General Dynamics reported higher earnings and revenues for the quarter and year ended Dec. 31 and officials predicted continued strong growth in the current year. The company reported net sales of $3.5 billion, an increase of 30 percent over the same period last year. Net income was up 12.3 percent to $246 million. For the year, sales rose 17.4 percent to $12.1 billion and net earnings were up 4.6 percent to $943 million. Sales for the Aerospace division jumped 27.5 percent to $950 million and rose 7.8 percent to $3.2 billion for the year.
AS CONGRESS returned to Washington, D.C. last week, general aviation groups stepped up their efforts to win support for legislation that would compensate aviation businesses devastated in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A few key Senators have expressed interest in introducing companion legislation to the bill authored by Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) that would provide up to $7.5 billion in compensation (BA, Dec. 3/257). That bill could be introduced as early as this week in the Senate.
General aviation groups are appealing to the Department of Justice to allow U.S. flight training schools to resume recurrency training for private pilots from other countries. Training of non-U.S. pilots came to a halt after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the Aviation and Transportation Security Act adopted two months later barred training of non-U.S. pilots on aircraft that weigh more than 12,500 pounds until they follow certain procedures, including a background check and 45-day review by the Department of Justice.
AL CHAITE, 82, an advertising executive, a pilot and the man who developed and ran the ARCAP used aircraft advertising program, died Jan. 18 in Pound Ridge, N.Y. He had been diagnosed with leukemia in August. Chaite began his career as a commercial artist in the early 1940s when he set up shop in an office on 42nd St. in New York. Over time he recruited a talented group of illustrators and did work for companies like Ford and Texaco and large advertising agencies. Chaite began taking flight lessons about 1950.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT SERVICES LIMITED won certification from the Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom for the reduced vertical separation minimum feature on the HS/BAe 125-700 and ADC-80 equipped BAe 800 aircraft. FAA certification for the system is expected "in the near future," RASL said.
CAE completed financing with Banco ITAU of Brazil to borrow $36.4 million for its South American training center near Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The seven and one-half year term loan will fund the center, which opened in April 2001. More than 4,000 pilots will be trained on several flight simulators at the facility during its first year of operation.
REGAL AVIATION completed the first phase of its $5.5 million customer care center at its Dallas Love Field headquarters. A new lobby, office space for employees, maintenance hangars and private parking were added in the initial construction. The expansion also will allow Regal to fuel up to 30 aircraft in an hour, the FBO said. Completion of the facility, which will eventually have ramp space for 50 aircraft, is expected this spring.
The military services and the FAA often take different approaches to aviation safety issues, even if the aircraft concerned are similar or use common parts and materials, the General Accounting Office says in a new report. The Jan. 22 report, Aviation Safety: FAA and DOD Response to Similar Safety Concerns (GAO-02-77), cites an example involving technologies to avoid collision with terrain. Here, the report says, the military has lagged about 20 years behind the FAA in requiring the installation of such technologies aboard passenger aircraft.
MICHAEL BOOST was named senior director of engineering at Securaplane Technologies. He will oversee all engineering personnel at the company. Boost specializes in electrical power systems and engineering department management
TAG AVIATION added a Hawker 700A to its charter operations. The aircraft will be based in Nashua, N.H. and serve the New England charter market. TAG Aviation operates 150 aircraft from 50 bases around the world.
JANE GARVEY expects to step down this summer when her five-year term as FAA Administrator expires.Garvey was sworn in Aug. 4, 1997, but there has been speculation in the wake of the events of Sept. 11, and the ensuing dramatic changes in the national aviation system, that Bush Administration officials might ask her to extend her service at FAA. During a speech in Washington, D.C. last week, the person introducing Garvey said flatly, "On Aug. 4, 2002, she will retire as FAA Administrator," and Garvey did not challenge that statement when she took the podium.
EUROCOPTER DEUTSCHLAND GmbH Model EC135 helicopters [Docket No. 2001-SW-64-AD; Amendment 39-12604; AD 2001-26-52] - publishes an amendment adopting AD 2001-26-52, which was sent previously to all known U.S. owners and operators of Eurocopter Deutschland GmbH (ECD) Model EC135 helicopters by individual letters. This AD requires, before further Instrument Flight Rule flight, inserting a copy of the AD into the Limitations Section of the Rotorcraft Flight Manual and replacing each affected Smart Multifunction Display (SMD45H) as specified.
BELL HELICOPTER Model 430 helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-21-AD; Amendment 39-12598; AD 2002-01-07) - requires changes to the electrical power distribution system. This amendment is prompted by design deficiencies in the electrical systems. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent failure of both generators, loss of primary electrical power, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. FAA estimates that this AD will affect 33 helicopters on the U.S. Registry at a cost of $95,040. The AD is effective Feb. 21.
HAMILTON SUNSTRAND picked up a $120 million contract with CargoLifter Development of Brand, Germany to provide the electrical power generation and distribution system for the CL160 airship. The CL160 is a "lighter-than-air cargo airship" that will transport large and heavy equipment. It is scheduled for first test flights in 2004.
Russ Meyer, who stepped down as chief executive officer of Cessna Aircraft two years ago, was named president of Textron's Aircraft Sector this month with oversight over Cessna, Bell Helicopter, engine manufacturer Textron Lycoming and aircraft finance operations.
Officials at three Washington, D.C.-based general aviation airports were waiting for word last week that they could finally open for business after the federal government closed them Sept. 11. Federal Aviation Administrator Jane Garvey told the Aero Club of Washington, D.C. Tuesday that the Secret Service had signed off on a plan to allow air traffic to resume at Maryland's College Park, Potomac Airfield and Washington Executive/Hyde Field, the last airports to remain closed in the wake of Sept. 11. "Our goal is to get them open in the next couple of days," she said.
EUROCOPTER Model AS332L2 helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-11-AD; Amendment 39-12597; AD 2002-01-06) - requires inspecting the main frame for a crack and repairing any unairworthy frame before further flight. This amendment is prompted by a report of cracks on the right-hand (RH) side of a main frame. This condition, if not corrected, could result in failure of the main frame and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter. None of the helicopters affected by this action are on the U.S. Registry. The cost of this AD for any future U.S.
NTSB BAR ASSOCIATION will host a roundtable discussion with representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Department of Transportation May 7 at the NTSB Auditorium in Washington, D.C. The discussion will focus on aviation safety enforcement proceedings at NTSB and DOT. For more information or to register for the meeting, contact Karen Griggs at (301) 972-7700 no later than April 20.
PILATUS AIRCRAFT LTD. Models PC-7, PC-12, and PC-12/45 airplanes (Docket No. 2001-CE-33-AD; Amendment 39-12600; AD 2002-01-09) - requires inspection of the joints between the engine-driven pump housing, relief valve housing, and the relief-valve cover for signs of fuel leakage or extruding gasket material; replacement of any engine-driven pump with signs of fuel leakage or extruding gasket material; and inspection to ensure that the relief valve attachment screws are adequately torqued and retorqued as necessary.
A NEW JERSEY legislator, Loretta Weinberg (D), reintroduced two bills designed to curtail operations at Teterboro Airport, which has become a political hotbed for anti-noise activists. The first, AR30, calls for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to ban flights out of the airport between midnight and 6 a.m. The second bill, AR31, directs the Port Authority to continue its ban on aircraft that weigh more than 100,000 pounds from operating into Teterboro and calls on the FAA to refrain from granting waivers.
THE AVIATION COMMUNITY continues to wrestle with many of the requirements included in the Aviation and Transportation Security Act adopted in November. National Air Transportation Association President James Coyne appealed to the Department of Transportation to expedite the process for the criminal history record checks required under the security act. "To meet the deadline of Dec. 31, 2002, with the resources currently available, will be a challenge to airports, airlines, aviation services businesses and the Federal Aviation Administration itself," Coyne said.
THE DEPARTURE of Garvey threatens to leave a severe leadership void at FAA during a particularly difficult juncture in the agency's history. Officials are still searching for a chief operating officer to head a new Air Traffic Services organization, most of FAA's security functions will be absorbed by a new Transportation Security Administration and many of FAA's headquarters employees are scheduled to be relocated to other quarters over the next year (BA, Jan. 14/23).
AVOLAR "is open and doing business" a spokesman said Friday, adding that the company's plans to attract outside investors "is continuing on schedule." An article in Friday's USA Today headlined "United willing to fold business-jet venture," caused a stir about prospects for the start-up fractional ownership program. The article was based on comments from union leaders who attended recent meetings with John Creighton, CEO of United Airlines, and its parent, UAL Corp.
HARLEY D. KYSOR, JR., 84, a pioneer corporate aviation consultant, died Jan. 22 in Ridgefield, Conn. Kysor, a pilot for Eastern Airlines in the 1950s and 1960s, later formed his own aviation consulting business. A former contributor to Business&Commercial Aviation magazine, Kysor was one of the first to do aircraft feasibility studies for major corporations and also performed safety audits of charter operators.
