Jack Pelton suddenly retired as chairman, president and CEO of Cessna Aircraft, parent Textron announced May 2. Textron Chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly stepped in to lead Cessna until a successor is found, the company said in its announcement. Textron did not cite specifics on Pelton's surprise departure, but quoted Donnelly as saying, “Under Jack's leadership, Cessna achieved many significant program and product milestones and strengthened its position as a thought leader in the aviation industry.
Empire Aviation Group (EAG) in Dubai announced plans to begin operations in India, with a new branch office opening in Mumbai by mid-year. The new branch will eventually offer the full range of EAG services on the subcontinent, but will initiallly focus on aircraft sales and management.
Solairus Aviation has added an Austin, Texas-based Bombardier Challenger 604 to its charter fleet, and an Oakland, Calif.-based Challenger is undergoing the company's conformity procedures before being cleared for charter operations. The company has already added a Gulfstream GV, a Gulfstream GIV and a Hawker 800SP to its charter fleet so far this year.
While the investigation continues into the cause of the April 2 crash of a test Gulfstream 650, Gulfstream Aerospace is continuing to move the program forward, Jay Johnson, chairman and CEO of Gulfstream parent General Dynamics, told analysts. During a first-quarter earnings call, Johnson stressed that the company was not presupposing the outcome of the NTSB investigation, nor the FAA's certification process.
Hawker Beechcraft Acquisition Co. (HBAC) said business and general aviation aircraft deliveries were 45 aircraft in first quarter 2011 versus 34 in first quarter 2010. Backlog increased by $122 million versus fourth quarter 2010 with new orders of $714 million and cancellations of $33 million. The company reported net sales for the three months ended March 31, 2011, of $558.4 million, a modest decrease of $9.8 million compared to the same period of 2010.
The FAA is soliciting comments on an air tour management plan (ATMP) under development for Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida. The Florida ATMP is one of a number of plans the agency has initiated to develop regulations governing air tours over national parkland. The FAA was directed to develop ATMPs under the National Parks Air Tour Management Act of 2000.
At an NBAA International Opera–tors Conference a few years ago, a long-range business jet captain delivering a presentation on flying the North Atlantic Track System (NATS) related a hair-raising anecdote. “We were on our way to Europe, high up in the flight levels,” he said. “It was a gorgeous morning, bright and clear, smooth as silk. We were monitoring the instruments, making our position reports to Shanwick Control, when overhead, a thousand feet above, came a Boeing 747-400 overtaking us.
AMSTAT, the Tinton Falls, N.J., provider of corporate aviation data, reported that 2.4% of the worldwide active fleet of business jets changed hands via resale retail transactions during the first quarter. While 2.4% is low by historical standards (the 20-yr. average is 3.3%), it is the same level as in fourth quarter 2010. “Thus, for the first time in many years, the business jet market did not experience a significant drop in transaction activity in the first quarter of the year,” said AMSTAT.
Executive Helicopters won a power line inspection contract in Ireland and has added an AS355N equipped with a five-axis gyro-stabilized Sony HD camera with an onboard camera control unit and a Canon HJ 17X zoom lens with a 2X extender to its fleet.
Pitch-black darkness, gusting winds and a deep mountain canyon with vertical granite walls climbing up to 12,000 ft. do not make for a helicopter friendly environment. To make matters worse, the winter's worst blizzard was inbound just miles away. Earlier on that January afternoon a backcountry skier had been trapped and injured by an avalanche in very steep terrain. Rescuers had spent hours getting to the downed skier and then maneuvering in steep, snow-covered terrain to get him to a Forest Service parking lot 3 mi. distant and 4,000 ft. down.
Despite the uncertain economy in recent years, the European Business Aviation Association's membership has more than doubled since 2005. The association picked up 40 new members last year alone. EBAA credits a more proactive membership recruitment approach in 2010 — the association gave a trial membership to anyone who attended last year's European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition. The organization went from 211 full members in 2005 to 458 in 2011, including 23 members from the U.S.
This summer, Rockwell Collins is expected to announce the details of its plan to incorporate software elements derived from unmanned aerial systems (UAS) into its Pro Line family of avionics — a technological convergence that could eventually and significantly alter the course of aircraft control.
India wants to introduce 100 seaplanes into service in the next 10 years to support tourism and essential services to its coastal and island territories. The federal government will allow 100% foreign direct investment in the seaplane sector and urges overseas operators to take advantage of the offer.
Hawker Beechcraft Global Customer Support (GCS) is accelerating development of its Hawker 400XPR, a re-engined version of the Beechjet, by adding a second aircraft to the test program. The second airplane will be used primarily to develop and certify various avionics upgrade options. A number of variations of Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics are planned for the 400XPR. Hawker Beechcraft says customers can choose a baseline three-display system or a more advanced four-display system, along with other enhancements to meet their operational needs.
In 2009, the DOT ordered CSI Aviation Services Inc. to cease and desist from acting as a broker of air charter services for the federal government. The company appealed, and on April 1, 2011, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals granted CSI's petition for review, finding that the DOT failed to justify its authority to issue the contested order.
Nine U.S. aviation industry groups are urging congressional lawmakers to continue to support the FAA contract tower program as the legislators work on the fiscal 2012 budget. In a letter to House and Senate appropriators, the nine groups ask that the program be fully funded in the DOT's fiscal 2012 budget. Full funding, as requested by the Obama administration, would be $121.8 million for the FAA contract tower program and $10 million for the contract tower cost-sharing program. The program has been in operation since 1982.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue continues to voice his opposition to the FAA's effort to limit the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program, which enables operators to ask the FAA to withhold their registration information from flight tracking agreements. “It poses a security threat to users of business aviation,” Donohue told the Chamber of Commerce's 10th annual Aviation Summit.
Hawker Beechcraft's facility consolidation and restructuring continues on track, and Chairman Bill Boisture estimates that the company will have closed down 1 million sq. ft. in Wichita and Salina by year's end. This represents about one-third of the company's space in those locations. Hawker Beechcraft continues to ramp up in Chihuahua, Mexico, where its employment is expected to double from 500 to 1,000 by year's end.
The Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA) board of directors has selected Dale Forton as president of the association, which represents aviation maintenance personnel. Forton has 32 years of aviation maintenance experience and has been involved in PAMA for more than 26 years. He has served as an airframe and powerplant technician and director of maintenance. He also has been an active PAMA board member, launching a chapter, serving as Great Lakes regional director and vice chairman of the board.
The call came at 3 a.m. An American computer company executive was in intensive care in Abu Dhabi. He'd been diagnosed with a rare form of pneumonia, one resistant to antibiotics, and needed to get back to the States immediately. “We do not have the capacity to take care of him,” was the hospital's urgent message.
Sikorsky Aerospace Services (SAS) in Coatesville, Penn., completed modifying a Sikorsky S-76B helicopter for export to Germany's Heliservice International GmbH. Originally designed for VIP transport missions, the aircraft has been reconfigured and equipped for specialty maintenance operations on windmill farms throughout Germany.
Remember all the “slow-tation” jokes that taunted Cessna decades ago? Company Chairman Russ Meyer II put an end to those when he announced the Citation X program at the 1990 NBAA convention. The CE750 would be able to cruise as fast as Mach 0.90, making it possible to fly six passengers from New York to Los Angeles in just over four and one-half hours.
When Don Campion launched an aircraft service shop with partner John Price back in 1979, he named it after a tree that was common in Nigeria, where he grew up. Banyan Air Service started out servicing small charter operators like the one Campion had been flying for, but in the 30-plus years it has been growing and spreading its wings at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in Florida, it has become a landmark full-service FBO.
On March 29, the FCC published a final rule that indefinitely stays its original proposed rule mandating replacement of 121.5 MHz ELTs with 406 MHz ELTs that the FAA, NBAA and others opposed. In a separate Federal Register notice, the FCC will request further comment on the future of 121.5 MHz ELTs.
