The Federal Aviation Administration last week ordered the city of Chicago to repay $1 million the agency claims was illegally diverted to demolish Meigs Field and restore the land where the airport formerly operated on the shore of Lake Michigan just minutes away from Chicago's business district. In a settlement reached Monday following years of legal action, FAA also fined the city $33,000, the maximum possible, for failing to provide advance notice of its plans to close the airport. As part of the settlement, the city denies wrongdoing.
MAX RE CAPITAL LTD., based in Hamilton, Bermuda, said its Max Re Ltd. subsidiary is forming a dedicated aviation insurance unit that will operate from the company's offices in Dublin, Ireland. The new business will be headed by Olivier Marre, senior vice president -- aviation insurance. It will provide aviation insurance worldwide to aircraft product manufacturers and air carriers. "Aviation reinsurance has been a core business of Max Re for four years and we are pleased to now offer aviation insurance as a complementary product line," said Robert J.
THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT awarded an $8 million (C) contract to Mid-Canada Mod Center/Kitchener Aero Avionics of Toronto, Ontario to provide avionics systems upgrades for Transport Canada's fleet of Cessna Citation business jets. The contract covers the addition of the collision avoidance system and the terrain awareness warning system. The contract, which will be completed over two years, also includes updating the agency's Citation flight simulator. Transport Canada operates a fleet of nine Citations.
Joins the senior management team of Heli-One, a subsidiary of CHC Helicopter Corp., Vancouver, British Columbia, as vice president-business units. A 1979 graduate of the University of Southern California, Coughlin has worked for Douglas Aircraft Co., Bombardier, Allied-Signal, ACRO Aerospace and Cascade Aerospace, holding leadership positions dealing with commercial and military customer support, airframe heavy maintenance, engine/component repair and design and repair engineering.
Model TBM 700 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-25581; Directorate Identifier 2006-CE-41-AD] - Proposes to require identification and replacement of certain nose landing gear defective hinge pins. The actions are intended to address an unsafe condition in the aircraft described in mandatory continuing airworthiness information (MCAI) issued by the airworthiness authority of the European Union. The European Aviation Safety Agency, which is the airworthiness authority for the European Union, has issued Emergency AD No.
UNIVERSAL EXPRESS INC. announced completion of the second and final phase of the capitalization of its ownership of Universal Jet Aviation business located at Boca Aviation in Boca Raton, Fla. Changes during the past 18 months include reconfiguring and downsizing the fleet of aircraft owned by the company while increasing revenues from Universal's aircraft management business. The additional financing now in place is intended to fund a new maintenance facility, additional pilot staffing and an expanded internal accounting department.
After more than a decade of problems and several fatal accidents the U.S. Air Force is finally scrapping its fleet of T-3A Firefly training aircraft. The service said TOTALL Metal Recycling Inc. of Granite City, Ill. was selected to handle the disposition of the Firefly fleet, the final chapter in one of the service's most ill-fated procurement programs. TOTALL set up operations at the Hondo, Texas Airport this month and began scrapping the airplanes, a process that is supposed to be completed by the end of the month.
Joins Dallas Airmotive as Rolls-Royce regional engine manager for the Northeastern U.S. where he will join Joe Talarico in covering the Northeast for sales to Gulfstream business jet operators whose airplanes are powered by Rolls-Royce Spey and Tay engines. Barlage also will handle sales for Pratt & Whitney Canada PW306A engines used on the G200 business jet and Honeywell 36 Series auxiliary power units. "The dense population of Gulfstream jets in the Northeast calls for additional coverage to effectively meet operators' needs," said Dennis J.
Was appointed assistant vice president for CIT Aerospace and Defense Group. Althoff will be based in New York and oversee strategic marketing. He previously was an associate at GE Commercial Finance. He also held marketing and strategy positions at Fleet Boston Financial and Mitchell Madison Group.
LANDMARK AVIATION added non-destructive testing capabilities to its fixed-base operation in Rochester, N.Y. The facility can provide Level II services for eddy-current and fluorescent dye-penetrant inspection. The Rochester FBO is a full-service facility that is a factory-authorized service center for Pratt & Whitney PT6 series turboprop engines. The facility also can perform repairs on a number of business aircraft models, including Raytheon, Dassault, Bombardier, Sabreliner and IAI aircraft.
PHI, INC. said about 25 percent of its domestic pilot work force participated last week in a work stoppage called by the union that represents pilots employed by both the company's Oil & Gas and Air Medical units. PHI said it implemented contingency plans and was operating 80-90 percent of regular flights.
The Transportation Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office fear the Federal Aviation Administration's inspector and controller work forces will have trouble keeping up with the emerging breed of Very Light Jets (VLJs) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). In testimony submitted to the House aviation subcommittee last week, Gerald Dillingham, director of physical infrastructure issues for the GAO, said "the changing aviation landscape poses further challenges for FAA."
Executive Jet Investments (EJI) bought a controlling stake in German plane-maker Grob Aerospace, increasing its involvement in the Grob G 180 SPn light jet. Switzerland-based EJI previously had a 50 percent share in the jet, which was unveiled at the 2005 Paris Air Show. EJI will be renamed Grob Aerospace AG, and EJI head Niall Olver will be chief executive of the new Grob Aerospace group.
HEICO CORPORATION'S Heico Aerospace Holdings Corp. subsidiary acquired 80.1 percent of the assets of Prime Air, Inc. and its affiliate Prime Air Parts, LLC. The Prime Air businesses provide niche accessory components exchange services for air carriers, asset management companies and MRO providers. Prime will operate as part of the HEICO Repair Group, which has four facilities in California, Florida and Ohio. Prime Air has 25 employees and facilities in Chicago, Ill. and Miami. Fla.
THE HOUSE aviation subcommittee, meanwhile, also discussed possible implications of the emerging VLJ fleet, part of a hearing on a broader range of safety concerns. See article on Page 140.
Cessna Aircraft this month dedicated a new aerospace production facility, Textron Aerospace Mexico, in Chihuahua, Mexico. The facility began operating in March and now has 138 employees who have been trained to assemble electrical wire bundles for the company's jet aircraft models. Cessna officials said the 62,000-square-foot facility will free space at Cessna's principal manufacturing center in Wichita, Kan., that "is needed as new airplane models are added to the Cessna lineup in the next few years," the company said in a statement.
SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) set the tone Wednesday for this week's hearing on the anticipated emergence of a number of new Very Light Jet aircraft. Stevens told transportation secretary nominee Mary Peters he is concerned about the "enormous problem" those new airplanes could cause when they begin operating in the National Airspace System (BA, Sept. 18/125). Stevens said he refers to the VLJs as the "mosquito fleet" and asked Peters if she has looked at the impact these aircraft might have on the NAS.
A man working for the company that provides computer services for Gulfstream Aerospace in Savannah, Ga. was arrested by Savannah Chatham, Ga. Metropolitan Police this month and charged with a long list of offenses, including stealing computers from the Gulfstream plant. Police charged Dimitris Newton and three other men on a variety of theft, drug and weapons charges after SWAT Team officers raided a house in Savannah occupied by the four. Police said they found four assault rifles, multiple handguns, ammunition, cocaine and marijuana in the house.
Joins CIT Aerospace as an assistant vice president in its Aerospace and Defense Finance Group. Zana will be based in New York and manage client relations - Eastern U.S. Zana previously was a vice president at Lehman Brothers and held positions at UBS Investment Bank and Morgan Stanley.
Was promoted to vice president, Hawker Resale, for Raytheon Aircraft Corp. (RAC). McCurley, who reports to Don Dwyer, vice president of Global Commercial Aircraft Sales for the company, will oversee domestic and international sales of RAC's pre-owned jet inventory while supporting the company's marketing of new aircraft. He will be responsible for inventory control, positioning, refurbishment and marketing of used jet aircraft. McCurley began his career as chief pilot - South Central Region, for United Beechcraft in 1991.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT SERVICES won FAA supplemental type certification to install the Rockwell Collins Integrated Flight Information System (IFIS) on Beechcraft King Air B200 and 350 turboprops equipped with Pro Line 21 avionics. RAS has accumulated orders for more than 25 installations of the upgrade, which will provide access to electronic charts, graphical weather and enhanced map displays. The system will enable operators to select from a variety of weather services for real-time weather images.
