Irish lessor Fly Leasing Ltd. has repurchased 1,035,438 shares of its stock for $11.925 per share in a privately negotiated transaction. “We have now repurchased 24% of our outstanding shares, and we continue to see strong value in our stock, which trades at a discount to net book value,” says CEO Colm Barrington. “Our level of unrestricted cash remains strong, enabling us to continue to take advantage of opportunities to enhance shareholder value and to grow the fleet.”
BILL NORMON has joined Timco Aviation Services as president of MRO Services, responsible for the company’s airframe and engine maintenance, repair and overhaul operations and the Timco LineCare business. He previously had his own aviation consulting business, served as senior vice president of maintenance operations for United Airlines and served as general manager for another global MRO firm.
Bombardier Aerospace has sold four Bombardier 415 amphibious aircraft to an undisclosed customer. This is the second order from this customer, who previously ordered one Bombardier 415. The contract is valued at about $162 million and includes training and initial spares provisioning. Deliveries of the aircraft will begin in the second quarter of 2011 and continue through the first quarter of 2013.
Peggy Gilligan, FAA associate administrator for aviation safety, warns that it may take the agency some time to work through the foreign repair station applications once the Transportation Security Administration finalizes rules on repair station security. Congress has barred FAA from granting any new foreign applications for Part 145 certifications until TSA completes the repair station rules.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed its four-year FAA reauthorization bill (H.R.658) by a vote of 223-196 on April 1, but the legislation contains numerous provisions that will be a tough sell in conference in order to square it with the Senate’s two-year bill. Earlier last week, both the House and Senate passed an 18th short-term extension of FAA’s authorization, with lawmakers hoping to finish work on the long-term bill by May 31.
The passengers and crew of an Arcadia Aviation Gulfstream GV jet were freed after a month and a half of detention in Africa’s Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The detention came as a result of what Arcadia Aviation called “a misunderstanding” between the DRC government and the GV’s passengers, who were in the country on business in Goma in early February. Press reports allege that a large amount of cash was found on the aircraft, and the government refused to allow the passengers, flight crew and aircraft to depart.
BOMBARDIER DHC-8-400 series airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-0260; Directorate Identifier 2010-NM-242-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to perform a free-play check of any shaft swaged bearing installed in the tailstock end of each of the elevator power control units (PCUs), per the instructions of Bombardier Service Bulletin 84-27-52 (dated May 25, 2010). If the bearing free-play were to exceed specified limits, operators would need to replace the elevator PCU with a serviceable one before further flight.
U.S. Defense and Transportation department leaders have expressed concerns about efforts to address the threat of GPS jamming caused by a planned nationwide broadband-wireless network. The agencies also urge a comprehensive study of all potential interference to GPS in a March 25 letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman signed by Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn and Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari.
After a soft start to the year, Bombardier’s net business jet orders swelled to 74 in the fourth quarter ending Jan. 31, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the company’s total for fiscal 2011, the company reported last week. Bombardier had 13 net business jet orders (total orders minus cancellations) in the third quarter. The fourth quarter results do not include a $6.7 billion order from NetJets announced in early March.
CHRISTOPHE NURIT was named VP-Asia for Sikorsky Aircraft. He will be responsible for both commercial and foreign military sales in Asia for Sikorsky. Nurit previously has served with MD Helicopters and Bell Helicopter.
Bombardier Aerospace recently rolled out a new parts satisfaction guarantee program that will waive shipping, labor and restocking charges. Bombardier says it will eliminate restocking fees for any parts ordered for an aircraft-on-ground situation but were not used. Bombardier also will cover shipping and labor costs for parts that were either defective on arrival or that it recommended but did not fix the problem. The guarantee comes as Bombardier says it has been making “substantial headway” in reducing the incidence of “No Fault Found” (NFF) parts in circulation.
StandardAero Business Aviation secured a supplemental type certificate (STC) to replace the aging cockpit displays on Falcon 900C/EX aircraft with the Honeywell Primus Elite suite. The STC was secured through StandardAero’s Organization Design Authorization. The Primus Elite upgrade can be performed at StandardAero’s four maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities in Springfield, Ill., Augusta, Ga., Los Angeles and Houston. Primus Elite provides XM graphical weather, Jeppesen electronic charts and maps, and video displays through a cursor-driven, on-screen interface.
PAUL JONAS was hired as director of environmental test labs and special programs for Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR). Jonas will oversee operations of the labs, which are staffed and equipped to simulate environments for the research and testing of equipment and components. The labs can test susceptibility to temperature, altitude, humidity, shock, vibration, salt fog, magnetic effects, voltage spike, audio frequency, indirect lighting and other factors.
FOKKER F.28 Mark 0070 and 0100 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-0220; Directorate Identifier 2010-NM-259-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to conduct a one-time general visual inspection to check the route and clamping of the sense line hose and wiring conduit hose to each wing tank overflow valve.
Hawker Beechcraft unveiled an iPad promotion for customers of its Beechcraft turboprop and piston aircraft in North and South America. Customers will receive a custom-configured iPad with free one-year subscriptions to ForeFlight Preflight Intelligence and Jeppesen Mobile TC. ForeFlight Preflight Intelligence displays route information on geo-referenced maps and provides pilots with weather radar, satellite imagery, fuel price, flight rule, wind, temperature, dew point spread, ceiling, sky coverage and lightning information.
Duncan Aviation is enlarging its paint facility at its Lincoln, Neb., headquarters. The expansion will add a new 45,000-sq.-ft. aircraft paint facility to the existing 440,000-sq.-ft. facility located on the east side of Lincoln Airport. Groundbreaking is tentatively scheduled for May 1, and the expansion is to be completed by April 30, 2012.
Eclipse Aerospace secured FAA supplemental type certification for its integrated flight management system (IFMS) for the Eclipse EA500 very light jet (VLJ). The approval is the latest in the series of upgrades that the company has undertaken to support the fleet of 260 Eclipse VLJs.
The third annual Business Aviation Latin America (BALA) Summit on Aug. 12 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, will explore the latest developments in the region’s business aviation sector and new challenges and business opportunities for the future at the Latin American Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition. For more information, visit http://www.aeropodium.com/conferenceprojects/bala.html.
Jordan Hansell last week took over the reins at NetJets as chairman after David Sokol abruptly resigned from Berkshire Hathaway March 30 amid a suspicion of insider trading over the $9.7 billion acquisition of specialty chemical company Lubrizol Corp. Sokol had named Hansell president of the fractional aircraft ownership company in November as part of the beginning of a succession plan. But Sokol had expected to transfer the CEO’s title to Hansell while he retained the chairman position.
Business aviation in Europe was one of the strongest market segments in 2010, with flights growing by 5.5%, according to a new Eurocontrol report. Business aircraft flights increased in France, Germany and the U.K., the report says. The European nation that saw the most new business aircraft flights was Turkey.
DEREK MORRIS was promoted to avionics modifications manager for Constant Aviation. Morris will be responsible for all avionics modifications projects and service and serve as the customer point of contact for the quoting process, design layouts, engineering support and supplemental type certification management. He joined the Cleveland-based aviation services company in 2005.
FlightSafety International is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Al Ueltschi founded the training specialist on March 29, 1951, a time when most business aviation pilots flew converted military aircraft and were not required to undergo formal training, FlightSafety notes. “Al believed that the best safety device in any aircraft is a well-trained crew when he founded the company,” says President and CEO Bruce Whitman. Headquartered in New York, the training firm has since provided more than 1 million hr.
Diamond Aircraft last week furloughed all but a core group of employees on its D-Jet program after the manufacturer failed to receive a response from the Canadian government on its CA$35 million ($36.2 million) loan request. The move, which Diamond President Peter Maurer says is temporary, affects 213 employees, slowing the D-Jet program almost to a standstill.
DASSAULT Falcon 7X airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2011-0259; Directorate Identifier 2010-NM-196-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to revise the “Limitations” section of the Airplane Flight Manual to include instructions for how to deal with lock-ups of radio-altimeter No. 1. This proposal, which would supersede an existing directive (AD 2010-02-02), was issued as a result of an MCAI originated by the European Aviation Safety Agency.
