UPS AIRCRAFT MECHANICS and utility workers represented by the Teamsters union ratfied a new labor agreement with the carrier. Under the new pact, which runs through Aug. 1, 2001, mechanics at top scale will receive wage increases of about three percent each year over the six-year period.
WHILE CITY OF CHICAGO and government officials have argued that the closure of Meigs Field only will result in the loss of about 50,000 operations annually, several aviation companies already have begun to suffer from the closure.
SUMMARY: Pursuant to FAA's rulemaking provisions governing the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for exemption (14 CFR Part 11), this notice contains a summary of certain petitions seeking relief from specified requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR Chapter I), dispositions of certain petitions previously received, and corrections. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association last week appointed Tom Chapman, vice president and Legislative Action executive director, as senior vice president of government and technical affairs. Chapman succeeds Steven Brown, who, after a 16-year career with the association, left to become president of the National Aeronautic Association (BA, Dec. 2/255). Chapman, who has been with AOPA for 15 years, served as the association's chief lobbyist. "Tom combines a Washington insider's expertise with a common sense approach," said AOPA President Phil Boyer.
Federal Aviation Administration documents indicate that some agency officials are worried that, in an effort starting in the late 1980s to meet diversity goals, the agency may have violated federal guidelines by setting quotas for hiring and promoting minorities. One agency analysis said that "actions taken to discipline those who violate stated Affirmative Action, Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity Policies will be publicized." The analysis said that "this policy, apart from implications in the goal vs.
LucasVarity will shed 13 businesses and lay off 3,000 people to meet a savings goal of $420 million in the next two years, the London-based company said yesterday.
ANDREW HOUSELANDER was appointed airline sales representative for Cooper Aviation Industries. Houselander, located in Sunnybank Old, Australia, will represent Cooper throughout Australia.
FOKKER Model F27 Mark 050, 100, 200, 300, 400, 600 and 700 series airplanes (Docket No. 96-NM-32-AD) - proposes to require an ultrasonic inspection to determine if certain tubes are installed in the drag stay units of the main landing gear, and various follow-on actions. This proposal is prompted by a report that, due to fatigue cracking from an improperly machined radius of the inner tube, a drag stay broke, and led to the collapse of the main landing gear during landing.
VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE said during the commission hearing Thursday that any increase in the money raised to fund FAA should be linked with "a sure- fire plan for ensuring it is well spent."VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE said during the commission hearing Thursday that any increase in the money raised to fund FAA should be linked with "a sure-fire plan for ensuring it is well spent." Gore also called AOPA's proposal for a linked financing system that would keep the aviation excise taxes in place "creative," and said the commission would like to work closely with AOPA to "take adv
ALLIEDSIGNAL AEROSPACE delivered the 30,000th 85-series auxiliary power unit to Boeing Aircraft Co. "The 85-series APU has accumulated more than 300 million hours of commercial operation since it launched our airline APU business more than 30 years ago," said Tom Johnson, vice president- commercial auxiliary power for AlliedSignal Engines, adding that "there is not another company than can claim those kinds of numbers." The APUs are used on Boeing 727s and 737s, McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and MD-80 aircraft.
In a long-anticipated move that received praise from industry officials, the Federal Aviation Administration last week proposed to allow the use of single-engine aircraft for Part 135 passenger-carrying operations under instrument flight rules. The proposal, published in the Dec. 3 Federal Register (BA, Dec. 2/251), however, is more expansive than even the industry had proposed, allowing single-engine IFR (SEIFR) operations for piston aircraft as well as turbine aircraft.
PROFESSIONAL AVIATION MAINTENANCE ASSOCIATION named Karl Florian, vice president of operations at Jet Support Services, Inc., chairman of the association for 1997. Florian, who served as PAMA's president from 1984- 1986, also serves on the maintenance board of FlightSafety International, has chaired the advisory board at the College of Aeronautics in New York, and acted as manager of maintenance during a 24-year career with Xerox's corporate flight department.
Six Senate leaders last week voiced concern that another lapse of the aviation excise taxes would harm the long-term safety of the national transportation system and urged their colleagues to extend the taxes beyond the Dec. 31 expiration date. In a Dec. 3 letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman William Roth (R-Del.) and ranking Democrat Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), the senators asked for cooperation for an extension.
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION issued an advisory circular on a voluntary industry distributor accreditation program. The AC describes a system for voluntary accreditation of civil aircraft parts distributors for voluntary industry oversight. Copies of the AC 00-56 may be obtained from the Department of Transportation, Subsequent Distribution Office, Ardmore East Businessines Center, 3341 Q 75th Ave., Landover, Md. 20785. For more information, contact Richard Nowak at FAA at (202) 267-7228.
SECURAPLANE, Tucson, Ariz., received a contract to provide its XL500/5 emergency battery for Raytheon Aircraft's Premier I business jet. The sealed lead acid battery includes a built-in precision charger, microprocessor-driven battery level testing and battery cutoff. Securaplane designs and manufactures emergency power and electrical systems as well as electronic aircraft security systems.
ALL MODEL 31A LEARJETS in Bombardier's Business JetSolutions Flexjet fractional ownership program will be outfitted with external baggage lockers designed by Raisbeck Engineering and installed by Bombardier Aviation Services. The belly-mounted baggage lockers provide an additional 12 cubic feet of space that can accommodate up to 300 pounds of baggage, including items like ski and golf equipment.
Citing a lack of funding for the organization he started slightly more than one year ago, General Aviation Airports Coalition President Michael Stephens said he will resign Dec. 31.
WILLIAM WAGNER, who started the flight department at Townsend Engineering Co. in Des Moines, Iowa in 1978, was elected chairman of the board of the National Business Aircraft Association during NBAA's convention last month. Since 1992, when he joined the board, Wagner had been vice chairman and treasurer. Wagner was named a vice president of Townsend, a manufacturer of food processing equipment, in 1994. As NBAA chairman, he succeeds Allan B.
The Illinois state legislature last week approved legislation that would allow the state to take control of Chicago Meigs Field. The legislation, which passed the Illinois House Tuesday and the Senate Wednesday, would allow the state to take control of the airport beginning June 1, 1997. State legislative procedures prevent the state from assuming control sooner, but the legislature may take new action in early January to allow the state to take control immediately.
DOT TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Federico Pena claimed that "many airport directors would argue that the efficiency of many major airports would improve substantially" if general aviation aircraft did not use them, and asked National Business Aircraft Association President Jack Olcott how the costs of the national aviation system could be more fairly allocated among users.
CORPORATE SECURITY MANAGERS are expressing concern about air travel and terrorism following the crash of TWA Flight 800, according to a survey by the American Society For Industrial Security. Nearly one-third of respondents say they may change the way they handle corporate travel plans, the survey showed.
ATLANTIC COAST AIRLINES will take delivery of 12 Jetstream 41 aircraft under an agreement in principle between the carrier and Aero International (Regional), the European partnership that manufactures a range of aircraft for regional carriers. AI(R) said the transaction, which is subject to a final agreement, is valued at approximately $84 million. Deliveries would begin early next year and continue through 1999.
TOM METZLER, former president and chief executive officer of AMR Services, was named president and chief operating officer of Interactive Flight Technologies, which produces digital inflight entertainment systems, including casino-style gaming and video.
DAVID DAVENPORT joined FlightSafety International as assistant manager of the West Palm Beach, Fla. center. Davenport formerly spent nine years with American Flyers, most recently as manager of the group's Fort Lauderdale Training Center. An Air Force Academy graduate, Davenport holds an ATP as well as CFI and M.E.I. ratings.
