The FAA has proposed new rules designed to prevent the ignition of aircraft fuel tanks. An offshoot of the TWA Flight 800 crash probe, the Special FAR (SFAR) sets new certification standards for aircraft fuel tanks, calls for design reviews of existing fuel tanks, and requires operators to develop fuel tank maintenance and inspection programs. Around 6,000 aircraft with 30 seats or more are affected, and the FAA expects the initiative to cost operators, manufacturers and other interested parties $170 million over 10 years.
Few things are as dangerous, or as much of a pain in the butt, as a member of Congress with a little bit of information and a desire to make a splash with his new-found knowledge. The latest case in point is Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the ``Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem.''
Sometimes the simple stuff is simply not simple. Take pre-departure clearances (PDCs), for example. Prior to PDCs, getting a departure clearance at a congested airport could be a frustrating exercise that occasionally degenerated into a verbal fistfight on frequency. The result was a jammed frequency and short tempers. At some point, the controller sentenced to work the frequency would testily broadcast something to the effect, ``ALL RIGHT. EVERYONE! GET OFF THE FREQUENCY! DON'T CALL ME! I WILL CALL YOU!'' There had to be a better way.
Sales of new corporate aircraft will rise 3.3 percent in 2000 despite higher prices, according to The CIT Group, a New Jersey-based aircraft financier. In its fourth annual Corporate Aviation Outlook, The CIT Group says continued economic expansion, the need for business travel and the growth of fractional ownership are driving this trend.
Flight instructors at the Daytona Beach, Fla., campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) have agreed to a new labor contract. The three-year deal affects 80 full-time, part-time and hourly paid CFIs, who will see their average hourly wage increase from its present level of $10.63 per hour to $16.51 per hour at the end of the contract period. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers represents ERAU's Daytona instructors, while CFIs at the school's Prescott, Ariz., campus are non-union.
Saying the nation's aviation system is ``in desperate need of change,'' Congressman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, announced an impasse in negotiations with the U.S. Senate on use of the Aviation Trust Fund. The impasse not only delays further discussion of the fund until 2000, but will also likely delay passage of a bill funding the FAA for the next fiscal year.
The Society of Automotive Engineers' Aviation Maintenance Committee will integrate the Airframe/Engine Maintenance and Repair (AEMR) Conference at 2000's World Aviation Congress in San Diego.
Aviation Employment Placement Service (A.E.P.S.) offers a number of services for job seekers and employers, including job listings, career fairs, background checks and a resume-posting service. Employment listings are divided by category, including sections for pilots, flight attendants, dispatchers, managers and maintenance. A.E.P.S. is used as a recruitment tool for various corporate operators, charter firms and airlines worldwide.
Three FAR Part 135 operators in Western Pennsylvania have pooled their resources to form a new company. Corporate Air Management, Davis Air and the charter business of Butler Air will now be known jointly as United Air Group (UAG). The new venture will remain at the Allegheny County Airport (AGC) in West Mifflin, Pa., just south of Pittsburgh. UAG will manage 22 aircraft, including four Hawkers, five Learjets and eight Citations.
Pilot union leaders from Continental Airlines told FAA Administrator Jane Garvey and Rep. John Duncan (R-Tenn.), chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee, that management routinely challenges its pilots over safety of flight issues. According to the Independent Association of Continental Pilots (IACP), pilot actions regarding weather and maintenance problems are often second-guessed, and a new policy requires them to clear all fuel purchases with management ahead of time.
What's music to pilots, is just plane noise to most everyone else. Almost 10 years in the making, the requirement that aircraft weighing more than 75,000 pounds meet Stage 3 noise requirements goes into effect in January 2000. The FAA expects the U.S. fleet to meet the requirement, and fortunately, all but a few business aircraft fall below the weight limit. However, the noise issue is not dead, and the January 1 cutoff by no means signals the end of noise issues and regulations.
Several announcements from Duncan Aviation: Duncan's Lincoln, Neb., facility received an STC for a Galaxy Aerospace SPX interior. The first unit is installed in the manufacturer's demo aircraft. Also at Lincoln, Duncan received FAA approval to perform 60- and 120-month landing gear inspections and restoration on Challengers, as well as APU Service Center status from Hamilton Sundstrand. The company also began construction of a sixth hangar at Lincoln Airport.
Effective January 1, 2000, all after-market support, including parts ordering, for Rolls-Royce 250 engines will be available through Aviall. Rolls-Royce says the deal will give operators faster access to parts and information and help eliminate ``manufacturing lead time.'' Information is available through Aviall's Web site (www.aviall.com) and its toll-free support line, 1-(800) AVIALL-1.
The FAA's long-awaited fractional ownership committee has begun meeting in Washington, D.C. to help the agency determine how best to regulate fractional operations. At issue is whether fractionals should continue to fall under FAR Part 91, the more restrictive Part 135 rules that apply to commercial operators, or a new set of regulations specifically written for the burgeoning industry.
Tulsa's Bizjet International and JetCorp of Chesterfield, Mo., have signed on to market and install the Lear Aft Fuselage Locker developed by Raisbeck Engineering. The locker adds baggage space for Learjet 30-series aircraft.
The National Air Transportation Association has published a manual providing aviation businesses with step-by-step instructions for dealing with aircraft accidents and incidents. Its Emergency Response Manual also provides information about aircraft security and suggested responses to bomb threats and hijackings. NATA has included a section devoted to working with the press and an appendix with copies of NTSB forms used in the event of an accident. Price: $25 for NATA members; $40 for non-members NATA 4226 King St.
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) is pushing for mandatory installation of GPWS on cargo and large propeller-driven aircraft flown by Canadian commercial operators. The subject arose during a recent Coroner's Inquest into a Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) accident that occurred last January on Mayne Island, British Columbia, which ALPA says could have been prevented had GPWS equipment been aboard the aircraft.
Even before World War II ended, forward-thinking aircraft builders were anticipating an era when the turbojet, which had been developed and flown initially on military aircraft in the late 1930s, would be used to propel commercial transports at unprecedented speeds, thus, dramatically reducing block travel time, particularly on long-range airline flights. The first milestone in that quest occurred 50 years ago when Britain's de Havilland D.H. 106 Comet, the world's first civil jetliner, took to the air on July 27, 1949.
The Chinese government has agreed to allow Hong Kong's Airport Authority (AA) to reduce aircraft parking and landing charges by 15 percent, effective January 1, 2000. According to the Hong Kong Digest, the AA will continue to pay for air traffic control and meteorology, but aircraft rescue and fire-fighting was seen to be ``required for public safety,'' so the government agreed to furnish its estimated $23.4 million budget for 1999-2000.
SkyWest Airlines President and CEO Jerry Atkin has been named chairman of the Regional Airline Association (RAA), a Washington, D.C.-based trade group. Atkin will replace Horizon Air President and CEO George Bagley, who served as RAA chairman for 1999. Andy Price, president of Commutair, was elected vice chairman, Tim Coon of Mesa Air Group was elected treasurer and Cape Air's Dan Wolf was re-elected as secretary. The RAA has three new members: Air Jamaica, Chicago Express and Scenic Airlines, bringing its membership to 60 airlines.
ACAS MOPS 7 (TCAS Change 7.0) equipment will be required for all aircraft with a 15,000-kg (33,000 lb) MTOW operating in European Civil Aviation Conference airspace after December 31. However, operators with TCAS II Change 6.04 avionics may apply for an exemption until March 31, 2001, if the
