Aerospace manufacturers continued to prepare themselves for the financial blow of the commercial aviation free fall with three more companies announcing plans last week to lay off thousands of employees. Bombardier, Rockwell Collins and Textron will cut 8,900 more jobs in the upcoming months, joining Honeywell and Boeing, which already had detailed plans to reduce some 42,000 positions. Those reductions come in the immediate wake of the scheduled airlines' plans to cut more than 110,000 workers because of a widespread drop in airline traffic since the Sept.
UAL CORPORATION'S new business jet subsidiary will be called "Avolar," and it may begin providing limited flight operations as early as next month (BA, Sept. 24/139). Avolar's new aircraft will not begin arriving before April, but there is a plan in place to begin carrying passengers as early as Nov. 1 using Falcon 50 aircraft.
BOMBARDIER Model DHC-8-100, -200, and -300 series airplanes (Docket No. 2001-NM-241-AD) - proposes to require replacement of the observer's seat latch assembly with a new, approved seat latch assembly. This action is necessary to prevent the observer's seat separating from its attachment points in an accident or emergency landing due to an understrength seat latch assembly. FAA estimates that this proposed AD would affect 35 airplanes on the U.S. Registry at a cost of $56,420, or $1,612 per airplane. Send comments in triplicate by Oct.
PRIVATAIR opened a western sales and operations division in Monterey, Calif. The new base will handle business west of the Mississippi River. Woody McClendon was appointed vice president and manager in charge of the division.
French manufacturer Dassault Aviation delivered a new Falcon 2000 last month to Executive Jet, Inc., the 29th of more than 100 Falcons ordered by the fractional aircraft provider and the 1,500th Falcon business jet delivered since production began in the early 1960s.
Federal agencies were put on notice last week that their rulemaking proposals must meet standards laid down by the White House Office of Management and Budget or face rejection. John D. Graham, administrator of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), prefaced his memorandum to agency heads by observing that federal regulations can provide cost-effective solutions to many problems. But he warned that "If not properly developed, regulations can lead to an enormous burden on the economy."
AIRSHOW added three new members to its sales and marketing team: John Hill, account director; Lonnie Muir, sales director; and Jaime McGrath, sales engineer. The company also launched a new corporate branding campaign with a newly designed logo as well as a new slogan, "Dedicated to making the cabin work."
PILATUS Models PC-12 and PC-12/45 airplanes (Docket No. 2000-CE-77-AD) - proposes to supersede AD 99-19-32, which applies to certain Pilatus Model PC-12 and PC-12/45 airplanes. AD 99-19-32 currently requires inspection of the flap actuator internal gear system for correct end-play and backlash measurements and corrective adjustments, as necessary. Pilatus has identified modifications for the flap system and designed and manufactured a new flap control and warning unit (FCWU) that permits the flap power drive-unit circuit breaker to close during flight.
Marion Clifton Blakey, a veteran government employee and more recently a principal in a public affairs firm, was sworn in last week as the ninth chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
ASTRO-AIRE ENTERPRISES, Oakland, Calif., was appointed a Honeywell-Grimes authorized repair center. Astro-Aire, which holds an FAA Repair Station license and is celebrating its 40th year in business, will bench check, repair and overhaul/modify all makes and models of Grimes-manufactured aircraft lighting and power supply devices.
THE LACK OF WAR RISK INSURANCE continued to be a major frustration for much of the aviation community last week. Aircraft operators, fixed-base operators and airports were notified by insurance companies that their existing war risk insurance would be canceled within a few days, with no other sources of that type of insurance available for most of those affected. Signature Flight Support learned Sept. 19 that its war risk coverage would expire Sept. 24.
MICHAEL CORKRAN was named president of the Powder Metal Group of Hawk Corp. The Powder Metal Group has six operating facilities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Illinois. In his new role, Corkran will establish a new headquarters for the HPMG operation in Solon, Ohio at the company's recently acquired metal injection molding facility. Most recently, Corkran was president for North America and Asia for RELTEC Corp., a telecommunications equipment manufacturer.
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON CANADA Model 206L-4, 407, and 427 helicopters (Docket No. 2001-SW-29-AD; Amendment 39-12443; AD 2001-13-51) - publishes an amendment adopting AD 2001-13-51, which was sent previously to all known U.S. owners and operators of Bell Helicopter Textron Canada (BHTC) Model 206L-4, 407, and 427 helicopters by individual letters. This AD requires visually inspecting certain driveshafts for a crack, a loose bolt or nut, or red powder residue.
Representatives from general and business aviation sectors implored Congress to help lift remaining restrictions and free access to airspace at a House aviation subcommittee hearing last week.
ANTHONY ROMAN was named western regional sales and support manager at AirLiance Materials. Roman will work with airlines and operators on materials support for engine and airframe maintenance. He was most recently an account executive for Aviation Distributors, Inc.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE CORP. selected Airshow to provide a total cabin management and source equipment solution for the Gulfstream 200 business jet, formerly known as the Galaxy. The four-year agreement calls for Airshow to provide its integrated cabin management system of switches and controllers, its AirPlay line of DVD, CD and VCP entertainment components and the Airshow 400 and Airshow Network products. Gulfstream expects to install the Airshow equipment on a minimum of 24 aircraft per year, beginning with first deliveries later this year.
JET AVIATION TETERBORO will complete construction on a new FBO terminal in New Jersey in October. The new terminal will have an expanded customer lounge and a separate pilot's lounge. A 40,000-square-foot hangar is also being built for additional storage space and the taxiway will be relocated in front of the row of hangars to increase ramp space closer to the new terminal.
A PANEL OF AVIATION GROUPS appealed to Congress last week to free the "GA 41,000 aircraft" of restrictions that prevent VFR flights from Class B airspace at 30 locations around the U.S.See article on Page 154.
PAUL F. ROSE joined Banyan Air Service, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to head up the company's sales efforts and market its services to the aviation community. Rose has more than 20 years of aviation experience, having served as manager of the avionics department at Raytheon Aircraft Services and customer service manager for Bombardier Aerospace.
First Equity Development, Inc., was retained by Mooney Aircraft Corp. as financial adviser to assist the company in the sale, or potential investment in, the Kerrville, Texas light-plane manufacturer. Mooney filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 this summer (BA, July 30/45), and most of the work force has been laid off.
JET AVIATION DALLAS at Love Field Airport is installing a new safety package to upgrade cockpit avionics and make them compliant with FAA regulations that require turbine-powered airplanes to have class A or B terrain systems installed by 2005. The package includes a Bendix-King multifunction display unit, a weather radar, a flight management system or GPS system and a multi-hazard unit with circuitry for traffic and terrain inputs to the display unit.
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON Model HH-1K, TH-1F, TH-1L, UH-1A, UH-1B, UH-1E, UH-1F, UH-1H, UH-1L, UH-1P, and Southwest Florida Aviation Model SW204, SW204HP, SW205, and SW205A-1 helicopters, manufactured for the United States Armed Forces (Docket No. 2001-SW-14-AD) - proposes superseding an existing AD that currently requires establishing retirement lives for certain main rotor masts, creating a component history card or equivalent record, and identifying and replacing any unairworthy masts.
BUTLER NATIONAL CORPORATION, Olathe, Kan., filed an STC application with FAA for design and approval of an "Aircraft Cockpit Shield." The shield would "isolate and protect flight crews from unwarranted intrusion or weapon discharge," the company said.
