July 23-29 - Experimental Aircraft Association 50th Annual Gathering, AirVenture Oshkosh 2002, Oshkosh, Wis., (920) 235-3007; September 10-12 - National Business Aviation Association 55th Annual Meeting and Convention, Orlando, Fla., (202) 783-9000
AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION has launched a search for a new president. The organization, which represents the large scheduled airlines, said Carol Hallett plans to step down as president and chief executive April 30, 2003. She joined ATA in 1995. Hallett, who has been active in Republican Party activities, previously served as U.S. Customs Commissioner under the senior President Bush and as the U.S. ambassador to The Bahamas.
CHARTER SERVICES (CSI), a New Mexico-based charter carrier, was selected by the National Interagency Fire Center to work with Falcon Air Express, Spirit Airlines and other carriers to transport firefighters dispatched to combat wildland fires this summer in the U.S. CSI last summer carried more than 100 firefighters from South Dakota to Oregon and transported other crews to sites in Washington and North Carolina.
BOMBARDIER named a veteran airline pilot to head its aviation training programs. Capt. Tilmann (Tim) Gabriel, who has been vice president of flight operations for Bombardier's Flexjet fractional ownership program since 1999, was named general manager, customer training. He will report to Jim Ziegler, vice president and general manager of Bombardier Business Aviation Services. Gabriel spent 20 years with Lufthansa Airlines in his native Germany as a pilot, check airman and business unit manager.
The Department of Justice Friday outlined its much-anticipated requirements for screening foreign applicants for flight training on larger aircraft, providing an expedited background check for already certified pilots, but proposing a lengthier process -- that could take months to implement -- for new applicants (BA, June 10/269). Attorney General John Ashcroft last week unveiled DOJ's Flight Training Candidate Checks Program (FTCCP), which he described as a "new state-of-the-art system designed to protect Americans.
Finalizing a deal struck in April, Air Methods will buy Rocky Mountain Holdings of Provo, Utah, for $28 million to make the company the largest provider of air medical services in the United States, Air Methods said last week. Englewood, Colo.-based Air Methods, which provides medical transportation and performs aircraft modifications, previously announced it signed a non-binding letter of intent to purchase a major air medical service provider (BA, April 22/190).
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION is offering a series of risk management seminars to cover aviation insurance availability, insurance broker selection, claims management, non-traditional sources for coverage and security updates. The seminars are scheduled for July 15 at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C.; Sept. 26 at the Hilton Airport Hotel in Austin, Texas; Oct. 10 at Million Air Cleveland in Cleveland, Ohio; Oct. 25 at the Marriott Courtyard in Los Angeles, Calif.; Nov. 14 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Denver, Colo.; and Nov. 21 in Atlanta, Ga.
BELL HELICOPTER Model 407 helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-54-AD; Amendment 39-12770; AD 2002-11-09) - requires visually inspecting the forward hanger bearing bracket for a crack. This amendment is prompted by reports of cracks in the bracket. The actions specified by this AD are intended to detect a crack in the bracket, to prevent loss of tail rotor drive or control and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. FAA estimates that this AD will affect 442 helicopters on the U.S. Registry at a cost of $6,630, assuming no crack is detected in a bracket.
The federal government will delay implementation of draft plans to restore general aviation operations at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport for at least 30 more days and continue to assess security requirements for GA at the airport, the Department of Transportation announced last week. Although DOT and the general aviation community have reached "tentative conclusions" to restore access, DOT Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson said the department would convene another meeting with GA industry representatives in about a month.
MIDWEST EXPRESS will change its name in January to Midwest Airlines, an effort to recapture an estimated $10 million in lost booking annually because some passengers selected other carriers because they assumed Midwest Express was a regional airline and possibly a turboprop operator. Skyway, a feeder carrier for Midwest Express, also will change its name to Midwest Connect, to more closely link it to the larger carrier.
NTSB CITES FAULTY CREW COORDINATION IN ASPEN CRASH -- Faulty coordination between the pilots and the continuation of an unstabilized approach past the missed approach point, were cited by the National Transportation Safety Board as critical factors in the March 29, 2001 crash of a Gulfstream III at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport Sardy Field (ASE) in Aspen, Colo. (BA, April 2, 2001/156).
GENERAL AVIATION ACCESS TO DCA DELAYED AT LEAST 30 MORE DAYS -- The federal government will delay implementation of draft plans to restore general aviation operations at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport for at least 30 more days and continue to assess security requirements for GA at the airport, the Department of Transportation announced last week.
The aviation industry will have to adjust to new procedures that dispense with long discussions and extensive industry input, according to Sandy Murdock, a partner with the law firm Shaw, Pittman and former FAA chief counsel in the Reagan administration. Murdock made his comments at the Homeland Security and Defense conference held by McGraw-Hill in Washington this month.
ROCKWELL COLLINS said its avionics communications router (ACR) will be used to support datalink capabilities on the Airbus A380. The ACR is an onboard system that connects aircraft and ground-based systems and both manages and supports data traffic through various communications tools, including the airborne communications addressing and reporting system.
AERONAVALI, an Alenia Aeronautica/Finmeccania unit, installed a cargo door on an ATR72 as part of an ATR Freighter Conversion Program. Aeronavali's facility in Naples won an exclusive contract last year to complete ATR 42 and ATR 72 cargo conversions for the French-Italian consortium. The ATR 72 Cargo prototype aircraft is slated for certification this month and will be handed over to launch customer FARNAIR, a European feeder airline for integrators and postal services. Aeronavali next will begin work on an ATR 42 conversion.
STAN ALLMON was named director of avionics at the JetCorp fixed based operation, located at the Spirit of St. Louis Airport. He will oversee JetCorp's avionics department and manage sales and the maintenance and installation of avionics packages. Allmon has worked at JetCorp for the past 10 years in various positions including avionics repair manager, avionics supervisor and avionics technician.
ACM AVIATION added a Gulfstream V to its charter fleet. ACM operates a fleet of nearly 30 corporate jets from its base at San Jose, Calif., International Airport and other airports in California, Grand Junction, Colo., and Reno, Nev.
SHAIRFORCE LAUNCHES MARKETING PROGRAM -- A new shared aircraft ownership company, ShAirForce, unveiled its aircraft sales and marketing program by launching its web site, www.shairforce.com, last week. The launch follows on the heels of an agreement between the company and Piedmont Aviation Services to operate ShAirForce's fleet of new Boeing Business Jets on Piedmont's Pace Airlines' FAA Part 121 certificate.
PRATT&WHITNEY PT6A series turboprop engines (Docket No. 99-NE-44-AD) - revises an earlier proposed AD, applicable to Pratt&Whitney Canada PT6A series turboprop engines, that have certain turbine exhaust ducts that were modified by Standard Aero Limited of Winnipeg, Canada before Sept. 1, 1997. That proposal would have required initial and repetitive inspections for cracks and, if necessary, replacing the turbine exhaust duct if the cracks exceed allowable limits. That proposal was prompted by reports of cracks along the weld seams of certain turbine exhaust ducts.
Former FAA Official: Security Mandates Trumping Public Comment Procedures -- The aviation industry will have to adjust to new procedures that dispense with long discussions and extensive industry input, according to Sandy Murdock, a partner with the law firm Shaw, Pittman and former FAA chief counsel in the Reagan administration. Murdock made his comments at the Homeland Security and Defense conference held by McGraw-Hill in Washington this month.
Montreal-based CMC Electronics signed an agreement to buy Flight Visions, Inc. of Sugar Grove, Ill. Flight Visions designs and manufactures a range of cockpit systems and products that includes head-up displays, mission computers and control panels for fighter and trainer aircraft, and helicopters. The Sugar Grove plant has about 100 employees.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION is offering a series of risk management seminars to cover aviation insurance availability, insurance broker selection, claims management, non-traditional sources for coverage and security updates. The seminars are scheduled for July 15 at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C.; Sept. 26 at the Hilton Airport Hotel in Austin, Texas; Oct. 10 at Million Air Cleveland in Cleveland, Ohio; Oct. 25 at the Marriott Courtyard in Los Angeles, Calif.; Nov. 14 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Denver, Colo.; and Nov. 21 in Atlanta, Ga.
ANOTHER AIRLINE has acknowledged that business jets are claiming a bigger share of its high-yield, first-class passengers.Swiss International Air Lines, formed from the ashes of Swissair's post-9/11 demise, is logging 80 percent load factors on long-haul flights after just three months of operations. But officials say the numbers would be better if not for the reluctance of some former first-class passengers to fly on commercial carriers.
AIR METHODS TO BUY ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOLDINGS -- Finalizing a deal struck in April, Air Methods will buy Rocky Mountain Holdings of Provo, Utah, for $28 million to make the company the largest provider of air medical services in the United States, Air Methods said last week. Englewood, Colo.-based Air Methods, which provides medical transportation and performs aircraft modifications, previously announced it signed a non-binding letter of intent to purchase a major air medical service provider (BA, April 22/190).
AOPA also is combating the view that small aircraft pose a threat to nuclear power plants. It released a report that concludes that GA aircraft could not penetrate concrete containment vessels at nuclear plants and that even an "explosive-laden" GA aircraft would not likely cause the release of radiation. As AOPA released its report, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) was trying to generate support for a bill he introduced to require criminal background checks on all foreign applicants to U.S. flight schools, regardless of what size aircraft applicants would be flying.
