KURT EDWARDS was appointed as director general of the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC). Edwards joins IBAC with a strong policy background, previously holding roles with the FAA International Affairs and Environment Offices. He also led FAA outreach while based in Brussels and Paris, as well as at ICAO on environmental matters. Edwards replaces Donald Spruston, the previous director general who held the role since 1999.
A significant portion of the FAA budget will be exempt from mandatory sequestration cuts, set to take effect on Jan. 3, according to data released late Friday by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB). An Aviation Week analysis of the report shows that 30% of the FAA’s operations account is exempt, a large percentage compared with exemptions applied to other government agencies.
AG US TA Model AB139 and AW139 helicopters with a certain wire strike protection system (WSPS) top cable cutter assembly installed [Docket No. FAA-2012-0886; Directorate Identifier 2008-SW-067-AD] – proposes to require reworking or replacing the top cable-cutter assembly to increase clearance between the WSPS and the M/R blades This proposed AD is prompted by a report of in-flight contact between the top cable cutter assembly and two main rotor (M/R) blades.
While industry indicators appear to be at their strongest in a long time – deliveries are up, the used aircraft market is improving and the North America market has ticked up – industry analyst JP Morgan is cautioning that deliveries are poised to flatten during the remainder of the year and recovery is “not yet imminent.”
A senior Transportation Security Administration official maintains that TSA is “aggressively pursuing” the release of a final repair station rule, but cannot give any guarantees that it will by out by yearend. TSA Administrator John Pistole earlier this year had told industry leaders TSA hoped to get the rule out by the end of the year, but Deputy Administrator John Halinski told the House transportation security subcommittee last week that he can’t give a timeline.
House lawmakers are faulting the Transportation Security Administration for dragging its feet on significant rulemakings and other initiatives covering repair station security, the Large Aircraft Security Program (LASP) and flight student vetting, among others. In a report released by the majority staff of the House Committee on Homeland Security’s transportation security panel, the lawmakers note, “TSA has become infamous for publishing notices of proposed rulemaking but later failing to issue final rules in an expeditious manner.”
Airlines for America (A4A) is reorganizing its communications department to “better align our people and resources against the work in A4A ’s strategic plan and our public relations and media relations campaign for a National Airline Policy,” the U.S. trade group says in a message to members. The move results in the departure of Vice President-Communications Steven Lott, who joined the group at the beginning of 2011, and Managing Director of Communications Kimberly Roberts, who has been with the association for 16 years.
RUAG Aviation has sold a Dornier 228NG to an unidentified Asian customer, and plans to deliver the aircraft with a passenger configuration in the second half of next year. This deal, unveiled at the 2012 ILA Berlin air show, brings to six the number of orders RUAG has received for the type since launching production of the upgraded aircraft two years ago. At the end of August, RUAG delivered a Dornier 228NG to Germany’s naval squadron 3 “Graf Zeppelin” in Nordholz.
A Dassault Falcon 20 jet owned by the National Research Council of Canada will be the first civil jet to fly on 100% biofuel meeting petroleum jet fuel specifications. Tests to date have typically used a 50-50 blend of biofuel and regular kerosene jet fuel. The ReadiJet fuel, derived from mustard oilseeds, is made by Applied Research Associates (ARA) and Chevron Lummus Global (CLG). The two companies announced the tests at the ILA Berlin Air Show, where they are exhibiting in the Alternative Aviation Fuels Pavilion. The fuel was made under contract to the U.S.
At least one U.S. senator has placed a hold on a bill that would prohibit U.S. operators from participating in the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS), preventing a vote on the contentious issue. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va) says the committee provided “broad support” for the bill. Still, “a couple of people don’t like it,” Rockefeller tells Aviation Week. “One of them might be holding it up.”
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) hired Jena Longo to serve as director of communications. Longo has been deputy communications director for the Senate Commerce Committee since 2009, where she handled press operations for aviation and other issue areas. She also has served as communications director for the Government Affairs Office of Clear Channel Communications, and has served in the offices of former Sens. John Breaux (D-La.) and Ben Nelson (R-Colo.).
Signature Flight Support Sept. 19 is planning to hold a grand opening ceremony of its new facility at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. The ceremony comes less than a week after Signature broke ground on a new terminal at Palm Beach International Airport that will be dedicated to NetJets. Signature and NetJets announced a year ago that they had signed an agreement for a terminal that would be solely for NetJets’ use. The facility will be customized to NetJets’ specification and its owner preferences.
Competition in business aviation's ultra-long-range and super-midsize segments heated up as Gulfstream Aerospace earned FAA type certification for its 7,000-nm-range G650 on Sept. 7, just days after receiving FAA and CAA Israel certification for the 3,600-nm-range G280. Both aircraft are positioned at the top of their respective classes, but the market potential for each appears to be markedly different.
Francesco Caio Title: CEO, Avio Age: 55 Birthplace: Naples, Italy Education: Engineering degree from Milan Politecnico and MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.
The retirement of the last Concorde in October 2003 was good news in Wichita, since it transferred the title of World's Fastest Civilian Aircraft to the swept-wing Citation X, a coup for Cessna, whose earlier jets suffered years of jeers as '“Slowtations.” When Gulfstream announced that its new Mach 0.925 G650 would take speed honors, then-Cessna Chairman Jack Pelton said the Citation had more to give and would.
There's a commonly held notion that Bill Lear was the last person to launch a successful, start-from-scratch company that builds FAA-certified aircraft. That's erroneous, as evidenced by rotaryman Frank Robinson, founder of his own eponymous outfit. But he's certainly the exception. As is Alan Klapmeier, who co-founded Cirrus Aircraft with his brother, Dale, in 1984.
The FAA says its troubled en route automation modernization (ERAM) program is back on course, although a government watchdog says there are still large numbers of glitches with the new system that could again derail progress. ERAM is operating in some capacity at nine of the FAA’s 20 en route centers, with five of the nine using it as their prime air traffic control system, FAA Acting Administrator Michael Huerta told lawmakers at a congressional oversight hearing. He says the agency is on track to complete the operational rollout at all centers by 2014.
While the White House’s proposal for a $100-per-flight air traffic control user charge has gained little traction on Capitol Hill, House General Aviation Caucus co-chairman and outspoken user fee opponent Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) still plans to fully air concerns surrounding user fee proposals during a House Small Business Committee hearing scheduled for Sept. 12.
RUAG Aviation has sold a Dornier 228NG to an unidentified Asian customer, and plans to deliver the aircraft with a passenger configuration in the second half of next year. This deal, unveiled at the 2012 ILA Berlin air show, brings to six the number of orders RUAG has received for the type since launching production of the upgraded aircraft two years ago. At the end of August, RUAG delivered a Dornier 228NG to Germany’s naval squadron 3 “Graf Zeppelin” in Nordholz.
AMAC Aerospace celebrated the inauguration of its new hangar on Friday, 7 September when it held the official opening during this year's Airex event, held at Istanbul Atatürk Airport.
U.S. lawmakers soon will have to address privacy issues raised by the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in domestic airspace, a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report says. “The prospect of drone use inside the United States raises far-reaching issues concerning the extent of government surveillance authority, the value of privacy in the digital age, and the role of Congress in reconciling these issues,” says the report, “Drones in Domestic Surveillance Operations: Fourth Amendment Implications and Legislative Responses.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently opened a facility at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport. Signature Flight Support, which worked with Yellowstone authorities to bring the Customs service to the airport, celebrated the facility’s opening on Sept. 7. The office is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays, but appointments can be arranged outside those hours. Signature Flight Support Bozeman/Yellowstone Jet Center will be able to coordinate clearances with the CBP.
