The FAA plans to publish all future regulatory documents in ``plain English'' to help the aviation community better understand its rules and regulations. The initiative was one result of an FAA/University of Michigan survey of 260 randomly selected commercial pilots, the agency says. According to the survey's results, pilots gave the FAA high marks in the areas of air traffic services and pilot certification, but stressed the need for clarity and standardization of regulations and policies.
With production of the Gulfstream V and Global Express in full swing, Gulfstream and Bombardier are now playing catch-up on aircraft completions. Bombardier announced agreements with the United Kingdom's Marshall Aerospace and The Jet Center of Van Nuys, Calif., to handle Global Express completions. Each facility is contracted to complete four aircraft this year, which, when combined with existing Bombardier facilities in Montreal and Tucson, will increase completion output to 46 aircraft annually.
. . . when taken in moderation. Sen. John McCain may well come into the fold. The worm turns? Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. As such, his influential panel has jurisdiction over a broad range of business including telecommunications and transportation. Sen. McCain is no friend of business aviation, seeking to tax us out of our brookies and make the Trust Fund pay for the whole flippin' FAA, whose fiscal aberrations are . . . I was going to say laughable, but it ain't funny. User fees?
New software from Aircraft Technical Publishers (ATP) is designed to simplify access to aircraft maintenance information. ATP's Maintenance Director 2.4 enables users to view and update maintenance records from remote sites. Files are electronically transferred to and from aircraft base and remote facilities. The company also has introduced Learjet Maintenance Libraries on CD-ROM. Available by subscription, the Learjet CD-ROM library is faster and easier to maintain than paper or microfiche libraries.
Photograph: The former GTE hangars at Beverly Airport, now operated by North Atlantic Air, Inc. North Atlantic Aero North Atlantic Air, a full-service FBO located at Beverly Airport (BVY) near Boston, has assumed the lease for the large hangar complex vacated when GTE relocated its flight department to Texas. Built to house three Gulfstream IVs, the two hangars offer 36,000 square feet of space, with ``complete amenities'' for passengers, crew and maintenance personnel. Ideally, North Atlantic would like to rent the space to turbine operators.
Chalk's International -- which bills itself as the world's oldest airline -- has re-launched as Chalk's Ocean Airways. The carrier will operate six daily roundtrips between the commuter airline terminal at Fort Lauderdale International Airport and the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Chalk's, which has been through a series of owners in recent years including casino titans Merv Griffin and Donald Trump, has refurbished two Grumman 73Ts for the service, with plans to have six turbine Mallards operating by the end of the year.
The NTSB is ``stretched to the limit'' and must make urgent changes to ensure its independence and integrity, according to a study by The Rand Corp., a California-based think tank. Commissioned by NTSB Chairman Jim Hall in 1999, the $400,000 study is said to provide the most comprehensive examination of the agency in its 30-year history. More than 200 interviews were conducted, along with accident case studies, site visits and a review of aircraft accident litigation.
Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings, parent of United Express and Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Coast Airlines, announced the retirement of Chairman C. Edward Acker. President and CEO Kerry Skeen becomes chairman and CEO while Executive Vice President and COO Thomas Moore is named president. Acker will remain on the board of directors.
Wayne, Pa.-based aircraft component manufacturer Triumph Group acquired Lee Aerospace of Wichita. Lee manufactures windshields and windows for corporate and general aviation aircraft.
The ``critical design review'' for Fairchild Aerospace's proposed 728JET has begun, bringing the 105-seat aircraft another step closer to reality. Fairchild says equipment for the new aircraft will include General Electric CF34 turbofan engines, Honeywell Primus Epic avionics, BFGoodrich tires and brakes, a Hamilton Sundstrand electrical system and an APU from AlliedSignal, now Honeywell.
Continental Express has named James Ream as its new president, replacing David Siegel, who left the airline to become president and COO of the Budget Group. Ream most recently served as Continental's senior vice president-Asia.
Aircraft Weight and Balance Handbook is not only the FAA's first revised book on the subject since 1977, but also signifies a change in who is expected to use the book. Originally titled Pilot's Weight and Balance Handbook, the new publication is now targeted to flight crews as well as aviation maintenance technicians (AMTs). Both groups will benefit from the presentation of basic weight and balance principles, while AMTs will find the book useful in understanding how repairs and alterations may change an aircraft's weight and c.g.
If you fly a light aircraft, John T. Lowry, Ph.D.'s new book may help you better understand how it performs, why it flies the way it does and how to use that information to improve your piloting. Performance of Light Aircraft takes readers through a series of flight maneuvers to determine how best to fly an individual aircraft by using what Dr. Lowry calls the ``Bootstrap Approach.'' He says his techniques generate results that are more accurate than the pilot's operating handbook. Price: $64.95 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
The NTSB has asked the FAA to require all occupants of single-engine aircraft to wear life preservers on commercial flights performed out of gliding distance from land. According to the recommendation, operators also would be required to brief passengers on ditching procedures and the proper use of flotation devices. Between 1983 and 1996, 21 people lost their lives in 29 accidents caused by single-engine failures over water.
A British Aerospace ATP regional airliner operated by SATA Air Azores crashed in hilly terrain on Sao Jorge on December 11, 1999, killing all 35 persons aboard. Sao Jorge is one of nine islands that form the Azores, which are located around 900 miles west of Portugal.
Mesa Air Group and Bombardier have settled their long-running legal dispute over aircraft financing, trade-ins and options. Bombardier has agreed to pay Mesa $4 million in cash, plus payments totaling $5 million over the next eight months. Mesa operates 52 Bombardier aircraft (30 CRJs and 22 Dash 8s), and has two CRJs on order.
With a glut of available aviation jobs and a dearth of qualified candidates, companies are going to greater and more expensive lengths to attract new employees. While employers continue to use their own staff and local newspaper advertising to recruit employees, they're also turning increasingly to headhunters, career fairs and the Internet.
Charles Henderson has opened Henderson Jet Services, a custom avionics installation facility specializing in corporate aircraft, based at Dallas Love Field.
