PAUL J. MARTINS was named chief operating officer of Mercury Air Cargo. Most recently the director of UPS Air Cargo, Martins has more than 20 years of experience in the air freight industry. Mercury Air Cargo is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercury Air Group. JENNIFER VAN WINKLE was named director of charter sales at Sun Air Jets of Camarillo, Calif. She will be responsible for charter sales and the acquisition of managed aircraft. Van Winkle was most recently charter sales manager at Petersen Aviation in Van Nuys, Calif.
VOSS NAMED TO HEAD ICAO AIR NAVIGATION BUREAU - Senior FAA official William Voss was named director of ICAO's Air Navigation Bureau. Voss, who is FAA's director-Terminal Business Service Unit, will take up his post with ICAO in January. "Aviation safety is one of this country's vital exports, and Bill's position with ICAO helps us fulfill one of our strategic objectives - to share the FAA's expertise internationally," an agency spokesman said.
ECLIPSE AWARDS SUPPLY CONTRACT TO HAMPSON - Eclipse Aviation signed a $380 million contract with Hampson Industries in the United Kingdom to manufacture the empennage assembly for the Eclipse 500.
National Transportation Safety Board Member John Goglia has resigned himself to the fact that he will not be nominated for a second term at NTSB, despite strong backing from many segments of the aviation community. Goglia may continue to serve at NTSB until a successor is nominated and confirmed, but he is expected to leave the agency early next year.
BAE SYSTEMS Model BAe 146-100A and -200A series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-NM-272-AD) - proposes to require an inspection to determine the part number of the inner links of the side stays for the main landing gear (MLG), and replacement of the inner links with new parts, if necessary. This action is necessary to prevent the failure of the MLG, which could result in damage to the airplane structure or injury to airplane occupants. FAA estimates that this proposed AD would affect 15 airplanes on the U.S. Registry at a cost of $975, or $65 per airplane.
Keystone Helicopter signed a five-year contract with Air Evac Lifetime to provide exclusive overhaul and repair services for the company's Rolls-Royce Model 250 engines. Headquartered in West Plains, Mo., Air Evac Lifetime operates 42 helicopters from 36 bases in the Midwest and South.
Cessna Chairman Russ Meyer plans to remain active in Cessna and industry affairs and one of his first objectives is trying to win congressional and Bush Administration support for an extension of the accelerated depreciation schedule for purchaser of capital goods like business aircraft. Meyer, who was in Washington, D.C. for last Friday's Wright Day dinner, said he plans to be back in Washington this week to work on the accelerated depreciation issue, citing the very important effect the tax provision has had on improving aircraft sales.
EMBRAER WORKS OUT NEW LABOR AGREEMENT - Embraer reached an agreement last week with the union that represents more than 10,000 of its workers, culminating two weeks of intense negotiation to avoid a strike. Embraer said that it expects the formal agreement to be signed soon.
The developers of a powerplant modification program for the Cessna Caravan are nearing completion of a lengthy supplemental type certification program and are optimistic that significant numbers of Caravan owners will opt to replace their existing Pratt & Whitney engines with more powerful Honeywell TPE331-12JR turboprops. Working with engine manufacturer Honeywell, two affiliated Alaska firms, Aero Twin Inc.
The National Air And Space Museum's new Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport was formally dedicated Thursday and the new 760,000-square-foot facility will open to the public today (Dec. 15), two days before the official centenntial celebration of the Wright Brothers first powered flight in North Carolina. Guests at last week's dedication included Vice President Dick Cheney, Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, former astronauts Neil Armstrong and John Glenn, Brig. Gen. Paul W. Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay and Steven F.
Air BP dealers near Houston, Tex. are gearing up for Super Bowl XXXVIII, which will take place in the city on Feb. 1, 2004. Wing Aviation, a fixed-base operator located at Lone Star Executive Airport (CXO), is planning a Super Bowl Golf Tournament on game day with the proceeds going to the Wing Aviation Scholarship Fund. For more information, contact Brian Wing or Frank Zimmerman at (936) 441-9555.
Gulfstream is claiming a new city-pair distance record with a G550 last week. The aircraft took off from Haneda Airport in Tokyo and landed at West Palm Beach International Airport in Florida in 12 hours and 32 minutes. Captain Sean Sheldon and two co-pilots, Neil Vernon and John MacKay, flew the aircraft with flight attendant Sally Greer and two passengers. The National Aeronautical Association officially recognized the flight as a world record for speed over a recognized course.
Executive Jet Management is partnering with a new oceanfront resort in South Carolina to offer a vacation deal. Opening in March 2004, The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island will give EJM customers a 10 percent discount off regular rates at the resort through June of next year. A roundtrip VIP car service from Charleston Executive Airport, which is located 15 minutes from Kiawah Island, also will be included for EJM customers. For more information, call (843) 768-6000.
AVCRAFT PRESIDENT SAYS 328JET PRODUCTION TO START SOON - The new owner of the Dornier 328JET - AvCraft Aviation - predicts restarting production of regional aircraft in the "near term" now that it's sold all but one plane of the 18 white-tails the company acquired when it bought rights to type and production certificates of the smallest jet produced by defunct airframer Fairchild Dornier.
Bombardier took orders for two the 70-seat Q400 turboprop from Austrian Airlines. The $42.2 million deal represents a conversion into firm orders of two of the four options that Austrian Airlines holds. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery in the first and second quarters of 2005. Tyrolean Airways, a subsidiary of Austrian Airlines Group, will incorporate the aircraft into a fleet that already includes eight Q400 aircraft.
TRONAIR BUYS FLORIDA-BASED GSE MANUFACTURER - Tronair, Inc., the Holland, Ohio manufacturer and distributor of aircraft tugs and other ground support equipment, signed a definitive agreement to acquire all the assets of Arvico Corp., of West Palm Beach, Fla. Arvico designs and manufactures 400 Hz ground power units, 28.5-volt DC diesel ground power units and jet engine starters.
Million Air Houston, located at Houston-Hobby International Airport (HOU), is also planning a day of activities, which will include entertainment, game viewing area, and an official NFL store set up on site. For more information, contact Million Air Houston at (713) 640-4000.
Lufthansa Technik will open a new sales office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Jan. 1, 2004. Located on the 15th floor of the Dubai World Trade Center, the office will be headed by Suheil Mahayni, an industrial engineer who has worked in sales with Lufthansa Technik since 1999. The new office will allow customers in the area to have "more immediate access" to Lufthansa Technik's technical and consulting services, said the company's Chairman August W. Henningsen.
January 11-15, 2004 - AAAE Aviation Issues Conference; Hyatt Regency Kauai Resort, Kauai, Hawaii, (703) 820-1395 March 2-3, 2004 - 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, 2004 - Helicopter Association International Heli-Expo 2004, Las Vegas, Nev., (703) 683-4646
Jack Pelton, an aerospace engineer who spent 20 years at McDonnell Douglas and Boeing on the West Coast, was named president and chief executive officer of Cessna Aircraft Thursday, just three years after he joined the company as senior vice president of product engineering.
Embraer's subsidiary Neiva delivered the 900th Embraer 202 Ipanema crop-duster aircraft to Grupo Maggi, a Brazilian soy cultivator. The aircraft is the sixth Ipanema in Grupo Maggi's fleet. The Ipanema orderbook has 56 firm orders with a value of $12 million. Neiva sold 29 Ipanema aircraft in 2002.
FAA SAYS CONTROLLER CONTRACT EXTENSION WILL SAVE MILLIONS - After months of talks FAA last week signed a two-year contract extension for its air traffic controllers, and the agency believes the deal can save about $40 million due to modified special pay rules and productivity increases.
Safire Aircraft successfully tested the design of the Safire Jet in a wind tunnel. A one-fifth scale model of the recently redesigned aircraft was tested at the Kirsten Wind Tunnel located at the University of Washington Aeronautical Laboratory. The Safire Jet is scheduled for first flight sometime in 2004 with deliveries beginning in 2006.
