"THE RJ DEMAND CURVE...has gone flatter than a tortilla," according to The Boyd Group/ASRC, Inc., the Evergreen, Colo. aviation forecasting firm. "With the combination of those [RJs] in service and those on firm order, there will be a glut of 50-seat jets in the years ahead," Boyd said last week in an overview of the aviation industry for 2004. Overall, The Boyd Group is predicting traffic growth between 2.4 percent and 2.7 percent at U.S.
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 March 22-23 - American Association of Airport Executives, ACI-NA, Spring Washington Conference, Loews L'Enfant Plaza Hotel, Washington, 703-824-0504, www.airportnet.org
Long-time FAA contractor Harris Corp. teamed with agency personnel to jointly bid to manage and operate the nationwide network of Automated Flight Service Stations (AFSS). FAA announced late last month it was seeking bids on a proposal to outsource the AFSS network, which provides a host of information, weather and advisory information to pilots (BA, Jan. 5/1). FAA moved forward with the competition under Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76, which permits outsourcing of certain government functions under certain circumstances.
FACING a growing mountain of negative comments about its proposal to tighten restrictions on local sightseeing and air tour flights, the Federal Aviation Administration Friday announced it was extending the deadline for submission of comments. The original deadline was Jan. 20, but FAA granted an extension until April 19 after formal requests by the National Air Transportation Association and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
Honeywell Aerospace, a major manufacturer of environmental control systems (ECS) for aircraft, acquired The Hymatic Group Ltd. of Redditch, Worcestershire, England, which also produces ECS units for the aerospace market. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Hymatic, formed in 1937, had sales of more than $40 million in 2002 and has 230 employees. Based in modern facilities near Birmingham, the company is regarded as a world leader in miniature Joule-Thomson cryogenic cooling devices and techniques for infrared applications.
ATA PRESIDENT Jim May "would love to see" the government implement a registered traveler program, he told reporters this month, but he said such a program "doesn't make sense if we can't provide meaningful benefit" to those registered travelers. "We're just not there yet" in crafting the parameters of such a plan with the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security, he said. For such a program to succeed there has to be a balance between security and the ability to expedite passage through the screening process, May said.
U.S. CUSTOMS SERVICE has begun requesting that certain business jets traveling to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey divert to Newark International instead for clearance. National Business Aviation Association, which received reports of these diversions, said the Customs Service only cites security as the reason for the diversion. Customs will not elaborate on the reasons for the diversions, or the reasons for selecting a particular aircraft, a senior NBAA official said, but added that the diverted flights all appear to have originated in either Mexico or France.
National Business Aviation Administration last week recognized the first group of aviation professionals to pass the Certified Aviation Manager examination, which was administered at the association's convention in October. Some 22 aviation managers passed the test, completing a certification process that NBAA developed to set a standard of quality for flight department management.
HONEYWELL won FAA certification for an avionics package that would bring Citation 500 jets into compliance with new domestic reduced vertical separation minimum requirements slated to take effect Jan. 20, 2005. The avionics package includes two AM 250 altimeter systems coupled to a KFC 325 flight control system and EFIS 50 electronic flight instrument system. The FAA supplemental type certificate covers Citation 500 models with serial numbers 001 through 0274.
CONKLIN & DE DECKER updated its Life Cycle Cost software, releasing Version 4.70. The software accounts for costs of owning and operating an aircraft, including acquisition, operations, taxes, final residual value and commercial revenues. Version 4.70 analyzes different methods of acquisition and different types of operations. It also offers users eight different tax-depreciation schedules including the bonus depreciation. The software costs $695 for one database, gradually increasing to $1,445 for four databases.
GINETTE COLOT was named corporate secretary and treasurer of the Aerospace Industries Association. Colot succeeds George Copsey, who retired after 37 years with the association. Colot has more than 20 years of non-profit management experience, most recently as vice president of administration for Goodwill Industries International, where she was a senior management leader for financial and administrative functions.
The Jackson Hole, Wyo. Airport Board is considering a ban of all Stage 2 aircraft weighing less than 75,000 pounds, the National Business Aviation Association told its members. The airport board will take up the issue at its April meeting, and, if adopted, the ban could take effect by the end of June. The Jackson Hole proposal would provide exceptions for in-flight or medical emergencies. The proposal also would postpone the implementation date for owners of Stage 2 aircraft that have contracted to either hushkit or replace their aircraft.
MARGE BECKER was promoted to senior vice president of accounting and administration for Piedmont Hawthorne Aviation. Becker will manage the Information Technologies Department, Human Resources and insurance as well as continuing her duties as corporate controller. Becker joined the company in 2000 as corporate controller and was promoted to vice president and controller in 2001. As controller she manages day-to-day operations and controls all accounting functions. Before joining Piedmont Hawthorne, she was with Ernst and Young.
OFFICE OF SECURITY TECHNOLOGIES at the Transportation Security Administration issued a request for information about air cargo security. The RFI asked interested parties for "data, information and samples" for explosives detection systems for air cargo. TSA plans a three-phase evaluation program "to assess the viability of commercial off-the-shelf or non-developmental item explosive detection systems" for cargo. Based on the response to the RFI, TSA will pick potential contactors to provide samples for laboratory evaluation.
MILLION AIR CHARTER, TETERBORO changed its name to Meridian Air Charter. The charter company has operated in conjunction with the Million Air maintenance and fixed-base operation for more than 20 years, but said the new name separates the charter service "in order to highlight its points of differentiation, which include, among other things, inter-continental capacity."
Piaggio America finished moving its headquarters from Greenville, S.C. to facilities at Jet Aviation at West Palm Beach International Airport (PBI) this month, and top officials say the new location is already paying dividends.
IBIS AEROSPACE named Deep Blue Technology a distributor for the Ae270 turboprop. Based in Hallwil, Switzerland, Deep Blue will sell the Ae270 in several European countries, including Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Yugoslavia-Macedonia. Deep Blue ordered nine Ae270s and took options for five more.
Title I - AIRPORT AND AIRWAY IMPROVEMENTS Section 101. Airport Improvement Program: authorizes $3.4 billion for fiscal 2004, $3.5 billion for fiscal 2005, $3.6 billion for fiscal 2006 and $3.7 billion for fiscal 2007 Section 102. Facilities and Equipment - Authorizes $3.138 billion for fiscal 2004, $2.993 billion for fiscal 2005, $3.053 billion for fiscal 2006 and $3.110 billion for fiscal 2007
BAE Model BAe 146 and Avro 146-RJ series airplanes (Docket No. 2002-NM-144-AD; Amendment 39-13421; AD 2004-01-07) -- requires one-time inspections of the inner webs and flanges at Frames 15, 18, 41, and 43 for evidence of corrosion or cracking; and corrective actions if necessary. This action is necessary to detect and correct corrosion and cracking of the inner webs and flanges at Frames 15, 18, 41, and 43, which could reduce structural integrity of the airplane. FAA estimates that 55 airplanes on the U.S.
FAA ADMINISTRATOR Marion Blakey is still struggling with an embarrassing vacancy in the agency's senior executive ranks. Back on Nov. 18 Blakey announced that Thomas R. Bloom, who had been director and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), was joining FAA as chief financial officer (CFO). However, after agreeing to take the post and being introduced at a senior staff meeting, Bloom changed his mind and took a job as senior deputy comptroller and CFO for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION will hold Maintenance Management Workshops March 11 in West Palm Beach, Fla. and Aug. 25 in Seattle, Wash. The workshops will cover Occupational Safety and Health Administration issues, environmental and aviation regulations, personnel and asset management, aircraft reliability and productivity measures. For more information about NBAA events, visit the association's web site at www.nbaa.org/events.
EXECUTIVE JET MANAGEMENT continued to expand its aircraft management and charter fleet with the addition of two more aircraft last month. EJM added a Falcon 50 based at New Castle County Airport in Wilmington, Del., and a Hawker 800, based at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.
RAYTHEON AIRLINE AVIATION SERVICES and Raytheon Aircraft Services are offering a T2CAS combined traffic alert and terrain avoidance system retrofit for Beechcraft 1900C and 1900D regional airliners. The system, developed by the L-3 Communications/Thales joint venture ACSS, integrates TCAS II and Class A TAWS, meeting federal requirements. Raytheon expects certification of the system on a 1900C this quarter, with 1900D certification following.
CBS EVENING NEWS drew fire from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the National Air Transportation Association and the National Business Aviation Association last week for a segment by Bob Orr on the Jan. 14 broadcast that stated there is "no security" at general aviation airports in the U.S. and that "nothing had been done" since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
A Federal Aviation Administration proposal to impose new restrictions on commercial air tour operators and severely limit local sightseeing flights near airports has generated a wave of protest from across the country and spurred more than 1,100 comments to the federal docket.
