With the caveat that the year is by no means over yet, Boeing Business Jets presented its near end-of-term sales and delivery figures as the convention opened.
The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) has been strengthened considerably with its purchase of the for-profit Independent Fixed Base Operators Association (IFBOA), according to the head of the association.
The Cutter Aviation FBO chain based in Phoenix, Ariz., is restructuring its maintenance department with new personnel to better serve customers and enhance its marketability.
Comlux America, the Indianapolis-based completion and services center of the Comlux Group, is expanding its capabilities as a strategy to weather a slowdown in the VVIP single-aisle-aircraft-completions market.
Sheltair, a privately owned aviation development company operating 16 FBOs in North America, continues expansion efforts at properties in the states of New York and Florida.
With the court decision in October to recognize fractional operator Flexjet and sister company Flight Options as a single carrier under parent company Directional Aviation, Flexjet is growing fast as it adds pilots and planes under its own brands and service offerings.
The $43.5 million G500, Gulfstream’s long-awaited replacement for the $41 million G450, is making its NBAA debut only six months after its first flight.
AMAC is one of the busier cabin completion, refurbishment and MRO centers with three completion projects currently under way as well as three refurbishments.
Commuter Air Technology is taking orders – and offering show discounts – for its new CAT 350ME, a maximum-endurance King Air that can travel coast-to-coast or across the Atlantic nonstop with enhanced payload capabilities to boot.
Corporate Angel Network’s 49,000th and 49,001st cancer patients departed Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Oct. 27 for Angleton, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Aboard the flight operated by The Dow Chemical Co. were 54-year-old prostate cancer patient Richard Gremillion Jr., and his 74-year-old father, Richard Sr., who is being treated for the same condition. “After successful surgery in 2011, a recurrence appeared in January 2015,” said Richard Jr. “Chemo started in June and required frequent trips.
Over the next 10 years, Honeywell Aerospace is forecasting demand for up to 9,200 new business jet deliveries at a value of $270 billion, a decline of 3% to 5% in value over its 2014 forecast.
The famous mangled quotation attributed to the late New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra might apply to the tepid state of the FBO industry for this year and last. And yet, there are signs that this service industry is improving slowly but steadily in some quarters.
A new Hartzell Propeller five-blade, carbon-fiber, swept-tip prop will maximize performance of the 1,300-strong Pilatus PC-12 fleet and provide the foundation for a more far-reaching upgrade announced on the eve of this year’s show.
Sentient Jet president and CEO Andrew Collins joined the private aviation company in 2004. Founded in 1999 and privately held by Directional Aviation Capital, the jet card company has grown to more than 5,000 cardholders. That’s up from 4,000 to 4,500 last year. It is on track to capture $224 million in sales this year, a 15% increase over a year ago. Before being named president, Collins served as VP of revenue management for the company.
General Electric is launching a family of advanced turboprop (ATP) engines following its selection by Textron to power the company’s newly disclosed next-generation single-engine turboprop aircraft.
Evaluating the completion and refurbishment industry, Greenpoint Technologies sees “positive signs” with outfitted BBJ747-8s already being delivered to customers, and deliveries of completed BBJ787s expected to begin as early as next year.
Aerion Corporation has added new sales strength and some of the partners its needs to make its AS2, and hence supersonic business aviation, a commercial reality.
Gogo Business Aviation rolls into NBAA 2015 as it begins delivery of 650 Gogo inflight entertainment and connectivity systems to fractional giant NetJets.
Gogo (booth N1716 and Static Display) unveiled its new satellite-based 2Ku Internet to the media for the first time last week, and on two Boeing 737 test flights some passengers recorded download speeds faster than 22 megabits per second, though at times speeds were considerably slower, likely because many journalists tested streaming media at once.
In addition to swept props, Raisbeck’s King Air offerings include aft body strakes, enhanced leading edges, high flotation landing gear doors, and a ram air recovery system.
While Western observers believe the Chinese market for business aviation has all but collapsed under the weight of the government’s anti-corruption campaign, there is another side to the picture: Flying activity there might be at record levels.
