GRANT G. MURRAY joined Eagle Aviation of Las Vegas, Nev., according to Cliff Evarts, chief executive of the Eagle Group. Murray has more than 30 years of industry experience, including serving as regional vice president at Western Airlines and executive vice president at Mercury Air Group. Murray will be responsible for long-range planning and day-to-day operations of Eagle Canyon Airlines, Inc., Eagle Jet Charter, Inc. and Eagle Aviation Maintenance Division.
CAROLYN WILLIAMSON was promoted to director of membership and marketing for the University Aviation Association, Auburn, Ala. She joined the UAA staff in 1989 and was promoted to manager of member services in 1991.
SAAB Model 2000 series airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM-233-AD) - adopts a new AD applicable to certain Saab Model 2000 series airplanes that requires modification and sealing of the firezone compartment of the nacelle of the left and right engines. The AD was prompted by reports indicating that firezone compartments have not been completely sealed.
The House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday adopted by voice vote legislation to temporarily renew the aviation excise taxes. The legislation, H.R.668, is similar to a bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee earlier this month to reinstate the excise taxes until Sept. 30 and allow the Treasury Department to transfer $1.2 billion into the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (BA, Feb. 10/57). The legislation also would ensure "prompt deposit of tax receipts with the Treasury" and clarify that the taxes will be collected on all ticket purchases through Sept.
EDO CORP. named Ira Kaplan, 61, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the company, headquartered at College Point, N.Y. Kaplan has been with EDO for 36 years, most recently as vice president of the defense and space systems division.
Albany, Ga.-based Ayres Corp. received a firm order from Federal Express Corp. for 50 Loadmaster LM200s and options for up to 200 more. The purchase order converts letters of intent FedEx signed in November into firm orders for the aircraft (BA, Nov. 25/245). Ayres, the manufacturer of the Turbo Thrush ag aircraft, hopes to deliver the first Loadmaster to FedEx in December 1999 and continue delivery of the aircraft at a rate of two a month. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Cessna Aircraft will open its new service center, the ninth such company-owned facility, today (Feb. 17) at San Antonio International Airport. "With nearly 40,000 square feet of hangar space, the San Antonio facility will be our largest Citation Service Center outside of Wichita," said Rob Chapman, vice president of customer service. The new facility, which has a pilots' lounge and private offices for customers in addition to the service area, is located on the north side of Runway 30-12.
THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT required Signature Flight Support to agree to sell its fixed-base operation at West Palm Beach, Fla., International Airport before it would permit Signature to complete its acquisition of three International Aviation FBOs, including one in West Palm Beach. See article below.
Boeing's 737-700 made its first flight Feb. 9, taking off from Renton Airport and landing at Boeing Field in Seattle three hours and 35 minutes later. The flight test program will use a total of 10 aircraft including four 737-700s with 128 to 149 seats, three 737-800s with 160 to 189 seats and three 737-600s with 108 to 132 seats. Each model will log about 2,300 flight test hours in about seven months.
C. DENNIS WRIGHT will be honored as the Outstanding Aviation Management Graduate of Auburn University for 1997 during ceremonies at the school Feb. 27. A 13-year veteran of the National Business Aircraft Association, Wright was recently named director general of the International Business Aviation Council and vice president of international affairs for NBAA. Wright joined NBAA in 1984 after serving as director-airspace technology department at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
INDUSTRY LEADERS last week accused the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security of "toeing the party line" by supporting user fees as a means to fund the Federal Aviation Administration. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association noted that one of the commissioners agreed with that assessment. "The President appointed us and to expect something widely divergent is somewhat unrealistic," commissioner Patrick Shea, former chair of the Utah Democratic Party, told AOPA last week. See article below.
SEN. TED STEVENS (R-Alaska) named Mitch Rose chief of staff of the senator's personal office. Rose, who was born in Alaska, has been Stevens' press secretary since 1991. In addition to his other duties, Rose will continue to serve as Stevens' principal adviser on telecommunications and aviation issues. Stevens is the senior member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Lisa Sutherland, Stevens' former chief of staff, was appointed deputy staff director of the Appropriations Committee, which Stevens chairs.
In what was called an "historic action," a federal judge in Tucson has ordered FAA to explain under oath where the agency gets its authority to suspend a license or certificate or impose a civil penalty. If the plaintiff prevails, FAA's entire enforcement authority could be in question, according to officials familiar with the case. U.S.
Poor cost estimating processes for FAA's air traffic control modernization have led to unreliable cost and financial information, increasing the likelihood of poor ATC investment decisions, the General Accounting Office said. In a Jan. 22 report to the Department of Transportation, GAO contended that flaws in FAA's institutional policies and practices also mean that Congress does not have reliable cost information to use in making FAA funding decisions.
BOMBARDIER Model CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100) series airplanes - proposes to supersede an existing AD that currently requires revision to the Airplane Flight Manual to advise the flight crew of the need to perform daily checks to verify proper operation of the elevator control system, and to restrict altitude and airspeed operations under certain conditions. That AD also requires removal of all elevator flutter dampers. The original AD was prompted by reports that installation of certain shear pins may jam or restrict movement of the elevator.
The Clark County Department of Aviation and the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority petitioned FAA to reconsider or stay the effective date of new restrictions on air tour overflights at Grand Canyon National Park, the second such petition filed with the agency in recent days.
GRACE ROBERTSON will head the Advanced Transport Aircraft Systems group of McDonnell Douglas Military Transport Aircraft, replacing John King, who is retiring after 41 years with McDonnell Douglas. Robertson spent 17 years with The Boeing Company before joining McDonnell Douglas in October 1994. She was named vice president-general manager, development program at Douglas Aircraft Company in September 1996.
CONSTRUCCIONES AERONAUTICAS, S.A. (CASA) Model CN-235 series airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM-137-AD) - proposes to require repetitive inspections of the torsion tubes and fittings of the elevator and rudder assemblies to detect stress corrosion cracking, and replacement of cracked parts. The proposed AD also would require a modification that would constitute terminating action for the repetitive inspections.
CONSTRUCTION of a 6,000-foot commuter runway at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport is to begin in January 1999, the major element in an effort to dramatically increase capacity for arriving flights. The $444 million project, scheduled for completion in the Spring of 2002, will require the acquisition of 530 acres of land and the realignment of three major roadways in the airport vicinity.
TRACOR FLIGHT SYSTEMS, INC., won a 10-year, $27 million contract from McDonnell Douglas Corp. to manufacture the y-barrel assembly for the MD-95 twin turbofan being developed by McDonnell Douglas. More than 400 y- barrels will be built by employees in Palmdale, Calif. The y-barrel assembly is the lower part of the fuselage and houses the main landing gear, fuel, hydraulic and electrical lines. Tracor won a $30 million contract from McDonnell Douglas in July to join the wing halves for the MD- 95.
AIR CARE '97 CONFERENCE/SEMINAR will be held April 18-19 in Frederick, Md., to facilitate expansion and development of the private aviation sector of the National Charitable Medical Air Transportation System. The seminar will include subject-specific training, promotion of organizational cooperation and sharing of ideas/experiences. The Air Care Alliance is an organization that initiates, promotes and supports communication and cooperation among organizations engaged in charitable general aviation for health and related purposes throughout the U.S.
The Alaska Air Carriers Association disputed claims of the Air Line Pilots Association that a proposal to allow commercial single-engine operations under instrument flight rules is unsafe and should be withdrawn. ALPA earlier this month asked FAA to withdraw its proposal to allow commercial single-engine IFR operations (SEIFR), because it would "expose the traveling public to an unnecessary risk." AACA, however, called the nation's largest pilots union's objections "puzzling," and strongly endorsed the policy as a positive safety step.
DEWI ROWLANDS was appointed vice president-sales and marketing for British Aerospace Asset Management Inc.-Turboprops. Rowlands joined British Aerospace in 1961 as a sales engineer and held a number of senior executive posts with the company in succeeding years.
PAUL DE HERRERA was promoted to director of North American marketing at Universal Avionics Systems Corp., Tucson, Ariz. De Herrera, who had been manager of OEM marketing for Universal, will continue to report to Don Berlin, vice president of marketing, and will oversee the company's regional marketing representatives as part of his responsibility for marketing activities with all OEMs and dealers throughout the continent.
MEANWHILE, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and two co-sponsors introduced "the National Parks Airspace Management Act of 1997, a bill designed to mitigate the impact of commercial air tour flights over units of the National Park System." Akaka said the legislation, similar to bills he has introduced in the past two Congresses, "would specify the respective authorities of the National Park Service and the Federal Aviation Authority in developing and enforcing park overflight policy." Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) introduced a similar, but broader, bill earlier (BA, Feb.
