SkyWest Airlines says weather and air traffic control problems will ``impact'' earnings for its latest fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2000. The St. George, Utah-based carrier says it canceled 2.5 percent of its West Coast flights in November due to bad weather, compared with its average weather cancellation rate of one percent. During October, software problems at the FAA's Los Angeles and Oakland Centers led to SkyWest canceling 3.5 percent of its West Coast flights.
Crossair has taken delivery of the eighth of 25 firm and 15 optional Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets -- orders announced during the 1999 Paris Air Show. The Swiss carrier expected to receive its next 50-seat ERJ-145 before the end of 2000, and nine more deliveries are planned for this year. Crossair also is the launch customer for Embraer's ERJ-170/190 family of regional jets. First flight of the 70-seat ERJ-170 is on track for the second half of this year, the Brazilian manufacturer says, with first customer deliveries following at the end of 2002.
Austria's Danube University Krems has introduced a new Aviation MBA Program. The curriculum offers classes in basic and advanced aviation management and includes optional study at universities and aviation businesses in Europe and the United States. Geared to aviation professionals, the degree is currently offered on a part-time basis in two-week blocks in order to allow candidates to continue working while earning their degrees. A full-time program is expected to commence this fall. Optional flight training at nearby Krems airfield also is available to enrollees.
Good morning, Houston, Falcon 750 Hotel, flight level 430'' Captain Laura Carr reported, as we leveled off in Honeywell's Falcon 50 Dash 40 retrofit demonstrator and began to accelerate towards 0.80 Mach cruise. Climbing directly to FL 410, or higher, and then cruising at 459 KTAS, or better, is routine for operators of the $20 million Falcon 50EX because it's fitted with TFE731-40 turbofans that produce 24 percent more cruise thrust, according to Honeywell officials.
Dee Howard Aircraft Maintenance is expanding operations at San Antonio International Airport (SAT) with a $14 million project that will add a 100,000-square-foot completions hangar. The new facility is designed to house two widebody aircraft, four narrow-body aircraft and can accommodate a Boeing 747SP-size aircraft's higher tail. The company expects to increase production by an estimated two- to three-million man-hours annually and the hangar will be dedicated to outfitting and servicing executive/VIP/head-of-state aircraft.
General Electric will take a $4 billion charge to help close its $54 billion acquisition of Honeywell International. GE Chairman Jack Welch says the deal also will lead to approximately $2.5 billion in annual cost savings, a $1 billion increase over earlier estimates. Welch told investors the combined company will continue its annual double-digit earnings growth, even in the event of what he called a possible ``mild recession'' that could reduce next year's growth projection from 20 percent to 15 percent.
The future of the Ayres Loadmaster turboprop remains in doubt as Ayres struggles to surmount financial obstacles, though fresh financing from the company's largest creditor could keep the long-delayed program alive. GATX Capital, a $5 billion leasing and finance company whose primary interest is in the rail industry, has agreed to furnish Ayres with an unspecified amount of debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing, and a search for additional equity investment continues.
Fractional operator Flight Options has selected CAMP Systems International's AviSource to provide maintenance management, inventory control and flight scheduling for the company's entire fleet. Cleveland-based Flight Options sells shares in preowned aircraft including Cessna Citation IIs and IIIs, Beechjets, Hawkers, Falcon 50s, Challenger 601s and Gulfstream IVs.
Aviation safety pioneer Paul Soderlind has died in Montana at the age of 77. A longtime Northwest Airlines captain and one-time director of flight operations for the carrier, Soderlind in 1968 developed a Turbulence Plot System (TPS) to help Northwest aircraft avoid severe weather-induced and clear-air turbulence. Three decades later Northwest continues to use the system. Soderlind also was responsible for many other safety enhancements widely used in the airline industry as well as in corporate aviation.
Perhaps the only group more excited about the Republican presidential victory than the Bush family is the United States Air Tour Association (USATA) and its president, Steve Bassett. The group has long felt that Vice President Al Gore was behind attempts to impose unnecessarily restrictive air tour regulations over the Grand Canyon and other national parks.
Rockwell International plans to divide itself into two units -- Rockwell Collins and Rockwell Automation -- in a bid to increase its stock price while making both entities more attractive to potential buyers. Some see the move as a competitive response to General Electric's proposed acquisition of Honeywell International, Rockwell Collins' main rival in the aircraft avionics field. The split is likely to occur by May or June, pending regulatory approval.
The usually serious and unusually prolific National Air Transportation Association (NATA) poked fun at air traffic delays in its annual holiday party invitation. Using phony secretary of transportation stationery, signed ``Rod'' (as in Slater), the invite came under the guise of the Seasonal Operational Bottlenecks and Delays solution -- also known as SOBAD.
The FAA has selected human factors researcher Dr. Christopher Wickens as the recipient of its annual Excellence in Aviation award. Wickens, who heads the Aviation Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois, has written hundreds of articles, book chapters and scientific papers on human factors in aviation safety and served as chairman of the FAA's Panel on Human Factors in Air Traffic Control Automation.
Springfield-Branson Regional Airport (SGF) plans to use $30.1 million in federal funding to lengthen one runway by 2,400 feet, add a second ILS and rebuild the airport's 7,000-foot runway. The grant will be dispersed over a four-year period and construction at the Missouri airport already has begun.
U.K. regional Maersk Air has converted options on two Bombardier CRJ700 regional aircraft into firm orders. The carrier now has five orders for the 70-seat jet
October 17, 2000 will live in infamy in the annals of US Airways. A 300-pound pig flew first class from Philadelphia to Seattle on a Boeing 757, Flight 107. The pig fortunately slept through most of the flight. The FAA, presented with this enigma, was at least flabbergasted and issued the following . . . ``We're looking whether or not the airline complied with its own plan for the transportation of animals.'' (Look under ``P'' chaps, for Porcine Passengers.) I would also suggest an interview with this barnyard behemoth as to the nature of his/her business in Seattle.
Europe's Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) have agreed to allow business jet-size aircraft with two engines to operate within 120 minutes of an alternate airport, plus an additional hour if common-sense ``best practices'' are followed. For now, the change affects only commercial charter operators based in European Union member states, but could eventually lead to the creation of Extended Twin-engine Operations (ETOPS) restrictions for U.S.-based on-demand charter operators.
Fairchild Dornier has begun system testing on a full-scale control rig for the proposed 728JET. The Iron Bird testing device is configured to simulate primary and secondary flight control systems, landing gear actuation and thrust reverser operation. In addition to initial testing of aileron and multifunction spoiler actuators on the new test rig, Fairchild Dornier recently completed the Critical Design Review of the 728JET's major structural items and systems.
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey has awarded pay raises of 3.7 to 5.3 percent for agency staffers this year. Included in the 5.3-percent rise is a 1.6-percent bonus to eligible employees as a result of the FAA meeting its Organizational Success Increase (OSI) goals in 2000. The OSI criteria include performance goals in safety, security, system efficiency, customer satisfaction, financial management and work environment.
There were scattered clouds and light snow flurries late that starless night almost three years ago at the small airport in the Sierra Nevadas. The ceiling and visibility were above minimums, but not by wide margins. The airport, serving winter sports enthusiasts, is ringed by rugged rock outcroppings more than 1,000 feet above the runways. Close into the airport boundaries, tall pine trees on numerous knolls wait to snag any aircraft that strays off far from the traffic pattern at low altitude.
Honeywell's new 905 gas generator, potentially the core of a new 3,000- to 6,000-pound thrust turbofan family slated to replace the venerable TFE731, made its first test-cell run in Phoenix on November 29, 2000. Launched last February 2000, the 905's first test-cell run originally was scheduled for the end of 2000. Honeywell says the 905 program is part of a plan to develop new families of engines to complement the 6,500- to 8,000-plus-pound thrust AS907.
It was approximately 11:30 p.m. when the King Air B200 touched down and taxied to the company hangar. It had been a long day and despite the late hour, the August heat lingered in the Carolina air as the weary flight crew went upstairs to prepare the post-flight paperwork. Meanwhile, the two flight department technicians prepared the engines for a required compressor wash. By the time the two techs pulled off the cowlings, rinsed the engines and towed the aircraft into the hangar, the pilots had signed off the logbooks and departed for home.
