Chicago area business aviation professionals have united to form the Chicago Area Business Aviation Association (CABAA), so that they may play a stronger role in regional aviation issues. CABAA Vice President R.M. (Pete) Stofen, assistant chief pilot at BP Amoco, says the group's mission statement dedicates the organization ``to promoting the safety, efficiency and recognition of business aviation by providing a unified voice on matters of common interest to the regional aviation business community.'' For more information, contact CABAA, 5901 S.
BFGoodrich (BFG) and Coltec Industries completed their long-awaited $2 billion merger after a U.S. District Court Judge in South Bend, Ind. lifted the preliminary injunction delaying the deal. Judge Allen Sharp lifted his injunction after BFG agreed to settle legal challenges from AlliedSignal and Crane Co. AlliedSignal had sued, claiming the merger posed antitrust concerns while violating a 1995 marketing agreement it had with Coltec. Crane joined the suit after its legal challenges in New York courts were dismissed.
Boeing and Fairchild Dornier will provide purchasers of the BBJ and Envoy 3 with initial subscriptions to maintenance tracking and management programs developed by CAMP Systems International. The CAMP SP system provides users with upcoming scheduled maintenance requirements and tracks the aircraft's maintenance history. CAMP, in turn, will supply the manufacturers with performance and reliability data. CAMP and Fairchild Dornier also have verbally agreed to a similar arrangement for the Envoy 7.
Okay. From this point on, just assume you're flying single pilot,'' said Ivan McBride, a senior pilot with Rockwell Collins, after we leveled off at FL 310. I was about 20 minutes into B/CA's first flight in a CitationJet equipped with Collins' new Pro Line 21 avionics suite. For the next hour, it was up to me to fly, navigate, talk on the radios, operate the weather radar and configure aircraft systems while en route to Wichita Mid-Continent Airport from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
VisionAire has announced several changes to its Vantage jet, including a 21-percent price increase, later certification and delivery dates, and significant design modifications. The six-place, single-engine jet is now priced at $2.195 million, up from $1.8 million, with certification targeted for fourth quarter 2001. The new aircraft will feature lighter avionics, an enlarged vertical tail and wider-track landing gear to reduce weight and improve performance.
Raytheon is adding Jaguar Special Editions of the Beech Bonanza A36 and B36TC and the Beech Baron 58. First introduced on the King Air C90B in 1998, the Jaguar Special Edition features hand-stitched, leather-covered control yokes, re-styled armrests with extra padding, Jaguar Green and Gold paint, and Jaguar's signature leaping-cat symbol throughout. Raytheon has sold 15 Special Edition King Airs and will produce 25 Special Edition Bonanzas and Barons this year. The Jaguar aircraft will make extensive marketing appearances at air, auto and horse shows.
American Eagle is backing out of the Moline/Quad Cities-Chicago market, but the smaller community has asked the DOT to retain its takeoff and landing slots at Chicago O'Hare in hope of restoring air service. The Moline/Quad Cities airport authority asked for 180 days to find a replacement carrier, be it either a new entrant or an airline already serving Moline. According to the group, the remaining airlines serving the route cannot accommodate all of the former American Eagle passengers.
Getting a handle on costs, and what drives them, is increasingly important in today's business environment, where managers face seemingly constant pressure to provide safe, efficient and cost-effective transportation. The Operations Planning Guide is designed as a complement to the May Purchase Planning Handbook, and is intended as a tool for developing and analyzing flight department activity and budgets. The operating cost data presented in the following tables are optimized for use as a benchmarking tool for analysis of your own costs.
In a move designed to stimulate sales of its S-76 helicopter, Sikorsky Aircraft and its in-house FAR Part 135 operation have unveiled the ``Sikorsky Shares'' fractional ownership program. The program will be managed and operated by Associated Aircraft Group (AAG), a Wappingers Falls, N.Y.-based charter service that Sikorsky acquired in April. Sikorsky says it is the first fractional helicopter program backed by an aircraft manufacturer.
This November, Lufthansa Technik (LHT) of Hamburg, Germany will begin completion work on what may be the first Boeing 777 configured as a business aircraft. The contract -- placed by an unnamed Saudi Arabian customer -- includes two Boeing Business Jets.
New entrant Ozark Air Lines has placed firm orders for two Fairchild Aerospace 328JETs, a deal worth around $25 million. Deliveries are planned for September, and the airline hopes to begin service from its base in Columbia, Missouri to Dallas' Love Field and Chicago Midway in October.
Stephen L. Snyder, owner of South Jersey Regional Airport (7MY) and Steve Snyder Enterprises, was killed in the June 19 crash of his 1956 North American F-86 Sabre during a flight demonstration. Snyder, 64, an aeronautical engineer, held several patents on altimeters for parachutes and related devices. He also was a creator of the Air Victory Museum at the airport, which housed many vintage aircraft, his F-86 included.
MD Helicopters has reduced prices across its product line in an effort to entice new customers. The price of the eight-seat Explorer has dropped to under $3 million, with a $400,000 avionics suite now offered as standard equipment. Buyers of the MD500 series will realize smaller savings, and optional equipment will now be standard on the MD600N. MD Helicopters plans to deliver 54 helicopters this year; the company delivered 36 in 1998, before its sale by Boeing. Recent Explorer sales include eight to the Mexican navy, and nine to assorted European customers.
The newest employee at Southwest Florida International Airport (SFIA) is a dog trained to chase birds from aircraft flight paths. A two-year-old border collie, ``Jet'' was acquired from Border Collie Rescue (BCR), a non-profit group. He may be the first dog used in a bird-strike reduction program at a major commercial airport.
England's expanding Oxford Aviation Service has acquired IDS Aircraft Ltd., a long-established Cessna Citation service center in Bournemouth. IDS will become the CSE Citation Center, and Oxford expects parts availability to improve under its management. ``Our goal was to become a major manufacturer's service center,'' says Trevor Trivett, Oxford's commercial director. CSE employs more than 170 technical staff members, but is now recruiting in hope of expanding its maintenance operation.
The FAA's latest rulemaking proposal for the Grand Canyon Special Flight Rules Area (SFAR) will expand the two major ``flight free zones'' over the national park, while forcing air tour operators to fly higher routes with less freedom of movement. The NPRM also caps the number of aircraft each business may operate, while restricting the total number of tour flights each may conduct. ``This is going to cause us economic hardship,'' says Ron Williams, president of GCN-based AirStar Helicopters.
Bombardier has delivered the first production Global Express business jet to AirFlite, a Long Beach, Calif.-based division of Toyota Motor Sales USA. The delivery, which took place at a private ceremony at Bombardier's Montreal completion center, comes two years after Gulfstream's delivery of the first G-V. Plans for both aircraft were announced at the 1991 NBAA Convention, and the intervening years have seen the price and demand for both aircraft soar. Bombardier says 17 additional Globals are undergoing completion at its Montreal and Tucson centers.
Canada's CHC Helicopter Corp. and Helicopter Services Group (HSG) of Norway have formed an ``integration committee'' to ensure that the employees of both companies will be treated fairly during the merger process. CHC has steadily acquired stock in HSG, and a combined company would represent the world's largest helicopter operation, with nearly 400 aircraft and 3,000 employees (see July, page 18).
DaimlerChrysler and state-owned CASA of Spain have agreed to merge, creating Europe's largest aerospace manufacturing group. DASA will hold around 88 percent of the new venture, with SEPI -- the Spanish state holding company -- retaining the rest. The combined company will be the majority shareholder (42.1 percent) in Airbus, while owning 47 percent of the Eurofighter program. The merger follows a series of European consolidation moves that had eluded DASA until now.
