JOHANNA O’TOOLE was promoted to comptroller for the National Air Transportation Association (NATA). O’Toole joined NATA in 1998 and most recently was director, administration and financial services. She also has served as an account manager at Degnon and Associates, an association management firm in McLean, Va., and manager of membership for the National Business Aviation Association.
NORMAN RAMIREZ has joined Landmark Aviation as general manager of its Oakland International Airport (OAK) facility in California. Ramirez has 15 years of aviation industry experience, most recently as Atlantic Aviation’s Hayward, Calif., facility. He also has held management positions with Signature Flight Support and served with American Airlines.
John Hazlet, a 47-year aviation veteran who currently is vice president and director of safety with Ameriflight, is retiring this month. He has spent 28 years with the Burbank, Calif.-based air cargo carrier, serving as vice president of flight, vice president of maintenance, director of operations and director of training. He has held management positions at three other aviation companies, and spent more than two decades as the chief instructor of the aviation program at Pasadena City College. An FAA-designated pilot examiner, he has amassed more than 20,000 hr.
Lufthansa and NetJets on Monday will unveil an expansion of their Private Jet offering into North America less than a year after reviving their partnership in Europe, Aviation Week has learned. The two operators launched Private Jet in 2005 but dissolved the relationship at the end of 2007 when the German airline decided to purchase its own executive jets. The partnership was revived in March 2011 when NetJets returned to provide small, medium and large business jet capacity across Europe for Lufthansa’s fixed-fee service.
Max-Viz and Helijet of Vancouver, B.C. Canada are collaborating on the installation of the Max-Viz EVS-1500 enhanced vision system on three S-76 helicopters supporting emergency medical service operations under contract with the B.C. government.
NIDAL SAMMUR was promoted to director of engineering for FlightSafety International’s simulation facility in Broken Arrow, Okla. Sammur joined FlightSafety in 1992 and has held positions of increasing responsibility in engineering at the Broken Arrow facility since. He most recently was staff scientist.
BOMBARDIER Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-1418; Directorate Identifier 2011-NM-187-AD] – proposes to require installing spring clips and repositioning the lanyard attachment points at the forward end and the forward firefloor of the lower cowl. This proposed AD was prompted by chafing on high pressure fuel lines due to improper installation of an expandable pin on the lower cowl assembly. FAA is proposing this AD to prevent chafing of the high pressure fuel lines, which if not corrected, could cause fuel leakage in a fire zone.
Bombardier received an order from Geneva-based operator PrivatAir for five CS100 airliners and options for five more. The firm order is valued at $309 million, but that could increase to $636 million with options. PrivatAir operates both commercial and business aircraft in charter and private airline services. It provides business class flights on behalf of several major network airlines. PrivatAir says the CS100 will be used for route expansion.
Sikorsky Aircraft selected Spectrum Associates as a member of a newly-formed team to build the S-97 Raider helicopter that is slated for first flight and U.S. military evaluation in 2014. Spectrum will design and integrate fuel system components. Spectrum, which will perform the work at its Milford, Conn., facility, has served as a preferred Sikorsky supplier for more than 40 years.
AGUSTA Model AB139 and AW139 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2012-0013; Directorate Identifier 2010-SW-043-AD] – proposes to require, for affected helicopters, replacing a certain generator control unit (GCU) with an airworthy GCU. This proposed AD was prompted by laboratory tests which revealed a potential fault in the overvoltage protection on a certain part-numbered GCU.
MARK DENNEN was appointed CFO for Solairus Aviation. Dennen most recently was CFO for Key Air, and before that was senior vice president of TAG Aviation US and senior vice president and CFO at ACM Aviation. He also has served as an audit supervisor at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT Models 1900, 1900C, and 1900D airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2012-0014; Directorate Identifier 2011-CE-044-AD; Amendment 39-16915; AD 2011-27-51] – publishes an AD previously to all known U.S. owners and operators of these airplanes (BA, Jan. 9/10). This AD requires inspecting the elevator bob-weight and attaching linkage for correct installation and for damage or deformation to the weight and/or weight bracket with corrective action as necessary.
Jet Services, based at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, is increasing its operations with the takeover of control of the Darta group. Jet Services says the move will enhance its business aviation activities at Le Bourget, but also will strengthen Darta’s long-term position. Jet Services provides terminal handling, maintenance, aerial photography and other business aviation services. Darta operates a fleet of Beechcraft and Falcon jets, provides ground handling and client reception, travel agency and charter services.
Signature Flight Support rolled out two new customer products – a Signature TailWins customer loyalty program and the Signature Flight Support aviation card issued in partnership with U.S. Bank and Multi Service Aviation. Signature TailWins is a loyalty program for pilots, crew, schedulers and dispatchers and corporate flight and travel departments that rewards customers with products, services and experiences. Rewards range from watches, destination travel, apparel and technology to an American motorcycle brand.
Eurocopter delivered an AS350 B3e Ecureuil helicopter to the Kenya Police Air-Wing in Nairobi for the airborne law enforcement and crime prevention unit. The order was placed through the Eurocopter Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd. The AS350 B3e, an enhanced version of the AS350 model, will be used for law enforcement and crime prevention missions, including anti-poaching and anti-terrorism operations. It also will be used for search and rescue, casualty evacuation, personnel transport and various other civic protection roles.
Cessna is moving forward with its planned mid-2013 certification for the next-generation Citation Ten, successfully completing the first flight Jan. 17. The new aircraft, which will supplant the original Citation X, flew for more than two hr. and was tested for stability and control, handling qualities, functional operation, engine operability and avionics. The prototype aircraft flew from the company’s main manufacturing facility at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport (ICT).
Jet-Share Canada, a Toronto-based fractional aircraft ownership provider, added a Cessna Citation Model 560 to the fleet, joining two other Citations and single King Air aircraft. Before joining the fleet, the aircraft was refurbished with an updated interior and full exterior repaint. In addition to its fractional use, the Citation 560 will be available for charter.
Hawthorne Global Aviation Services last week bought ExcelAire, an aircraft management and charter firm with an FBO at MacArthur Airport on Long Island, near New York City. The purchase price was not disclosed. Steven Levesque, Hawthorne CEO, says the ExcelAire management would remain in place and that the operation has “the capacity and the capability to do a lot more.” ExcelAire currently manages 20 aircraft.
XOJet is placing into service this month the first seven of 12 Hawker 800XPR aircraft the company ordered last fall. The introduction of the aircraft comes as the San Francisco-based operator’s flight hours jumped 30% in 2011 – exceeding the industry average of 5%. “XOJet’s continued growth has been limited by fleet size as demand has consistently exceeded capacity,” the company says, adding it is “aggressively investing in the expansion of its fleet.”
The Southern California Aviation Association has scheduled a Safety Seminar on March 5 the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys, Calif. National Transportation Safety Board Member Mark Rosekind is a featured speaker at the event.
Rockwell Collins added a “Briefcase” feature to its Ascend Flight Manager Mobile application for the iPad. The Briefcase module makes trip documents accessible to business jet operators electronically. The company also improved its Flight Operating System (FOS) Mobile application, which provides access to scheduling and dispatch information.
None of four foreign manufacturers has yet dropped out of talks with Chinese fighter builder Avic Aviation Techniques (AAT) aimed at joint development and manufacturing of business jets. It is unclear, however, whether all of the bidders are keen to participate in the whole program proposed by AAT — transfer of a current business jet production line to the company’s Chengdu works and joint development of a large new aircraft, with considerable technological transfer.
