Bombardier Aerospace named James Hoblyn, previously vice president of marketing and programs at its business aircraft division, to head FlexJet Europe. As managing director, Hoblyn will oversee Bombardier's European fractional ownership program. "James has been involved with FlexJet Europe dating back to its start-up in 1999. In addition, he brings to the organization a strong knowledge of the European market and proven expertise in business strategy," said Clifford Dickman, president of Bombardier's Business JetSolutions.
NBAA board of directors approved the creation of a new standing committee, the Local Business Aviation Organization Committee, which will be composed of representatives from local business aviation groups across the United States. Richard Schuller, president of the Arizona Business Aviation Association, will be the committee's interim chairman. "This new NBAA Standing Committee will facilitate nationwide interaction and communication among various local business aviation organizations," said Phil Roberts, NBAA chairman.
UNITED AIRLINES' ENTRY into the business jet fractional aircraft arena may inspire other carriers to follow suit, but American Airlines isn't one of them. Asked about UAL's United Biz Jet Holdings, Inc. initiative during a conference call on American's second-quarter financial performance, Chief Financial Officer Tom Horton generally rained on UAL's parade.
JET AVIATION BASEL completed its first Airbus Corporate Jetliner for Qatar Airways. Since the aircraft is certified for public transportation, Jet Aviation had to meet strict fire prevention and smoke emissions guidelines from the European Joint Aviation Authorities. The Airbus has 36 seats, each with an individual personal monitor, six video programs and six audio channels.
BUSINESS AIRCRAFT sales may be off a bit so far this year, but the long-term prospects appear bright as the politicians and the carriers keep thinking of new reasons for passengers to abandon the airlines in favor of business aviation. The latest to inadvertently weigh in with support of private aircraft travel is Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who wants to impose a two-drink maximum on airline passengers. See article below.
BOEING is closing a jet plant in Renton, Wash., and will transfer about 700 electrical jobs from Renton to its Everett, Wash. plant by 2003. Boeing will unite 1,700 electrical wire assembly workers in Everett to cut costs. "The work is being moved to reduce overall overhead costs and improve operational efficiency," said a Boeing statement. "This consolidation will allow the wire shop to become more price competitive and help keep the work in Puget Sound." Boeing will not be cutting any jobs with the move, said John Kvasnosky, Boeing spokesman.
KIM BURSKI was named customer service supervisor for Atlantic Aviation's Philadelphia, Pa., FBO (PHL). Burski was promoted from her position as customer service representative at Atlantic.
Used retail jet and turboprop deliveries inside and outside North America for June 2001 Used Retail Deliveries June 1998 June 1999 June 2000 June 2001 L M H L M H L M H L M H Jet North 65 32 26 71 39 23 66 26 27 54 30 21 America Jet Outside 7 3 1 7 7 7 6 5 1 5 2 1 N.
LATISHA CRUBAUGH was appointed charter sales representative at Atlantic Aviation's Teterboro, N.J. FBO (TEB). Crubaugh will be responsible for charter sales and customer relations at Atlantic's Flight Services Division. Crubaugh most recently worked at Signature Flight Support.
"CLEARLY, ONE OF OUR COMPETITORS seems to think there are some good synergies between the businesses. At this point, I'm not ready to come to the same conclusion," Horton said.
The proposed new Arizona Cardinals football stadium could pose a hazard to aviation if it is built on the Tempe, Ariz., site currently planned for it near Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration says. FAA raised its concerns in a study responding to a Notice of Proposed Construction for the stadium submitted by the Arizona Tourism&Sports Authority. The future stadium location is "1.72 miles off the end and immediately on centerline of the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (PHX) Runway 26," said an FAA letter to the sports authority.
UNITED AIRLINES instituted a pilot hiring freeze in response to a second quarter loss of $292 million. United will suspend flight officer hiring and evaluate future hiring on a quarterly basis. "We continue to respond aggressively to the challenging financial situation, working concertedly to reduce the costs we can control. We've instituted a hiring freeze and are replacing only critical positions that come open through attrition," said James E. Goodwin, UAL chairman and CEO.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), concerned about the increasing incidence of "air rage" on commercial airline flights, thinks the solution lies in limiting the amount of alcohol passengers are allowed to drink.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION, whose rapidly growing convention attendance and space requirements limit the association to just a handful of cities as venues for its annual meeting, won't be adding Chicago to the mix any time soon.Despite Chicago's large McCormick Place convention center, plenty of suitable hotel rooms and a number of suburban airports, NBAA President Jack Olcott told McCormick Place officials the political climate in Chicago isn't conducive to holding the country's largest business aviation convention there. See article below.
THE BOEING COMPANY, which announced plans last month to develop a "revolutionary" technology that will form the basis of a new air traffic control system (BA, June 11/273), said it "cleared a major hurdle in the development of its Air Traffic Management system with the licensing of a new mobile satellite service by the International Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission." The FCC action "is a critical step toward the development and implementation" of the satellite portion of the system, said Dennis Muilenburg, vice president-engineering at Boeing's Air Traffic
TRIUMPH GROUP was awarded a ten-year agreement with a five-year option to support American Airlines in-house repair activities for the Honeywell GTCP131-9B APU. The two companies will share development of a parts repair protocol, and the agreement provides for the maintenance program to increase APU reliability and time in service.
Eclipse Aviation Corp., the startup manufacturer developing an entry-level, twin-turbofan business jet, has modified its agreement with engine maker Williams International and is slipping some of the target dates for the program to conserve financial resources while waiting for the equity market to improve.
JOANNE THEO was promoted to production manager at Aircraft Belts, Inc., Kemah, Texas. Theo will oversee the production, plating, inventory and shipping departments. Most recently, Theo was the company's plating manager.
CBL SYSTEMS CORPORATION received an FAA Supplemental Type Certificate to install fiber optic-networked Digital Flight Data Acquisition upgrade units on Aerospatiale ATR-42 and ATR-72 aircraft. The system meets the Aug. 20, 2001 FAA deadline to upgrade flight data recording systems. Continental Express and Trans States Airlines will be the first ATR-42 and ATR-72 operators to comply with FAA's 1997 Flight Data Recorder regulations.
ROBERT WILLIAMS was named vice president-product distribution at Superior Air Parts, Inc. Williams will oversee the sales and service support functions to distributors of the Superior product line.
CONKLIN&DE DECKER AVIATION INFORMATION released an updated version of MxManager, its maintenance management software. The latest edition is set up automatically with administrative items such as database backup and repair, which users previously had to configure manually.
American Express launched a new program Thursday to offer jet charter service to its Platinum Card and Centurion Card members through jet charter broker Le Bas International. Holders of the designated American Express cards can call Le Bas directly to outline their travel requirements. Le Bas customer service personnel then identify the most suitable aircraft available, book the trip and attend to other requirements such as special catering needs.
CHRIS BERTRAM, a congressional staffer, was named assistant administrator for financial services and chief financial officer at FAA. Bertram will serve as FAA Administrator Jane Garvey's principal adviser on budget, performance management and financial issues. Bertram had been a senior professional aide for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and helped draft the AIR-21 FAA reauthorization legislation.
JET AVIATION'S Bedford, Mass. facility won a JAR-145 acceptance certificate for JAA Repair Station approval, which will permit the Bedford unit to maintain European-registered aircraft. In addition to Bedford, Jet Aviation's Teterboro, N.J. and West Palm Beach, Fla. facilities hold JAA Repair Station approvals. The company said the Bedford operation also received an Approved Maintenance Organization Certificate from the Bermuda Department of Civil Aviation, an approval sought "because of the increasing number of international customers at Bedford," the company said.
Sales by General Dynamics Aerospace division, which includes Gulfstream Aerospace, were down in the second quarter, the parent company said, although operating profits for the business were up.
