AIR-21, the legislation that provided comprehensive FAA funding for the last three years, expired last Tuesday as the new FAA reauthorization package hangs in limbo while congressional leadership decides on the best strategy for trying to win passage. The House has been chewing on a motion to recommit the bill to conference for the last two weeks, but when the motion will come up for a vote on the House floor is still unclear.
NTSB FOCUSING ON PILOT'S HISTORY IN GRAND CANYON CRASH - National Transportation Safety Board investigators are attempting to find passengers who previously flew with the pilot who was at the controls of a Sundance Helicopters Aerospatiale AS350BA sightseeing flight Sept. 20 when it crashed near the western rim of the Grand Canyon. In addition to the pilot, Takashi Mezaki, the aircraft, N270SH, was carrying six passengers. All aboard were killed when the aircraft crashed and burned in an area called Descend Canyon.
United Technologies Corp. last month celebrated the 75th anniversary of its corporate flight department. National Business Aviation Association President Shelley Longmuir joined the anniversary festivities in Windsor Locks, Conn., making a presentation in recognition of UTC's years of providing business aviation. A UTC predecessor company launched flight operations on Aug. 22, 1928, with its first aircraft, a Ford Trimotor. The department now operates five mid-size and large jets and two Sikorsky helicopters.
Cirrus Airlines of Germany placed an order for an Embraer 170 plus one option last week. Cirrus CEO Gerd Brandecker said that the aircraft's spacious four-abreast cabin, superb economics and short runway landing and takeoff capabilities were among the reasons for the order. Embraer, which said it is on schedule to certify the 170 in November, plans to deliver the aircraft to Cirrus in December 2004.
Conocophillips named Steven G. McCullough general aviation manager. McCullough, 39, replaces J. Mark Wagner, who had headed the company's general aviation fuels sales for the past six years. McCullough, a graduate of West Chester University in Pennsylvania, has spent the past 11 years in wholesale gasoline sales management, including time in the company's Northeast region. He, his wife and two children recently relocated to the company's Bartlesville, Okla. headquarters.
Keystone Helicopter signed a five-year contract with Sikorsky Aircraft to provide completion services for the new VIP S-92 helicopter. Keystone will work on the design, certification and custom interior installation and exterior painting for the S-92 at its facility in West Chester, Pa. Sikorsky is scheduled to deliver the first VIP helicopter to a customer in the Northeast in December 2004.
Federal Aviation Administration formally issued a 120-day extension of the implementation date for most of the new Part 145 regulations as well as the accompanying advisory circular, AC 145-9 (BA, Sept. 8/97). FAA granted the request of the National Air Transportation Association, Aeronautical Repair Station Association and Aircraft Electronics Association to extend the implementation date from Oct. 3 to Jan. 31. The extension provides both FAA and industry personnel time to review and properly fold the new rules into their operations.
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation urged the FAA to reconsider its plans to revoke the Class D airspace along the Lake Michigan shore around the closed Merrill C. Meigs Field in Chicago. The Wisconsin DOT argued that the tower there held an important role for Wisconsin pilots who are heading east or southeast on VFR flights but who don't like crossing Lake Michigan.
Federal Aviation Administration has set the dates for its first series of seminars explaining the implementation of new Part 91 Subpart K regulations governing fractional aircraft operations. The new rules are slated to take effect Nov. 17, and FAA will host three two-day sessions before that date that are geared toward FAA field staff as well as existing operators. Registration at the seminars, which will take place at the Tremont Plaza Hotel in Baltimore, will be limited to 150 people per session. The seminars are scheduled Oct.
Federal Aviation Administration has teamed with Cirrus and Eclipse on its FAA/Industry Training Standards Program (FITS). While other airframers such as Adam Aircraft, Diamond Aircraft and Lancair are developing products that could potentially benefit from FITS, they are not directly participating in the program at the current time. BA previously identified them as participants (BA, Sept. 29/138).
CAE SimuFlite will launch a new Maintenance Leadership Program at the National Business Aviation Association convention this week in Orlando, Fla. The program will focus on leadership skills and technical proficiency to give maintenance professionals an edge in their career planning, the company said. In addition to the new initiative, CAE SimuFlite is adding maintenance training programs for Falcon 900EX, Falcon 2000 and Gulfstream V aircraft at its Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas training center.
Air Security International launched a new product that will help travel and security departments to disperse important information quickly to travelers. The ASI Travel Security Manager automates manual tasks such as maintaining a notification tree, travel advisory services, travel briefings, alerts and client emergency contacts. Developed as a joint venture program between ASI and FlightLock of Austin, Texas, the product can be customized and works with Microsoft Excel. FlightLock has several pending patents for new proprietary technology in the product.
Mesa Air Group selected AAR Aircraft Services based in Oklahoma City, Okla. to perform airframe maintenance on its fleet of Canadair Regional Jet series aircraft. AAR will keep the aircraft up to date with FAA-mandated requirements and perform heavy maintenance services such as C checks, calendar inspections and exterior and interior refurbishment. Mesa Air Group currently operates about 60 CRJ series aircraft for America West Express, US Airways Express, United Express, Midwest Express and Mesa Airlines.
The Royal Thai Air Force ordered an Airbus Corporate Jetliner for the transport of senior government officials. The aircraft will feature four additional center fuel tanks that will increase its range to fly one-stop to Europe and North American from Thailand. It will accommodate up to 30 passengers and luggage. RTAF is Airbus's first customer for the ACJ in the Asia-Pacific region.
Buyers will order nearly 8,000 new business jets over the next decade if overall economic growth continues, Honeywell predicts in its latest Business Aviation Outlook, but the number of new aircraft delivered this year and next is expected to remain flat.
MXI Technologies won an agreement from Dassault Aviation to provide its Maintenix data system in-service support of Dassault business aircraft. The system will allow Dassault to better track utilization and reliability of the Falcon fleet. "Having a faster access to a complete data set of the performance of our aircraft fleet will help us as a manufacturer to provide the best level of customer support," said Jacques Pellas, Dassault Aviation Information System senior vice president.
A U.S. Industry Coalition that traveled to the United Kingdom last month to discuss issues surrounding fractional aircraft operators and related flight activities (BA, Sept. 29/133) left that meeting with a much clearer picture of what U.K. regulators might consider a commercial operation, one industry official said. The U.K. appeared to define a commercial operation as anything that involved a contract for the use of aeronautical services. Under that definition, the official said, the overwhelming majority of U.S.
VETERAN AVIATION EXECUTIVE BILL BOISTURE NAMED NETJETS PRESIDENT - NetJets, the world's largest provider of fractional aircraft transportation, named aviation veteran W.W. (Bill) Boisture president of the company last week.
October 7-9 - National Business Aviation Association 56th Annual Meeting and Convention, Orlando, Fla., (202) 783-9000 October 30-November 1 - Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Expo 2003, Philadelphia, Pa., (301) 695-2000 November 4-9 - Korea Air Show 2003, Busan Exhibition & Convention Center, Busan, Korea. Visit www.seoulairshow.com. November 16-20 - Aviation Distributors & Manufacturers Association 121st Semi-Annual Meeting, Marriott Marco Beach Resort, Marco Island, Fla., (215) 564-3484
FAA PARTNERS WITH ACADEMIA, INDUSTRY TO RESEARCH AIRCRAFT NOISE - The Federal Aviation Administration established a new Air Transportation Center of Excellence for Aircraft Noise and Aviation Emissions Mitigation. The new COE, comprising academia, industry and government representatives, will research methods for minimizing the impact of aircraft noise and emissions. "Bringing the formidable resources of academia and industry together, the center is a force to make significant contributions in noise and emissions research," said FAA Administrator Marion Blakey.
Air Security International is warning that two years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, complacency is creeping into some aircraft operators' minds. "More and more flight departments today understand the risk of traveling internationally," said Charlie LeBlanc, vice president of operations for ASI. "On the negative side, we find there are still many folks out there in general aviation that simply don't care. There are many people who see Sept. 11th as an aberration, and that everything is back to normal.
JOHN C. CONTAS was named director of new business development at Aviation Management Systems, an aviation consulting company based in Portsmouth, N.H. In addition to handling new business, Contas will advise clients on financial issues related to aviation. Contas has more than 18 years of experience in finance and marketing and most recently managed his own consulting firm, Islington Advisors, LLC, which he founded in 1999.
