Stratos Aircraft, based in Redmond, Oregon, has announced the first flight of its Stratos 716X single-engine very light jet.

Textron Aviation told employees July 14 that it plans to lay off about 800 employees in Kansas, mostly at its facilities here.

The COVID-19 pandemic that forced the National Business Aviation Association to cancel its annual 2020 Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition is the latest in a series of event terminations this year for the organization that potentially involve millions of dollars in lost revenue.

In a change of senior leadership at Duncan Aviation, Jeff Lake, formerly Duncan Aviation’s chief operating officer at its Lincoln, Nebraska, facility, has assumed the role of president from Aaron Hilkemann, now Duncan’s part-time CEO and chairman of Duncan Aviation’s board of advisors.

Recovery in business aviation activity is being led by the U.S., with the country’s business jet and turboprop activity during the two weeks leading up to July 9 at 85% of the normal levels for the period, according to data from WingX. 

Bombardier has delivered its 350th Challenger 350 business jet, a milestone reached six years after the first aircraft entered service in 2014. 

Jet Linx Aviation has acquired Meridian’s aircraft management and air charter business based at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, which includes 23 long-range and short-range business aircraft. 

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) has launched a new effort to help the business aviation industry get back to work following the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.