PIPER, along with a number of other aviation manufacturers who are seeking engineering talent, is instituting temporary freezes on re-hiring employees who jump to another job and then apply to return to Piper. Officials say contract engineers, who can command a premium price of $55 per hour in today's hot job market, were jumping from employer to employer as wages were bid up. Piper is now telling those individuals they will not be eligible for rehiring for six months to a year if they decide to leave the company for another employer.
Pro Air, a year-old 737 carrier, signed tentative agreements with General Motors and Chrysler to become the preferred carrier to the four cities the airline serves from its headquarters at Detroit City Airport. The five-year deal includes a requirement that Pro Air fly up to 40 GM and Chrysler passenger each day for a flat monthly fee. The airline also will hold seats open for last-minute travelers for the two companies. GM expects to save $4 million-$6 million annually, while Chrysler believes ProAir's lower air fares will save it up to $3 million a year.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF AIRPORT EXECUTIVES asked the Federal Aviation Administration to rewrite its new Part 107 security proposal, saying the proposed regulations "are poorly drafted, are incomplete or in their implementation would be unduly costly and/or burdensome for airports to implement." The association, which met for its 70th annual conference and exposition this month in Nashville, Tenn., adopted a resolution asking the agency to issue a supplemental rulemaking.
THE SECOND de Havilland Dash 8Q Series 400 test aircraft made a three-hour first flight May 26 from Bombardier Aerospace facilities in Toronto, Ontario. The first Dash 8 Series 400 made its first flight Jan. 31. The 70- to 78-seat regional airliners are powered by two 5,071-shaft-horsepower Pratt&Whitney Canada turbine engines.
Federal Aviation Administration has developed a program that would allow agency inspectors to issue administrative actions on-the-spot in the form of a ticket rather than through the normal letter of investigation process. FAA issued the compliance/enforcement bulletin for the new process, known within the agency as the "ticket program," in February and began to train inspectors on the new procedures, but a spokeswoman said the program is currently "on hold" while the agency meets with industry.
CODY DIEKROEGER was named chief pilot for Mayo Aviation. Diekroeger will supervise all flight crewmembers as well oversee the jet charter and management company's compliance with FAA regulations. He has 18 years of corporate and commercial aviation experience, including more than 11,000 hours of turbine aircraft flight time.
COMMANDER AIRCRAFT CO., Bethany, Okla., said FAA certificated a flight- into-known-icing system for the Model 114B and 114TC airplanes. The TKS deicing system can be ordered new from the factory or retrofitted to existing aircraft. "This latest improvement is part of a continuing program to enhance the capability of our aircraft," said Dean Thomas, Commander's senior vice president of marketing and sales.
FRASCA INTERNATIONAL delivered two Baron flight training devices to the Federal Aviation Administration at its Oklahoma City, Okla. facility. The devices will be used for FAA examiner recurrency training. The FTDs display B58 Baron cockpits, panel layout, instrumentation and controls.
HOA LEE was appointed marketing analyst for Unison Industries. Lee will oversee the design, development and implementation of an information management program. He formerly served in various capacities, including marketing analyst, market researcher and database developer for MGT Information of Jacksonville, Fla.
FORTIS AVIATION, a jet remarketing agent, assisted in the sale of a Boeing B757-200ER executive jet for Diamond International Aviation Limited of the Cayman Islands to an owner in the U.S. The aircraft originally was delivered to Sterling Airways of Copenhagen in 1991 and Fortis remarketed the aircraft to Diamond in 1994 after the airline ceased operations in late 1993.
Canadian accident investigators say the failure of a Pratt&Whitney PT6A-67B turboprop that downed a V. Kelner Airways PC-12 in Newfoundland on May 18 resulted from a bearing lubrication problem, and officials now are trying to recreate the failure scenario to find a way to prevent similar problems on other PT6A-67B engines.
EMBRAER Model EMB-145 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-34-AD) - adopts a new AD to require a one-time visual inspection of the pilot valve harness tubes for bulges and cracks, cleaning the tubes, applying sealant at the tube end opening, and replacing any discrepant tubes with serviceable tubes. This amendment also requires the replacement of the pilot valve harness tubes and vent valve tubes with new tubes with anti- corrosion protection.
CAROL ZUNIGA was named controller for Sino Swearingen Aircraft Co. Zuniga will oversee the company's financial activities, including both day-to-day functions and strategic planning and budgeting. She previously served with residential home builders Kaufman and Broad as controller for the San Antonio and Austin Divisions.
INTERJET ONLINE SERVICES expanded its database to include 2,600 Canadian aviation companies, including air carriers, maintenance and repair stations, manufacturers and flight training facilities. Interjet also added some 900 Canadian airports to its database. With the additions, InterJet's website - www.interjet-osi.com - contains a directory of more than 56,000 aviation products and services. InterJet also provides the Aircraft Locating System, a proprietary, commercial information system for the air charter industry.
The head of the Air Force's Air National Guard praised the procurement effort that led to acquisition of two Israel Aircraft Industries Astra SPX aircraft (C-38A) by the service, and said that new procurement procedures permitted the service to cut years from the aircraft acquisition process.
ALTHOUGH FAA ADMINISTRATOR Jane Garvey was optimistic about the possibility of the European Joint Aviation Authority easing restrictions on flight training (BA, April 13/161), JAA officials last week indicated they plan to keep the restrictions intact. During the 15th Annual FAA/JAA International Harmonization Conference last week, JAA officials said they did not plan changes in language requiring flight training schools to locate their principal place of business in a JAA-member country for that country to recognize the training.
REGIONAL AIRCRAFT DEMAND over the next 10 years will be 4,700 units, of which 75 percent will be jets, according to a study by the Boyd Group, Evergreen, Colo. Of the total, about 17 percent, or 750 to 800 units, will be sub-50-seat "microjets." "But the real growth will be above 50 seats in the 70- to 90-seat large regional-jet category, where the demand will be for 1,500 units," said group President Michael Boyd, noting that the availability of first-class cabins "will be critical." He questioned whether the three existing manufacturers can handle that demand.
BRITISH AEROSPACE Model ATP airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-113-AD) - proposes to require repetitive inspections for discrepancies of the spring strut assembly of the forward main landing gear door and replacement of the assembly, if necessary. The proposal also calls for eventual replacement of the assembly as a terminating action for the repetitive inspections. The Civil Aviation Authority of the United Kingdom warned that the spring strut assembly could fail on certain ATP airplanes and prevent the main landing gear door from extending.
CAMP SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL formed a "strategic joint venture" with Aviation Information Services to create CAMP Systems/AIS, LLC. CAMP will continue to offer all of its existing aircraft maintenance programs, analysis and data services for aircraft operators and now will offer a number of software products integrating flight scheduling, aircraft maintenance, inventory control and expense tracking.
GA TEAM 2000 organizers say responses to the learn-to-fly effort's "Stop Dreaming, Start Flying" television commercials have increased 33 percent over the same period in 1997. The commercials, running on cable channels including The Learning Channel, Discovery Channel and CNN Financial, among others, have garnered 4,889 responses. The commercials will continue until June 28 with a second round beginning July 6 and running through Aug. 23.
CORPORATE AVIATION SYMPOSIUM, sponsored by the Institute for International Research, will be held Sept. 28-29 at the Marriott East Side Hotel in New York City. The symposium will discuss regulatory decisions, ownership options, financing strategies and services for corporate jet acquisition and operation. Scheduled speakers will include senior officials for corporate flight departments, charter companies, airframe manufacturers, financial organizations, FAA, the National Business Aviation Association and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.
RALPH FISCH joined Sporty's as vice president, avionics sales for Cincinnati Avionics. Fisch will oversee sales and installation of avionics packages for general aviation aircraft as well as be involved with electronic products sold through the Sporty's Pilot Shop catalog. He previously was aviation products sales and marketing manager for Magellan Systems.
Flight testing of the second Galaxy business jet began last month in Israel and officials expect the third Galaxy to begin flying in August. The No. 2 aircraft, which will be used for performance testing and certification of the aircraft's avionics and auxiliary power unit, made its maiden flight May 21 from Israel Aircraft Industries facilities and made a second flight May 27 when it spent 4.6 hours aloft at altitudes up to 45,000 feet.
BANNER AEROSPACE named Warren Persavich chief operating officer and Eugene Juris chief financial officer. Persavich served as senior vice president, chief financial officer and a director of the company since 1990. Before that, he was vice president and treasurer of The Fairchild Corporation, which owns a majority stake in Banner. Juris has held positions of increasing responsibility since 1990 for Banner, including treasurer and controller and vice president-finance and secretary.
LONG-AWAITED NOMINATIONS for the 15-member Management Advisory Council should be announced soon, FAA Administrator Jane Garvey told industry leaders late last month, adding that the nominations have been made and currently are at the Office of Management and Budget for review. FAA reauthorization legislation adopted in fall 1996 mandated the establishment of the MAC as a forum for FAA to receive input from the aviation industry and community.
