The New Piper Aircraft, Inc. unveiled a plan to overhaul its customer service as part of its new eight-phase customer relations management system. The Piper Unlimited Liaison via Standards of Excellence (PULSE) customer center is the core of a new strategy to track every contact and communication between Piper, dealers and customers.
FAA this month extended the existing system of allocating takeoff and landing slots at New York LaGuardia Airport until Oct. 26, 2002. The agency proposed extending the system when it presented five longer-term options for relieving congestion into the airport (BA, June 11/272). The current "slot lottery" system was set to expire Sept. 15, but FAA said it would hold a new lottery Aug. 15 (Wednesday) to reallocate a small number of unused slots. FAA said the extension of the existing system would give it time to come up with a permanent solution.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL received a 10-year VARIG Brazilian Airlines contract for pilot training services. FlightSafety will provide an advanced ERJ-145 full flight simulator and related aircraft-specific training courseware. The contract also includes training support services and a Boeing 737-700/-800 simulator. Training will begin next month with the installation of an Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet simulator, built to FAA's Level D standard, in Rio de Janeiro.
A federal district judge in Orlando, Fla. dismissed arguments raised by the National Business Aviation Association and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association against a Stage 2 jet ban at the Naples, Fla. Municipal Airport (APF), eliminating a judicial barrier to the Naples Airport Authority's plans to implement the ban.
JULIE DIAMOND was named vice president of aircraft charter sales, Western Region, for Executive Jet Management of Cincinnati, Ohio. Based at the Van Nuys, Calif. Airport (VNY), Diamond "will be developing new West Coast charter markets, with emphasis on the financial, technology and entertainment industries," according to EJM. A 12-year veteran of the aviation industry, Diamond joined Jetwest International at VNY in 1989 where she rose to the position of vice president of sales and marketing. She joined the Air Group in 1995, where she was charter sales manager.
The pilot of a McDonnell Douglas Helicopters, Inc. 520N owned by the Los Angeles Country Sheriff's Department was forced to make an emergency landing last month after experiencing a problem with the anti-torque control system, a malfunction that has confronted other members of the Sheriff's Department aerial unit.
All three people aboard a German-registered Falcon 20 were killed Aug. 4 when the plane hit terrain near Narsarsuaq, Greenland. The aircraft, D-CBNA, was enroute from Europe to Canada when the accident occurred. Dassault Falcon Jet said the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board of Denmark is handling the investigation. The manufacturer said the aircraft was on final approach to Narsarsuaq Airport when it flew into a 700-foot mountain about 4.5 nautical miles from the field.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION published new regulations Aug. 9 governing antidrug and alcohol misuse prevention programs for specified aviation personnel, but the changes are primarily administrative in nature and are designed to bring FAA standards into compliance with Transportation Department changes in drug and alcohol compliance procedures, published Dec. 19, 2000.
WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY, Dayton, Ohio, will host a Wright Brothers symposium, "Following the Footsteps of the Wright Brothers: Their Sites and Stories," on Sept. 28. The symposium will examine the impact of various sites where the Wright brothers lived and worked on their lives and the development of powered flight. For more information, contact Karin Nevius at (937) 775-5512 or Damien Chaffin at (937) 775-5512 for registration details.
WHILE ENGINEERS are still in short supply, Clay Jones, president and CEO for Rockwell Collins, says the recruitment crunch appears to be easing. "The dot.com melt-down has done wonders," Jones said, adding that Collins has half the engineering openings that it had just a few years ago. Specialized engineers still are a "scarce resource," but he said "it is better now than it was two years ago."
FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT near Minneapolis-St. Paul would be expanded to accommodate larger business jets under a proposal announced Friday by the Metropolitan Airports Commission. In addition, the MAC is considering changes to its Ordinance 51, which limits the weight of airplanes eligible to use the airport. Plans call for extending Runway 9R/27L from 3,900 feet to 5,000 feet and Runway 9L/27R from 3,600 feet to 3,900 feet, and building new hangars on the south side of the airport.
THE AIR FORCE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION Board of Trustees named Ross Perot, Jr. chairman. Perot, president and CEO of Perot Systems, also will continue his role as the foundation's chairman of the site and design committee. He will focus on gaining final design approval and construction of a memorial for the only military branch without one in Washington, D.C.
SAFIRE AIRCRAFT COMPANY began converting non-binding purchase orders to non-refundable purchase orders and said that within three days, more than 70 percent of customers converted. Safire had taken non-binding purchase orders for more than 840 of its S-26 twinjet. Safire said it made the decision to move ahead with non-refundable orders after the Agilis engine design and production program was established, aircraft specifications and performance were validated and pricing was confirmed at $869,000.
A controversial and incomplete rewrite of the rules that govern U.S.-certified repair stations has been finalized and will be published today (Aug. 6), and some 5,000 maintenance facilities affected will have 20 months to comply with most of the new provisions.
Four regional teams participating in NASA's Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) program will pursue advances in flight control and systems automation, synthetic vision and improvements in air traffic sequencing procedures under cooperative programs with the space agency.
The Senate Commerce Committee, without a dissenting voice, Thursday approved a bill (S.633) that would require any airport identified in FAA's Capacity Benchmark Report as causing delays that "significantly affect" the national air transportation system to begin pouring concrete within five years after being so designated.
Model ATR 42-200, -300, -320, and -500 series airplanes; and Model ATR 72 series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-203-AD; Amendment 39-12343; AD 2001-15-09) - requires replacement of the existing uplock boxes of the main and nose landing gears with modified uplock boxes. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent a mechanical failure of the uplock box mechanisms, which could result in failure of the associated landing gear to extend.
Model 328-100 series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-366-AD; Amendment 39-12338; AD 2001-15-04) - supersedes an existing airworthiness directive that currently requires repetitive inspections of the left and right roll spoiler actuators to check for signs of leakage and deformation of the housing, repetitive inspections of the gap between the left roll spoiler actuator housing cap and the actuator housing, repetitive torque checks of the left roll spoiler actuator housing cap attachment screws, and corrective action, if necessary.
AVIATION GENERAL INC., parent company of Commander Aircraft of Bethany, Okla., said it is appealing a determination by NASDAQ that the company's stock does not meet minimum bid price requirements for continued listing on the exchange. The stock will keep trading until the exchange rules on the appeal.
GROEN BROTHERS won approval from the City of Glendale, Ariz., to move ahead with plans to build a new $14 million, 200,000-square-foot manufacturing plant. Groen plans to move its corporate headquarters to the new plant, which the company says should be fully operational by the end of 2002. Groen expects the new facility will have the capacity to produce up to four of its Hawk 4 gyroplanes per day. Groen expects to employ 425 at the new plant.
RICH MCKINNEY was appointed manager of Premier Turbines' engine component and accessory operations in Independence, Kan. Previously president of Show-Me Air Spares and a 25-year Teledyne veteran, McKinney will oversee engineering, production and quality at the facility. Premier Turbines is owned by Sabreliner Corp.
Electronics-manufacturer Garmin reported a 25 percent leap in net income for the second quarter ended June 30, with gains in both its Aviation and Consumer units and plans to grow its product line.
Arizona Cardinals will pay $10 million to $12 million to move their planned Tempe stadium site in response to FAA safety concerns about potential interference with air traffic at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (PHX). The Arizona Tourism and Sports Authority will pay Magellan Real Estate for 12 acres east of the original stadium site for land that was to be used for a luxury apartment community.
CIRRUS DESIGN late last month delivered its 200th aircraft, to a customer in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. The aircraft, an SR22, was the 67th of that model delivered. Cirrus also has delivered 133 of its SR20 single-engine aircraft. The SR22 is the follow-on the SR20 with a 310-horsepower Teledyne Continental IO-550-N engine and a long-range cruise of more than 1,000 nautical miles. "I first made contact with Cirrus in 1996," said the customer, Greg Anderson. "I was skeptical at first but have become a convert."
THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION'S rewrite of the repair station rule was issued despite the objections of many industry leaders, but the final rule, at first glance, drew at least one positive reaction.The Aircraft Electronics Association, which represents repair stations that work on general aviation electronics and avionics, called the Part 145 rewrite "the finest example of rulemaking to come out of the FAA in years." AEA President Paula Derks acknowledged that her members did not get all the relief they sought from the proposal, but said, "It is clear that the age
