THOMAS MITCHELL has joined Portsmouth, N.H.-based business aviation consultancy Aviation Management Systems (AMS) as senior vice president-operations and business development. Mitchell has more than 30 years of experience, previously holding positions as a director, general manager, vice president and senior vice president for Jet Aviation. He also has served as a manager for a Fortune 500 company that owned several Dassault and Bombardier business jets and was director of maintenance for a Part 135 charter business.
The Corporate Angel Network (CAN) recently received two sizeable donations from the aviation industry totaling more than $240,000. The National Business Aviation Association’s/CAN Charity Benefit, held during the recent NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention in Atlanta, raised more than $220,000. Also, a check for $21,000 was presented to the charity from the proceeds of full-page ads placed in BA affiliate Business & Commercial Aviation magazine.
London Stansted-based Inflite Jet Centre will take delivery of a new Embraer Legacy 650 next month. Configured with 12 seats, the Legacy 650 will be available for charter with Titan Airways.
Avfuel Corporation has established a new in-house subsidiary, Avplan Trip Support, dedicated to flight and trip-planning services. The subsidiary was made possible through Avfuel’s acquisition of Van Nuys, Calif.-based Pacific Coast Forecasting earlier this year. The acquisition was designed to build on Avfuel’s existing ground-handing and trip-planning services. Formalizing the services under Avplan Trip Support will “streamline and enhance Avfuel’s service matrix, allowing for quality control,” the company says.
Business Jet Access has been awarded a certificate of registration for implementing the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO). BJA, as part of the IS-BAO certification, has successfully implemented a safety management system and meets all criteria for operating aircraft internationally. BJA also has been recognized with the ARGUS Platinum rating, received FAA Part 145 repair station certification and has been designated as an authorized air carrier for conducting flights into and out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Charter operator ExcelAire has added two Bombardier Global 5000s to its fleet. One aircraft will be based in Columbus, Ohio and the other at MacArthur Airport in Islip, N.Y.
FAA’s reservation system for unscheduled arrivals at Chicago O’Hare International Airport is set to expire Oct. 31. The system was established in 2003 under Special Federal Aviation Regulation (SFAR) No. 105 as a means to assist with overcrowding at the airport. In 2008, the agency extended SFAR 105 through Oct. 31, 2010. The agency said at the time that the extension was necessary to continue to reduce congestion and delays at O’Hare.
RICHARD AGEE has joined Stoneworth Financial, a Houston-based aviation merger and acquisition advisory firm that serves middle-market companies with revenue or values between $20 million and $250 million. Agee formerly served as chief financial officer and vice president for the AR Group, which included Air Routing International. AR Group was a client of Stoneworth Financial before it was acquired by Rockwell Collins earlier this year. Agee will be a principal of Stoneworth.
Cessna Aircraft sales veteran Roger Whyte is retiring at the end of the year following a 28-year career with the company. Whyte, currently senior vice president, sales and marketing, joined Cessna in 1982. During that time he has held a number of positions, from regional sales manager to vice president, Citation worldwide sales. He was promoted to his current position in January 1997 and has been responsible for the worldwide sales and marketing of Cessna’s entire product line.
EMBRAER EMB-500 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-1023; Directorate Identifier 2010-CE-055-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to install clamps and protection sleeves to wiring harness W101 in the cockpit area. In addition, operators would need to rework adjacent structures to eliminate the fretting spots of the harness with the main-door locking mechanism and with the oxygen tube, per the instructions of Embraer Service Bulletin No. SB 500-24-0002 (dated March 8, 2010).
Analysts attending the recent National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) 63rd Annual Meeting and Convention in Atlanta believe the show was more upbeat than in 2009, but also believe the industry’s full recovery will not begin until 2012. This follows similar sentiments expressed by a number of industry leaders at the convention, including Rob Wilson, president of business and general aviation at Honeywell Aerospace, who has characterized 2011 as “another ‘bounding along the bottom’ type of year” (BA, Oct. 18/2).
Unfettered by the sagging business jet market, Gulfstream booked more orders in the third quarter than in any other quarter since the economic downturn, and its service business logged its highest total ever, Jay Johnson, chairman and CEO of Gulfstream parent General Dynamics, reported last week. These increases led to a 15% jump in revenues and a 59.2% boost in operating earnings in the third quarter for the GD Aerospace group – comprising Gulfstream and Jet Aviation.
Chicago-based Aero Resources, LLC has expanded its virtual flight department business by adding aircraft charter brokering, flight department consulting and personnel training.
CONSTANCE (CONNIE) ARNOLD was appointed director-safety and technical affairs for the Regional Airline Association. Arnold previously spent four years with the US Airways Technical Operations group, holding safety, environmental and regulatory compliance roles. She also has served with the City of Phoenix as an environmental quality specialist and safety analyst.
UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has certified Al Bateen Executive Airport to provide free landing and parking services for executive jets coming to Abu Dhabi between Nov. 10-14 for the Etihad Airways Formula 1 Grand Prix race.
MARK BIANCHI was named vice president and general manager of StandardAero’s Los Angeles (LAX) facility. Bianchi previously had served as senior and executive vice president of aircraft maintenance for NetJets Aviation. Before joining NetJets in 2004, he spent 18 years with US Airways in a number of leadership positions, including manager of quality assurance and regulatory compliance, 737/757/767 fleet manager and base maintenance manager.
Jet Aviation’s facility in Teterboro, N.J., has added Dassault Falcon 7X and Cessna Citation X aircraft maintenance to the company’s FAA repair station authority. Jet Aviation also has authority to support those models through its foreign certificates, including the European Aviation Safety Agency, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. Jet Aviation Teterboro services all major business jet models and components, the company says. It provides base and line maintenance as well as 24-hour aircraft-on-ground assistance.
ARGUS awarded platinum ratings to six charter operators in the third quarter of 2010. Awards were given to five U.S. operators – Airborne Inc. d/b/a FirstFlight of Horseheads, N.Y.; Business Jet Services d/b/a Business Jet Access of Dallas; Corporate Flight Alternatives of Vandalia, Ohio; Omni Air Transport of Tulsa, Okla.; and USA Jet Airlines of Belleville, Mich. Sao Paulo-based Colt Aviation was the sixth.
BOMBARDIER BD-700-1A10 and BD-700-1A11 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0959; Directorate Identifier 2010-NM-119-AD] – Relocate the No. 2 and No. 3 hydraulic system lines in the wing auxiliary spar area on the left side of the aircraft. Also, modify the left wing rib and left and right debris shields, per the instructions of Bombardier Service Bulletin 700-29-021 Rev. 01 (for Model BD-700-1A10 airplanes) or 700-1A11-29-004 Rev. 01 (for Model BD-700-1A11 airplanes), both dated Jan. 25, 2010.
Given the widespread view that any order improvement in 2011 will be modest at best, OEMs with new products should outperform peers on revenue and earnings growth, says a new Credit Suisse report. “Embraer is currently driving such growth with its Phenom light jet introductions, and Gulfstream will follow with its new mid-size G250 in 2011 and ultra-long-range G650 in 2012,” says the report.
Honeywell Aerospace’s Green Jet biofuel could produce a 65% to 80% net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, claims Ron Rich, vice president of propulsion. The fuel is slated for ASTM certification shortly, allowing it to be a “plug in” replacement for petroleum-based jet fuel. It already has been flight tested by four airlines and three military organizations.
GARETH CADWELL was named as general manager of U.K.-based private jet company Ocean Sky. He will oversee all areas of Ocean Sky Aircraft Charter, including expansion of the charter sales team and the fleet to meet increasing customer demand. He previously led the charter division at Bookajet.
General Dynamics Chairman and CEO Jay Johnson is encouraged that Gulfstream Aerospace’s “pipeline of new opportunity remains strong,” particularly in the Latin America and Asia Pacific regions. Speaking to analysts last week, Johnson estimated that those two regions represented about one-third of third-quarter sales activity and now comprise more than 40% of Gulfstream’s backlog. See article on Page 3.
