well as at Luton.
KaiserAir at Oakland International Airport (OAK) in California has been authorized by the FAA to install Terrain Awareness and Warning Systems (TAWS) in all Gulfstream III aircraft. The company also is seeking STC approval to install the same system in G-IV aircraft.
In the minds of attorneys, aircraft represent potentially catastrophic civil liability. And when presented with any kind of potentially devastating liability, an attorney's instinctive response is to create a separate corporation to ``shield'' the rest of the corporate family, and the individual assets of those who direct it.
Wahl Instruments has introduced the DHS110 Heat Spy series of compact, handheld, non-contact infrared thermometers. The six-by-two-inch unit has a temperature range from 0F to 850F and can display in either the Fahrenheit or Celsius scale. The unit features a keypad-actuated backlight that aids the display in low light conditions and comes equipped with a laser-aiming beam for targeting. One nine-volt battery supplies power for the Heat Spy and the LCD indicates when the battery is running low.
