Mercury Air Group, Inc. reported net income for the nine months ended March 31 was up nine percent to $3.5 million while revenues jumped 22 percent to a record $164.5 million. For the most recent quarter, Mercury reported net earnings of $877,000, compared with income of just over $1 million for the same period last year. Third-quarter revenues were up 15 percent to $57.2 million.
FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL installed a full-scale cabin fuselage training environment in its Atlanta, Ga., training center to train flight attendant and flight personnel to manage emergency evacuations and other onboard contingencies in flight and on the ground. FSI said the cabin and door/hatch trainer is 40 feet long and the proper height to simulate a variety of training scenarios, from smoke-filled cabin to emergency exit operation in darkness and cabin depressurization.
MCDONNELL DOUGLAS CORP. named Andrew W. Quinn regional vice president for product support for MDC China. Quinn, who will be stationed in Beijing, will be responsible for all aspects of product support and field service for McDonnell Douglas' commercial aircraft in China.
A veteran fixed-base operator is marketing a new customer gift certificate program designed to increase fuel sales by independent FBOs. Larry Ulrich, who founded the Denver JetCenter and remains associated with the company, said the Jet Service Associated FBO Network (JetServ) program is designed for independent FBOs who want to compete effectively against other FBOs on the same airport-including facilities operated by FBO chains that lure customers by offering systemwide fuel discount plans.
AVREPS INTERNATIONAL received a marketing contract from Flight Components. Under the agreement, AvReps will handle the North American marketing of Flight Components' Timearc Visualizer. AvReps said it will concentrate its efforts in the helicopter market, particularly with law enforcement and emergency medical applications. Flight Components, a 30-year-old Swiss company, manufactures flight instruments, exterior lighting systems and antennas for commercial and military aircraft.
THE NUMBER of 10- to 19-seat aircraft in scheduled service in Alaska has dropped by one-half since the Department of Transportation began its "One Level of Safety" rulemaking effort, according to the Alaska Air Carriers Association.An association survey revealed that of the 40 planes with 10- to 19- passenger seats in scheduled service before FAA and DOT issued the notice of proposed rulemaking, only 21 remain.A handful of others are no longer used for passenger service.
Only 30 legislative days remain in the current session of Congress to resolve issues on how to finance the Federal Aviation Administration's fiscal 1997 budget request, the chairman and ranking minority member of the Senate transportation appropriations subcommittee warned last week. Sens. Mark Hatfield (R-Ore.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) told FAA Administrator David Hinson that the agency and industry groups had better get together on a budget, because money from the aviation trust fund, being spent at $500 million a month by FAA, will run out soon.
FOKKER Model F28 series airplanes (excluding Model F28 Mark 0100 series airplanes) (Docket No. 95-NM-170-AD) - proposes to require a one-time detailed visual inspection for cracks of the elevator gust lock housing and support structure, and repair or replacement of cracked parts. This proposal is prompted by a report of failure of an elevator gust lock housing due to fatigue cracking. The actions specified by the proposal are intended to prevent such fatigue cracking and subsequent loss of the elevator and support structure.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT completed a series of wind tunnel tests of its Premier I light jet to verify the airplane's flight characteristics. Premier I models have undergone wind tunnel tests at Boeing facilities in Seattle and Philadelphia, the NASA Lewis facility in Cleveland, and at Wichita State University. The aircraft is scheduled for certification in the fall of 1998.
NATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION developed a guide to help on-demand operators comply with new Federal Aviation Regulation Part 119. The guide, Part 119 Compliance Handbook: New Requirements for Part 135 Operators, provides an explanation of the regulation, definitions, changes to Part 135, bulletins, news articles, references and operations specification requirements. The manual, expected to be released in mid-May, will cost $75. For more information, contact NATA at (800) 808-6282.
IRVIN LUCAS joined AAR Aircraft Turbine Center as vice presi-dent- inventory programs. Lucas formerly was director of engine management for Northwest Airlines.
HAWTHORNE AVIATION is continuing to expand its operations up the East Coast. The Charleston, S.C.-based company expects to execute a contract this week to manage five general aviation airports operated by the State of Rhode Island.
TELEDYNE, INC. will schedule a special shareholders meeting to seek approval of its merger with Allegheny Ludlum Corporation to form Allegheny Teledyne Inc. Under the agreement, Teledyne shareholders will receive 1.925 shares of common stock in Allegheny Teledyne for each share of Teledyne common stock. Allegheny Ludlum shareholders will receive one share of stock in the new company for each share of Allegheny Ludlum common stock. The transaction is subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.
LEARJET delivered a second flight inspection Learjet 60 aircraft to the Malaysian Ministry of Transport. The aircraft is undergoing modifications to include a Normac GPS-based automatic flight inspection system, a custom- designed auxiliary power unit package and auxiliary air conditioning systems to accommodate the onboard systems in a tropical environment. The Learjet 60 will join the Malaysian fleet later this year.
JEAN-PHILIPPE SCHUMACHER was appointed vice president-training, Europe, Middle East and Africa for AAR Allen Group. Schumacher joined AAR in 1991 to open a new Paris sales office and most recently was director of sales and marketing for AAR Allen Group in the region.
AFTER 15 YEARS and hundreds of petitions from Part 135 operators seeking permission to allow their pilots to remove and reinstall aircraft seats, the Federal Aviation Administration last week finally granted permanent authorization for pilots to perform certain routine maintenance tasks on their aircraft, including seat removal/replacement (BA, July 24/31).
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION proposed special conditions for the Embraer Model EMB-145 airplane. FAA said the aircraft uses new avionics/electronic systems that provide critical data to the flightcrew, but applicable regulations are not adequate to cover the protection of these systems from the effects of high-intensity radiated fields (HIRF). The special conditions are intended to address standards for HIRF protection. For more information, contact Gerry Lakin in FAA's Standardization Branch at (206) 227-1187.
ALLIEDSIGNAL TFE731 series turbofan engines (Docket No. 95-ANE-55) - proposes to require removing certain fan rotor disks from service in accordance with a drawdown schedule, and would establish new rotor disk life limits. This proposal is prompted by additional analyses revealing that stress levels in the fan rotor disk dovetail slots for the applicable engine models are higher than initially calculated.
The National Business Aircraft Association is developing an interactive computer software program designed to provide real-time comparisons of business travel costs on privately operated aircraft, charter flights or scheduled airlines.
IN RESPONSE to a question from BA, Moti Boness, vice president and general manager of Israel Aircraft Industries Commercial Aircraft Group, said he could neither confirm nor deny widespread rumors that former Learjet President Brian Barents will become the new Astra Jet president. Barents, who resigned as Learjet president earlier this year (BA, Jan. 29/41), also said he could not respond to those reports. He confirmed that he is still subject to a "non-compete" provision contained in his separation agreement with Bombardier, Learjet's parent company.
TWO COMMUNICATIONS VETERANS of Collins Avionics are moving to new opportunities. Karen Tripp, manager of marketing communications for the Collins Air Transport Division since 1989, accepted a position with Sullivan, Higdon&Sink (SHS), the advertising and public relations agency that just moved to new quarters in Wichita, Kan. (BA, April 29/193). Tripp, who began her aviation career with the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, will relocate from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Wichita to work on aviation accounts for SHS.
Federal Aviation Administration last week issued regulations that require operators of more than 4,400 commuter turboprops to recognize and exit certain freezing rain or drizzle conditions. The rules, first proposed in January (BA, Jan. 29/43), require pilots of 29 turboprop models with unpowered controls and pneumatic deicing boots to look for certain "visual cues" when flying in icing conditions such as abnormal ice buildup on the upper and lower wing surfaces or icing on the side window. The rules also provide specific exit procedures when ice buildup is detected.
ELLIOTT AVIATION will host a day-long seminar by aircraft weather radar expert Archie Trammell May 31 at Elliott's Eppley Airfield facility in Omaha, Neb. Persons who want to attend the seminar, which is co-sponsored by AlliedSignal, should contact Marc Belanger, avionics manager at Elliott, (402) 422-6789.
JETSTREAM HP137 Mk1, Series 200 and Models 3101 and 3201 airplanes (Docket No. 95-CE-94-AD) - proposes to supersede AD 87-07-01, which requires repetitively inspecting the nose landing gear top cap assembly securing bolts for looseness or cracks, retorquing any loose security bolt and replacing any cracked security bolt. That AD also provides the option of incorporating a nose landing gear modification as a terminating action for the repetitive inspections.
Dassault Aviation, struggling to avoid a government-directed merger with Aerospatiale, posted a consolidated net profit of 526 million French francs in 1995, a 22.6 percent increase "in spite of a declining economic environment and the weakness of the dollar," the company said.
