Business Aviation

The U.S. Transportation Department has reconstituted the FAA’s Drone Advisory Committee (DAC) and scheduled a June 6 meeting of the high-level advisory group.

Pratt & Whitney Canada is now running five PW812D development engines for the fast-paced Dassault Falcon 6X program and says certification of the PW815G-configured Gulfstream G600 is imminent.

Embraer is working to expand its business jet lineup even before the ink is dry on the certification of its brand new super midsize Praetor 600.

Bombardier Business Aircraft is updating its Challenger 350 super midsize jet.

The Bombardier first production Global 6500 business jet has moved into the company’s completion center in Montreal.

Bombardier Aerospace has unveiled the new Nuage chaise lounge at its exhibit at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Geneva.

Autonomy in an F-16; urban air traffic management; eVTOLs in Paris; Perlan aims for 90,000 ft.; personnel-rescue eVTOLs.

Deliveries of general aviation aircraft rose an average of 14.5% in the first quarter of 2019 with the largest increase coming in the piston market.

First flight of the Airbus E-Fan X hybrid-electric hybrid-regional aircraft demonstrator has slipped into 2021, from 2020.

In Europe, manufacturers of business aircraft have to be creative to thrive in an often uncertain market.

RATP Group, the company running Paris’ public transport system, has signed agreements with Airbus to study the use of urban air mobility systems in the city.

The FAA on May 16 announced changes to operating rules for recreational drones.

Aircraft manufacturer Pilatus posted 2018 sales revenue of 1.092 billion Swiss francs ($1.08 billion).

ASL-JetNetherlands has announced the signing of a contract with Liège Airport in Belgium for construction and operation of a hangar and bizav terminal.

An urban air traffic management (UATM) system is needed to bridge the gap between conventional air traffic control and future autonomous ATM, EmbraerX says.

The CEO of urban mobility startup Volocopter will join UK Parliament member Grant Shapps to open the 2019 European Business Aviation Association Conference & Exhibition.

Assembly of the first production AW609 civil tiltrotor has begun at Leonardo Helicopters’ plant here, but certification could slip into 2020.

With a focus on range and speed, Lilium’s eVTOL concept targets metro and intercity markets.

Jet Linx Aviation, a private jet management company, continued its expansion efforts with the acquisition of Elliott Aviation’s private jet management business.

DOT plans to distribute $779 million in supplemental funding for infrastructure grants to 127 airports across all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

Brazilian jet maker Embraer, which is spinning off most of its commercial aircraft business to Boeing, missed Wall Street’s expectations for the first quarter of 2019.

Stephen Dickson, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for FAA administrator, defended the FAA’s practice of delegating certain safety and certification functions to manufacturers, telling lawmakers the agency’s Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) program has “allowed regulators to get much more efficiency and add more safety value than just throwing extra resources at it.”

Over the next 10 years, Europe’s business aviation fleet is expected to grow from 3,725 aircraft today to nearly 5,020, a compound annual growth rate of 3.4%.

Ron Draper was appointed president and CEO of Textron Aviation in October.

Inventories of used business aircraft for sale declined across the board, except for piston aircraft, during the first quarter of 2019, while sales were down 25%, JetNet says.