While not yet officially Beechcraft Corp. as we go to press, the newly forming company that is emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection already has received a rating on expected new debt. Moody's Investor Service assigned a B1 corporate family rating to Beechcraft Holdings, LLC on a proposed $375 million term loan that will be used as part of its financing to exit from Chapter 11. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on Feb. 1 confirmed Hawker Beechcraft's reorganization plan, clearing the way for the company to emerge from bankruptcy.
The NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention will now be called the Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (BACE). “NBAA's largest U.S. show has been referred to as an 'annual meeting' [since its 1947 inception], but in recent decades, it has grown in size and importance to be much more than just a meeting, and this change reflects that reality,” says NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. At the same time, Bolen says the change strengthens the brand for all NBAA-related shows. While the U.S.
Most FBOs should experience steady growth in business in the range of 4-6% in 2013, said John Enticknap a principal of Aviation Business Strategies Group (ABSG), at the 2013 NBAA Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference. “The FBO industry has not fully recovered from the economic downturn over the past several years,” Enticknap said. “Yes, 2012 was a better year than 2011, but there has been a modest shakeout of FBOs who had been operating marginally.
Dubai World Central (DWC) has signed an MOU with Aircraft Support Industries (ASI), the Australian firm that specializes in developing aircraft maintenance facilities, systems and equipment, to jointly provide clients with build-to-suit and related services in the design, development and construction of aircraft hangar and maintenance facilities at DWC's Aviation District.
Etihad Airways, which currently is in talks to purchase a stake in Jet Airways, has acquired the Indian carrier’s three pairs of slots at London Heathrow Airport. Under the deal, which is valued at $70 million, Jet will lease the slots from Etihad and continue to operate services to London.
Struggling Kingfisher Airlines’ hopes of making a phased restart were dashed further after India’s government decided to withdraw the carrier’s international route authority and domestic slots and allot them to other Indian carriers. “These traffic rights have been withdrawn with immediate effect on account of non-utilization by the airline,” says an official at India’s Civil Aviation Ministry.
FAA is formally placing significant emphasis on privacy concerns regarding its congressional mandate to stand up test sites for domestic unmanned air systems (UAS) and to integrate the aircraft into the national airspace. In a Feb. 21 Federal Register notice, FAA Chief Counsel Kathryn Thomson said allegations of wrongdoing could cost interested parties their certification. “Should criminal or civil charges be filed by the U.S.
SEAN COLLINS was named eastern regional manager for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). Collins will work with local and state governments and aviation communities on behalf of AOPA in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia. One of seven AOPA regional managers, Collins joined the association in 2007 and previously served as manager of the Pilot Information Center.
Sequestration would force the closure of 100 low-capacity air traffic control towers and end the midnight shift at 60 more, a joint letter from the heads of the FAA and Transportation Department details. The Feb. 22 letter to a number of industry groups, including the National Business Aviation Association and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, also says the FAA would have to furlough almost every one of its 47,000 employees two days each month should Congress allow the mandatory budget cuts to take effect on March 1.
Honeywell is fine-tuning a civil helicopter-specific combined vision system based on a recent flight test campaign that evaluated fused synthetic vision and enhanced vision technologies for the primary flight displays of higher-end helicopters.
Encouraged by progress the Part 23 Aviation Rulemaking Committee is making in potential improvements to the certification process, industry leaders are hoping to expand that effort to other arenas. General Aviation Manufacturers Association President and CEO Pete Bunce says the association is working with the helicopter community to apply some of the lessons of the Part 23 rewrite to Part 27 covering certification rules for light helicopters. These efforts are designed, Bunce says, to get new safety technology into helicopters faster.
BRIAN ATKINSON was promoted to sales director for Flexjet. Formerly a sales associate with the fractional aircraft ownership provider, Atkinson will be responsible for sales of fractional jet ownership, jet cards and charter brokerage services in the Chicago region. He joined the company in March 2011.
Mid-Canada Mod Center (MC2) in Mississauga, Ontario, was selected as a dealer for satellite communications provider Satcom Direct. Satcom Direct provides a range of communications technologies and services for business, military and general aviation customers, along with land mobile and maritime customers.
Fractional ownership provider Flight Options, finishing a year in which sales picked up 30%, is finding that this momentum has continued into 2013 and sales are stronger than expected, company executives say. Sales improved as the company launched its Jet Membership Club, attracting new clients. But fractional sales – which have struggled industrywide – also improved during the year, says Matt Doyle, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Flight Options.
