The day before General Dynamics announced plans to buy Newport News Shipbuilding, President Bush said he plans to nominate a top GD executive as Secretary of the Navy.
EDWARDS AND KELCEY won a contract to study the feasibility of attracting scheduled services to the New Century Air Center, serving Olathe, Kan., southwest of Kansas City. Edwards and Kelcey will examine the air service needs of the community and will provide recommendations as to the feasibility of recruiting scheduled airlines to the New Century Air Center.
Israel Aircraft Industries reported significant gains in profits for 2000 while revenues increased at a more modest pace. The company said it had net income of $84 million last year, up 26 percent from the $67 million recorded in 1999. Revenues rose eight percent, from $2.02 billion in 1999 to $2.18 billion last year. The company also reported signing $2.6 billion in new contracts last year, an eight percent rise over the previous year.
Less than a month after it received a letter of intent from Mesa Airlines to acquire up to 80 regional jets, Bombardier landed an order from Air Wisconsin for up to 150 CRJ200 aircraft, including options (BA, March 26/145). The Air Wisconsin deal includes 51 firm and 24 conditional orders valued at $1.68 billion and 75 more options. "We are extremely pleased to be Air Wisconsin's partner," said Steven Ridolfi, president of Bombardier Aerospace, Regional Aircraft.
THE CITY OF CHICAGO got a first-hand demonstration last week of what a help a close-in, downtown airport can be in attracting new businesses. A contingent of Boeing Company executives visited Chicago last week as part of a scouting trip to help decide to which of three cities the company will move its new corporate headquarters (BA, March 26/147). Meigs Field, the city's lakefront airport, was used as the departure point for two helicopters that carried the Boeing team to a number of sites under consideration in the Chicago area.
AMPORTS expects to formally open its new FBO AvCenter at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) next month. The 40,000-square-foot facility includes a passenger terminal, heated hangar space, two large conference rooms and a VIP suite, an expanded maintenance area and new ramp deicing system.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT is reviewing its production lines over the next 30 days to consider which programs may be scaled back.The announcement of possible production cuts came as Raytheon Friday began eliminating 450 administrative and managerial positions from its Kansas operations (BA, April 9/169). See articles below.
Model AS350B, B1, B2, B3, BA, C, D, D1, and AS355E, F, F1, F2, and N helicopters (Docket No. 2000-SW-12-AD) - proposes superseding an existing AD that requires measuring the tail rotor pitch control rod outboard spherical bearing for radial and axial play and replacing the control rod with an airworthy control rod if the play exceeds 0.008-inch. This action would retain those requirements but would add the Eurocopter France Model AS350B3 helicopter and an additional control rod to the applicability.
Gulfstream Aerospace remains a major element in General Dynamics's continued strong financial performance, according to GD's first-quarter financial report. GD reported net earnings of $240 million on revenues of $2.7 billion for the quarter ended March 31. Profits include a $28 million gain from a tax-related adjustment. Excluding the adjustment, net earnings totaled $212 million for the period, a 15 percent increase over the first quarter of 2000, when GD reported net profits of $184 million on sales of $2.5 billion.
BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE named Edward Thomas director of sales for the Learjet and Continental business jet lines in a five-state territory comprising Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, southern Illinois and Tennessee. A Kansas City native and a graduate of Wichita State University, Thomas joined Bombardier in 1995 and most recently was an international Learjet sales administrator. Darius Sidebotham is the new director of sales for the Learjet and Continental lines in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.
Model 750 airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-63-AD; Amendment 39-12169; AD 2001-07-04) - requires removal of a certain existing bulkhead web doubler, installation of left and right bulkhead web doublers, and enlargement of the lightening holes. This action is necessary to prevent jamming of the roll control system, due to inadequate clearance between the control cable and the web, which could result in reduced controllability of the airplane. FAA estimates that approximately 95 Cessna Model 750 airplanes on the U.S.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION President James Coyne, TAG Aviation USA COO Jim Christiansen, Business Aviation Services Vice President and Owner Linda Barker, and Signature Flight Support President and CEO Beth Haskins Tuesday urged senior Bush Administration officials to look first to increasing capacity before taking steps to restrict aviation demand.
RAYTHEON TRAVEL AIR has begun adding Challenger 601s to its fleet of fractional ownership aircraft. The first Challenger joined the fleet March 26, four weeks earlier than planned. "We moved up the schedule because the response we've received to bringing the Challenger onboard has been tremendous," said Raytheon Travel Air President Gary Hart. Raytheon announced plans to add the Challengers earlier this year, marking the first non-Raytheon-built aircraft in the fleet.
ROGER WANAMAKER was appointed chief pilot for Flight Services Group. Wanamaker will be based in Stratford, Conn., and will be responsible for day-to-day operation and supervision of pilots. He has more than 41 years of aviation experience and is type rated on Gulfstream, Boeing, Douglas and Lockheed aircraft.
FAIRCHILD DORNIER won Canadian type certification for the 328 turboprop, clearing the way for delivery of the first 328 in Canada to Shell Canada Ltd. The oil company's aircraft is equipped with a gravel kit to protect the underside of the plane, engines and propellers from loose objects on unimproved runways. The 32-seat 328-130 is based in Calgary, Alberta and will operate five or six days per week flying six sectors a day. Fairchild Dornier won original FAA and JAA certification for the 328 turboprop in 1993 and more than 100 have been delivered.
TRW AERONAUTICAL SYSTEMS (Lucas Aerospace) signed a 10-year flight-hour-maintenance and asset management contract with Continental Express under which the carrier buys access to spare line replacement units (LRUs) from TRW and pays for anticipated repairs and overhauls on a cost-per-flight-hour basis. Valued in excess of $80 million over the life of the program, TRW said the contract is "the single largest equipment supplier asset management deal in the regional aircraft market in terms of the number of LRUs."
NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD BAR ASSOCIATION Annual Fall Meeting and Aviation Law Conference will be held Nov. 7-10 at the Hampton Inn in Pensacola, Fla. For more information, contact Karen Griggs at (301) 407-1000.
Despite numerous problems with the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, the blue ribbon panel chartered to study the program inside-out will recommend to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld that once all the shortcomings are fixed, the aircraft should be fielded.
The National Transportation Safety Board wants FAA to require inspections of Piper PA-28, Piper PA-44 and Cessna 172 series airplanes older than 15 years to detect potential cracks in control cable terminals.
A National Transportation Safety Board report indicates that the 1999 fatal crash of a Model 1124A Westwind business jet was due to the disconnection of the horizontal stabilizer from the actuator, a situation that investigators suggest may have been related to maintenance performed on the aircraft's horizontal stabilizer control system two days before the accident.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL received FAA Level D approval for its newest Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet simulator installed at FSI's new 16-bay center at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The simulator is the second for the ERJ-145 at the D/FW center and one of 18 that eventually will be part of FlightSafety's regional airline-training network by the end of next year. FlightSafety Simulation in Tulsa, Okla. designed and is building the simulators for the network.
FAA is expected to release its "benchmarks" study this week measuring airport capacity at the nation's top 31 airports. Garvey appeared cautious about the release of those benchmarks, Coyne said, expressing concern that the figures could be misinterpreted or used as a crutch by certain entities to gain an economic advantage. A chief worry of general aviation groups is that supporters of peak-hour pricing proposals will use the benchmarks to pursue their agenda, which could squeeze out GA flights.
Adam Aircraft filed its application for certification under Part 23 for its six-place composite M-309 aircraft. The company will conduct the certification program at its new 55,000-square-foot facility at Centennial Airport in Englewood, Colo. and hopes to win type approval in 2003. "This is very exciting for us because it officially marks the beginning of the certification process," Adam Aircraft President John Knudsen said of the application filing.
THE U.S. AEROSPACE INDUSTRY'S international trade surplus plunged by $10.7 billion, or 29 percent, last year to $26.7 billion as exports declined and imports set a record high, the Aerospace Industries Association said this month. Exports fell $7.7 billion to $54.7 billion, while imports rose $2.8 billion to $27.9 billion. The 2000 surplus was down $14.3 billion from a peak of $41 billion in 1998 and was at its lowest level since it reached $26.6 billion in 1996.
Federal Aviation Administration's proposal to require control wheel inspection and testing on 12,500 Cessna aircraft is unwarranted and should be shelved, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association said. In a notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Jan. 22 Federal Register, FAA called for repetitive inspections of plastic control wheels and possible repairs on certain Cessna 150, 172, 175, 180, 182, 185, 206, 210 and 336 series airplanes.
