ELITE JETS has added a Falcon 900DX to its Dubai-based fleet, making that model of the three-engine business jet the first of its type in the region. Established in January 2004, Elite Jets operates a variety of aircraft, including a Citation CJ3, Hawker 850XP, Gulfstream G450, Falcon 900B and the recently acquired Falcon 900DX. The company plans to take delivery of a Falcon 7X in November.
THIELERT TAE 125-01 engines [Docket No. FAA-2009-0753; Directorate Identifier 2009-NE-31-AD] – This proposal would require operators to conduct repetitive inspections of the engine and engine oil for any pieces of broken piston-cooling nozzles, following the instructions contained in Thielert Service Bulletin No. TM TAE 125-0017, Rev. 2 (dated Feb. 22, 2008). If any evidence of a failed cooling nozzle were found, operators would need to remove the engine from service before further flight to prevent a possible engine inflight shutdown.
THE JAPAN NATIONAL POLICE AGENCY has ordered an AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter to replace an Aerospatiale AS332L1 helicopter. The acquisition increases the number of AW139s operating in law enforcement in Japan to three, with the first two medium-twin rotorcraft having been selected by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
NetJets has made across-the-board cuts to its U.S. operations of about 5 percent of its approximately 7,000- to 8,000-employee work force worldwide, according to a statement released by spokesman Ted Lowen. Fewer than 300 people in Ohio are affected, he added. NetJets has about 2,000 employees at its Port Columbus International Airport operational headquarters and surrounding offices.
HONG KONG-based Asia Jet introduced a new Challenger 605 into charter service in Asia at the recent Asia Aerospace Expo. The aircraft will be based at the Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre at Chep Lap Kok International Airport, where it will be operated and maintained by Asia Jet’s exclusive operating partner, Metrojet.
Zurich-based charter operator and aircraft management company ExecuJet says activity is growing in the Asia region despite the ongoing woes being experienced in the business aviation industry. ExecuJet credits work done 18 months ago, including its debut in Singapore and opening new aircraft maintenance facilities in Melbourne, Brisbane and Kuala Lumpur. The company operates five business jets under full management contracts and has exclusive marketing rights to another two business jets based in Darwin and Melbourne.
ANTHONY MORELAND was named vice president of business development for Med-Trans Corp., a Lewisville, Texas-based air medical services provider. Moreland previously was executive director of business development and marketing for Bell Helicopter Textron. He also has served as a pilot in the U.S. Army.
FAA recommended that Part 121 and 135 directors of operations review policies addressing flight crew fatigue. The recommendations were part of a Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) issued Sept. 11 that the agency said was designed “to provide insights to operators and crew for mitigating fatigue in short-haul flight operations.” The SAFO outlines commons factors of fatigue that short-haul pilots commonly identify, including sleep deprivation and high workload.
KAMAN CORPORATION has secured a five-year, $53 million contract to supply composite helicopter blade skins and skin core assemblies to Bell Helicopter. The contract calls for Kaman to provide 18 different assemblies for H1, 406, 407, 412, 427, 429, 430 and BA609 helicopters. The Kaman HeliworX center in Bloomfield, Conn. will provide the assemblies. Initial deliveries to Bell’s Hurst, Texas, facility will begin later this year.
EMBRAER last week held its annual Embraer Executive Operators Conference in Las Vegas targeting Legacy 600 operators. The conference covered technical issues through panel discussions and updates on all executive aviation products. The Brazilian manufacturer also held its first Phenom Forum Sept. 17 for Phenom 100 owners, operators and position holders, and organized a Maintenance and Service Advisory Roundtable for the Legacy 450 and Legacy 500.
Two key members of the Senate aviation subcommittee last week raised concerns about FAA’s oversight of on-demand operators and the agency’s lack of movement on updating 30-year-old Part 135 regulations. During a hearing Sept. 15 on the early findings of the Aug. 8 fatal midair collision over the Hudson River, aviation subcommittee Chairman Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said the accident should focus FAA on on-demand aircraft safety.
EUROCOPTER has delivered the first of 23 EC135s ordered by Poland’s health ministry. The rotorcraft, which were ordered in June 2008, will be assigned to the country’s nationwide emergency medical services network. Scheduled to enter service next January, the first helicopter will be based in Warsaw. Five more EC135s are slated for delivery this year, with the remaining 17 to follow in 2010. Technical support for the rotary wing aircraft is to be provided by the Warsaw-based company Heli Invest, a Eurocopter distributor and certified maintenance center.
Having reached more than 1,000 aircraft in service, the fractional business aircraft industry is in a new phase: the value era, said Rolland Vincent, president of Plano, Texas-based aviation consultancy Rolland Vincent Associates, in a new report. After emerging in 1986, the industry grew rapidly from 1995 through 2000, retrenched and rebuilt through 2004, and then grew again through 2007, Vincent said. “In the new value era, companies and wealthy consumers have become more resourceful,” he said. “The value equation and their expectations have changed.”
FAA has released a record of decision (ROD) approving a final environmental impact statement for a proposed development project at Port Columbus International Airport in Columbus, Ohio.
ENTERPRISE JET CENTER, a fixed-base operation located at Houston Hobby Airport, appointed Bobby Courtney president and chief executive. Courtney has 11 years of FBO management experience, previously serving as general manager of JetDirect Aviation in Dallas; general manager of Midwest Aviation Center in Chesterfield, Mo.; and ground operations manager of Kansas City Aviation Center in Olathe, Kan.
FAA last week published a notice of proposed rulemaking to establish a Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) over the Hudson and East Rivers and to raise the floor of the Class B airspace over part of the Hudson to 1,300 feet mean sea level. The proposal follows a series of actions that FAA announced earlier this month in an effort to make flight procedures over the Hudson River region “crystal clear” (BA, Sept. 7/104).
MICHIGAN’s Wayne County Airport Authority was forced to issue a statement last week to counter press reports on the imminent closing of its Willow Run Airport due to financial woes caused by the economy and the shutdown of flight operations by two of the Big Three automakers. “In late spring, airport authority senior management met to review our strategy for Willow Run Airport and determined that closure of the airport was not a viable option for the foreseeable future,” said CEO Lester Robinson.
UNIVERSAL AVIONICS’s UNS-1Espw flight management system received FAA certification for installation in Cessna Citation 560 Excel and XLS aircraft. Cessna secured an amended type certification (TC) for the dual UNS-1Espw WAAS/SBAS-FMS installation with Localizer Performance with Vertical (LPV) guidance approval. The TC enables operators to obtain WAAS/SBAS capabilities straight from Cessna.
JEAN-LUC ESTABLIE was named president of ATR’s new India Customer Support Private Ltd subsidiary. Establie, who joined ATR in 1999, has been sales director for India and the surrounding region since 2002. Before that he was ATR’s sales director for the Eastern Mediterranean. He also was sales director for Southern Europe for Socata.
PROJET AVIATION has teamed with TerraPass, Inc. to offer carbon offsets to private jet travelers. “For about 1 percent of the cost of the trip, our clients can sponsor reductions in greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere,” said ProJet CEO Shye Gilad. The company provides the carbon offset cost for each flight so their clients can make their own choice.
JAMES (JAY) TUTHILL III was elected to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Board of Trustees. Tuthill is the fourth generation of his family to head the Tuthill Corporation. Originally founded as an industrial pump company, Tuthill now manufactures a range of industrial products. Tuthill himself is an instrument-rated, single- and multi-engine land private pilot, as well as a multi-engine seaplane pilot. He has been a member of AOPA since 1978.
BRITISH AEROSPACE HP.137 Jetstream Mk.1, Jetstream Series 200 and 3101 and Jetstream Model 3201 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0817; Directorate Identifier 2009-CE-046-AD; Amendment 39-16020; AD 2009-19-03] – Before further flight, inspect the main landing gear radius rods to determine if a certain type of rod is installed, as detailed in BAE Systems Alert Service Bulletin 32-A-JA090640 Rev. 2. If one of the affected rods is installed, replace it before further flight with a rod of a different design.
THE RENO AIR RACES last week drew the participation of some high-profile manufacturers, including Hawker Beechcraft and Embraer, which hoped to tout the speed of their aircraft. Both plane makers had representatives in attendance at the 46th annual National Championship Air Races and Air Show, which took place Sept. 16-20 at Reno-Stead Airport. Hawker Beechcraft had its Premier IA, King Air B200GT and Bonanza G36 on display in Reno for its fifth year of participation.
Despite the current economic downturn, Bombardier’s Flexjet has hired five new sales directors to handle expansion in the company’s Flexjet 25 Jet Card program as that segment of the industry continues to grow.
