Airlines and business aviation groups last week united in urging key legislators to push forward a long-term comprehensive aviation reauthorization bill and pledged to work together to get that accomplished despite their differences in philosophy on funding.
Pratt & Whitney Canada will lay off 1,000 workers in the next few months, the company announced last week, blaming the global economic downturn for the action. Maria Mandato, a spokesperson for the Quebec-based United Technologies subsidiary, said the weakened economy is impacting operations and has required P&WC to revise its 2009 production plan.
BOMBARDIER is offering a Wide Area Augmentation System-capable flight management system as an option on new Learjet 40 XR and Lear 45 XR aircraft, as well as a retrofit for in-service Learjet 40, Learjet 40 XR, Learjet 45 and Learjet 45 XR aircraft. The Universal WAAS uses a network of ground reference stations collecting GPS data that is broadcast to the aircraft to enable area navigation and localize performance with vertical guidance (LPV) instrument approaches. LPV approaches offer pilots lower landing minimums, resulting in more flexibility for landing decisions.
DOWNING AVIATION ASSOCIATES expanded its compilation of Light Sport Aircraft manufacturer data to encompass 60 aircraft. DAA also has updated pricing information for the aircraft. Formed in 2001, the Gilbert, Ariz. firm provides technical, marketing, business and contract management resources for startup and established firms. DAA provides prospective buyers quantitative information on aircraft as well assists in the selection of optional equipment.
Business jet makers Cessna and Hawker Beechcraft have launched advertising campaigns to combat the recent negative publicity swirling around business aviation. Hawker Beechcraft Chairman and CEO Jim Schuster recently blamed the growing negative attention for helping to intensify the volatility in the marketplace. “The media and some politicians have cast general aviation as a wasteful extravagance instead of a critical business tool and the source of millions of American jobs,” he said in a letter this month to employees discussing plans for some 2,300 layoffs (BA, Feb.
TERESA YATES was named general manager of TAC Air Raleigh-Durham in North Carolina. Yates joined TAC Air in 2007 with nearly 20 years of aviation services experience. She previously has held positions as line service supervisor, line service manager, training supervisor and environmental specialist. She formerly served with Worldwide Flight Services and AMR Services.
AMERICAN LEGEND AIRCRAFT COMPANY named Emilia Air, LLC of Muskegon, Mich., as a dealer for the Legend Cub light-sport aircraft. Emilia Air will provide sales and support to Legend Cub operators in Michigan. Based at Muskegon County Airport, Emilia Air provides aircraft management, sales, and leasing services.
SHARON KLOSE joined Duncan Aviation’s turbine engine service sales team. Klose will develop business relationships in new markets. She has 20 years of turbine engine experience, beginning as a program manager for Airwork Corporation in the TFE731 and GE Engine programs. She also served with AlliedSignal (Honeywell) in Customer Support as manager-business programs and with K-C Aviation as director of engine programs.
DASSAULT FALCON plans to hold 11 maintenance and operating seminars in seven countries between now and August. The Falcon Regional M&O Seminars focus on operational and technical issues designed to help aircraft operators improve the efficiency, reliability and safety of their operations.
The two-year colleges in the Arkansas’ Aerospace Training Consortium have won a $2.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to develop and expand aerospace skills training over the next three years. The colleges and partner aerospace/aviation companies pledged nearly $1.8 million in matching in-kind funds.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION President and CEO Ed Bolen and Rockwell Collins Chairman Clayton Jones joined Wichita plane makers in defending the use of business aviation. Bolen told the House aviation subcommittee Wednesday that business aviation is essential to the American economy. “Unfortunately, an understanding of that reality is not reflected in calls for companies to divest of their business airplanes,” he said.
ATR recently secured approval for the ATR 72-500 to operate at London City Airport (LCY) in the United Kingdom. The aircraft successfully completed the requisite steep-approach and noise tests. Nearby obstacles require the ability to make steep approaches into LCY. The airport also has implemented strict noise limitations. The ATR 42-300 and the ATR 42-500 already are approved to operate at LCY.
L.J. AVIATION has completed a new $2 million hangar at its headquarters at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pa. The new hangar can store eight more aircraft, ranging from small, medium and large cabin jets to turboprops and helicopters. The company is adding three new aircraft to its fleet in the first quarter – a Challenger 300, Hawker 900 XP, and King Air C90 Gti.
ELLIOTT AVIATION received FAA approval for an upgraded Elite series cockpit installation on Dassault Falcon 10/110 aircraft. The installation includes the latest generation Universal Avionics EFI-890R display suite, along with the Universal UNS-1LW with LPV monitor WAAS Flight Management System. Certification for the WAAS FMS is still pending, but would enable the aircraft to fly GPS precisions approaches, localizer performance and localizer performance with vertical.
The Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association (RACCA) last week protested plans by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to apply for a mandatory nighttime curfew at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif. (BUR). The airport authority earlier this month unanimously agreed to file the Part 161 application for the mandatory curfew. The application, the first to use the Part 161 process to seek airport access restrictions that apply to Stage 3 aircraft, was delivered to FAA on Feb. 4, beginning a 180-day review period.
MAGELLAN JETS was recently formed to provide charter membership and other business aviation services. Joshua Herbert is heading the new company as chief executive and Anthony Tivnan as president. Based in Boston, Magellan has developed a Voyager Program private jet charter membership service that the company said is designed as an “elite alternative to high-end private carriers, keeping the corporate travel trip affordable.” The Voyager Program charges a $250,000 membership fee, which provides guaranteed hourly rates and access to aircraft with 10 hours notice.
ELIE ZELOUF, who has served with Jet Aviation Basel for more than 40 years, retired Feb. 1 at the age of 75, but agreed to continue serving in an advisory role. The company said Zelouf “left an indelible mark” on the company, joining in the beginning days when founder Carl Hirschmann acquired Global Air in Basel in 1967. He began as deputy technical director and rose to general manager of Jet Aviation Basel in 1976. He remained in that role until 1999, when he decided to focus on customer support.
On the heels of announcing plans to lay off 2,300 workers (BA, Feb. 9/57), Hawker Beechcraft last week reported a $139.9 million after-tax loss. Deliveries were up in 2008 to 441 aircraft, compared with 430 in 2007. But the Wichita plane maker said “net sales were significantly impacted by the four-week strike by the International Association of Machinists (IAM) in August. The strike disrupted manufacturing and assembly operations, which significantly reduced aircraft deliveries for the remainder of the year.”
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT has formally opened a new paint facility at the company’s factory-owned service center located at Hawarden Airport near Chester, U.K. Completed in November, the 25,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art paint center features lean production and process techniques, along with the latest technology to limit environmental impact. The stand-alone facility has one paint bay and one preparation area that can accommodate Hawker 4000 and similar-sized aircraft.
Business aviation will face “unavoidable turnover” in 2009 before seeing a turnaround in mid-2010, predicted Brian Foley, president of New Jersey-based consultancy Brian Foley Associates.
FLEXJET has launched a new incentive program for owners who make quick turnaround trips. The program provides a 15 percent discount on each hour of a qualified one- or two-day round trip. The discounts apply to owners who fly at least 100 flight hours per year. Flexjet developed the program based on feedback from customers seeking more cost-effective, short-haul travel.
ROLLS-ROYCE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly develop new materials. Work will focus on developing manufacturing techniques and utilizing new materials in low-pressure turbine blades. Specifically, the MoU will enable further cooperation between Rolls-Royce and the Academy’s Institute of Metals Research on advancing techniques in titanium aluminide casting technology.
Key Air Twin Cities ANE now has immediate hangar space available in its premier location at Anoka County-Blaine Airport, Minneapolis. There are numerous reasons to select Key Air’s newest full service FBO facility to base your jet: -- Short Term / Long Term Storage -- Only 15 minutes from downtown Minneapolis -- World-Class Full Service FBO and Office Suites featuring an Executive Terminal and Premiere Business Center -- Competitive fuel pricing
MILLION AIR opened the company’s first executive terminal in Arizona with a new 54,000-square-foot facility at the Campbell/Valencia General Aviation Aeroplex on the Tucson International Airport. The two-story facility includes terminal, office and hangar space and will be equipped with a premier security/surveillance system with electronic access, theater room, conference and break rooms and covered parking. Seaver Franks Architects designed the facility and Lang Wyatt handled construction of the nearly $5 million project.
