Development of the Continental business jet is ahead of schedule, Bombardier Aerospace said last week, adding that workers began cutting metal for the first component last month.
Signature Flight Support, already the nation's largest chain of fixed-base operations, acquired its 50th location with the recent purchase of Airway Aviation at Atlanta's Dekalb-Peachtree Airport (PDK). The Airway facility, known as Air BP Atlanta since its opening in 1989, was owned by a group of private investors led by Mercer Dye and was renamed Airway earlier this year. The facility, known for its trademark 8,000-square-foot ramp canopy, employs 25 full-time customer support and line service personnel.
THE WHITE HOUSE this month quietly announced its intention to nominate Monte Belger as deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. The nomination is the second effort to fill a position that has not been filled on a permanent basis since late 1996. The first attempt to confirm a deputy, the June 1997 nomination of George Donohue, unraveled six months later after considerable political haranguing (BA, Feb. 16, 1998/71). FAA executives have periodically filled the position on an acting basis in the interim.
AIR METHODS CORP. retained the services of Emerge Corp. to assist it in finding suitable acquisition targets. Emerge, which identifies itself as a middle-market mergers and acquisitions specialist, said it will provide target identification and strategic counsel to Air Methods, the Denver, Colo.-based medical air services provider. Air Methods wants to grow its revenue to $50 million annually over the next five years. Emerge is headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif.
M.R. (JIM) KALETTA was promoted to vice president and general manager of Scott Technologies Aviation&Government Products Group. Kaletta has served with the group for nearly 38 years, most recently as vice president of marketing, sales and engineering. He also has served as a pilot for United Airlines.
MYLAR INSULATION in the cockpits and certain cabin sections of Swissair's MD-11 fleet is being replaced with Tedlar, a "particularly fire resistant brand of insulation," the carrier said. Swissair said the change is being made on its own initiative and is based on information from the ongoing investigation into the crash of one of the carrier's MD-11s in September 1998 off the coast of Nova Scotia (BA, Nov. 2, 1998/203). Swissair is taking advantage of D-checks to install the new Insulfab 330 insulation blankets in strategic zones of stripped-down fuselage sections.
SAAB AIRCRAFT LEASING, INC., Stockholm, Sweden, won an order from Chatauqua Airlines for 10 used Saab 340A turboprops, plus options for two more. The Indianapolis, Ind.-based carrier operates as a US Airways Express carrier. It will use the 340s to expand its route structure and replace 19-seat Jetstream aircraft. Deliveries will begin in December and be completed by May.
COMMANDER AIRCRAFT, Bethany, Okla., named Joe Kirkwood vice president of marketing. He is responsible for sales of new Commander single-engine aircraft in the Midwest U.S. Kirkwood formerly represented Diamond Aircraft Company in the Midwest and is a veteran pilot.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT delivered a Citation Bravo to Phoenix Aviation of Nairobi, Kenya for air ambulance use. The Bravo, the first to be used for air ambulance operations in Africa, was modified to hold two self-contained LifePort stretcher beds, oxygen, suction and compressed air. The aircraft also can be used for charter service.
Federal Aviation Administration plans to apply flexibility to Part 135 operators when it enforces existing requirements and writes new regulations governing flight and duty time standards for on-demand Part 135 operations, senior officials told the National Air Transportation Association this month. NATA met with Flight Standards Director Nick Lacey this month over the association's concerns about including on-demand charters in rest rules designed for scheduled operators.
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D-ILL.) told his Senate colleagues Thursday that new aircraft should be equipped with cockpit video cameras to help investigators in case of an accident.
BELL BOEING delivered the third production MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft to the U.S. Marine Corps Nov. 14. The aircraft is the first MV-22 to be built at the new Tiltrotor Assembly Center in Amarillo, Tex. The first two production Ospreys were assembled at Bell's Flight Research Center in Arlington, Texas. A fourth aircraft is scheduled for delivery to the Marines before yearend.
PREMIER TURBINES' facility in San Diego, Calif. won Pratt&Whitney Canada approval to overhaul and repair a number of components on PT6 and PW100 turboprop engines. Premier Turbines was authorized to repair the compressor turbine shroud housing, power turbine shroud, power turbine stator housing, low pressure turbine housing, inter-stage turbine case and combustion liner for either the PT6 or PW100.
UNIVERSAL AVIONICS SYSTEMS CORP. received FAA supplemental type certification and parts manufacturer approval for the Thrane&Thrane Aero-I and Aero-M satcom telephone systems installed on company aircraft. Universal is offering the satcom systems to the corporate and commercial markets through an exclusive marketing alliance with Thrane&Thrane. The multi-channel Aero-I and single-channel Aero-M use the Inmarsat-3 satellite.
In an effort to better identify the sources of noise around Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains, N.Y., county leaders ordered a review of the airport's noise monitoring system. Input will be sought during a series of public meetings, the first of which is to be held Dec. 2 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Westchester County Center in White Plains.
Federal Aviation Administration's proposed requirements for damage tolerance testing on commuter aircraft unnecessarily include small aircraft, ignore established practices, are too costly and likely will force the early retirement of a number of aircraft, industry representatives told the agency. Those representatives urged FAA to set aside its April 2 proposal and instead look at a combination of current procedures to ensure structural safety of aging commuter aircraft.
REGENT AVIATION added a Citation III to its charter certificate, bringing its fleet to six aircraft. Regent, based at the Downtown Saint Paul, Minn. Airport, added its first Citation III to its certificate in 1998. It also operates Citation SIIs and King Air B200s.
BOMBARDIER Model CL-600-1A11 (CL-600), CL-600-2A12 (CL-601), and CL-600-2B16 (CL-601-3A, CL-601-3R, and CL-604) series airplanes (Docket No. 99-NM-166-AD) - proposes to require, for certain airplanes, removal of the hydraulic tube assemblies from the main landing gear (MLG) bay, installing new re-routed hydraulic tube assemblies, and repositioning a fuel line, as applicable. For certain other airplanes, this proposal would require a general visual inspection to determine the routing of certain hydraulic and fuel lines, and repair, if necessary.
MICHAEL MCDONALD was appointed vice president-government operations for Rockwell. McDonald will oversee public policy, government affairs and government marketing functions in the Washington, D.C. office. McDonald previously was vice president-business development for Rockwell Collins Government Systems. He joined the company in 1976 and has held marketing, business development and program management positions.
AIRLINE PILOT UNIONS, meanwhile are blasting FAA's decision to delay enforcement of the reserve rest rule. "This is pandering to the industry, clear and simple," said Capt. Duane Woerth, president of the Air Line Pilots Association. "The airlines had plenty of advance notice that they would have to be in compliance with the reserve rest rule by Dec. 12, 1999. For whatever reasons...the FAA granted a request by Comair to extend the compliance date to next year," which "opened the door to a flood of additional requests by other airlines."
The pilot of an air taxi flight and all three passengers were killed Oct. 31 when their Cessna U206F crashed during a botched landing at a remote grass airstrip in Idaho.
KITTY HAWK INC., the Dallas, Texas-based air freight carrier, has made a change in top management. D.C. (Pete) Sanderlin, 59, was named vice president and general manager of Kitty Hawk International, Inc., the company's wet-lease operations headquarters in Ypsilanti, Mich. Charles C. Carson, 51, the former Simuflite Training International executive who had been president of Kitty Hawk International, Inc. since joining the company a year ago, was named vice president of global marketing for Kitty Hawk, Inc.
LEONARD M. GREENE, president of Safe Flight Instrument Corp., White Plains, N.Y., was named the 1999 recipient of the AlliedSignal Bendix Trophy for Aviation Safety during Flight Safety Foundation's annual meeting in Rio de Janeiro. Greene was cited for inventing numerous safety devices during his career, including a stall warning indicator that has been instrumental in reducing crashes since the 1940s, when stall-spin accidents were responsible for more than half of all aviation deaths.
