The Justice Department completed its regulations for flight training companies to submit the names of foreign student applicants who are seeking training on aircraft that weigh at least 12,500 pounds, but it may be months before new foreign students can begin flight training in the U.S. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act requires flight schools to notify the Department of Justice when they receive applications from foreign nationals for flight training in aircraft weighing 12,500 pounds or more.
Model F.28 series airplanes (Docket No. 2002-NM-94-AD; Amendment 39-12697; AD 2002-07-03) - requires revising the Airplane Flight Manual to prohibit operation of the auxiliary power unit during deicing. This action is necessary to prevent ingestion of deicing fluid into the APU, which could cause uncontained failure of the turbine wheel of the APU, and result in failed and uncontained parts penetrating the aft cabin pressure bulkhead, and consequent possible injury to the cabin crew or passengers.
Raytheon Aircraft customer service representatives will be touring the country in the next three months hosting maintenance and operations conferences for owners of King Air, Beechjet and Hawker aircraft. Various Raytheon management and technical personnel will conduct the sessions in six major metropolitan areas: Houston on April 15; Atlanta on April 23; Tampa on April 24; New York City on May 21; Chicago on May 22 and Los Angeles on June 18.
AMERICAN AIRLINES named Gerard Arpey, 43, president and chief operating officer, putting him in line to eventually succeed CEO Don Carty. Arpey was previously executive vice president of operations. Arpey joined AA in 1982 and was chief financial officer from 1995-1999. The new appointment comes just a few weeks after Vice Chairman Bob Baker retired.
FAA LIFTS SMALL AIRPLANE BAN OVER CHICAGO - Despite continuing concerns from city officials, FAA lifted the temporary flight restriction over downtown Chicago last week. The TFR, which established a no-fly zone over the city after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was rescinded shortly after midnight April 9, one week after it was due to expire. When the TFR was not automatically cancelled on April 2, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association immediately appealed to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey and the agency promised that the ban would be lifted shortly.
FlightSafety International's center in Daleville, Ala. received Level D certification from FAA for its new UC-35B full flight simulator. The new simulator is the U.S. Army's version of the Cessna Citation Encore business jet. The simulator will be used to train both military and civil pilots.
The House Aviation Subcommittee Thursday will consider legislation to streamline airport projects. The issue of airport construction streamlining was a priority of Congress last year, but put on the backburner after the Sept. 11 attacks pushed aviation security to the forefront of the debate. Along with airport streamlining, the subcommittee will consider legislation to reauthorize the National Transportation Safety Board and to provide assistance for the construction of certain air traffic control towers.
Model 328-100 and 328-300 series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-NM-313-AD) - proposes to require replacement of the bolts with new bolts with wirelocking on the Support One of the rudder spring tab. This action is necessary to ensure replacement of improper bolts installed on the rudder spring tab that could back out over time, which could reduce structural integrity of the airplane. FAA estimates that this proposed AD would affect 53 Model 328-100 series airplanes and 20 Model 328-300 series airplanes on the U.S. Registry at a cost of $4,380, or $60 per airplane.
A BOEING BUSINESS JET flew 6,854 nautical miles from Seattle, Wash. to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a distance record for the BBJ. The flight, which started at Boeing Field on April 7, took 14 hours and 12 minutes. The aircraft, owned by a company called BBJ One, is the first to be certified under Part 135 allowing charter operations.
CORPORATE MAINTENANCE TECHS CONSIDER SELF-SET STANDARDS - The aviation maintenance community is renewing efforts to establish an industry-set standard that would recognize corporate aircraft technicians who meet certain requirements. Efforts to establish such recognition in the past have proven unsuccessful, but the latest effort is focused solely on the corporate maintenance technician and involves the building of a coalition of organizations to develop the series of standards that the maintenance technician would meet.
The National Business Aviation Association process for on-demand charters to electronically transmit passenger manifests when they enter the U.S. appears to have satisfied, at least temporarily, the Customs requirements. Customs has been developing its own system for charter companies to use, but that may be years away, sources believe. NBAA developed its system after U.S. Customs began assessing up to $10,000 in fines against charter companies that did not electronically submit passenger manifest information (BA, Feb. 25/93).
Pan Am International Flight Academy won a one-year contract from FAA to train FAA's maintenance inspectors on the Saab 340. PAIFA will conduct 12-day courses, which will cover initial maintenance, engine start/run training and the aircraft practical examination. Training will be done on Saab 340 simulators at PAIFA's Regional Airline Training Center in Minneapolis, Minn. The first class is scheduled to start in the second quarter of this year.
Despite continuing concerns from city officials, FAA lifted the temporary flight restriction over downtown Chicago last week. The TFR, which established a no-fly zone over the city after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was rescinded shortly after midnight April 9, one week after it was due to expire. When the TFR was not automatically cancelled on April 2, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association immediately appealed to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey and the agency promised that the ban would be lifted shortly. (BA, April 8/167).
David Hurley, chief executive officer of PrivatAir, was named to the board of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. The board is a 32-member body appointed by the Smithsonian Board of Regents. Hurley, who has been a pilot since age 14, has more than 30 years of marketing and sales experience in the aerospace and telecommunications industry. He has logged more than 15,000 hours in a variety of aircraft.
A mild winter has put construction of the 760,000-square-foot Dulles annex to the National Air and Space Museum ahead of schedule, museum officials said last week, adding that they hope to begin moving the first artifacts into the Steven F. Uvar-Hazy Center next March. The center is slated to open to the public in December 2003, purposefully timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the first powered flight by the Wright brothers.
AN INTERNAL DIRECTIVE from the INS Commissioner to inspectors ordering "zero tolerance" spurred at least one group of inspectors to seek out office space at an FBO for interrogations of passengers arriving in the U.S. A Dulles International Airport FBO received that request from area inspectors, who said the alternative would be to send arriving passengers to the main terminal at Dulles for interrogation, said Pete West, senior vice president of government and public affairs for NBAA. While INS has jurisdiction for passenger interrogations, the U.S.
Brazilian Manufacturer Embraer posted a net profit of $470 million in 2001, a 70.7 percent jump from the $272 million it reported for 2000. The company topped the list of Brazil's principal exporters for the third consecutive year with $2.9 billion in overseas shipments. CEO Mauricio Botelho emphasized that after Sept. 11 only 18 purchase options - 15 from Brazil's Rio-Sul and three from foreign carriers - were rescheduled. He said there were no cancellations.
ALTHOUGH it received a letter from the Federal Aviation Administration warning of potential grant violations, the Naples Airport Authority has begun to enforce its ban on Stage 2 aircraft at Naples Municipal Airport that it adopted more than a year ago. NAA last week assessed its first fine on a violator of the Stage 2 ban, the Southwest Florida newspaper, the News-Press, reported. The authority fined a New York-based operator $500 and refused to allow the operator to pick up a passenger at Naples. NAA ordered the airplane to divert to Marco Island Airport.
MEDAIRE of Phoenix, Ariz. was honored as Gulfstream's 2001 Small Business Supplier of the Year. The Small Business Council of Gulfstream presented the award to MedAire last month at the Fourth Annual Year End Event in Savannah, Ga. The two companies have been partners since 1989 when Gulfstream became the first to make Med Aire's medical safety products and services a standard feature on every new aircraft sold.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION is rounding out membership of its recently formed Airline Services Council, which will promote and represent interests of aviation businesses that provide services to scheduled airlines. The council includes GlobeGround North America, Airport Terminal Services, Signature Flight Support/ASIG, WorldWide Security Associates, Gate Gourmet, Menzies Aviation Group, Aramark/ServiceMaster Aviation Services, LSG Sky Chefs, Worldwide Flight Services, Swissport, ITS, Hallmark Aviation Services, Mercury Air Group, FSS and Servisair.
The doubling of the Flight Options fractional aircraft fleet as a result of its merger with Raytheon Travel Air (RTA) positions the Cleveland-based firm to compete more effectively against industry leader Executive Jet and relegates other fractional providers to "boutique markets," according to Kenn Ricci, chairman and CEO of Flight Options.
Raytheon Aircraft customer service representatives will be touring the country in the next three months hosting maintenance and operations conferences for owners of King Air, Beechjet and Hawker aircraft. Various Raytheon management and technical personnel will conduct the sessions in six major metropolitan areas: Houston on April 15; Atlanta on April 23; Tampa on April 24; New York City on May 21; Chicago on May 22 and Los Angeles on June 18.
"THE NEAT THING about the fractional business is that we're the anti-airline," Flight Options Chairman and CEO Kenn Ricci said last week. "We're everything an airline isn't from a financial standpoint." He observed that an airline makes huge investments in equipment and infrastructure "and then it hopes that somebody shows up to fly." With the Flight Options fractional program, however, "It's almost exactly the opposite. We own no airplanes, they're owned by owners, that's how we get our name.
"THE NEAT THING about the fractional business is that we're the anti-airline," Flight Options Chairman and CEO Kenn Ricci said last week. "We're everything an airline isn't from a financial standpoint." He observed that airlines make huge investments in equipment and infrastructure "and then it hopes that somebody shows up to fly." With Flight Options fractional program, however, "It's almost exactly the opposite. We own no airplanes, they're owned by owners, that's how we get our name.
American Airlines named Gerard Arpey, 43, president and chief operating officer, putting him in line to eventually succeed CEO Don Carty. Arpey was previously executive vice president of operations. Arpey joined AA in 1982 and was chief financial officer from 1995-1999. The new appointment comes just a few weeks after Vice Chairman Bob Baker retired.
