ON-DEMAND AIR CHARTER OPERATORS moved a step forward toward receiving relief from new pilot record-sharing requirements after the House aviation subcommittee last week unanimously approved legislation that makes "technical corrections" to the Pilot Records Improvement Act (BA, Oct. 13/160).The legislation, H.R.2626, would permit charter operators to hire pilots and allow them to fly passengers for 90 days while the required background records are collected. H.R.2626 also would allow scheduled carriers to hire and train pilots while gathering the records.
SIMUFLITE TRAINING INTERNATIONAL is offering a two-day, non-technical course on Human Factors in Aircraft Maintenance aimed at providing methods for reducing maintenance-related errors. The training will be offered through an agreement with Grey Owl Aviation Consultants, a Canadian company that provides training and services for maintenance departments. SimuFlite will provide the course at its center in Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport or at a client's location. For more information, contact SimuFlite at (800) 527-2463.
HUGHES ELECTRONICS CORP. Vice Chairman Michael Smith was elected chairman and chief executive officer. Smith, the brother of GM Chairman John Smith Jr., replaces C. Michael Armstrong, who resigned to become chairman of AT&T Corp. after five years as Hughes' CEO. In addition, Charles Noski was elected president. He returns to Hughes after leaving the company a month ago to become chief financial officer of United Technologies Corp. Steven Dorfman will replace Smith as vice chairman and was elected to the Hughes board of directors.
Saab Aircraft AB of Sweden is considering whether to cease production of the Saab 340 and Saab 2000 regional turboprops and does not believe development of a new regional aircraft is an option for it, the company said last week. Fokker, Europe's only other unaligned producer of regional transports, already has ceased production. "The manufacturing of regional- jet aircraft has extensive over-capacity," Saab said. "In the competition for the 50-seat segment, regional-jet aircraft have weakened the position of [the] Saab 2000.
MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT opened a new runway for air carrier use this month. Runway 1L/19R, formerly used by light aircraft, has been upgraded to a full size runway to accommodate large transport aircraft.
Bombardier Business Aircraft (BBA) chose Target Aviation, Sao Paulo, Brazil, to act as that country's Learjet Authorized Services Facility, and plans to add Challenger services to Target's repertoire in the near future. "Target Aviation has been an ally in the sale of Learjet and Challenger business jets in Brazil for two years," said Dave Orcutt, BBA's vice president and general manager for customer support. "We are pleased to bring this partnership a step further with the addition of maintenance services for all Learjet products."
"Substantially increased shipments" in the general aviation market helped boost Raytheon Aircraft's operating income by 85 percent in the third quarter of 1997 with a 19 percent increase in sales, the Wichita manufacturer reported this month. Raytheon Aircraft achieved record third quarter sales and operating income of $594 million and $61 million, respectively. This compares with 1996 third quarter sales and operating income of $498 million and $33 million, respectively. For the nine months ending Sept.
The General Aviation Action Plan Coalition, comprising 15 general aviation industry associations, this month urged Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) to take quick action on confirmation of George Donohue as the next FAA deputy administrator. Donohue, currently FAA's associate administrator for research and acquisitions, was nominated for the position in late June, but the Senate Commerce Committee has yet to schedule a confirmation hearing.
SEVERAL AVIATION ORGANIZATIONS and the National Association of Counties last week agreed to join efforts to fight a proposal to give the Federal Communications Commission authority to preempt state or local zoning laws to facilitate rapid construction of new television broadcast towers (BA, Oct. 6/145). The organizations, which met at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Expo '97 in Orlando, Fla., plan to lobby FCC and Congress to block the proposal. AOPA said the proposal could pose a serious threat to aviation safety.
The City of Chicago this month began to solicit "statements of interest" for fixed-base operations at Merrill C. Meigs Field, Chicago, Ill. The solicitation comes more than eight months after the city reopened Meigs Field, with Signature Flight Support providing FBO services there in the interim. The city reiterated, however, that it plans to close Meigs permanently on Feb.
U.S. general aviation manufacturers already surpassed the record billings of $3.12 billion for all of 1996, reporting billings of $3.19 billion in the first nine months of 1997, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association announced Friday. Deliveries through the first three quarters of 1997 jumped to 954 units, a 30.7 percent improvement from the same time period in 1996. "This is turning out to be a great year for general aviation," said GAMA President Ed Bolen.
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-Tenn.), who placed a hold on the nomination of George Donohue as FAA deputy administrator (BA, Oct. 13/157), is expected to lift the hold this week. Frist requested the hold on Donohue after Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater did not reply to his request for slots for carriers at two high-density airports. Commerce Committee staff members have indicated they did not see any problems at this point with the Donohue nomination, but action on confirmation likely will be delayed until January. See article below.
BILL MAGYAR was named manager of FlightSafety International's Raytheon Aircraft maintenance technician learning center in Wichita. Magyar previously was director of maintenance training at FlightSafety's Greater Philadelphia/Wilmington learning center.
DAC INTERNATIONAL was selected to provide sales and marketing services for Securaplane Technologies of Tucson, Ariz. Securaplane designs and manufactures wireless aircraft smoke detection/reporting equipment, emergency power systems, main aircraft battery chargers and electronic aircraft security systems. DAC International is a subsidiary of Banner Aerospace.
Model DHC-8-100, -200 and -300 series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-120-AD) - proposes to require repetitive inspections of certain refuel/defuel tube assemblies in the engine nacelles for fuel leakage and corrective action, if necessary. It also would require eventual modification of all tube assemblies, which would terminate the repetitive inspections. This proposal is prompted by issuance of mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority.
Model DHC-8-100, -200, and -300 series airplanes (Docket No. 97-NM-63-AD; Amdt. 39-10147; AD 97-20-10) - requires modification of the attitude and heading reference systems (AHRS). This amendment is prompted by a report of loss of power to both AHRSs during flight due to a faulty terminal block to which the signal ground for the AHRSs are connected. The actions specified by this AD are intended to prevent simultaneous power loss to both AHRSs, which could reduce controllability of the airplane.
KELLSTROM INDUSTRIES purchased commercial aircraft and jet engines under operating lease for $20.3 million from Aerocar Aviation Corp. "Our plans call for merging this business into our wholly owned subsidiary KELLCAD (Kellstrom Commercial Aircraft Division), the mission of which is to grow our lucrative short-term aircraft and whole engine leasing business," said Zivi Nedivi, Kellstrom president and chief executive.
SWITCHING SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL, which designs and manufactures mid-range switch mode power supplies, will relocate to a new 36,000-square-foot headquarters and manufacturing facility at 1590 Sinclair St., Anaheim, Calif. 92806-5933; telephone: (714) 712-4500; fax: (714) 712-4520.
AYRES CORP. is expected to make a final decision next month on the location of a production facility for the company's new Loadmaster cargo aircraft (BA, June 23/278).
CT58 series turboshaft engines (Docket No. 97-ANE-15; Amdt. 39-10137; AD 97-19-17) - requires removal from service of certain compressor rear shafts, initial and repetitive inspections of specific critical rotating parts and replacement if found cracked until those parts are all removed and replaced. This amendment is prompted by a Stage 2 turbine wheel incident in 1993 that resulted in an increased awareness of small features on critical rotating parts that could affect part life.
Continental Express will have the industry's first all-jet regional fleet within five years, Continental Chief Executive Gordon Bethune said last week. Continental has a firm commitment to lease 50 Embraer aircraft, and leasing rates are "locked in" for up to 150 more, Bethune told securities analysts in New York City. The plans grew out of Continental's original Embraer deal in September 1996 - an order for 25 EMB-145 regional jets valued at $375 million and options for 175 more over the next 12 years (BA, Sept. 9, 1996/112).
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION fears that a "little noticed provision" in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 could increase the tax on jet fuel by as much as 24.4 cents per gallon. The Taxpayer Relief Act, enacted last summer, contains provisions that allow aviation fuel to be taxed as kerosene unless it is received at an "approved" fuel terminal, defined as one that offers both dyed kerosene and dyed diesel, NATA said.
Production reductions and completed extra internal and external work will result in approximately 450 lost jobs at the Toronto-based de Havilland division of Bombardier between October and January. "De Havilland has required a higher-than-normal work force to accomplish a changeover to an entirely new interior for a new supplier for the Dash 8Q regional airliner and to incorporate all changes for a new noise- and vibration-suppression system. This work is nearing completion," the company said.
PATS Inc., best known for its auxiliary fuel systems programs, is developing an auxiliary power unit based on a rotary engine modified to operate on jet fuel. PATS President Jack Frost said, "We saw a niche for a lightweight, simple and reliable APU installation...for engine starting, environmental systems operation and inertial navigation system initialization prior to engine start."
SUSAN COUGHLIN, former vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board and current president of Air Safety Management Associates, has joined the board of directors for Atlantic Coast Airlines. Coughlin served two terms as vice chairman of NTSB in 1990 and 1992 and became acting chairman in 1992. In 1994, she joined BDM Federal Inc. and became president and chief operating officer of BDM Air Safety Management Corp., which designs and develops air traffic control systems.
