NAA PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES PLANS TO STEP DOWN - Donald J. Koranda, who has served as president and chief executive officer of the National Aeronautic Association for the past six years, told the organization's Executive Committee last week "of my desire to step down as president and CEO of NAA and to look for new opportunities and new directions within the aviation industry."
National Air Transportation Association President James Coyne will hold a Town Hall meeting April 8, at Signature Flight Support at Dallas Love Field. The meeting will provide a forum to discuss the latest legislative and regulatory issues affecting aviation businesses. "So much is happening right now -- rising fuel prices, escalating insurance premiums, continued security concerns -- that it is more important than ever to make sure our members are apprised of the latest government actions," Coyne said.
SIGNATURE BREAKS GROUND FOR NEW FRENCH FBO - Signature Flight Support broke ground last month on an expanded fixed-base facility at the airport in Toulon, France. Signature, which operates the largest chain of FBOs in the U.S., took over the existing FBO at the Toulon-Hyeres Airport (TLN/LFTH) in January and is operating from space in the main terminal while using the airport's VIP lounge for its customers. Construction of the new 2,410-square-foot facility is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2004.
INDIAN NATION LAUNCHES CHARTER OPERATION - The Oneida Indian Nation, based in Upstate New York, is launching a new charter service, Four Directions Air, that is believed to be the first such operation by a sovereign American Indian nation. The charter will fly a nine-passenger Dassault Falcon 50 and have access to a Learjet 35. The new endeavor also has partnered with Atlanta-based Smith Air to provide more comprehensive services.
Soft drink producer Dr. Pepper is making a major marketing investment in 11 air shows scheduled this year in the southern U.S. The company will sponsor shows in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana beginning April 24-25 in Shreveport, La. and ending Nov. 6-7 in San Antonio, Texas. Financial terms of the agreement between Dr. Pepper and Leesburg, Va.-based International Council of Air Shows were not disclosed.
Honeywell has developed an enhanced digital audio equalizer for business jets that balances music and movie audio to provide a clear sound in Honeywell's Ovation integrated cabin system. The equalizer provides 10 factory programmable presets, such as jazz, rock, movie and concert, and the ability for the user to customize 10 presets.
Thales Air Traffic Management won a contract from Airservices Australia to provide 57 AS 680 Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) ground stations at 28 sites to complement existing en route and terminal radar coverage in Australia. Thales said the contract is the first wide-scale implementation of ADS-B to be undertaken by a provider of air navigation services. ADS-B provides aircraft GPS position, altitude and speed to air traffic controllers.
CAE won an order valued at $9.2 million (Canadian) from Australia's Defense Materiel Organization for virtual maintenance trainers for the Royal Australian Navy's S-70B Seahawk and Australian Army's S-70A Black Hawk helicopters. The contract also calls for replicated cockpit for the Seahawk and in-service support.
Avfuel Corporation added L.J. Aviation of Latrobe, Pa. to its network of dealers. The facility, built in 2000, includes a private passenger lounge, crew lounge, conference room, weather center, computer connections, snooze room and showers.
Bombardier handed over the first of 25 70-seat Bombardier CRJ700 Series 701 regional jets to US Airways carrier PSA Airlines based in Dayton, Ohio. PSA ordered 60 50-seat CRJ200s along with the CRJ700s in May as part of its plans to transition to an all-jet fleet. Bombardier has shipped 16 of the CRJ200s to PSA.
BOMBARDIER OPENS MAINTENANCE FACILITY IN TUCSON - Bombardier Aerospace inaugurated a new heavy maintenance facility for its CRJ regional jets and Q Series turboprop aircraft. The Tucson facility, which previously had been used as a completion facility for the company's business jet products, is now called Bombardier Regional Aircraft Services - Tucson (BRAS-T). Its operations are modeled after Bombardier's other heavy maintenance facility, West Virginia Air Center, in Bridgeport, W. Va., and uses the same systems and processes employed there.
National Business Aviation Association expects its Latin America meeting and convention, LABACE 2004, to draw more than 3,500 attendees. The three-day event, to be held April 15-17 at the Transamerica Expo Center in Sao Paulo, Brazil, will include more than 200 exhibits and nearly 20 corporate aircraft on static display.
EMS Technologies introduced a new 406-1 emergency locator transmitter that operates at 406 MHz and 121.5 MHz and which has been COSPAS-SARSAT certified. The new ELT weighs just over two pounds and has a six-year battery life cycle.
US AIRWAYS LOOKS AT Q400 TURBOPROPS; READY FOR EMBRAER 170 FLIGHTS - As US Airways takes delivery of its first Bombardier and Embraer regional jets, airline CEO David Siegel recently revealed that he is seriously considering placing an order for the Bombardier Dash 8-400 to replace 80 older models of de Havilland turboprops. In a recent web cast to employees, Siegel said the airline's management team has been "looking very hard" at the Q400 over the past few months.
Rockwell Collins is offering BBC News programming for its Airshow 4000 system, a moving map display and in-flight information system designed for the business jet market. The service also is available for subscribers to Rockwell Collins Airshow Network service. Under Rockwell Collins' contract with BBC, customers can select from 16 categories of real-time international news to tailor the service to their specific needs.
Longmuir, Warren Out; Blouin, Bosco Stay Just 10 months after surprising many of its members by hiring former airline executive Shelley Longmuir to head the National Business Aviation Association, the organization's board of directors Thursday "announced the departure" of Longmuir and Robert P. Warren, a former Air Transport Association (ATA) lawyer whom Longmuir had installed as executive vice president, chief operating officer and corporate secretary.
Luminescent Systems, Inc., a unit of Astronics Corp., was selected as the sole supplier of the exterior lighting system for the Eclipse 500 entry-level business jet. The lighting package will include landing, taxi, anti-collision, ground recognition, wing inspection and position/navigation lights. The lighting fixtures will use light emitting diode (LED) and high-intensity discharge (HID) technology, which Luminescent said will provide a significant increase in reliability compared with incandescent based lighting technology.
TRIUMPH REALIGNS OPERATIONS - Triumph Group, Wayne, Pa., realigned its operating structure into two business groups, effective April 1. The company now comprises Triumph Aerospace Systems Group and Triumph Aftermarket Services Group, headed by Jeffry Frisby and John Brasch, respectively. The companies that were formerly in the Triumph Components Group have been consolidated into those two groups.
Gulfstream Aerospace won FAA approval to offer its Enhanced Vision System to owners of Gulfstream IV aircraft equipped with SPZ 8000 avionics. Gulfstream originally won certification for the EVS in September 2001 for the Gulfstream V. The system, developed with Kollsman Inc., incorporates a forward-looking infrared camera that projects a real-world image on the pilot's Honeywell Head-Up Display.
BOMBARDIER Model DHC-8-400, -401, and -402 airplanes (Docket No. 2002-NM-132-AD) - proposes to require an inspection to determine the serial number of the spoiler lift dump valves installed on the inboard and outboard spoilers, and replacement of certain spoiler lift dump valves. This proposal also would provide for revising the airplane flight manual to include performance penalties, which would allow the replacement of affected spoiler lift dump valves to be deferred.
EPA MOVES AHEAD ON FUEL RULES, BUT COMPLIANCE STILL UNCLEAR - In a move that has troubled the National Air Transportation Association, the Environmental Protection Agency last week told more than 250 stakeholders that it would put in place new spill protection, control and countermeasure (SPCC) rules by Aug. 17 now that it has reached a settlement with the American Petroleum Institute and Petroleum Marketers Association of America, which had sued to block implementation.
B/E AEROSPACE TO PROVIDE INTERIORS FOR SUKHOI RJs - B/E Aerospace, Inc. was selected by Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company to build turnkey cabin interiors for the Russian manufacturer's new family of Russian Regional Jets (RRJ).
NATA QUESTIONS TSA PLANS FOR REPAIR STATION SECURITY - The federal government has failed to identify a real security threat involving repair stations and should refrain from adopting a sweeping rule that treats all repair stations - whether domestic or international - the same, the National Air Transportation Association contended.
April 13-19 - Sun 'n' Fun Fly-In, Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL), Lakeland, Fla., (863) 644-2431 April 15-17 - Latin American Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (LABACE2004), Sao Paulo, Brazil, (202) 783-9000 April 20-22 - Society of Automotive Engineers, SAE 2004 General Aviation Technology Conference and Exhibition, Century II Convention Center, Wichita, Kan., (724) 772-7131 or [email protected]
Aircraft Electronics Association last week presented its Lifetime Achievement Award for 2004 to Garmin Corp. co-founder Gary Burrell. Burrell founded Garmin with Min Kao in October 1989 and has been recognized by Inc. Magazine, The Kansas City Business Journal and Ernst & Young as the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year for Missouri and Kansas. He has more than 40 years of engineering experience, holding executive positions with Lowrance Electronics, King Radio Corp. and AlliedSignal.
