CAE signed an agreement with Dassault to be the exclusive training provider for the new Dassault 7X aircraft. Dassault Falcon and European low-fare carrier easyJet will be the anchor customers for CAE's new civil aviation training center planned for the London area. The center will provide training for the 7X, the 900 EX EASy and 2000 EX EASy. Scheduled to open in fall 2006, the center also will house two A320 full flight simulators for easyJet pilots.
The overrun areas of two runways at New York's LaGuardia Airport will be specially constructed to slow aircraft quickly if they are unable to stop on the runway surface, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) says.
HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE last week approved the concept of helping some general aviation businesses hurt by the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, but failed to actually provide money to help.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT signed a five-year agreement with L-3 Communications for aftermarket support of Raytheon's T-6A primary training aircraft. L-3's Vertex Aerospace division in Madison, Miss. will provide material/supply services for international operations as well as for the U.S. Air Force and Navy T-6A fleets. L-3 has collaborated on a number of other Raytheon military programs, including the T-1A Jayhawk, the T-34C Mentor, T-44 Pegasus and various models of the C-12.
BUSINESS JET ORDERS for Gulfstream Aerospace and Cessna Aircraft came roaring back in the second quarter, reflecting the continuing economic recovery and increased demand for those products, senior executives of the two firms' parent companies said last week. See articles on Pages 37 and 39.
AMSAFE AVIATION was selected to supply aviation restraint systems for Cessna's Citation Mustang. AMSAFE will supply pilot/co-pilot and passenger restraints on the Mustang. AMSAFE also is the excusive supplier of restraints for Cessna's single-engine aircraft line. The Mustang, Cessna's newest entry-level business jet, is slated for certification and delivery in late 2006.
THE 9/11 COMMISSION'S final report on the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. notes that more than 90 percent of the nation's $5.3 billion annual investment in the TSA "goes to aviation - to fight the last war." Most of the funds have been spent to comply with congressional directives to federalize airport security points, the commission said, but "the current efforts do not yet reflect a forward-looking strategic plan systematically analyzing assets, risks, costs, and benefits.
Bombardier plans to launch its new CSeries 110- to 135-seat aircraft in about one year, Gary Scott, head of Bombardier's New Commercial Aircraft Program, said last week at the Farnborough Air Show.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION has scheduled aircraft de-/anti-icing training seminars in September designed for line technicians, ground personnel, flight crews and dispatchers. The seminars will cover the clean air concept, negative effects, critical aircraft surfaces, ground icing conditions, de-icing and anti-icing fluids, aircraft inspections, methods and procedures, visibility versus density, holdover guidelines, and recognition of fluid failures. The seminars will be held Sept. 1 at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Conn. and Sept.
Gulfstream Aerospace posted slightly higher revenue and significantly improved operating earnings numbers in the second quarter and first half, and orders for the company's large-cabin, long-range aircraft appear to be accelerating, according to Nicholas Chabraja, chairman of Gulfstream parent General Dynamics.
Dallas Airmotive (DAI) was approved by Pratt & Whitney of Canada as a Designated Overhaul Facility (DOF) for the engine maker's PW300 and PW500 families, giving the engine overhauler access to a large and growing market of current generation turbofan engines.
ECLIPSE AVIATION, which claims some 2,100 orders for its emerging Eclipse 500 entry-level business jet, is expected to become the number three business jet manufacturer in terms of unit production within 10 years, Forecast International predicted last week. Forecast International projected that the New Mexico-based manufacturing start-up will deliver 1,317 aircraft through 2013, accounting for 12.2 percent of all business jets delivered over the next 10 years. See article on Page 38.
AVCRAFT delivered a Dornier 328 turboprop to Chip Ganassi Racing of Concorde, N.C. and received a contract from SUN-AIR of Scandinavia for two more. The Ganassi Team Do 328 is configured with 31 seats and will shuttle team members to several locations. The Ganassi flight department also includes a Canadair Challenger, a Learjet 45, a Beech 1900 and a Bell 407 helicopter. SUN-AIR, a British Airways partner based in Billund, Denmark, will take delivery of its latest 328 turboprops in November. The aircraft will be painted in British Airways colors.
BOOKAJET OPERATIONS, the United Kingdom-based executive jet operator, rebranded its operations club328 as it prepares to take delivery of eight new Dornier 328Jet (Envoy) aircraft from Avcraft. Based at Southampton Airport, Bookajet said its operations have "grown dramatically" over the past year and strengthened its reach in Europe.
MIKE FARGE was appointed managing director-engineering for Bookajet operations, the charter and aviation services company that recently rebranded itself club238. Farge will be based at Southampton Airport in the United Kingdom and head in-house and third-party maintenance for the executive jet operator. He also will act as a liaison between club328 and AvCraft in Germany as the company begins accepting eight AvCraft Dornier 328Jets. He has 40 years of commercial aviation support experience with the Westland Group, British Aerospace and FLS Aerospace.
AIRCELL was selected to supply its ST 3100 Iridium satellite communication systems for NetJets' fleet of Raytheon Hawker 400XPs. The system provides access to worldwide voice and data services through the Iridium network of 66 low-earth-orbiting satellites. The ST 3100 will be installed before retail delivery at Raytheon Aircraft Services in San Antonio, Texas.
AGUSTA Model A109C, A109E, and A109K2 helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-15-AD; Amendment 39-13687; AD 2001-24-07 R1) - revises an existing AD that currently requires inspecting the main rotor blade tip cap for bonding separation and a crack, and also requires a tap inspection of the tip cap for bonding separation in the blade bond area and a dye-penetrant inspection of the tip cap leading edge along the welded joint line of the upper and lower tip cap skin shells for a crack.
Cessna Aircraft reported lower revenues and operating earnings for the quarter ended July 3, but business jet sales by the Wichita, Kan. aircraft manufacturer increased sharply in the first half of the year.
Carlyle Group, the private equity firm, signed an agreement to acquire Garrett Aviation, the chain of 10 aircraft service centers, and plans to combine it with Piedmont Hawthorne, a major fixed-base chain that also provides aircraft charter, sales and parts service.
The business jet market is set for a "slow but steady" recovery this year following a downturn in the past two years that resulted in double-digit declines in production, according to Forecast International. Releasing its latest forecast, The World Market for Business Jet Aircraft, Forecast International last week projected a market for 10,809 business jets valued at $135 billion (in 2004 dollars) for the 10 years between 2004 and 2013.
THE HOUSE and Senate recessed until September, taking no action on a tax bill that would extend bonus depreciation benefits for certain business aircraft buyers for one more year (BA, July 19/25). The provision had been included in both the Senate and House versions of a larger tax package, but that package has been held up by disputes over tax items unrelated to bonus depreciation. The delay in passage - now September at the earliest - puts general aviation manufacturers in a quandary.
ATR sold an ATR 72-500 aircraft to Air New Zealand, an order that will increase the carrier's fleet to 11 ATR 72s. The newest aircraft is scheduled for delivery in November. Air New Zealand regional carrier Mount Cook Airlines will operate the aircraft.
