Start-up company KinectAir has launched an on-demand regional flight network in the Pacific Northwest, allowing customers to use a smartphone app to order a flight from their nearest airfield to anywhere within a 1,000-mi. radius, the company said.
The U.S. Civil Air Patrol (CAP) has signed a purchase contract for 17 Cessna aircraft with Textron Aviation, including 11 Skyhawk 172S, five Skylane 182T and one Turbo Stationair HD T206HD aircraft.
Business aviation flight activity in May regained one-third of its losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with flight activity rising 84% from April figures, according to Argus International.
Desert Jet Holdings co-owner James McCool has acquired sole ownership of Desert Jet’s aircraft management, charter, maintenance and fixed base operations, from founder and co-owner Denise Wilson.
The longtime dismantlement of Triumph Group is about to explode further, with the company collapsing about three dozen sites to nine, workforce cuts of more than 4,000, the sale of aerostructures programs and other actions in the wake of COVID-19.
Business aviation activity worldwide fell 52.9% during the first 26 days of May compared to a year ago, bringing activity back to “half-normal,” WingX Advance said.
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted deliveries of business and general aviation aircraft during the first quarter of 2020, with deliveries down 20.9% compared to a year ago and declines in every aircraft category, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association.
Citiking International is asking a bankruptcy court to reject a request by the unsecured creditors of One Aviation to convert the company’s Chapter 11 restructuring to a Chapter 7 liquidation, citing complications due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
New York-based commuter airline Southern Airways Express, has launched new service by seaplane from the New York/Manhattan area to East Hampton, Montauk, and Shelter Island, New York.
Sales of business and general aviation avionics during the first three months of 2020 declined 8.8% from the same period a year ago, ending a streak of 12 consecutive quarters of increased year-over-sales.
Business jet inventories rose 4% in May compared to a year ago, with 1,823 jets for sale, or 7.7% of the total fleet, including all models and vintages, while pricing declined 12%, according to Jefferies.
The satellite operator Intelsat announced May 13 that it has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of a financial restructuring to free up liquidity and continue operations while it awaits repayment from the government from an auction of C-band spectrum.
The COVID-19 pandemic may create momentum in the light business jet segment should it lead to what some expect will be an increase in passengers turning to private aviation.
Worldwide business aviation activity fell 58% in the first two weeks of May compared to a year ago, an improvement from the 70% drop in traffic in April, according to WingX Advance.
As many as a fifth of lower-tier suppliers in aerospace and defense could exit the sector over the next 18 months as COVID-19 disrupts the commercial aviation market and hurts the defense industrial base, seasoned supply chain experts have told Aviation Week.
As grim as the current situation is for companies across the aerospace sector, there are grounds for cautious optimism that business aviation may be better placed to bounce back quickly than other parts of the air travel ecosystem.
April business aviation activity in North America fell more than 71% from a year ago, with fractional activity and large jet activity down the most with an 80% drop in both categories, according to Argus International.
The unsecured creditors of the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based One Aviation and related debtors have asked the court to convert the company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring case to a Chapter 7 liquidation, according to a May 8 court filing.
