Despite a year of turnover within the Transportation Security Administration’s General Aviation branch, TSA has slowly built up the number of approved gateways that provide direct access to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and has progressed on other initiatives to increase business aviation operations there.
OLIVIER ZUBER was named international sales manager for Africa for Dassault Aviation. Zuber formerly was Dassault Aviation’s Falcon marketing and business development manager for India. He joined the company in 2005 at the flight test center and then took a role in Customer Service before joining the New Delhi liaison office in 2011. In his new role, he will be based at the company’s Saint-Cloud, France headquarters.
Quest Aircraft Company recently handed over three of its Kodiak single turboprops to TAME AP Airlines. The aircraft will be used for passenger transport and eco-tourism in conjunction with the Ecuadorian Amazon Connectivity Project. The first aircraft is in Ecuador and the second two will arrive this month. The Kodiak has been certified in 14 countries, and Quest expects additional certifications this year.
FAA hopes to release a proposal later this year that would make permanent a requirement that helicopter operators use the New York North Shore Helicopter Route when flying near Long Island. FAA in July 2012 mandated operators to use the route, which previously had been voluntary. The controversial rulemaking drew protests from helicopter operators, who said it was completed under political pressure in an effort to appease local noise concerns.
Luxaviation, the European business aviation charter and management group, is continuing on its path of rapid growth through the acquisition of French charter and management company Unijet. The acquisition, completed through Luxaviation’s Belgian subsidiary Abelag, helps secure Luxaviation group’s position as one of the largest in Europe with a combined staff of 350 employees and 60 business aircraft.
Jan. 21-22, 2014—MRO Latin America, Windsor Atlantica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, www.aviationweek.com/events Jan. 30, 2014—National Business Aviation Association Regional Forum, Signature Flight Support, Boca Raton Airport, Boca Raton, Fla., www.nbaa.org Feb. 4-6, 2014—MRO Middle East, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, UAE, www.aviationweek.com/events Feb. 5-7, 2014—National Business Aviation Association Business Aircraft, Finance, Registration and Legal Conference, St. Pete Beach, Fla. www.nbaa.org
Jet Aviation Basel was awarded a contract to complete the interior of an Airbus Corporate Jet ACJ-A320 for an undisclosed head of state. The aircraft is scheduled to be delivered to Jet Aviation’s completions center in Basel, Switzerland in the third quarter 2014. The A320 will be fitted with a bedroom, bathroom, lounge and office areas, along with a large executive staff area. Jet Aviation, which has completed an aircraft for the client in the past, is currently consulting with the customer to complete the design detail.
FAA is asking a U.S. district court to dismiss a lawsuit by the city of Santa Monica, Calif., seeking control over Santa Monica Airport, saying the case is invalid because it exceeds a statute of limitations. The agency further argues that the city is bound by a post-World War II agreement (a 1948 Instrument of Transfer) that requires the continued operation of SMO as an airport, and that the city agreed with that assessment long ago in its own legal findings.
Bombardier and its landing gear provider used a cleaner type of hydraulic fluid than required during the certification testing of key components of the Challenger 300 nose wheel steering system, potentially masking failure modes. Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) revealed the finding in its final report on the runway excursion upon landing of a privately owned Challenger 300 at the Iqaluit Airport in Northeastern Canada on March 12, 2011.
FABIO REBELLO was named regional senior vice president, international sales, Florida and Latin America, for Gulfstream Aerospace. Rebello will be responsible for new and existing customers in Florida and Latin America, including the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and South America. He joins Gulfstream from Bombardier, where he had served as regional vice president of sales for Latin America since 2002. He had also served as regional sales director for South America for Raytheon Aircraft, and began his career in aviation as an engineer at Embraer.
A U.S. effort to provide public-private financing for NextGen equipage is making significant progress, with access to a fund specifically for general aviation users to be provided in the spring.
Louis Seno, who helped found and was the former president and CEO of Jet Support Services Inc. (JSSI) and a former trustee of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, has joined the university senior management team as vice president of corporation relations and government affairs. He will serve as a liaison between Embry-Riddle and the general aviation and aerospace industries, along with maintaining the university’s interests on Capitol Hill. Seno also remains chairman emeritus of JSSI and special advisor to the company’s board of directors.
A European Aviation Safety Agency draft rulemaking tackles a series of recommendations from accident investigators and working groups that call for beefed-up standards and maintenance practices for aircraft flight and data recorders (FDR).
EUROCOPTER DEUTSCHLAND Model EC135 P1, EC135 P2, EC135 P2+, EC135 T1, EC135 T2, EC135 T2+, and MBB-BK 117 C-2 [Docket No. FAA-2013-0340; Directorate Identifier 2010-SW-081-AD; Amendment 39-17630; AD 2013-21-06] – requires, for affected helicopters with a certain external mounted hoist system with boom support assembly installed, inspecting the boom for a crack and, if a crack exists, replacing the boom with an airworthy boom.
FAA communities pained last year by congressional gridlock and the long-feared effects of so-called sequestration budget cuts will benefit from a little more protection under the fiscal 2014 omnibus appropriations bill passed by Capitol Hill last week. The House passed the bill Jan. 15, followed by the Senate on Jan. 16.
Nextant appointed JetHQ as its sales agent for Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey and Lebanon, a move that the remanufacturer of Beechjet/Hawker 400 aircraft hopes will enable it to tap into some of the most active markets in the Middle East. Garett Jerde, managing director of JetHQ in Dubai, will work with Nextant on sales, marketing and customer service strategy in the region. JetHQ has brokered a range of aircraft, including Beechcraft, Hawker, Bombardier, Gulfstream and Agusta.
Moody’s cites risk in a planned loan that Atlantic Aviation is seeking for its $195 million acquisition of Galaxy Aviation, but says an improving operating environment this year should help offset that risk. Atlantic Aviation announced late last year that it had reached a deal to acquired five fixed-base operations from Galaxy Aviation for $195 million. The acquisition will provide Atlantic Aviation with a foothold in Florida, with four of the five Galaxy FBOs in the state. The fifth is located near Steamboat Springs, Colo.
ROLLS-ROYCE AE3007A series turbofans [Docket No. FAA-2009-0811Directorate Identifier 2008-NE-41-AD; Amendment 39-17715; AD 2013-26-06] – supersedes AD 2010-19-01, which required removing certain high-pressure turbine (HPT) stage 2 heels, or performing inspections on them, and reduced their approved life limits. This new AD clarifies the AE 3007A turbofan engine model applicability, further reduces the approved life limits of affected HPT stage 2 wheels, and eliminates the inspections required by the existing AD.
Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced a measure last week calling on the FAA to conduct a formal rulemaking if it plans to press forward with a policy requiring pilots and controllers with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more to undergo obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) testing. The bill, similar to a measure introduced in the House, comes as the agency evaluates potential changes to the policy that it put on hold late last year.
Bell Helicopter reached an agreement to sell 20 Bell 206L-4s to Air Medical Holdings Group (AMGH), which provides air ambulance services in the U.S. and internationally. The contract calls for deliveries to begin this year and continue through 2017, both replacing older aircraft already in service and expanding the existing fleet. Bell has been a longtime supplier for AMGH.
TAC Air, which had unsuccessfully battled to prevent the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport Authority (CMAA) from opening a second fixed-based operation at Chattanooga Airport (CHA) in Tennessee, has pulled out of the market and is setting its sights on expansion at other locations.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) added helicopter operations to this year’s “Most Wanted List” of transportation safety improvements, citing concerns that nearly 1,500 helicopters have crashed over the past decade. The 2014 list, released Jan. 16, continues to highlight general aviation safety, including a special focus on communication of weather hazards. The rest of the list mostly covers a range of safety concerns in other modes of transportation, and one general across-the-board safety concern involving occupant protection.
Despite a year of turnover within the Transportation Security Administration’s General Aviation branch, TSA has slowly built up the number of approved gateways that provide direct access to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) and has progressed on other initiatives to increase business aviation operations there.
