Ed Klonoski has been promoted to manager and Dave Davenport is now assistant manager of the company's new Atlanta training center. Veteran FlightSafety staffer John Sauers has been promoted to director of safety and compliance.
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.
Greg Cope joined as director for airline sales in the Americas. Cope is a veteran of Rolls-Royce, British Aerospace and Britannia Airways. Kent Hollinger joined the manufacturer as vice president of technical support.
Fractional aircraft owners are happy with their investment and rate service as the most important factor in their judgment, according to a recent study by the Aviation Research Group/U.S. (ARG/US). The most common complaint among fractional owners regarded the use of charter aircraft in lieu of their aircraft. Though fewer than five percent of 1999's respondents said they would consider owning an entire aircraft, an increasing number responding to the current survey said they might consider ownership within the next five years.
Teterboro Airport has received ISO 9002 certification from the International Organization for Standardization. The two-year process establishes standards of quality recognized worldwide. Some areas in which the airport focused its efforts on standardization include contracts, snow and ice removal, wildlife, noise abatement and lighting. ISO 9002 benefits are cost reduction, improved service and improved communication.
GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) went on a regional jet buying spree in mid-June, placing firm orders for 150 aircraft with options for 300 additional aircraft. The firm orders are for 50 Fairchild Dornier 728JETs, 50 Embraer ERJ 170s, and 50 Bombardier CRJs including 15 200s, 25 700s and 10 900s. GECAS also has options on 100 CRJs, 100 728JETs and 100 ERJ 170/190s. If all options are exercised, the total value of the transactions could reach $12 billion.
When an airplane crashes, says safety expert John K. Lauber, ``we need to understand what is happening to be able to come up with solutions. And if people perceive that they are facing a threat of criminal prosecution, that will dry up a critically important source of information.'' Lauber, vice president of safety and technical affairs for Airbus Industrie of North America and former NTSB member, was referring to the 1999 conviction of SaberTech, a contract maintenance company, in connection with the crash of ValuJet Flight 592 in 1996.
European pilot groups say helicopter firefighting operations in Spain are being conducted with ``complete disregard to the normal standards for aviation.'' According to the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA), such operations rely on Russian-made military helicopters that lack airworthiness certificates and maintenance records. IFALPA also cited what it calls the ``outrageous use of foreign, quasi-military personnel operating without any regulation of their working hours.''
Louisville, Ky.'s Regional Airport Authority is slated to receive $5.8 million in FAA grants. The money will go towards runway and other improvements at Bowman Field and Louisville International's FAR Part 150 program.
Safire Aircraft is claiming 611 orders for its proposed S-26 personal jet. At current prices, the orders are valued at nearly $500 million dollars. The Florida-based manufacturer also says that retired Volkswagen executive Dr. Carl Hahn has joined its board of directors. Hahn served as Volkswagen of America's CEO from 1959 to 1964 and chairman of the board of Volkswagen AG from 1982 to 1992. The 74-year-old Hahn is an advisor to several companies, and serves on the board of directors of Ross Perot's Perot Systems and MainControl, a computer software company.
The tables above show results of a fuel price survey of U.S. fuel suppliers performed in June 2000. This survey was conducted by Aviation Research Group/U.S. (ARG/US) and reflects prices reported from FBOs nationwide. Prices are full retail and include all taxes and fees. For additional information, contact ARG/US at (513) 247-1010 or on the internet at www.aviationresearch.com.
Signature Flight Support parent BBA Group has acquired U.K. FBO Lynton Aviation in a cash deal worth $55 million. The arrangement extends BBA's business aviation presence in Europe, where the company already operates two FBOs. Lynton has operations at Luton, London City, Blackbushe and Denham in the United Kingdom, and at Morristown, N.J. Lynton's U.K. operation also includes aircraft repair and overhaul services, and aircraft charter management and sales businesses. For its last fiscal year ended September 1999, the company reported revenues of $65 million.
GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) has placed firm orders for 150 regional jets with options for 300 more, deals that could be worth nearly $12 billion if all options are exercised. The RJ purchase -- the largest ever by an aircraft lessor -- provides a vote of confidence for the bigger regional jets now under development, while giving short shrift to the airline labor concerns that had appeared to place the future of such aircraft in doubt, at least in the United States.
The Explorer 500T -- a proposed single-engine, turbine-powered utility aircraft -- began flight testing in June. The aircraft is a re-engined version of the Australian-built Explorer 350R, which made its debut on the air show circuit in summer 1999. ``The aircraft exceeded our expectations,'' said Explorer Aircraft CEO Graham Swannell, noting that while the company's promotional literature promises a 175-knot cruise speed, cruise speeds during initial testing exceeded 180 knots.
CHC Helicopters is planning to sell its Canadian Helicopters Eastern and Western divisions to a management-led group for approximately $130 million (CDN). The deal includes three heavy, 24 medium and 130 light helicopters -- nearly half of CHC's current fleet. Although CHC will retain a $25.5 million investment and a 45-percent ownership interest in the new company, it says the deal will help reduce debt, while allowing it to concentrate on offshore oil and gas operations.
SSBJs will have a price tag twice that of today's large-cabin business aircraft. It's also unlikely that an SSBJ will offer the short-field performance and long-legs, short-haul operating flexibility of traditional business aircraft, thereby squeezing them into a long-haul niche.
The NTSB hearings into the crash of an American Airlines MD-80 at Little Rock, Ark. (Cause&Circumstance, March, page 98) brought to light an MIT-Lincoln Laboratory study on weather penetration that startled the lay media and some aviation watchers on Capitol Hill. The research seemed to suggest -- or at least was interpreted by some to sug-gest -- that air carrier pilots routinely, and, perhaps, thoughtlessly, penetrated level five thunderstorms in terminal areas. Could this really be happening?
The FAA is again planning to charge a fee to operators of aircraft that transit U.S. airspace without taking-off or landing on U.S. soil. The U.S. Court of Appeals struck down a similar FAA rule in early 1998, saying the fee structure was ``inconsistent'' with conditions in the Federal Aviation Reauthorization Act of 1996 allowing the charges. The revised fees are now based on the agency's actual cost of delivering ATC services. According to FAA CEO Donna F.
OnMoney.com, an internet bill-paying and financial services site, is offering a year of business jet travel as a sweepstakes prize. The Grand Prize winner in the ``Escape the Frustration Sweepstakes'' will receive a $100,000 charge card from eBizJet.com, valid for up to a year. Service only is available in the continental United States and is subject to one-hour per flight and two-hour per day minimums, federal excise tax and other restrictions. The prize also includes a $50,000 cash award. Visit www.onmoney.com for further information.
Canada's private sector provider of air navigation services says a proposal to extend its most-recent user fee reduction will save operators around C$15 million over the next fiscal year. Lower operating costs and higher than expected traffic prompted the move, Nav Canada says, and the company expects its revenues to exceed expenses for the third consecutive year.
