AOPA URGES FAA TO FREE UP 'DC 3' - The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association stepped up its efforts to get FAA to ease restrictions hobbling three small Maryland airports just outside of Washington, D.C., formally petitioning the agency for a rulemaking that would permit a waiver process that would allow more pilots to fly in or out of the airports. The three airports - College Park Airport (CGS), Potomac Airfield (VKX), and Hyde Field (W32) - were the last to reopen after the government shut down the airspace on Sept.
Aviall Services, Inc. signed an agreement with Honeywell Engine Systems and Accessories that expands Aviall's worldwide aftermarket parts distribution rights for the manufacturer. Aviall said the latest agreement "significantly broadens the product line offering" of the Honeywell Engine Systems and Accessories parts that it can distribute. The Dallas-based parts supplier estimated that the agreement will boost its sales by more than $20 million per year.
Honeywell posted a $560 million before-tax profit in the third quarter, turning around the $498 million loss reported in the third quarter of 2001, but the ailing airline industry and sluggish economy are spurring Honeywell to cut up to 5,000 more positions, Honeywell Chairman and CEO Dave Cote said last week. Honeywell already has reduced its work force by about seven percent, a move that helped the company show a profit despite a four percent decline in sales in the third quarter that ended Sept. 30.
President Bush this month announced his intention to formally nominate Adm. James Loy to serve as under secretary of transportation for security, heading the Transportation Security Administration. Loy has headed TSA in an acting capacity since July 2002, when John Magaw departed the agency. The White House has not yet sent the nomination to the Senate for confirmation.
Congress likely won't act on any aviation security legislation until after the Nov. 5 elections. The House and Senate last week approved a stop-gap spending bill to tide the federal government over until Nov. 22. While not officially recessed, neither the House nor the Senate is expected to tackle any major issues until after the elections. When Congress returns, the House and Senate will have to finish work on almost all the appropriations bills, including the fiscal 2003 transportation appropriations, in a lame-duck session.
Jet Aviation Kassel received a German LBA supplemental type certificate to install new radar and a flight management system on a Citation II. The Citation will be equipped with a new Honeywell RDR 2000 weather radar system and a new Universal UNS-1L FMS, a navigation system with additional memory and a high-speed microprocessor.
The TSA Chief was much more enthusiastic about the National Business Aviation Association's proposed Transportation Security Administration Access Protocol (TSSAP) idea, however. Loy reiterated earlier comments that TSSAP procedures - under which pilots who met certain requirements could be pre-cleared - seems like a reasonable approach for permitting flights into airports covered by a TFR or instead of the current waiver process for international flights (BA, Oct. 7/159).
EC FIGHTS BELGIAN HUSHKIT BAN; TRANSATLANTIC DISPUTE RETURNS - The European Commission is taking aim at a new Belgian law that would ban hushkitted aircraft from landing or taking off at Belgian airports between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., beginning July 2003. In the first step of the so-called infringement procedure, the EC formally notified Belgium's government that the ban contradicts existing European Union hushkit legislation. Those rules were crafted in April to address a long-running transatlantic dispute the U.S.
Despite pleas from the helicopter industry, TSA Chief James Loy didn't offer much encouragement last week about lifting temporary flight restrictions at large sporting events like auto races. During a meeting between senior TSA officials and members of the General Aviation Coalition Wednesday, helicopter interests said helicopter operators needed access to race venues to pick up and deliver VIPs, sponsors and drivers at the tracks.
Smaller airports are losing more service than larger ones, according to an Oct. 7 report on airline industry metrics from DOT's Office of the Inspector General. Since early 2001, OIG said non-hubs lost nearly 16 percent of scheduled passenger seats versus a nine percent cut for larger airports. That disparity could be reduced by the end of this year, OIG said, noting that airline schedules project that by December non-hubs will be down 10 percent and larger airports down seven percent compared with December 2000.
FAA signed a letter of intent to exercise options for 21 Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE-X) systems and associated equipment and services from Sensis Corp. in a deal potentially valued at about $100 million. ASDE-X provides traffic management for the airport surface environment using a combination of surface movement radar, transponder multilateration and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast sensors to display aircraft position.
Business Aircraft Manufacturers presented a mixed outlook for the industry last week as they released their third-quarter financial figures. Honeywell is talking about additional layoffs, Gulfstream's business jet deliveries were off sharply and Dassault is considering a reduction in production rates next year. Most OEMs remain cautiously optimistic, however, with Textron reporting that its Cessna Aircraft unit has sold about 70 percent of the 250 business jets it plans to produce in 2003. See articles below.
CMC Electronics won a contract from Marshall Aerospace of Cambridge, England, to supply its global positioning system-based flight management system, the CMA-900, for three C-130 aircraft that Marshall Aerospace will upgrade for the Australian Air Force. The aircraft are slated for delivery in February 2003. The CMA-900 is in service on aircraft operated by more than 40 airlines as well as on the P-3.
Model SR20 and SR22 airplanes (Docket No. 2002-CE-41-AD; Amendment 39-12908; AD 2002-21-02) - requires replacement of the self-locking retaining nut on the roll and yaw trim cartridges with a new self-locking retaining nut with a higher axial load capability. This AD is the result of a report that, during a production flight test, the self-locking retaining nut on the yaw trim cartridge came off.
Mark Larsen was named chair of the National Air Transportation Association's Aircraft Maintenance and System Technology Committee. He is the engine program sales manager and regional sales manager for Garrett Aviation Services, based at Knoxville's McGee Tyson Airport in Alcoa, Tenn. Larsen, who has 20 years of business aviation experience in operations, sales and customer support, succeeds Karl Florian.
Business Aircraft Manufacturers presented a mixed outlook for the industry last week as they released their third-quarter financial figures. Honeywell is talking about additional layoffs, Gulfstream's business jet deliveries were off sharply and Dassault is considering a reduction in production rates next year.Most OEMs remain cautiously optimistic, however, with Textron reporting that its Cessna Aircraft unit has sold about 70 percent of the 250 business jets it plans to produce in 2003. See articles below.
TIMCO BUYS AIRCRAFT SEATING UNIT FROM DUOCOMMUN - Timco Aviation Services, a major provider of aircraft overhaul and maintenance services, acquired Brice Manufacturing Co. of Pacoima, Calif. from Duocommun, Inc.
Keystone Helicopter Corporation selected Component Control to provide a $1 million upgrade to its business software, including the addition of the Quantum Control e-business package for maintenance, repair and overhaul operations and inventory control as well as core finance and accounting. Keystone said it chose Quantum Control after reviewing more than 20 aviation enterprise resource planning software providers.
Aviall Services, Inc. signed an agreement with Honeywell Engine Systems and Accessories that expands Aviall's worldwide aftermarket parts distribution rights for the manufacturer. Aviall said the latest agreement "significantly broadens the product line offering" of the Honeywell Engine Systems and Accessories parts that it can distribute. The Dallas-based parts supplier estimated that the agreement will boost its sales by more than $20 million per year.
Mark Larsen was named chair of the National Air Transportation Association's Aircraft Maintenance and System Technology Committee. He is the engine program sales manager and regional sales manager for Garrett Aviation Services, based at Knoxville's McGee Tyson Airport in Alcoa, Tenn. Larsen, who has 20 years of business aviation experience in operations, sales and customer support, succeeds Karl Florian.
Vector Training Systems received FAA approval for its aircraft reference data for the Piper Warrior. The approval, granted by the agency's National Simulator Program, clears the path for flight schools operating Vector's Piper Warrior flight training devices (FTDs) to seek FAA Level 3 approval. Vector delivered two Piper Warrior FTDs to the Odegard School at the University of North Dakota, and FAA Level 3 approval is expected later this month.
Jet Aviation Kassel received a German LBA supplemental type certificate to install new radar and a flight management system on a Citation II. The Citation will be equipped with a new Honeywell RDR 2000 weather radar system and a new Universal UNS-1L FMS, a navigation system with additional memory and a high-speed microprocessor.
