BOEING ended the suspense last week, unveiling "concepts of luxury and comfort" for VIP versions of the company's new composite fuselage 787 Dreamliner. A Boeing 787 VIP aircraft will afford its owner "complete accommodation," said Steven Hill, president of Boeing Business Jets, enabling him or her to design "a beautiful environment that exactly meets preferences and needs. Whether you are looking for a flying palace or a business office in the sky - or both, the possibilities are endless," Hill said.
ANOTHER FAA EXECUTIVE has been selected to fill a key post at International Civil Aviation Organization headquarters in Montreal. Nancy Graham, director of FAA's Asia-Pacific Office, was named director of the Air Navigation Bureau, one of ICAO's top technical posts. Graham will be responsible for coordinating among the 188 member states of ICAO on technical issues ranging from aircraft certification and airport standards to aviation medical and communications, navigation and surveillance issues.
JET AVIATION DUBAI earned European Aviation Safety Agency repair station certification, clearing the facility to perform scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, airframe and engine repairs, avionics modifications and inspections on European-registered aircraft. The facility was named a Dassault Falcon authorized service center for the Falcon 900 and 2000. Established in May 2005, the Jet Aviation Dubai center includes more than 45,000 square feet of hangar space, a workshop area of 10,760 square feet and a two-story fixed-base operations building.
BOMBARDIER received orders for four Learjet 60 XR midsize business jets from operators in Dubai, Jeddah and Kuwait. Bombardier valued the orders at $52 million. Inma Arabia Investment ordered a 60 XR for charter service from Jeddah to locations throughout the Gulf region and Europe. Bombardier will deliver the aircraft to Inma later this year. ExecuJet Middle East of Dubai ordered the Learjet 60 XR.
Was appointed vice president of engineering and chief engineer for Aviation Technology Group, Inc. McCoury has 23 years of experience in design, analysis, testing, certification and program management. He formerly was director of structures and materials at Eclipse Aviation, where he also was deputy to the vice president of engineering. He joined Eclipse in 2000 as the 16th employee in the venture, and managed the development and certification of the friction stir welding process used for the Eclipse 500.
TAG AVIATION HOLDINGS is launching an aircraft management and charter venture in Australia. The new entity, to be known as TAG Aviation Australia, will be based near the Sydney Airport and is designed to respond to the rapidly expanding Australian aircraft market. Neil Gibson was named chief executive officer of the Australian operation. Gibson has more than 15 years of business jet charter and management experience in Europe, including as managing director of TAG Aviation U.K.
Bellevue, Wash.-based aerospace and defense supplier Esterline Corp. struck a deal to buy CMC Electronics for $335 million in cash. The transaction, subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed in the next 30 to 45 days. "The transaction significantly expands the scale of Esterline's existing Avionics & Controls business and fits our stated strategy to consolidate manufacturers of superior aerospace systems and components," said Esterline CEO Robert Cremin.
Democrats Daniel Inouye (Hawaii) chairman of the committee John D. Rockefeller (W.Va.) chairman of the aviation subcommittee John Kerry (Mass.) Byron Dorgan (N.D.) Barbara Boxer (Calif.) Bill Nelson (Fla.) Maria Cantwell (Wash.) Frank Lautenberg (N.J.) Mark Pryor (Ark.) Thomas Carper (Del.) Claire McCaskill (Mo.) Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) Republicans Ted Stevens (Alaska) ranking Republican
Model 228-212 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-26597; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-86-AD; Amendment 39-14900; AD 2007-02-13] - Requires inspecting the landing gear carbon brake assembly. This AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency.
ON THE OPERATIONAL SIDE Flight Options has "met or exceeded" the company's expectations, Wajsgras said. Raytheon Chairman and CEO William Swanson added that Flight Options "is executing to the plan that we laid out, and I'm pleased with what they're doing." Flight Options has restructured its fleet from 12 types of aircraft to four and shrunk the overall number of aircraft from 220 to 148. "Every metric has improved," Swanson said, citing performance in the areas of aircraft utilization and deadheading.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT COMPANY sold its FACTS maintenance tracking business to maintenance tracking specialist CAMP Systems and named CAMP the factory-endorsed provider of tracking services for all Hawker and Beechcraft aircraft. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. "CAMP's core business is maintenance tracking," said Randy Groom, RAC's president of Global Customer Service and Support. "CAMP invests over $4 million annually in new technology and development.
Was named vice president of charter sales for Executive Jet Management (EJM). Based at EJM's new charter office in the Dallas Park Cities area, Dolezal will be responsible for sales in Texas and the Southwest. She formerly served as a major account executive for Purolator USA in Dallas and has a background in sales management and international marketing.
Model Mystere-Falcon 900 and Falcon 900EX airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2007-26920; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-244-AD; Amendment 39-14897; AD 2007-02-10] - Requires a detailed inspection of the feeder cables and wiring for damage and correct location, application of epoxy resin to the oxygen box nuts and rivets, and corrective actions, if necessary (repairing the feeder cable, re-routing certain wiring, or installing a protective plate). The AD results from mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency.
Joined Downing Aviation Associates, a Phoenix, Ariz.-based aerospace consulting firm, as marketing and technical associate. Maxey graduated from the University of Texas in 1972 and subsequently held a number of engine and airframe engineering, marketing and management positions. He joined LTV Aerospace in Grand Prairie, Texas while still an undergraduate and later moved to Mitsubishi Aircraft Company as chief powerplant and systems engineer, leading the U.S. domestic certification program for the Japanese aircraft manufacturer.
GRETEMAN GROUP, the Wichita, Kan.-based branding, marketing and public relations consulting firm, was named the advertising agency of record for Bombardier Skyjet, Bombardier's jet card membership program. Greteman Group has provided marketing support for Bombardier's fractional aircraft ownership program Flexjet since the late 1990s. In addition to the Bombardier programs, Greteman provides services for FlightSafety International, Signature Flight Support and Dallas Airmotive, among other clients.
EMIRATES CAE FLIGHT TRAINING (ECFT) launched the region's first Gulfstream 550 business jet training program and signed a five-year contract with Chris Crum, CEO of Royal Jet of Abu Dhabi, UAE, for its pilots to train on the ECFT facility's 737BBJ and Gulfstream IV/400 full-flight simulators.
SHIP IT AOG, the Addison, Texas-based business aircraft parts supplier, increased its Hawker 800 distribution capabilities with the purchase of a national inventory of spares from an oil company's flight department. The inventory comprises more than 500 different parts for the Hawker 800, including window panels, igniters, inverters, generators, brakes, gauges, controls, switches, wheel assemblies, avionics, valves, pumps, sensors and connectors.
The National Transportation Safety Board last week appealed to law enforcement officials and the public in Colorado to help investigators find debris from the uncontained failure of a General Electric aircraft engine on Jan. 25.
Model F27 Mark 050 and F.28 Mark 0070 and 0100 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25219; Directorate Identifier 2005-NM-259-AD; Amendment 39-14907; AD 2007-02-20] - Requires repetitively removing the two existing escape rope assemblies in the flight compartment and installing new escape rope assemblies. This AD results from reports of small cracks in the polyester assembly block in which the cotton escape rope is stored. A test revealed that the escape ropes had deteriorated over time, and the load capability was considerably reduced.
KEY PLAYERS in the discussion over how FAA should be funded were busy last week trying to frame the debate in advance of today's release of the Bush Administration's fiscal 2008 budget proposal. FAA Administrator Marion Blakey told a National Press Club audience Tuesday that the financing portion of the Administration's FAA reauthorization legislation will be unveiled in "the middle of February." That's a little sooner than officials had indicated earlier, but not surprising since the House aviation subcommittee has scheduled a Feb.
February 6-7 - NBAA: Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (ABACE) 2007, Hong Kong. Contact Linda Peters at (202) 783-9000, email: [email protected], www.abace.aero. February 15-17 - Women in Aviation International Conference, Orlando, Fla. Contact Connie Lawrence, WAI, (937) 839-4647. March 1-3 - Helicopter Association International, Heli-Expo 2007 Conference & Exhibition, Orlando, Fla. Contact Marilyn McKinnis at (703) 683-4646, fax: (703) 683-0341.
THE AIR GROUP last week broke ground on a multimillion-dollar expansion of its terminal and corporate headquarters at Van Nuys Airport (VNY) in California. The expansion will give The Air Group more than 86,000 square feet of hangar space and 12,000 square feet of office space at Van Nuys. Built by Aerolease Associates, LLC, the project is slated for completion this summer. The Air Group expects to open its new East Coast terminal at Teterboro, N.J. in March. Construction on that project began in late 2005.
ELLIOTT AVIATION added a Beechjet 400A and Beechcraft King Air 350 to its charter fleet at Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie, Minn. The King Air can carry nine passengers, and the Beechjet seats seven.
The International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations issued a safety bulletin to its members detailing the problems and potentially dangerous situations pilots might encounter in dealing with Brazilian air traffic controllers.
