IBIS FLIES CONFORMING PROTOTYPE - Czech plane-maker Ibis Aerospace flew the first production conforming prototype of its Ae270 single turboprop, a milestone the company says confirms the aircraft's schedule for certification by yearend. The conforming prototype is the fifth aircraft to be produced but differs from earlier prototypes in that it sports the PT6A-66A engine that will power production models. The prototype also incorporates enhancements over earlier models, including a Chelton Systems pilot-side electronic flight instrument system.
Canadian conglomerate Bombardier lowered its earnings forecast last week and said it plans to lay off another 3,000 aerospace workers over the next 12 months. Separately, workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers at Bombardier's Learjet facility in Wichita, Kan. approved a number of contract concessions in return for the company's promise to keep the Wichita plant operating at least through 2006.
House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) and a number of other representatives will visit both Cessna and Raytheon Aircraft in Wichita later this week as part of the subcommittee's planned travels around the country to get a first-hand look at the aviation industry before it drafts a comprehensive aviation reauthorization bill (BA, Feb. 17/71). San Francisco and Seattle follow on the subcommittee's travel itinerary, which also will include Cincinnati, Detroit and Portland.
Indigo's return to the New Jersey market after a year's absence did not go unnoticed by politicians who have long opposed the Chicago-based carrier's service to Teterboro Airport. Congressional representatives accused the Part 380 public charter operator of providing scheduled rather than "regular and frequent" service into Teterboro, which does not permit scheduled service. This prompted New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey to announce he would take all necessary legal action to block Indigo from defying the scheduled service ban.
EXECUTIVE JET MANAGEMENT ANTICIPATES MAJOR FLEET EXPANSION THIS YEAR - Despite sharply lower new aircraft sales and a glut of used business jets on the market, Executive Jet Management says its business is booming, with plans to sharply increase its fleet this year.
Air Charter Guide unveiled its new CharterXtra online booking system for corporate travel managers. The system provides access to Air Charter Guide's database of charter operators and aircraft, and enables users to compare price and convenience between airline, corporate flight, and charter options. The system will be sold on an annual license basis to corporate travel management companies, corporate travel departments and online travel agencies. It is slated to go live in mid-April.
Alaska Airlines during November, December and January was able to operate 113 flights in and out of Juneau that otherwise would have been canceled because of bad weather thanks to its new satellite-based Required Navigation Performance (RNP) technology. RNP draws data from GPS and an onboard database to guide the aircraft along a defined, computer-plotted flight path.
Nav Canada would lose about $360 million (Can.) by fiscal 2004 at the hands of the current traffic downturn, compared with revenue projected before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, if fees remain unchanged, the agency predicts in its new three-year business plan. Nav Canada plans to boost charges so it breaks even, but stresses fees have risen only 1.5 percent since 1997 despite a 10.6 percent growth in the consumer price index.
FAMILY OF GIV PILOT WINS $22 MILLION IN CRASH SUIT - Lawyers representing the family of a Gulfstream IV co-pilot who was killed in the 1996 crash of a business jet say the plaintiffs will receive $22.6 million in damages, following a decision last week by the Illinois Appellate Court.
Rockwell Collins was selected by Xian Aircraft Company of China to supply its Pro Line 21 avionics system for the MA-60 regional aircraft. Collins will begin deliveries of the avionics later this year. The MA-60 is slated for certification in 2004.
CSSI, Inc. of Washington, D.C. was awarded a five-year NASA contract to work on the agency's Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) program. CSSI will provide NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland with research, testing, experimental design, requirements development, and applications software development assistance as part of the center's effort to improve airspace systems, aviation safety and SATS. CSSI is an engineering and technical services company specializing in transportation.
INDIGO RELAUNCHES SERVICE WITH LEGACYS - After nearly a year's absence from the market, Chicago-based Indigo last week resumed its "regular and frequent" service between Chicago Midway Airport and Teterboro Airport in New Jersey with Embraer Legacy business jets configured for 16 passengers. The carrier had operated four Falcon 20s between Chicago, Teterboro and a few other destinations, but financial constraints and operating costs spurred Indigo executives to retire the aircraft in April 2002, said Indigo Chairman and Chief Executive Peter Pappas.
TSA TO CONTINUE RESTRICTIONS AT 'D.C. 3' AIRPORTS INDEFINITELY - The three Washington, D.C.-area airports fighting to survive after Sept. 11, 2001 will not "see relief for the foreseeable future," said TSA chief Adm. James Loy last week. The Transportation Security Administration has drastically curtailed operations at the so-called "D.C. 3" airports - College Park Airport, Potomac Airfield and Washington Executive/Hyde Field all in the close-in Maryland suburbs - because of their proximity to the nation's capital.
Experimental Aircraft Association and Ford Motor Company are unveiling a reproduction of the 1903 Wright Flyer March 18 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to jointly commemorate the 100th anniversary of powered flight as well as the 100th anniversary of Ford Motor Company. The Lincoln Aviator Kitty Hawk Edition will travel the country this year and fly over Kitty Hawk, N.C. on Dec. 17 at the exact time and place of the original Wright Brothers' flight.
FlightSafety International received FAA Level D approval for a Falcon 2000 full flight simulator installed at its facility in Columbus, Ohio. The full-motion simulator was built by FlightSafety Simulation in Tulsa, Okla. FlightSafety's Columbus Center also houses Citation X, Excel and Ultra simulators. FlightSafety further won approval for a second Citation X full-flight simulator at its base in Wichita, Kan. The simulator is equipped with an interactive FlightViz debriefing system.
As Bombardier announced plans for yet another round of layoffs, the Aerospace Industries Association reported that U.S. aerospace employment has reached its lowest level since 1953. Aerospace employment dropped to 689,000 at the end of 2002. The number of workers has dropped 106,000, or by 13 percent, since Sept. 11, 2001, and has plummeted by 642,000 since December 1989. See article below.
SINO SWEARINGEN SECOND CONFORMING SJ30-2 FLIES - Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp. said its second conforming SJ30-2 entry-level jet (S/N 0003) made a successful first flight Thursday from the company's facilities in San Antonio, Texas. S/N 0002, which was already flying, will be used to validate aerodynamics and handling qualities. The new flight article will be used primarily for hot and cold weather testing, flight into known icing, pressurization, systems and avionics.
TBM 700 CRASH CLAIMS THREE, INCLUDING FORMER NBAA STAFFER - All three people aboard a Socata TBM 700 were killed March 1 when the aircraft crashed while attempting to land at the Leesburg, Va. Airport. The aircraft had taken off earlier in the day from Sarasota, Fla., and made a stop in Greer, S.C. to drop off a passenger. The TBM 700 was approaching Leesburg about 2:45 in the afternoon when it crashed about one mile short of the runway, narrowly missing several homes. There was fog in the area at the time of the accident and visibility was limited.
TELEDYNE TEAMS WITH HONDA TO STUDY PISTON ENGINE POSSIBILITIES - Piston-engine maker Teledyne Continental Motors teamed with Honda Motor Co. to study possibilities for a next-generation piston aircraft engine that Honda is developing, TCM announced last week. The joint feasibility study will explore mutual business opportunities, including marketing, servicing, manufacturing and sales. TCM and Honda have worked cooperatively over the past two years on testing a prototype of the Honda-designed engine at TCM's facility in Mobile, Ala.
LOCKHEED TEAM WINS FAA WAAS CONTRACT - The Federal Aviation Administration awarded a Lockheed Martin team a contract to provide ground station and broadcast services to support satellite navigation signals in the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). The two-year Geostationary Communications and Control Segment (GCCS) program, initially valued at $34 million, has options for extensions that give the contract a potential value of almost $600 million.
VOYAGER GROUP BUYS ATLANTIC AVIATION CHARTER OPERATION - Voyager Group, LP completed the purchase of the aircraft management and charter operations of Atlantic Aviation Flight Services and named a pair of veteran business aviation executives to head the enterprise, which will retain the Atlantic Aviation Flight Services (AAFS) name.
Jet Aviation Zurich recently was named an authorized service facility for Cessna Conquest I and II and Caravan 208 aircraft. The authorization allows the facility to perform maintenance, repairs, warranty work and avionics installations on the aircraft. Jet Aviation Zurich has served as a Cessna Citation authorized service center for more than 20 years.
JEPPESEN WARNS OF NAVDATA BOUNDARY ERRORS - Jeppessen issued a warning Friday, following discovery of "an irregularity affecting certain airspace boundary records contained in Jeppesen NavData, which cause a small number of Special Use Airspace and Controlled Airspace boundaries to be misrepresented," the company said. Affected by the irregularity are Jeppesen data and databases delivered by other vendors but derived from Jeppesen data, which contain airspace boundary records, the navigation information provider said.
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON Model HH-1K, TH-1F, TH-1L, UH-1A, UH-1B, UH-1E, UH-1F, UH-1H, UH-1L, and UH-1P; and Southwest Florida Aviation Model SW204, SW204HP, SW205, and SW205A-1 helicopters, manufactured for the Armed Forces of the United States (Docket No. 2002-SW-31-AD) - proposes to supersede an existing AD that applies to specified type-certificated military surplus helicopters. That AD currently requires visual and radiographic inspections of the Boom Station 194 skin joint area and the vertical fin spar caps for cracks or fretting.
