Piedmont Hawthorne customers now can make use of free access to high-speed Internet wireless technology at all the company's fixed-base operations. The service will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can be accessed throughout FBO lobbies, pilot lounges, crew rest areas and weather/flight planning rooms. "In today's information-driven society, going wireless was the most comprehensive solution available to general aviation and Piedmont Hawthorne," said Bill Thrift, senior vice president of fixed-base operations.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association's drive to get Congress to support extension of bonus depreciation legislation appears to be hitting a roadblock in the deficit-wary Senate. Supporters say the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Budget Office "scored" the effect of extending accelerated depreciation as a $12 billion loss in government tax revenues over 10 years. Supporters of the extension argue that keeping accelerated depreciation in place actually will increase tax revenues and create jobs because it will boost sales of capital goods.
CAE promoted Jeff Roberts to group president of its Civil Simulation and Training (CS&T) business. Roberts was chief executive officer of SimuFlite Training International when CAE acquired the unit in 2002. He then became executive vice president of aviation training in the CS&T unit. Roberts also serves as a director of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, he is a trustee of the United States Aerobatic Foundation and he is a former trustee of the University Aviation Association. He will continue to be based in Montreal in his new position.
Duncan Aviation has renamed its parts distribution network, formerly known as AVPAC (the Aviation Parts and Components) network, to Duncan Aviation Parts Support Services. The change is designed to more closely identify the business as a parts supplier and to emphasize its connection to the parent company, Duncan Aviation.
Operations began last week at American Eagle's new maintenance base at the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) near Fayetteville, Ark. (BA, Nov. 24/235). The facility, which will specialize in maintaining the airline's fleet of 70-seat CRJ-700s, has 27 mechanics now, a number that is expected to rise to about 60 later this year.
SIMON ABBOTT joined Aviation Insurance Services as vice president. Abbott will be based in the company's Las Vegas corporate headquarters. He formerly was an aviation deputy underwriter at Lloyds, London.
FAA RELEASES GUIDANCE FOR FIELD APPROVAL STANDARDIZATION - Federal Aviation Administration last month released an advisory circular that provides guidance intended to help further standardize the field approval process. AC 43-210, Standardized Procedures For Requesting Field Approval of Data, Major Alterations and Repairs, provides standardized procedures for requesting field approvals. FAA noted that the guidance is not regulatory and it does not establish minimum standards.
Cirrus Design Corp., which set several records for monthly aircraft sales last year, is expected to announce that February was another record-setting month as the Duluth, Minn.-based light aircraft manufacturer logged orders for 74 more airplanes.
Cirrus Design Corp. will begin providing training this week for 250 FAA inspectors to familiarize them with composite design personal aircraft and state-of-the-art glass cockpit avionics installations for small aircraft. Cirrus officials provided presentations on new technology for about 40 FAA headquarters employees last year and the response from agency officials in Washington, D.C. was so enthusiastic that the program was expanded to include field inspectors.
NBAA endorsed FAA's proposal to incorporate Stage 4 standards recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization. "The next generation of quieter Stage 4 aircraft already is being introduced in the business aviation community, and the proposed rule would insure uniformity throughout all ICAO member states," NBAA told the agency. But NBAA also said it believed efforts by some groups pushing for a phase-out of Stage 2 aircraft under 75,000 pounds are "well beyond the scope of this proceeding, which solely is intended to harmonize the U.S.
Executive Jet Management opened a charter services office at the San Jose International Airport to serve the San Francisco area. Amanda North, who joined EJM as a regional vice president of charter services, and Beth Stebenne, charter service manager, will be based in the San Jose office.
BOEING SCALES BACK ATM UNIT WITH HAYHURST RETIREMENT - Boeing plans to pare down its Air Traffic Management unit as the division's president, John Hayhurst, retires. Hayhurst was one of the Boeing executives who was instrumental in creating Boeing ATM, which was launched in November 2000 to build upon company-wide efforts to develop next-generation air traffic technologies. Boeing is folding ATM into its Phantom Works advanced research and development unit and tapped Kevin Brown, currently ATM vice president for strategy, to take the helm of ATM.
EUROPEAN LEADERS MEET TO DISCUSS AVIATION ISSUES - A new group of mostly European industry leaders met late last month to begin discussing potential aviation issues that need to be addressed through European Aviation Safety Agency rulemaking. EASA commissioned the group, the Safety Standards Consultative Committee (SSCC), to provide recommendations on safety issues that the agency should consider. The 19-member group includes two American voices - GAMA's Barry Valentine and Boeing executive Jerry Mack, who is representing the Aerospace Industries Association.
FLEXJET JOINS COLLABORATIVE DECISION-MAKING PROGRAM - Fractional ownership provider Bombardier Flexjet joined the Industry/Federal Aviation Administration Collaborative Decision-Making (CDM) program and became the first business aircraft operator to successfully transmit flight intent data to FAA's host air traffic control system. CDM is a tool designed to bring the industry closer to free flight through the interchange of real-time traffic information between FAA and aircraft operators.
AGUSTA EXPANDING PHILADELPHIA HELICOPTER PLANT - AgustaWestland held a ceremony last week to mark the beginning of construction of a major plant expansion at company facilities in Philadelphia, Pa. The new facility, scheduled to open by the end of the summer, will provide additional space for the manufacturer and will be the site for final assembly of the Agusta A119 Koala helicopter, which is currently manufactured in Italy.
Raytheon Aircraft Company has donated another Beech Starship to an aviation museum. The latest Starship donation went to the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Ore., where the all-composite business aircraft will join more than 50 historic airplanes and helicopters - including Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose and an SR-71 Blackbird. The Evergreen Museum has attracted more than 500,000 visitors since it opened June 6, 2001.
Piedmont Hawthorne Aviation added four aircraft to its charter fleet: a Gulfstream III based in Norfolk, Va.; a Learjet 60 and a Beech King Air 200 based in Winston-Salem, N.C.; and a Citation III based in Greensboro, N.C. The company's charter operation now has a fleet of 43 aircraft based from Syracuse, N.Y. and Ohio down through the Carolinas, Alabama and into Texas. Piedmont Hawthorne operates 11 regional charter offices and employs more than 100 pilots in its charter business.
Signature Plating was approved as a supplier for Gulfstream aircraft. Signature will offer Gulfstream customers a variety of aircraft interior plating finishes, including chrome, nickel and 24-carat gold. Signature Plating parent Aircraft Belts has a history as a Gulfstream vendor.
The National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport drew more than 500,000 visitors in its first 11 weeks of public operation. The museum opened officially Dec. 15 and had attracted 510,658 visitors through the end of February. By comparison, the museum's original building on the national mall in downtown Washington, D.C., drew one million visitors in the first 25 days after it opened on July 1, 1976.
SIMCOM has begun training on a new Series 10 Pilatus PC-12 training simulator at its Scottsdale, Ariz. training center. SIMCOM last fall completed renovations to accommodate the new simulator. The renovations included adding a simulator bay and classroom. SIMCOM now offers training on five simulators in Scottsdale. The PC-12 simulator was developed in concert with Pilatus Business Aircraft. Pilatus and SIMCOM previously collaborated on a PC-12 simulator for SIMCOM's Orlando center.
