Boeing has selected Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) to develop and deliver an aircraft technician training program at Al Salam Aircraft, Co., a Saudi Arabian aircraft maintenance provider that Boeing partially owns. ERAU says the course will give 25 Saudis ``most of the training required for the FAA's airframe mechanic certificate.'' The goal is to create a Saudi-operated training program that will eliminate the need for Saudis to leave their country to receive aviation maintenance training.
The trustee for the defunct Western Pacific Airlines has filed a federal lawsuit against Mercury Air Group, seeking to recover alleged ``preferential payments'' of approximately $11.4 million. This amount represents cash Mercury received for fuel purchases in the 90 days prior to WestPac's October 5, 1997 bankruptcy filing. Mercury describes the suit as ``without merit.'' WestPac allegedly owed Mercury more than $2 million for fuel when it ceased operations on February 5, 1998.
Executive Jet Management (EJM) has added four aircraft to its growing managed aircraft fleet. The aircraft include a Gulfstream IIB based in Oxford, Conn., and a Falcon 50 based in Islip, N.Y. A Cessna Citation V Ultra and a Citation V, both based in Cincinnati, will be used in support of the company's NetJets fractional ownership program. EJM plans to add 25 managed aircraft before year-end, and now manages 49 aircraft in 28 locations.
Shortly after Congress returned from its summer recess on September 8, work was to begin on ironing out the differences between the House and Senate versions of a bill to take the Aviation Trust Fund off budget. The resulting compromise legislation, if approved by both houses and signed by President Clinton, could clear the way for the release of billions of dollars that have been collected for aviation use but which have remained unspent for years.
Alliance Executive Charter Services, the former Business Jet Solutions Executive Air Charter, located at Love Field, added four aircraft to its nationwide charter fleet: a Learjet 35A, two Challenger 600s and a Citation Bravo based in Chicago; Atlanta; Marion, Ill.; and Cincinnati, respectively.
Dassault's Falcon 900C business jet has received FAA certification, two months after receiving French certification. The new aircraft is a follow-on to the Falcon 900B, and is equipped with the same Honeywell Primus 2000 avionics package offered on the long-range Falcon 900EX. Other items standard on the 900C include the Dual Laseref Inertial Reference System, EGPWS and turbulence -detection radar. The aircraft also has a dual-channel Cat II-approved autopilot, dual FMSes and Collins radios with flat-panel RTUs.
Bell Helicopter Textron is building a training and delivery center for the Bell/Agusta BA609 civil tiltrotor at Alliance Airport in Fort Worth. Bell claims 75 orders for the BA609 -- a six- to nine-passenger aircraft that combines a helicopter's takeoff, hover and landing capabilities with the speed and range of a conventional turboprop. The company plans to hire between 175 and 200 employees by year-end and begin deliveries of the BA609 in 2002.
Jet Quest (Boca Raton, Fla.) -- The top officers of this new company specializing in the sales, marketing, acquisition and brokerage of corporate aircraft are Don Richards, president, and Robin Richards, vice president.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is holding its annual convention at Atlantic City, N. J., this year, from October 21-23. Scheduled seminars will cover high altitude flying, GPS and bad weather hazards. The group also will emphasize aviation safety, medical issues and the financial considerations of aircraft ownership. Atlantic City International is the ``fly-in'' field, though a static display is planned for nearby Bader Field. Registration is available on site, or by calling 1-888-GO2-EXPO.
U.S. regional Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) will acquire seven additional ATR 72-210 aircraft, bringing its fleet to 19 of the type. While the deal awaits the execution of a lease agreement with manufacturer Avions de Transport Regional (ATR), deliveries are slated to begin in January 2000 and proceed through May. ASA recently revealed plans to replace its large Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia fleet with jets.
ARINC has released new versions of its SkySource WebASD and WebAirport flight-tracking services, which display real-time aircraft, airport and weather information using an Internet connection.
FAA (Washington, D.C.) -- Tony F. Fazio was appointed director of the office of rulemaking, with responsibility for developing national policies on rulemaking procedures and priorities.
A U.S.-registered Learjet 35A reportedly was shot down as it entered a no-fly zone near the town of Adwa, Ethiopia, on August 29, killing the two-man European crew. Newspaper accounts quoted an unnamed government spokesperson, who said all aircraft that pass through Ethiopian airspace must follow a ``designated civil aviation route'' due to the ongoing war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. According to the Jet&Propjet Corporate Directory, the aircraft, N350JF, was registered to Wilmington Trust Co.
The entire 10,000 feet of the south parallel runway at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is now available for use, following the completion of a 16-month reconstruction program. The $21 million project doubled the runway's thickness to 20 inches, and includes crushable concrete to prevent aircraft overruns. Now in widespread use, this Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS) successfully stopped an American Eagle Saab 340 that landed long at New York's La Guardia airport earlier this year.
Mercury Air Center at DeKalb Peachtree Airport, the host of the Static Display at the October 12-14 NBAA convention in Atlanta, invites all comers for some Southern hospitality. After visitors get an eyeful of the attractively appointed aircraft, they can stop in for refreshments at a special reception hangar, sponsored by Phillips 66, and a bit of entertainment, sponsored by Galaxy. The hangar will be open during convention hours.
Gulf Coast Avionics completed a custom instrument panel for air show legend Bob Hoover. The new panel includes dual Garmin GNS 430 NOAV/COM/IFR GPS systems and as well as a Garmin GTX-320 transponder.
The FAA has extended to October 18 the comment period for an NPRM (FAA-1999-5401) requiring costly inspections of aging regional airliners. The National Air Transportation Association is taking credit for the action, saying the additional time will allow the FAA to ``permit the industry to conduct a complete economic analysis and develop meaningful alternatives to this crucial proposal.'' NATA represents FAR Part 135 operators and FBOs.
Lynton Aviation of Denham, England, has ordered eight Raytheon airplanes, including four Premier I business jets, and has been appointed as Raytheon Aircraft's sales representative for the Hawker, Beechjet and Horizon in the United Kingdom and Channel Islands. The FBO also will be a ``master dealer'' for Raytheon's propeller-driven airplanes in the same region. Reportedly, three of the four Premiers already have been earmarked for customers, as have one of the two King Airs and both Barons that Lynton is acquiring.
Flight Services Group (Stratford, Conn.) -- This Ogden Aviation Co. announced the appointment of John F. Ellard as a charter sales representative in its full-service charter department.
One of the leading avionics themes of the 1990s was the rapid transformation from heavy electro- mechanical analog displays to large, lightweight, colorful digital displays. Industry observers now say that the major theme for avionics in the next decade will be the full integration of affordable and practical data-link delivery technologies and applications into those same cockpits.
IDD Aerospace Corp. of Redmond, Wash., is under contract to provide lightplates and push-button displays to the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group for all Boeing production aircraft, including the Boeing Business Jet.
