Continental Express and Continental Airlines pilots have agreed in principle to representation by one union, the Independent Association of Continental Pilots (IACP), as part of a ``unity resolution'' with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). All 6,700 pilots at the two carriers would become ALPA members under the agreement, which will be subject to a ratification vote this spring. Already the largest airline pilot union, ALPA has long sought to represent all unionized pilots in the United States and Canada.
Universal Weather and Aviation and Swissport are set to begin operating a new ground handling facility for corporate aircraft at Cote d'Azur Airport in Nice, France in February. The operation can handle aircraft as large as Boeing 747s and is said to be the first of several business jet facilities the two companies are considering. Nadhem Tounsi, Universal's operations manager at Le Bourget in Paris, will manage the new Swissport Executive operation.
The Air Transport Association (ATA) is planning what it terms a comprehensive conference to address pilot fatigue in May. The group in fall 2000 formed an Alertness Management Initiative Scientific Advisory Board, which met for the first time in mid-December. Comprised of sleep experts from academia, the military, medicine and the airlines, the board's mandate is to apply sleep and fatigue research to the airline industry. Observers at the first meeting included representatives from Airborne Express, UPS, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines.
The FAA and local FBOs are bracing for possible gridlock both in the air and on the ground this month during George W. Bush's presidential Inauguration and on Super Bowl weekend. Temporary flight restrictions are planned from 9 a.m. (ET) to 12 midnight over the Washington, D.C. area on Inauguration Day, Saturday, January 20. The restrictions call for a ban on all flight operations in an expanded version of Prohibited Area 56 (P-56), encompassing a seven-mile radius of Reagan National Airport (DCA) and Andrews Air Force Base below 18,000 feet.
Elliott Aviation, Moline, Ill., has made the following appointments: Ron Jennings is director of business development; Jerry Keizer is technical services sales manager at the company's Omaha location; Dan Clark is technical services sales manager at the Minneapolis facility.
CHC Helicopter Corp. has been awarded a three-year contract to establish a new helicopter base in U-tapao, Thailand for Chevron Offshore. Under the terms of the agreement, CHC subsidiary Thai Aviation Services will operate a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter from the facility.
Elliott Aviation, headquartered at Quad City International Airport (MLI) in Moline, Ill., has introduced a redesigned Web site that offers better navigation and several new interactive sections.
Midcoast, Cahokia, Ill., has appointed Wayne Hundsdorfer as director of corporate aviation sales, based at the company's St. Louis Downtown-Parks Airport facility.
While Bombardier attempts to trim the Global Express completions backlog, a corporate aviation completions consultant has set up shop in Little Rock, Ark. With a resume that includes stints as a corporate flight attendant, Falcon Jet interior designer and other completions work, Karin Tennstedt has opened Mach 1 Design to help customers design and oversee their aircraft completions. The new company has established a Web site at www.mach1design.com.
The Naples Airport Authority has voted to ban Stage 2 jets weighing less than 75,000 pounds from the city's Municipal Airport. Exceptions include air ambulance and government flights as well as a possible six-month exemption for Stage 2 aircraft being upgraded to Stage 3. The final vote had been delayed while the airport authority responded to FAA objections to the ban, including a threatened revocation of federal funding for the airport.
Commander Aircraft President and CEO Dean M. Thomas has died unexpectedly at the age of 47. The former Piper executive joined Commander as sales and marketing chief in 1995, before being tapped to lead the Bethany, Okla., aircraft manufacturer. Calling Thomas a close personal friend, Wirt D. Walker III, chairman of Commander parent company Aviation General, said he was ``universally well-liked and admired'' and had a ``profound effect'' on the company. Walker will oversee Commander until a successor is named.
Fuel State: OK Craig Sincock is president and CEO of AvFuel, a 27-year-old company that distributes avgas and Jet-A to some 700 FBOs around the United States, representing about 20-percent of the civilian aviation market. B/CA: How's the short-term fuel outlook? Sincock: It's good. There are adequate supplies of crude oil out there. Adequate supplies of Jet-A and avgas. B/CA: What about price?
Joy L. Reeske has finished SimuFlite's 10-day Citation V maintenance training course in Dallas, funded through one of two SimuFlite scholarships sponsored by Women in Aviation International. Reeske is a maintenance technician for Raytheon Aircraft Services in Houston. SimuFlite also awarded five scholarships for Citation pilot training in 2000, for students enrolled in University Aviation Association member schools.
Saab Aircraft has selected Rockwell Collins Aviation Services (CAS) to provide support and maintenance for the Collins avionics aboard Saab 340 A/B and Saab 2000 aircraft enrolled in Saab's Parts Exchange Program. CAS service centers in the United States, Europe, Australia and Asia will provide the support under the five-year, price-per-flight-hour contract, which extends through 2005.
Edited By Paul RichfieldPaul Richfield, in New York
The Russians are coming -- with huge helicopters. Siberia's Tyumenaviatrans Aviation (TAT) says it plans to expand its business westward and is near to closing a landmark deal with one of the larger U.S. helicopter operators. Speaking recently in New York, TAT chief executive Andrei Martirossov said his goal is to create a ``global helicopter alliance'' that will mirror the code-share operations employed by the major passenger airlines.
China's Shanghai Airlines has taken delivery of the first of three Bombardier CRJ200s. Bombardier recently delivered the first of four CRJ200s to Japan Airlines subsidiary J-Air.
Alpine Air of Provo, Utah, has purchased four ``formerly operated'' Beech C99 Airliners from Raytheon Aircraft, for use in the FAR Part 135 operator's regional freight network. Owned by Mallette Family LLC, Alpine's fleet includes 13 Beech 99s, four Piper PA-31s, two PA-42s and one PA-28R.
A tiny aircraft maker closes in on a dream and the air tour industry goes to court to keep the FAA from doing something stupid. Every first flight of a new airplane is special, like the birth of a baby, but some first flights are more special than others. The November 30 maiden voyage of the Sino Swearingen SJ30-2 conforming prototype is definitely a case in point. Big manufacturers like Cessna and Bombardier push new models out the door on schedule and on budget so regularly the process looks deceptively easy.
