Virgin USA, the North American headquarters of British-based Virgin Group, is jumping into the business aviation market with a new online booking service. The service, Virgin Charter, will connect charter customers with operators. "Through Virgin Charter, sellers make their inventory available to a large customer base without changing the way they currently do business, and buyers search for available aircraft, negotiate pricing, purchase private air travel, and manage their entire trip online," the company said.
ENGINE MAKER Rolls-Royce made a $2 million donation to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. In recognition of the donation, for the next 10 years the Welcome Center at the museum's flagship building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. will be known as the "Welcome Center sponsored by Rolls-Royce."
JET CENTER OF DALLAS recently renovated its facility at Dallas Executive Airport. The lobby was furnished with marble floors and leather sofas and recliners, and the facility includes amenities such as a WSI Weather and flight planning station, wireless Internet, a Chrysler 300 courtesy car and snooze room. Jet Center of Dallas also provides exercise equipment. Owner Dalton Lott has invested more than $9 million in the facility, which is an Avfuel-branded dealer.
CPI AEROSTRUCTURES entered into a $4.1 million, five-year agreement to provide structural assembly kits for the S-92 civil helicopter program. Each kit will contain various subassemblies, detail parts and installation hardware. CPI expects to begin shipping kits in early 2008 and continue through 2013. CPI was previously selected to provide seat fitting kits, search and rescue (SAR) door provision kits and SAR door completion kits for the S-92.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION awarded a three-year contract to ARINC Inc. to continue providing FAA with the VHF Extended Range Network (VERN), which supports air traffic control communications in the Gulf of Mexico. The VERN network includes two air/ground stations - one on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and the other in Key West, Fla. ARINC has operated the VERN air/ground stations and network infrastructure continuously since deploying them in 1998.
FIRSTFLIGHT added a Learjet 60 to its managed aircraft fleet. The Learjet 60, which is based in Nashua, N.H., joins a growing number of small, midsize, super-midsize and large cabin aircraft in FirstFlight's fleet. FirstFlight also recently added a fourth Hawker 1000 to its fleet, joining three others added earlier this year.
Hawker Beechcraft Acquisition Company, LLC reported that its net sales increased more than 32 percent (from $504.6 million to $667.8 million) during the quarter that ended on March 25. The increase was due primarily to a 48 percent surge in orders for its business and general aviation aircraft, which company officials attributed to "continued strength in the general aviation market, recent derivative launches and growth in international sales." Sales of Premiers and King Airs were particularly strong.
THE WHITE HOUSE said President Bush intends to nominate Thomas Barrett as deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation. Barrett, who is serving as acting deputy secretary, is a retired Coast Guard vice admiral who previously headed DOT's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. He was named acting deputy in February, replacing Maria Cino, who resigned early this year shortly after Mary Peters was nominated as DOT Secretary (BA, Feb. 5/65).
THE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION continues to pursue rulemaking to address security for large aircraft at reliever and general aviation reliever airports (BA, Jan. 22/35). "I can't say there is funding for the program now, but we do see a vulnerability with larger aircraft at reliever airports," said Charlotte Peed, acting general manager for airports stakeholders at the annual meeting of the American Association of Airport Executives last week in Washington, D.C.
DASSAULT FALCON'S business jet sales remain strong and the outlook is so bullish the company announced plans Friday to develop a new aircraft. But that doesn't mean the French manufacturer is without concerns. Chairman Charles Edelstenne listed the declining value of the U.S. dollar and related supply chain problems among the clouds on Dassault's horizon. See article below.
Cape Air, which offers dozens of Cessna 402 flights connecting Boston, Hyannis and Provincetown, Mass. with Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, was forced to cancel a large portion of its scheduled flights last week to address problems with the engine crankshafts in the airplanes.
The board of EADS Socata announced new roles for two of its senior executives. Stephane Mayer, who had been heading small aircraft manufacturer Socata, was appointed chief executive of ATR, the joint venture between EADS and Alenia Aeronautica of the Finmeccanica Group that builds the ATR line of regional turboprops. Mayer was credited with overseeing development of the TBM 850, the higher-powered successor to the popular TBM 700 single-engine turboprop.
Carlsbad, Calif.-based Jet Source is planning to jump into the fractional ownership market with a fleet of composite fuselage jets built by Spectrum Aeronautical, Jet Source announced last week. The rapidly expanding aviation services firm is laying the groundwork to offer three programs with Spectrum models - a fractional ownership program, an owner-pilot club and a travel card membership for flights on Spectrum 33 and 40 jets.
Eclipse Aviation Friday formally opened a new 61,000-square-foot service center at the Gainesville-Alachua County, Fla. Regional Airport (GNV). The new Southeast Eclipse Service Center is the second service center that Eclipse has opened, and the first outside of the company's headquarters in Albuquerque, N.M. Plans call for future centers to open in Albany, N.Y. and Van Nuys, Calif. over the next few months and in other locations in 2008.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association is calling for a clause in the FAA reauthorization bill to require an independent study of FAA's controller staffing standards, while Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) has highlighted apparent discrepancies between traffic levels and controller staffing at some airports.
Model DHC-8-102, -103, -106, -201, -202, -301, -311 and -315 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-28371; Directorate Identifier 2007-NM-040-AD] - The proposed AD would require installing a spoiler-cable disconnect sensing device, correcting a potential spoiler-cable interference condition, and reworking the spoiler-cable disconnect sensing circuit. The proposal is designed to prevent a roll-spoiler cable failure, which could result in an unacceptable amount of roll-spoiler deflection and reduced controllability of the aircraft.
SENIOR MANAGEMENT of Aerion, the firm that wants to develop a supersonic business jet, will be in attendance at this week's Paris Air Show "to further discussions with potential OEM and other risk-sharing partners, as well as to hold discussions with potential fleet users, including fractional ownership companies and aircraft management firms," the company said. While discussions with potential partners are going on, a spokesman acknowledges that no announcements are expected this week.
Joined XOJET as vice president of Western region sales and will be based in Southern California. He has nearly 30 years of sales experience with companies including Cessna and Gulfstream and has managed sales teams responsible for the sales of more than 160 business jets. Most recently, Santiago was executive vice president and a partner at Guardian Jet, an aircraft acquisition, brokerage and consulting company. Before that, he was regional vice president at Swift Aviation Group, where he was responsible for Embraer business jet sales in the western U.S.
A warning from an Airport Movement Area Safety System with a recent software upgrade and quick reactions by an airline captain were instrumental in preventing a potential collision between two airline aircraft at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) late last month.
BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE said its Challenger Model 604 and 605 business jets won European Aviation Safety Agency and Transport Canada approval for steep approach and landing flights into London City Airport. The approval applies to aircraft registered in European Union member states and Canada. The manufacturer plans to issue an optional service bulletin later this year providing crew certification and cost details for Challenger 604/605 flights into the airport.
EXECUTIVE JET MANAGEMENT began a more aggressive charter management marketing program designed to bring in more aircraft owners in the rapidly expanding business jet management niche. Under the new program, EJM is waiving certain management and other fees for qualified owners. EJM also is guaranteeing a minimum number of charter hours per year for specific aircraft. "We made the strategic decision to alter our pricing structure in order to grow our aircraft management fleet," said Albert C. Pod, president and CEO of EJM.
Castle & Cook plans to open a new fixed-base operation at Honolulu, Hawaii International Airport (HNL). The company recently acquired the former Circle Rainbow building on Lagoon Drive and has begun renovating it and plans to construct new hangars for general aviation flight departments and charter customers. The renovated facility will have more than 20,000 square feet of hangar space and 60,000 square feet of office space.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL broke ground on a 20,000-square-foot expansion of its Savannah, Ga.-based Gulfstream maintenance technician training facility. The facility is equipped with classrooms, advanced technology training devices and hands-on practical learning areas. FSI and Gulfstream have collaborated on a TTT Total Technical Training program for maintenance technicians who support Gulfstream business jets. FSI and Gulfstream instructors provide training at the center, which schooled more than 2,000 technicians last year.
COMP AIR AVIATION of Merritt Island, Fla. joined forces with Downing Aviation Associates of Phoenix, Ariz. to seek and secure funding, engineering and operational resources for Comp Air's planned 310-knot, single-engine Model 12 turboprop aircraft. A prototype of the Model 12 first flew in March and is currently in flight test.
