Coopers&Lybrand, selected by the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct an independent audit of FAA's financial needs, called the agency's claims of future funding needs reasonable "assuming a status quo operating enivroment," and said that costs of the agency must be assigned to users before a user fee system can be put in place. Coopers&Lybrand last week began detailing findings of its 90-day study for congressional, industry and FAA officials.
BURNS&MCDONNELL, Kansas City, Mo., received a contract to renovate a 24- year-old aircraft fueling system at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The firm said it proposed to airlines that floating suctions in the storage tanks be deleted, resulting in savings of more than $1 million.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION has received nearly 350 requests for a manual it developed to assist operators in complying with new pilot record-sharing requirements. The new requirements, which went into effect Feb. 7, have raised a great deal of concern in the industry because the FAA has provided little guidance on compliance. FAA Acting Administrator Barry Valentine last week told House aviation subcommittee Chairman John Duncan (R-Tenn.) that the agency is developing an advisory circular on the issue and hopes to have it available within 60 days.
OGDEN CORP. reported 1996 net income of $64.5 million on revenues of $2.03 billion, a substantial improvement over 1995 when the company had net income of $7.4 million on revenues of $2.18 billion. Ogden's aviation sector revenues declined from $480.6 million in 1995 to $443.3 million last year, "primarily as a result of the disposition of certain aviation operations, most notable the JFK Airport ground services unit, and reduced activity in the air range and pilot training systems company," the company said.
A final rule published Wednesday by FAA delays implementation of certain portions of new restrictions on commercial air tour operators at the Grand Canyon, but maintains a May 1 deadline for curfews, restrictions on certain aircraft, reporting requirements and certain other portions of the original proposal (BA, Feb. 24/86).
MILLION AIR ST. LOUIS said U.S. Customs Service now is available at Spirit of St. Louis Airport. The service will be provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At least two hours notice is required for flights requiring customs service. To schedule service, call (314) 428-8230. Million Air St. Louis said it "anticipates an increase in volume" as a result of the new service.
SUNDSTRAND AEROSPACE named Garrett Aviation Services an authorized Sundstrand APU service center for the APS-500 product line. Aircraft equipped with APS-500 APUs include various models of Cessna Citations, Dassault Falcons, Hawkers and Sabreliners.
GREGORY WRIGHT was named director of aircraft maintenance at Million Air Dallas. Wright has 17 years experience in aircraft maintenance operations, including 12 years with Jet East, Inc., a Learjet/Citation factory authorized service center. Before that, he was aircraft lead technician for Royale Airlines.
ROBERT B. PARKE, the veteran aviation writer and editor, is concluding a 45-year career in the publishing business by retiring. Parke worked at LIFE magazine after graduating from college before joining the Army Air Corps. He was a B-17 pilot in Europe, and later flew transports between California and Japan to support the U.S. military's post-war activities in Japan. He was recalled to military service in the 1950s to fly C-54s to Greenland in connection with construction of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) system.
ACTING ADMINISTRATOR VALENTINE, noting that current Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater has relayed Murkowski's concerns, last week assured the senator that FAA will work with each carrier the state of Alaska "to address its particular needs." In a Feb.
Fairchild Dornier, which is attempting to become the first manufacturer in the regional airline market with a 30-passenger jet, anticipates little difficulty substituting Pratt&Whitney turbofans for the turboprops that power existing versions of the Do 328.
SUNDSTRAND CORP., Rockford, Ill., had net earnings of $114 million in 1996 on revenues of $1.52 billion from ongoing businesses. That compares with earnings of $79 million on sales of $1.44 billion in 1995. The net income figures reflect "restructuring" charges of $26 million in 1996 and $44 million in 1995. Robert H. Jenkins, president and chief executive officer, said that because of the faster than expected growth of the company's aerospace business, the company plans to increase its capital investment in 1997 by roughly $60 million to approximately $125 million.
DASSAULT FALCON JET CORP. appointed Al Zito director of its service parts center in Moonachie, N.J. Zito, who reports to Peter Ginocchio, senior vice president of customer support, will be responsible for Falcon parts sales, distribution and warranty administration for the Western Hemisphere. Zito has 20 years of aviation industry experience. Most recently he was director of product support with K-C Aviation in Dallas, Texas.
EUROCOPTER Model BO 105C and BO 105S helicopters (Docket No. 96-SW-21- AD) - proposes to require modification of the main relay box by replacing the voltage regulator; modifying the cockpit overhead panel by installing two additional switches; and performing a functional test of the new voltage regulator, generators, and new switches. This proposal is prompted by an in-service report of a helicopter that experienced a generator overvoltage.
General aviation and scheduled Part 135 commuter operators achieved their best safety record in 15 years, while the on-demand accident rates increased in 1996, the National Transportation Safety Board reported Friday. GA experienced 8.06 accidents per 100,000 flight hours and 1.51 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours last year. This compares with 1982 numbers of 10.9 accidents and 1.99 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours. GA aircraft were involved in 1,907 accidents, including 358 fatal accidents, in 1996.
Canadian manufacturer Bombardier, which officially launched a stretched version of its popular Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) just last month, has commitments for 67 of the 70-passenger aircraft, a program that officials predict will help it capture a growing share of the regional aircraft market during the next 18 years.
ACCIDENT RATES for general aviation and small, scheduled commuter operators reached their lowest level in 15 years in 1996, but the on-demand air taxi fatal accident rate reached a 15-year high, according to statistics released Friday by the National Transportation Safety Board. See related article on Page 83 and chart on Page 92.
FOKKER Model F28 Mark 0100 series airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM-185-AD) - proposes to require repetitive inspections of certain flanges and finger strips at Rib 5.0 of the vertical stabilizer to detect fatigue cracking and repairs, if necessary. It also would require modifications that would strengthen the torsion box at Rib 5.0 and prevent fatigue cracking. One of these modifications would be a terminating action for the repetitive inspections.
LAURA ANN POOLE was promoted to vice president of human resources at the Eagle Aviation Group. Poole will be responsible for human risk management for Eagle Canyon Airlines, Eagle Jet Charter and Eagle Aviation Maintenance Division. Poole, who joined Eagle in 1993, was director of human resources, risk manager and executive assistant.
ROBERT COLEMAN joined Airwork as an airline regional sales manager for the PT6 airline program. Coleman will coordinate activities with regional airlines in the Western region. He previously was a sales manager for Standard Aero and also has held positions with Van Dusen Air and Hughes Aviation Services.
KESTREL AIRCRAFT COMPANY, Norman, Okla., received the first set of production tooling needed to manufacture the company's new line of all- composite, four- to six-place utility aircraft.
CASA Model CN-235 series airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM-127-AD) proposes to require the replacement of the center wing attachment rods with new rods. This proposal is prompted by a report from the manufacturer indicating that these rods failed during a full-scale fatigue test. The actions specified by the proposal are intended to prevent fatigue failure of these rods, which consequently could reduce the structural integrity of the wing-to-fuselage attachment.
MARY SCHNEIDER was promoted to director of accounting for Eagle Aviation Group. Schneider will oversee financial statement preparation, account reconciliation, budgeting and analysis for Eagle's three divisions. She joined Eagle in 1995.
FAA Acting Administrator Barry Valentine announced the addition of seven new members to the agency's Research, Engineering and Development Advisory Committee and said 12 will leave the panel. Remaining 1997 meeting dates for the committee are April 8-9 and Sept. 16-17.
