Signature Flight Support will hold a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday to celebrate the beginning of construction on the company's new executive terminal at Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). Signature and the Massachusetts Port Authority recently executed a 10-year ground lease under which Signature will operate the FBO at BOS for another 10 years, until 2016. The new terminal will have 12,000 square feet of space on two floors, along with an 8,800-square-foot, multi-tenant, ground-support-equipment repair shop.
September 18-21 - Airports Council International-North America, 16th Annual Conference & Exhibition, Metro Toronto Convention Center, Toronto, Ontario (202) 293-8500, e-mail [email protected] September 26-29 -- 11th Annual Flight Simulator Engineering and Maintenance Conference, Doubletree, Seattle, (410) 266-2915, e-mail [email protected], www.arinc.com/amc October 2-4 - American Association of Airport Executives F. Russell Hoyt National Airports Executives Conference, Tampa, (703) 824-0504, e-mail [email protected]
General Aviation Manufacturers Association joined NATA in disputing comments FAA included in a fact sheet accompanying its Draft Flight Plan 2006-2010 warning of future funding shortages (BA, Aug. 15/65). GAMA called FAA's assertion of a growing gap between FAA revenues and costs misleading and said it disagrees that the balance in the Trust Fund will decline in the near term. NATA called the discussion troubling because there has been so much talk about a user fee system. "A user fee system similar to those in Europe would be impractical in the U.S.
President Bush said he would nominate Donald C. Winter, 57, to become secretary of the Navy. Winter is corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman's Missiles Systems sector, a position he has held since January 2000.
Andrew Stark joined Par Avion as vice president of sales. Stark has more than 20 years of experience in aviation, previously holding sales positions with Dassault Falcon Jet, Learjet Corporation, Peregrine Aviation and Jet Aviation Business Jets.
PRECISION CASTPARTS TO SPLIT STOCK AGAIN - Precision Castparts Corp. (PCC), taking advantage of a sharp run-up in its stock price over the past two years, announced a two-for-one split of its common stock. Shareholders of record as of Aug. 29 will receive one additional share of common stock for each share held, effective Sept. 8.
Chris Reece was named general manager of Columbia Air Services-Rutland. Reece has served as assistant manager of Columbia's facility at Rutland Airport in Vermont since 2003. He is a former detective with the Guilford County, N.C. Sheriff's Department.
Gary Parkinson joined Ducommun as corporate vice president of human resources. Parkinson previously was vice president of human resources for Great Lakes Chemical Corp.'s Flame Retardants and Performance products business in West Lafayette, Ind. Before that he was director of human resources for Eaton Corporation's aerospace business in Irvine, Calif. He also has held several positions with AlliedSignal, in both the Automotive and Aerospace businesses.
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON Model 206A and 206B helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2005-21230; Directorate Identifier 2004-SW-51-AD; Amendment 39-14209; AD 2005-16-04] - requires inspecting at specified time intervals and replacing any cracked crosstubes. This amendment is prompted by the discovery of a cracked high forward crosstube. The actions specified by this AD are intended to detect a crack in the crosstube that could lead to failure of the crosstube, collapse of the landing gear, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.
Embraer delivered three specially configured Legacy Executive aircraft to the government of India, which ordered five of the aircraft and took options on two more. Two of the Legacys will be flown by the Indian Air Force and the third will be operated by that nation's Border Security Force.
The Transportation Department Tuesday authorized Executive Jet Management to operate scheduled passenger service as a commuter air carrier. EJM filed for the approval in early March, outlining plans to operate business jets in scheduled passenger service on routes between Chicago, New York and Los Angeles (BA, March 7/107). EJM did not say which aircraft it intended to use, listing some 80 aircraft that it operates through dry lease agreements for DOT fitness application purposes.
Rockwell Collins received a contract to provide its Pro Line 21 integrated avionics system as part of an upgrade program for the U.S. Navy's fleet of UC-12 King Air aircraft. ARINC Engineering Services, which is responsible for purchasing and installing the equipment for the program, selected the Pro Line 21 suite. L3 Communications is the prime contractor for the program. The contract follows an earlier agreement that ARINC awarded to Rockwell Collins for Pro Line 21 avionics to upgrade the Navy's fleet of 55 T-44A training aircraft (BA, June 20/282).
Trevor Palmeri was appointed vice president of programs and customer support for Meggitt/S-TEC. Palmeri will manage all OEM programs, including customer support and technical publications. He joins S-TEC after a 24-year career with Bell Helicopter. Most recently he was program director for Bell's CV-22 program.
National Air Transportation Association and National Business Aviation Association are creating a joint task force to tackle issues associated with jet-fuel-tax changes that Congress adopted in the highway bill, H.R. 3. (BA, Aug. 1/44). The bill requires most business aircraft operators to pay the diesel fuel tax rate when they buy jet fuel and then seek a rebate for the roughly two-cents-per-gallon difference between the diesel fuel and jet fuel taxes. The associations are hoping the task force will help develop a rebate process that is as painless as possible.
Terry Doehling was named regional vice president, aircraft management sales, for Executive Jet Management. Doehling will be based in Lafayette, La., and is responsible for aircraft management sales in the Eastern U.S. He has 25 years of aviation experience, formerly as international marketing director for RTS Capital Services. He also was regional marketing manager for Bell Helicopter Textron.
Seven industry groups last week urged FAA Administrator Marion Blakey to delay implementation of a rule requiring new aircraft insulation, saying recently released guidance greatly expanded the scope of the rule and could increase costs or ground aircraft. In an Aug. 17 letter to Blakey, the groups noted that FAA's insulation rule, released July 31, 2003, was believed to apply to thermal and acoustical blankets installed in aircraft operating under Part 121.
Bombardier expanded its Skyjet International Jet Membership Card program to cover Moscow and St. Petersburg. The Skyjet program sells charter time in minimum blocks of 25 hours. The company also plans to boost its presence in Russia with a new line-maintenance facility for drop-in and aircraft-on-ground services. Bombardier will select a partner in the venture by the end of the year. The Canadian manufacturer also plans to station a field service representative in Moscow to help operators with technical and operational issues.
GULFSTREAM Model GV and GV-SP series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-22034; Directorate Identifier 2004-NM-182-AD] -- proposes to require a one-time inspection of the left and right aileron and elevator actuators to determine the part and serial numbers of each actuator, repetitive inspections of suspect actuators to detect broken damper shafts, and replacement of any actuator having a broken damper shaft. This proposed AD also would require that operators report any broken damper shaft they find to the FAA.
EMBRAER Model EMB-135BJ, -135ER, -135KE, -135KL, -135LR, -145, -145ER, -145MR, -145LR, -145XR, -145MP, and -145EP airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2005-20223; Directorate Identifier 2004-NM-193-AD] - revises an earlier proposal that would have required repetitive detailed inspections for surface bruising of the main landing gear (MLG) trailing arms and integrity of the MLG pivot axle sealant, and corrective actions if necessary; and also would have provided for optional terminating action for the repetitive inspections.
Safety advocates are grumbling about President Bush's announced intention to nominate Kathryn Higgins for a seat on the National Transportation Safety Board. Higgins, who has been active in Democratic Party politics, was selected for the seat formerly held by Carol Carmody, also a Democrat, apparently at the behest of Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Senate minority leader. Higgins has no apparent professional experience in transportation or safety. She most recently was president and CEO of a Washington, D.C. consulting firm.
Hillsborough County Aviation Authority is building a new facility to house U.S. Customs between Tampa International Jet Center (TIJC) and Raytheon Aircraft Services (RAS). The facility formerly was housed within the RAS fixed-base operation. Customs last week moved into a temporary facility where it will operate until the new facility is completed in the next 18 to 24 months. The temporary facility is next to where the new facility is under construction. "Tampa International Airport is making a great effort to provide our GA customers with easy access to U.S.
ROSS AVIATION BUYS SCOTTSDALE FBO - Ross Aviation, LLC and Centre Partners acquired Scottsdale AirCenter, a fixed-base operation at the Scottsdale, Ariz. airport (SDL), its second acquisition since the partnership was formed last December.
ROLLS-ROYCE Models BR700-710A1-10 and BR700-710A2-20 turbofan engines [Docket No. 2000-NE-48-AD] - proposes to supersede an existing AD that currently requires initial and repetitive visual and ultrasonic inspections of fan discs, Part Numbers (P/Ns) BRR18803, BRR19248, and BRR20791 for cracks, and if necessary, replacement with serviceable parts. This proposed AD would require the same inspections of these fan discs, with certain old design P/N fan blades installed.
HAI URGES FAA TO STEP UP SAFETY INITIATIVES IN GULF OF MEXICO - The Helicopter Association International appealed to FAA Administrator Marion Blakey to further collaborate with industry to improve communications and weather information for flight operations in the Gulf of Mexico region. In a letter to Blakey this month, HAI President Roy Resavage noted that a fleet of 650 helicopters transports about 11,000 people daily to and from more than 4,000 oil and gas platforms in the Gulf.
