SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-Mass.) and 34 Senate co-signers sent a letter this month to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), urging passage of full FAA reauthorization by the end of this year. The last FAA funding authorization expired in September 2007, and since then the agency has limped along under a series of short-term resolutions.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is recommending that the Canadian Business Aviation Association (CBAA) set safety management system (SMS) implementation milestones for its members and that Transport Canada (TC) should ensure that CBAA has an effective quality-assurance program in place to audit its members who hold certificates.
EAGLE CREEK AVIATION SERVICES, an aviation services company with operations in Indianapolis and Naples, Fla., took delivery of its eighth Phenom 100. Eagle Creek also has assisted four other owners accepting their Phenoms, for a total of 12 Phenom deliveries to date. Eagle Creek has 17 Phenom 100 aircraft on order, and jointly with Embraer had announced firm orders for a total of 21 Phenom 100 and 300 jets on behalf of its client base. Eagle Creek is an Embraer authorized service center.
AIR PARTNER is expanding its 25-hour prepaid JetCard for private jet charter clients by adding two new categories of aircraft – very light jet and super midsize – within its European service area. The company says VLJs are ideal for short flight to business destinations from the U.K., while the super midsize eight-seat category targets clients who want a generous cabin in an aircraft that can perform longer trips than a midsize jet.
Hawker Beechcraft notified its Machinists Union local last week of its plan to close a Salina, Kan. facility that fabricates wings, spars and other subassemblies. The executive director of the Salina Airport Authority expressed disappointment over the move, but is looking at efforts to market the space once Hawker Beechcraft departs.
SUMMIT AVIATION is planning a $2.5 million expansion and upgrade program for its facilities in Middletown, Del. The program will renovate the aircraft maintenance center and add 30,000 square feet. Once complete, Summit Aviation will have 175,000 square feet. The project is slated for completion in April 2010. Based at Summit Airport, Summit Aviation is part of the Greenwich AeroGroup.
PAT CONROY joined StandardAero as regional sales manager for the Southern California region. Based at the StandardAero Los Angeles International Airport facility, Conroy will be responsible for sales revenue generation and existing customer accounts. A longtime business aviation sales professional, he has served with other major service providers, including Garrett Aviation.
AVIATION BUSINESS CONSULTANTS INTERNATIONAL was named the marketing partner for Taylor Greenwood Aviation Photography. ABCI will launch a redesigned Web site and participate in social media networks on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
IRIDIUM COMMUNICATIONS engaged Goldman, Sachs & Co. to serve as its lead global advisor for the financing of Iridium NEXT, the company’s next-generation satellite constellation. Iridium plans to cover a substantial portion of the costs from its own generated cash flow, as well as revenues derived from hosted payloads on its next-generation constellation and from warrant proceeds. Goldman Sachs will lead the effort to secure the remainder of funding for the new constellation. Iridum expects to launch the constellation in 2014.
DAN SMILEY was appointed program manager, ATM operations for CANSO. Smiley, who was “seconded” to CANSO from FAA’s Air Traffic Organization, will support the CANSO Operations Standing Committee in the areas of civil-military cooperation, service delivery and collaboration with the International Air Transport Association. He previously worked as a senior advisor for NextGen in the Office of International Aviation, where he educated the international aviation work force on FAA’s NextGen program.
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT Chairman and CEO Bill Boisture was encouraged by the attention the Hawker 4000 captured during last month’s NBAA convention in Orlando, Fla. “We are very confident that the airplane is going to be a formidable and successful competitor in the super midsize category,” Boisture told analysts last week. The company has begun to step up delivery of its largest business jet, shipping four in the third quarter, he said. But Boisture also acknowledged the pricing pressures involved with the Hawker 4000.
FLEXJET is taking advantage of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver next year and teaming with Jet Set Sports to promote a special limited time Flexjet 25 Jet Card.
The European Aviation Safety Agency has outlined a series of measures that Eclipse Aerospace must meet before it will reinstate the type certificate for the Eclipse 500 aircraft. EASA revoked the type certificate in June (BA, June 29/303). The agency more recently transferred the name of the TC to new owner Eclipse Aerospace, but did not reinstate it (BA, Oct. 5/152).
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT Model 1900, 1900C and 1900D airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0165; Directorate Identifier 2008-CE-055-AD; Amendment 39-16075; AD 2009-23-03] – Install new modification kits on the wing rear-spar lower caps, following the procedures outlined in Hawker Beechcraft Mandatory Service Bulletin SB 57-3816 (issued January 2008).
THE AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION’S Aviation Summit, held Nov. 5-7 in Tampa, Fla., drew 7,294 attendees, down from the more than 9,500 that attended the 2008 event in San Jose, Calif. AOPA, however, noted that 16,000 more “virtually” attended this year’s summit, watching live streaming of the event. More than 1,000 aircraft flew into Peter O. Knight, Tampa Executive and Tampa International Airports during the three-day event, and 104 aircraft were on display.
SHORBANI ROY joined Embraer as corporate communications manager for Asia Pacific. Roy will lead Embraer’s media relations activities in the Asia Pacific region. She formerly was with the Grayling international public relations consultancy, overseeing communications programs for aviation, logistics and lifestyle clients.
BOISTURE also expressed optimism that the company is having more success with sales overall. The company still is facing customer cancellations, but orders outpaced cancellations in the third quarter. While declining to provide specifics on white tails (aircraft produced but not sold), he said, “We have some. They are at a manageable level.” Boisture added that he believes Hawker Beechcraft has set its production rate at an appropriate level to match order intake. But he also agreed with industry predictions that the market will continue to go down in 2010.
December 1-8 – FAA International Runway Safety Summit, Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C., 703-824-0504 ext. 150, [email protected]. December 8-10 – AVIATION WEEK MRO Asia Conference & Exhibition, Asia World-Expo, Hong Kong, www.aviationweek.com/conferences January 25-26, 2010 – National Air Transportation Association FBO Leadership Conference, San Antonio, Texas, (800) 808-6282 or visit www.nata.aero/fbolc
CONSTANT AVIATION of Cleveland, Ohio, has begun the supplemental type certification process for installation of the Aircell High Speed Internet System on several aircraft types, including the Gulfstream IV, Citation X, Hawker Beechcraft Beechjet and Piaggio Avanti. Constant Aviation already has delivered the first Embraer Legacy with the ATG 4000 High Speed Internet System (BA, Oct. 19/182). The system is marketed as an affordable option for business aircraft operators seeking high-speed Internet service.
SIMCOM TRAINING CENTERS increased its portfolio of training services with the addition of Falcon 20 and Westwind programs, as well as a King Air 350 trainer. SimCom acquired Level C full-flight simulators from CAE to support the new Falcon 20 and Westwind programs. The simulators will be operational by Dec. 1. SimCom is installing updated visual systems on both simulators. In addition, SimCom will install a King Air 350 trainer that displays the Pro Line 21 cockpit. The imagery on the trainer is equivalent to that used on a Level D flight simulator, SimCom said.
THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET last week completed its review of the long-awaited notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would establish new aircraft repair station security rules. OMB clearance was one of the final hurdles to the release of the NPRM. Congress has barred FAA from issuing any new foreign repair station certification until the Transportation Security Administration releases final repair station security rules. The NPRM is expected to concentrate on heavy maintenance and foreign repair stations.
ATLANTIC AERO, Greenwich AeroGroup’s facility at Piedmont-Triad International Airport in Greensboro, N.C., recently received FAA Organization Designation Authorization (ODA). The ODA designation authorizes Atlantic Aero to approve technical data and issue and amend supplemental type certificates. Atlantic Aero had served as Designated Alteration Station (DAS) for 12 years and had issued more than 70 STCs in concert with FAA. Atlantic Aero also has recently increased its service center hangar capacity by 25,000 square feet.
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt agrees that the aviation excise tax system has worked well in the past, but questions whether it can sustain the agency in the long run. “We need a revenue stream that’s sustainable,” he said during the Aircraft Owners and Pilot Association’s Aviation Summit this month in Tampa, Fla. “I don’t have the answer. But we’re going to have to look at a lot of things.”
Cirrus is making “seasonal adjustments” as the company looks to match costs with actual demand, according to a memo to employees last week from President and CEO Brent Wouters. The memo was issued as the company announced plans to lay off 58 of its 950 workers.
