General Aviation Manufacturers say their efforts to win extension of bonus depreciation legislation is receiving a generally positive response from members of Congress as proponents stress the job creation potential of the legislation. Somewhat surprisingly, however, Bush Administration officials are giving some pushback on extending the bonus depreciation legislation.
Tradewind Aviation added an executive-configured Pilatus PC-12 to its charter fleet. The aircraft is the first PC-12 available for charter in the Northeast, Pilatus Aircraft said. Tradewind, which has offices in Connecticut and White Plains, N.Y., provides charter service throughout the East Coast in the PC-12, Cessna Grand Caravan and Beechcraft King Air.
Federal Aviation Administration tapped Dennis Roberts to take over as director of the Office of Airport Planning and Programming. Roberts replaces Kate Lang, who was promoted to deputy assistant administrator for airports. Roberts joins FAA from the Louisville, Ky. Regional Airport Authority, where he was deputy executive director. In his former role, he was responsible for the airport authority's planning and engineering, operations, properties divisions and information technology.
DISGRUNTLED AIRCRAFT BUYER PUSHES BOMBARDIER FOR CUSTOMER CODE OF ETHICS - Businessman Michael Huffington, the would-be buyer of a Global Express business jet from Bombardier, is waging a public relations campaign complaining of the manufacturer's customer service policies and promising to raise the issue at Bombardier's upcoming shareholders meeting. Huffington has owned a film production company, been vice chairman of his family's international energy company, founded an international merchant banking firm and is a partner in the Gerson International Law Group.
DENNIS GAUGER was appointed chief financial officer and a member of the board of directors at Groen Brothers Aviation. Gauger will ensure company regulatory compliance and direct implementation of cost accounting, inventory controls and revenue recognition policies. He has more than 26 years of financial and business experience, including 21 with Deloitte and Touche.
SKYWEST ORDERS ADDITIONAL CRJs FROM BOMBARDIER - SkyWest Airlines placed a firm order for 10 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200s and two 70-seat CRJ700s for its expanding United Express operations.
AGUSTA Model A109E helicopters (Docket No. 2003-SW-28-AD; Amendment 39-13438;AD 2004-02-03) - requires modifying each passenger compartment sliding door by applying a kit to replace the levers and links. This amendment is prompted by instances of a door inadvertently opening during flight due to the unstable configuration of the door. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent the inadvertent opening of a door during flight and loss of a passenger or objects from the cabin. FAA estimates that this AD will affect 34 helicopters on the U.S.
J. Nelson Happy, the top executive of Mooney Aircraft, says he's intrigued by the potential safety benefits that new avionics technology can provide for pilots. The Kerrville, Texas manufacturer just announced the introduction of Garmin glass cockpit technology for two of its models and Happy told BA he wants to keep pushing the technology envelope to address loss of control and situational awareness issues that are common causes of general aviation accidents. See article below.
EMBRAER PEPARES 190 FOR FIRST FLIGHT - Embraer last week rolled out the newest member of its 170/190 family of regional jets, the Embraer 190, in preparation for a first flight in the next few weeks. The aircraft, S/N 0001, rolled out Monday (Feb. 9) at Embraer's manufacturing plant in Sao Jose dos Campos in Brazil .
AVIATION SAFETY PIONEER JEROME LEDERER DIES AT 101 - Jerome F. (Jerry) Lederer, who spent his entire career working to prevent aviation accidents and improve safety, died Feb. 6 in Laguna Hills, Calif., of congestive heart failure. He was 101.
Archie Trammell's Radar Training Systems has introduced a new radar training program, TSjournal, available on the web at www.tsjournal.aero. TSjournal was developed in response to requests from large flight departments to make training accessible for companies with substantial numbers of pilots. Trammell has been conducting personal training sessions for pilots for years to help them make the most effective use of information provided by their aircraft's weather radar systems.
Signature Plating, a subsidiary of Aircraft Belts that specializes in plating components for aircraft, opened a second facility in Kemah, Texas. Aircraft Belts founded Signature Plating in February 2003 in Cibolo, Texas to "fill a void" in the plating industry, the company said, adding that a second facility will help it better reach its customers. The new facility is based at Aircraft Belt's headquarters in Kemah in the Houston area.
Member companies of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association generally feel that the worst of their economic obstacles have been overcome and that the corporate, business and private aircraft market is poised for sustained long-term growth as the overall U.S. economy continues to grow.
The Fourth Annual European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE2004), scheduled for May 25-27 in Geneva, Switzerland, already has sold 30 percent more exhibit space than it sold for the event held in 2003, NBAA officials said. Event planners expect that EBACE will attract more than 6,000 attendees and 300 exhibitors at Geneva Palexpo. More than 30 aircraft are expected to be on display at Geneva International Airport.
MOONEY UPGRADES PRODUCT LINE WITH GARMIN AVIONICS - Mooney Aircraft is upgrading its Ovation2 and Bravo high-performance single-engine piston models with new Garmin G1000 integrated glass cockpits. Mooney hopes to win certification and begin delivery of the Ovation2 GX and Bravo GX models sporting the new cockpits by the end of the third quarter. The cockpits include a 10.4-inch primary flight display and a 10.4-inch multi-function display.
General Aviation Manufactuers Association promoted Ronald Swanda to senior vice president, operations and Walter Desrosier to vice president, engineering and maintenance. Most recently vice president, operations, Swanda has served with GAMA for more than 20 years, handling operational, airport, air traffic control, safety and advanced technology issues.
It only took 10 months, but FAA has finally decided to initiate an "informal investigation" into whether the City of Chicago and Mayor Richard Daley violated federal law by destroying Meigs Field without prior public notice. The investigation is in response to a complaint filed by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association last April, shortly after Daley stunned the aviation community by ordering bulldozers to carve giant Xs into the runway of Meigs (BA, April 7/153).
RTI International Metals, Inc. reported net income of $4.7 million, or 23 cents per share, on sales of $205.5 million for the year ended Dec. 31. That compares with net income of $15.1 million, or 73 cents per share, on sales of $270.9 million in 2002. "Due to market conditions, we expected 2003 to be a difficult year and it turned out to be so," said Timothy G. Rupert, president and CEO. "The outlook for commercial aerospace remains soft.
FAA OPENS INTERNET 'MEETING' AS OPPOSITION MOUNTS ON AIR TOUR RULE - The Federal Aviation Administration next week is opening a two-week "Internet public meeting" that will run through early March to discuss its highly controversial proposal to establish standards for air tours over national parks and other sightseeing flights. The Internet meeting comes as opposition to the proposal continues to swell - nearly 1,500 people already have written into the public docket (BA, Jan. 19/24).
Bombardier Aerospace delivered five completed Learjet 40 aircraft to operators in North America and Europe last month. The Model 40 is a smaller version of the Model 45, of which 235 are in service worldwide.
February 23-25 - NBAA Corporate Aviation Management Conference, Anaheim, Calif., (202) 783-9000 March 2-3 - ASME International (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Aero Engine Life Management Conference, Thistle Royal Horseguards Hotel, London, England, (404) 847-0072; [email protected] or www.asme.org.igti March 15-17 - Helicopter Association International Heli-Expo 2004, Las Vegas, Nev., (703) 683-4646
Jet Aviation won approval from Williams-Rolls to support the FJ44 engine at Jet's facilities worldwide. Jet Aviation centers in Dallas, Texas, Dusseldorf, Germany, Singapore and Zurich, Switzerland will become service facilities to support FJ44 engines powering Cessna CitationJets. Jet Aviation's Bedford, Mass., Dusseldorf and Zurich facilities will support FJ44s powering the Premier jet.
