CANADIAN CHARTER operator Enerjet has signed a deal with ARINC to provide data link communications for its flights. The airline will configure its fleet of Boeing 737-700s to allow the aircraft avionics and data message to flow through the ARINC network to interface with Enerjet’s chosen applications and preferred third-party providers of flight services. Initially, the airline will use the data link for all crew, flight following, aircraft performance, air traffic, weather and engine messaging.
RASIBECK won European and Brazilian certification of its increased gross weight Epic package for Beechcraft King Air C90s and C90GTs. Brazilian and European operators of these twin turboprops now are able to benefit from a gross weight increase to 10,500 pounds, which provides operators with an extra 400 to 850 pounds of fuel and/or payload. The heavier-weight Epic performance package includes Raisbeck/Hartzell 93-inch quiet turbofan propellers and dual aft-body strakes.
FAA is calling for a new industry-based task force that will be charged with developing an industry consensus for the midterm goals of the next generation air traffic control system. The newest task force, the NextGen Mid-Term Implementation Task Force (TF5), would be carried out through RTCA and “serve as the catalyst for the collaboration essential to transforming the promise of NextGen into reality,” the agency said.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas set a Feb. 19 deadline for bids in the auction of Coppell, Texas-based aftermarket supplier Superior Air Parts. Superior Air Parts filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late December as part of an agreement for Textron unit Avco Corp. to buy Superior from Thielert Aircraft Engine for $11.5 million in cash. The court is planning an auction on Feb. 24. Superior sells parts for Teledyne and Avco engines as well as other aircraft companies.
ROB KOKORDA was appointed vice president, corporate strategy and synergy for Sikorsky. Kokorda is responsible for defining and executing the company’s strategic vision and evaluating and implementing acquisition and divestiture strategies. He has served with Sikorsky since 1998 and has held positions in the worldwide Customer Service and Commercial Programs organizations. Most recently he was vice president, production operations.
A White House memo calling for a freeze and review of proposed regulatory changes may not apply to the Transportation Security Administration’s controversial Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP) proposal. TSA late last month continued to field opposition to LASP at the last of five hearings held in Burbank, Calif., and Houston.
EUROCOPTER UK is to build a major new helicopter service center at Kirkhill Commercial Park in Dyce, Aberdeen, Scotland. The complex, which will support one of the busiest offshore oil and gas helicopter maintenance hubs in the world, will include 10,000 square feet of warehouse area, 5,000 square feet of office space and 5,360 square feet devoted to flight simulators, including Eurocopter’s first U.K.-based Eurocopter EC225 simulator. Groundbreaking is slated for April, and the facility should be completed by year’s end.
PHIL SOUTHERLAND was named 2009 chairman of The Donaldson Development Commission, which controls and promotes the South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center (SCTAC). Formerly called The Donaldson Center, SCTAC is the largest general aviation airport in South Carolina with more than 50,000 annual flights. The airport has a control tower, 8,000-foot runway and a second 5,500-foot runway that can be activated. The chairman serves a one-year term.
XOJET has introduced its new Flight Program Analyzer that helps customers determine if they are overpaying for private jet travel. The free analyzer produces a custom report showing a detailed side-by-side cost comparison for any private jet travel option in the market today.
PART 135 and fractional aircraft IFR operations each dipped close to 33 percent in December 2008, compared with a year earlier, according to the latest information released by ARG/US. Large cabin charter flights alone plummeted 44 percent. Part 91 IFR flights also were down, but by just more than 15 percent. The flight hours were the latest indicator of the sagging economy. Manufacturers also continue to feel the impact as layoff numbers mount. See article on Page 37.
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Former Illinois Republican Congressman Ray LaHood sailed through confirmation as the next secretary of transportation last week after receiving ringing endorsements from most members of the Senate Commerce Committee. The Commerce Committee cleared the nomination Wednesday, and the Senate confirmed LaHood as transportation secretary Thursday under a unanimous consent agreement. The easy confirmation comes as no surprise; LaHood won widespread support after President Barack Obama announced the selection in December (BA, Dec. 22/282).
CHRIS MORRIS was promoted to director of safety for Executive AirShare, a fractional aircraft ownership company based in Kansas City, Mo. Morris will oversee Executive AirShare’s safety management systems and emergency response plan. A pilot with the company since November 2007, he is pilot-in-command qualified for the King Air C90B and Super King Air 350. He will remain as a line pilot and work with Executive AirShare’s chief pilots and director of training and compliance.
Hawker Beechcraft has warned in a Jan. 21 letter to employees that no part of the company will be exempt from the layoffs announced earlier this month (BA, Jan. 12/16).
BBA AVIATION EXECUTIVE Gary Boekenkamp was named vice president, marketing, acquisitions and strategic business development for the company’s Legacy Products Group in Chatsworth, Calif. Boekenkamp will be responsible for strategic planning and identification of potential business acquisitions and development opportunities for the group, which comprises Ontic Engineering & Manufacturing and International Governor Services. He also will develop BBA’s broader aftermarket strategy. Boekenkamp has a 28-year aviation career, beginning in 1980 with Airwork Corporation.
TURBOMECA S.A. Arrius 2F engines [Docket No. FAA-2005-22039; Directorate Identifier 2005-NE-33-AD] – This proposed AD would supersede an existing directive for engines that have not incorporated Turbomeca Modification Tf75. The current AD requires replacing the O-ring on the check valve piston in the lubrication unit at repetitive intervals. This proposed AD would require the same repetitive O-ring replacements, but would require incorporating Modification Tf75 as a terminating action to the repetitive replacements.
ZURICH-BASED EXECUJET AVIATION GROUP signed a deal with the Swiss military’s Dübendorf Airport north of the city to handle private jets flying in for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Jan. 28-Feb. 1. ExecuJet is using Dübendorf because of limited parking and restrictive slots at Zurich Airport. It also has prebooked landing slots at Zurich Kloten. The forum is expected to handle 2,500 participants from 91 countries, with 75 percent made up of business leaders from the largest companies around the world and across economic sectors.
THE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION has assembled a group of about two dozen aviation association executives to resurrect the Aviation Security Advisory Committee. The committee last met in 2006 to discuss an array of security issues, ranging from cargo security and baggage screening to airport measures and risk assessments. TSA is renewing the committee at the request of a number of associations. The committee currently comprises 23 members from most segments of the industry.
CAE won a five-year contract from Home Depot to provide a range of pilot, technical and cabin crew training. Home Depot operates a fleet of Dassault Falcon aircraft. CAE will provide initial and recurrent training from the company’s facilities in Morristown, N.J. and Dallas, Texas. The program will include ground school, virtual simulators, maintenance trainers and integrated procedures trainers and Falcon 900B, 900EX EASy and 50EX full-flight simulator training. CAE also will partner with Home Depot to develop online courses.
DUSTIN WILCOX was appointed director of safety programs for JDA Aviation Technology Solutions. Wilcox will implement JDA’s Safety Management Systems and Virtual Safety Office products. He has been a JDA associate for two years, supporting safety and maintenance projects. He also has served IBM’s Flight Operations Group and held safety positions with BSNF Railway.
AIR MEDICAL leaders are proposing that FAA require all medical night flight operations to use night vision goggles or similar enhanced-vision systems, or be conducted strictly under instrument flight rules. The recommendation was one of several that the Association of Air Medical Services, the Helicopter Association International and the Air Medical Operators Association outlined in a joint position paper submitted in advance of the National Transportation Safety Board’s medical helicopter safety hearings scheduled for Feb. 3-6.
KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY added a pressurized twin-piston Cessna 421B to its training program. The aircraft was a gift from K-State supporters and aviation enthusiasts Kenneth and Tamara Knight. The aircraft is used for maintenance education programs as part of the Airframe & Powerplant degree track. “This donation allows us to take learning to an even higher level than before,” said Andrew Smith, assistant professor of aviation. “For the students, it is a true hands-on experience with a flying airplane, one that requires constant care and maintenance.”
CESSNA renamed the former Columbia single-piston models as the 350 Corvalis and 400 Corvalis TT. The Wichita plane-maker originally called the models the Cessna 350 and Cessna 400 after the 2007 acquisition of the assets from Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Company. “Our customers and sales team asked us to name these products like other popular Cessnas such as the Cardinal and Skyhawk,” said Tom Aniello, vice president of marketing. Cessna said the name was inspired from a town that is about 120 miles west of the Bend, Ore. plant where the aircraft are produced.
