Bombardier and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers resumed negotiations last week after 7,400 union members staged a one-day strike April 1 to protest the slow pace of talks aimed at reaching agreement on a new contract. The parties have been negotiating since August. Local 712 of the IAM organized the walkout after 98.2 percent of members voting authorized a strike.
FAA SEEKING IDEAS FOR SECURING SMALL COMMUTER COCKPITS - Federal Aviation Administration last week asked for comments on ways to make small commuter aircraft more safe.
Borge Boeskov, the veteran Boeing executive who most recently served as president of Boeing Business Jets, officially retired from the aircraft manufacturer last week. Boeskov, who joined Boeing in 1965 and held a variety of senior posts in sales and marketing, was named president of Boeing Business Jets in July 1996. The company announced last year that Lee Monson had been selected to succeed him when Boeskov retired (BA, June 25/295).
National Business Aviation Association reached the 7,000-member mark with the addition of Mark Nutritionals, Inc. Based in San Antonio, Texas, Mark Nutritionals operates a Cessna Citation III. NBAA's membership has grown by 1,000 since 1999 and by 5,000 since 1980, the association said.
Former Secretary of Transportation James Burnley joined the Washington legislative practice of the law firm Venable. Burnley previously was a partner in the Washington office of Winston & Strawn, where he represented clients including American Airlines on transportation issues before Congress and regulatory agencies. Burnely became general counsel for the Department of Transportation in 1983 and subsequently was named deputy secretary of transportation.
A new report stating that 96 percent of all U.S. reactors were designed without regard for the potential impact "from even a small aircraft" has raised concerns from the general aviation community, which has spent months trying to dispel fears about the potential threat of private planes.
Rockwell Collins won certification for its Pro Line 21 Continuum avionics on a Challenger 601. The installation included four 10- by 8-inch LCD adaptive flight displays, integrated flight control systems, triple Collins FMS-6000 flight management systems, AHS-3000 attitude heading reference system, TCAS-4000 traffic alert collision avoidance system, TWR-850 turbulence-detection weather radar and Pro Line radio sensors.
BOMBARDIER handed over the first of two 50-seat CRJ200 regional jets to The Fair Inc. of Tokyo. The Fair Inc. will use the aircraft to expand its system and feed its code-sharing partner All Nippon Airways at Tokyo's Narita International Airport. The airline ordered the aircraft from Bombardier in late 1999 and acquired two others from a European operator in mid-2000. The Fair Inc. is the first CRJ operator in Japan.
Model SAAB SF340A series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-420-AD) - revises an earlier proposed AD that would have required replacement of certain air recirculation fans in the flight and passenger compartments. These fans may be replaced with either upgraded fans with new brushes having insulation on the brush leads or with modified fans having new, brushless motors. This new action revises the proposed rule by requiring modification of the fan support structure prior to installation of the upgraded fans.
Used Retail Jet And Turboprop Deliveries Inside And Outside North America For February 2002 (see related graphs on Pages 173 and 174 of the hard copy of this issue.)
The Department of Labor Friday announced a new plan to help reduce ergonomic injuries. The plan includes industry-targeted guidelines, stricter enforcement measures, workplace outreach, advanced research and efforts to protect immigrant workers. The plan, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's latest approach to protecting against musculoskeletal disorders, comes a year after Congress threw out the agency's ergonomics rule, which called for risk assessment, training, record keeping and formation of ergonomics programs.
JET AVIATION BEDFORD was named an authorized service center for Raytheon Premier I aircraft. The approval authorizes heavy and scheduled maintenance, airframe maintenance and engine repair on the jet.
Bombardier handed over the first of two 50-seat CRJ200 regional jets to The Fair Inc. of Tokyo. The Fair Inc. will use the aircraft to expand its system and feed its code-sharing partner All Nippon Airways at Tokyo's Narita International Airport. The airline ordered the aircraft from Bombardier in late 1999 and acquired two others from a European operator in mid-2000. The Fair Inc. is the first CRJ operator in Japan.
Model Mystere-Falcon 50 series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-335-AD; Amendment 39-12690; AD 2002-06-12) - requires repetitive tests of double-skin feeder tanks for fuel leaks, and corrective actions, if necessary. It also requires modification of seals in the feeder tanks, which terminates the repetitive leak tests. This amendment is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign airworthiness authority.
Release of a rule to regulate fractional ownership under a new Subpart K of Part 91 likely won't come until the fall, Cusimano said. FAA published its proposal last July, incorporating nearly all industry recommendations for regulating the fast-growing segment of the industry. Industry representatives were hoping for a quick adoption of the rule. But the focus on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and changes in Office of Management and Budget requirements that now require a 90-day review, have pushed back the schedule, he said.
Meggitt Aerospace, whose S-TEC division in Mineral Wells, Texas is well known for supplying autopilots for piston-powered singles and twins, is attempting to expand its market to include the turboprop fleet. Officials are targeting Piper Cheyennes and older King Airs as candidates for new autopilots, electronics and instruments. The manufacturer holds hundreds of supplemental type certificates (STCs) from FAA for installation of new equipment on piston-powered aircraft.
Federal Aviation Administration promised it would lift temporary flight restrictions over the city of Chicago after the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association became concerned that the no-fly zone would remain intact indefinitely, the association said last week. The TFR, originally encompassing a three-mile arc around Chicago's Sears Tower, first took effect last fall after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Alcoa Inc. completed its acquisition of the aluminum extrusion assets of Dooray Air Metal Co. Ltd. of Changwon, Korea. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The Changwon facility produces hard alloy extrusions for defense, aerospace, industrial and transportation markets.
FAA PROMISES TO LIFT CHICAGO RESTRICTIONS - Federal Aviation Administration promised it would lift temporary flight restrictions over the city of Chicago after the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association became concerned that the no-fly zone would remain intact indefinitely, the association said last week. The TFR, originally encompassing a three-mile arc around Chicago's Sears Tower, first took effect last fall after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
LANCAIR last week unveiled a new version of its Columbia line, the Columbia 350, equipped with an "all-electric" package that eliminates the dual vacuum pumps. The Columbia 350 will have a dual bus, dual battery electrical system. "All-electric is the way industry is headed," said Lancair Vice President Ron Wright. "It's been the standard in turbine aircraft for some time and the technology is now within reach of the piston-aircraft market." Lancair hopes to win certification and begin delivery of the Columbia 350 in late summer.
Hoping to boost the Mid-Atlantic region's role in aerospace-related technology development, Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) said April 3 that he is pushing to create a cutting-edge rotorcraft research center near the Boeing Company's rotorcraft plant in suburban Philadelphia. Weldon, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, told BA affiliate Aerospace Daily he hopes to raise $50 million to $60 million from the region's state governments to launch the International Center for Rotorcraft Innovation, which would do research for next-generation rotorcraft.
Model Galaxy Airplanes and Model Gulfstream 200 series airplanes (Docket No. 2002-NM-65-AD; Amendment 39-12696; AD 2002-07-02) - requires repetitive inspections of the main landing gear actuators for leakage of hydraulic fluid, a one-time inspection of the MLG actuators for internal abrasions or scratches, and replacement of the MLG actuator with a new or serviceable or new, improved actuator, if necessary. This action also provides an optional terminating action for the repetitive inspections.
AVFUEL continued to expand its nationwide dealer network with the addition of Mesquite Airport in Mesquite, Nev.; Turf Soaring School in Peoria, Ariz.; and Lancair Jet Center in San Diego, Calif. Avfuel has more than 800 branded dealers and 2,500 other aviation customers nationwide.
Avfuel continued to expand its nationwide dealer network with the addition of Mesquite Airport in Mesquite, Nev.; Turf Soaring School in Peoria, Ariz.; and Lancair Jet Center in San Diego, Calif. Avfuel has more than 800 branded dealers and 2,500 other aviation customers nationwide.
FORMER SECRETARY of Transportation James Burnley joined the Washington legislative practice of the law firm Venable. Burnley previously was a partner in the Washington office of Winston&Strawn, where he represented clients including American Airlines on transportation issues before Congress and regulatory agencies. Burnely became general counsel for the Department of Transportation in 1983 and subsequently was named deputy secretary of transportation.
