AVCARD's contract to provide aviation credit cards to U.S. military and federal agency aircraft has been extended for another five years through the end of 2004. The company also announced that AVCARD will now be accepted at Chevron Point-of-Sale machines. Chevron dealers previously processed AVCARD sales manually.
Chautauqua Airlines will operate at least 15 Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets under TWA's flight code under a 10-year agreement between the two airlines. All 15 of the 50-seat RJs are expected to be in service at TWA's St. Louis hub by the end of 2001, and Chautauqua parent Wexford Air Holdings retains options on 15 additional ERJ-145s. TWA says the contract will not affect its long-standing relationship with Trans States Airlines, or Chautauqua's US Airways Express contract.
While it's far too soon to speculate on causes, the crash of SunJet's Learjet 35 carrying pro golfer Payne Stewart and five other passengers and crew has created a heightened awareness of pressurization system problems, emergency procedures and high-altitude physiology.
At its annual International Air Safety Seminar (IASS) in Rio de Janeiro, the Flight Safety Foundation presented awards for people and organizations contributing to air safety. Winners included our own Dick Aarons for his coverage of aviation safety topics, Air BP for contributions to the ``ramp safety environment'' and Dr. Leonard M. Green, president of Safe Flight Instrument Corp. and inventor of such devices as the stall warning indicator and an airborne wind-shear warning system. Other winners: FAA inspector Charles T.
The NBAA is offering a two-video package designed to help members fight fatigue. Designed for all employees, the first video -- ``Managing Fatigue to Improve Flight Safety'' -- presents scenarios that illustrate the negative effects of fatigue. The second video -- ``Corporate Management's Role in Aviation Fatigue'' -- targets managers. The package is available to NBAA members for $30; non-members can buy it for $50. For more information, visit www.nbaa.org.
An FBO has filed a complaint with the FAA, alleging that Memphis' airport authority has consistently favored the expansion plans of its sole competitor. According to Wilson Air Center founder Bob Wilson, the airport is resisting his efforts to expand, while Signature Flight Support has been allowed to effectively double its size.
RTS Services of Fort Worth has been named Southeastern marketing representative for Rolls-Royce Allison 250 and AlliedSignal T53 turbine engine and component repairs and overhauls by Orenda AeroTech. RTS Rework announced two new FAA-approved repair procedures. One is 100-percent vane replacement for Allison 250 engines; the other uses metal polishing to extend the service life of gears and other components on a variety of turbine engines.
General aviation manufacturers delivered 1,692 aircraft during the first three quarters of this year, up from the 1,492 units shipped during the same period in 1998. Jet deliveries increased 26.2 percent, with 352 aircraft shipped, compared with 279 jets delivered during the first nine months of 1998. Total billings during the three quarters reached $5.5 billion, surpassing last year's figure of $3.9 billion, a 41.6-percent increase.
On the 31st of this month, Cessna Chairman and CEO Russell W. Meyer, Jr., will turn over the day-to-day operations of that company to Vice Chairman Gary W. Hay, thus closing one of the most successful leadership tenures in the history of general aviation management. ``But I am not ready for the rocking chair yet,'' says Meyer in his resonant baritone and wearing his trademark grin.
Continental Airlines Chairman and CEO Gordon Bethune has called for the ``immediate reform'' of the U.S. air traffic control system, and urged the federal government to consider privatization as a viable solution.
Aviation entrepreneur Steven Udvar-Hazy, founder of International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC), will donate $60 million over the next four years to the National Air and Space Museum's new facility at Dulles Airport.
In what may be the largest e-commerce transaction in the history of the Internet, Gulfstream Aerospace sold a used G-IV via its Web site to Elite Aviation of Van Nuys, Calif. Value of the transaction: $22.9 million. Gulfstream began marketing preowned aircraft on the Internet in June.
B/CA obtained a copy of a DOT/FAA draft revising procedures for PDCs. The draft, dated October 21, 1999, issues new procedures for issuing departure clearances. Listed as 7110.113A, it states that flight plans that have revisions or amendments will not be sent via PDC. Additionally, local procedures and responsibilities for handling PDCs will be developed to include a review of proposed clearances received via the Terminal Data-Link System to ensure accuracy and route integrity.
Boeing hopes the U.S. Air Force will choose its Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) as a replacement for the aging Boeing and Douglas narrowbodies now used to transport senior commanders. ``The defense budget has approval for VIP airplanes for the Commander-in-Chief [CINC] Central support contract, but no RFP [request for proposal] has been made,'' says Fred L. Kelley, spokesman for the BBJ program. ``We know there is room for some leases, and at least one outright purchase, and we want to be considered.''
Pilot error caused the August 6,1997 crash of a Korean Air Lines Boeing 747-300 on Guam, according to the NTSB. In its final report on the Flight 801 accident, which killed 228 of the 254 people aboard, the Safety Board said the captain failed to adequately brief and execute the non-precision approach, and the first officer and flight engineer failed to effectively monitor the captain's performance.
Fast aircraft will be the theme of next summer's (July 26-August 1) Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) gathering in Oshkosh, Wis. Pilots attending the event will be encouraged to set records for their particular type and category of aircraft as they wing their way to the fly-in event. The EAA says it plans to work closely with the National Aeronautic Association, which maintains U.S. data for the Federation Aeronautique International, a France-based group that officiates over aviation record-setting.
The AOPA Air Safety Foundation has published a new ``safety advisor'' on icing sponsored by the FAA's Flight Safety Research Section in Atlantic City, N.J. The 16-page booklet has the latest statistics on icing-related accidents, describes pilot actions for dealing with icing encounters, and specifies aircraft icing certification requirements. For more information, go to www.aopa.org/asf/publications.
About 31,000 attendees wearing raincoats or hoisting bumbershoots sloshed through the daily downpours in Atlanta to reach the humongous aviation arena called the Georgia World Congress Center. Four escalators and a brisk 10-minute walk brought you to the appetite-whetting exhibit hall, a daunting pedestrian challenge. Cliff Notes: -- Piero Ferrari, vice chairman of Piaggio Industries, came with a new king-size Piaggio Avanti to take a second swing
Williams International has produced its 1,000th FJ44 turbofan, seven years after the first production engine was installed on a Cessna CitationJet aircraft. Since then, Ogden, Utah-based Williams has delivered 715 FJ44-1 engines to Cessna, and another 245 FJ44-1C engines for the re-engining of Sweden's SK60 trainer. The FJ44-1 produces 1,900 pounds of thrust; a growth variant producing 2,300 pounds of thrust will power the stretched CJ2 variant of the CitationJet, Raytheon's Premier I and the Sino Swearingen SJ30-2.
Cessna is looking to fill the gaps between its piston single, Caravan turboprop and Citation business jet product lines, and is studying the market potential of piston twins, single-turboprops and ``everything in between,'' according to company spokesperson Jennifer Whitlow. Advances in powerplant and materials technology have widened Cessna's options, and more than one new aircraft is likely to be developed, she says.
Boston's Logan International Airport could be the main operational hub for ACJet, the new Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA) subsidiary that will fly under Delta Air Lines' code. Supporting this theory is American Airlines' recent assimilation of former Boston-hubbed Delta Connection carrier Business Express, and Delta's recent decision to spend $335 million on refurbishing Logan's Terminal A, which was last renovated in the 1970s.
Edited by Paul RichfieldDavid Rimmer, in Atlantic City
The AOPA's Expo '99 in Atlantic City drew the usual mix of pilots, airplanes, regulators and equipment vendors --plus something unusual: the ire of the host city's mayor. While most mayors welcome the revenue generated by nearly 10,000 visiting conventioneers, Atlantic City's James Whalen apparently took exception to AOPA officials' comments on the sorry state of Bader Field, location of the Expo's static display. In response, the city reportedly arranged a surprise visit from the fire
