DUNCAN AVIATION expanded its service center agreement with Honeywell Aerospace to include mechanical components. The newest agreement authorizes Duncan to provide services for Honeywell mechanical programs on Hawker, Learjet, Challenger, Astra/Westwind, Falcon, Citation and King Air aircraft. Duncan also can offer flat-rate labor pricing and exchange units.
AGUSTA A109E, A109S, A119 and AW119MKII helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2009-0226; Directorate Identifier 2007-SW-35-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to visually inspect the cargo hook lever for cracks before each cargo hook operation. Operators would need to use a 10-power or higher magnifying glass for the inspections and follow the instructions of Agusta Alert Bulletins No. 109EP-78, 109S-12 or 119-21 (all dated June 6, 2007), as applicable.
The current recession means the jury is still out on whether the vaunted air taxi business model will ever come to fruition, especially in Europe, said Patrick Margetson-Rushmore, chief executive of charter operator London Executive Aviation (LEA). Margetson-Rushmore, who spoke before the Royal Aeronautical Society in London last week, praised Cessna’s Citation Mustang for making a positive contribution to conventional air chartering. “[It] offers low-cost travel that ensures the industry remains relevant despite the weak economy,” he said.
GULFSTREAM received FAA approval to use Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Contract (ADS-C) for oceanic and remote waypoint reporting. Part of the Future Air Navigation System (FANS) data link application, ADS-C allows controllers to track an aircraft’s position from the ground using information sent at specific intervals from the aircraft’s onboard sensors. ADS-C also will include Controller-Pilot Data Link Communication (CPDLC). Gulfstream last year completed a full FANS flight across the Atlantic using CPDLC with ADS-C.
GARY HEBB was named vice president, innovation and strategy for EMS Technologies. Hebb will be responsible for coordinating initiatives across EMS’s core and newly acquired businesses. Hebb formerly was general manager with EMS Satcom. He also has served as vice president of engineering and business development with EMS SATCOM.
Two companies are touting corporate jet “ridesharing” as a viable option as companies and customers rethink their aircraft alternatives in the current economic downturn. Ridesharing is really about reducing costs in a difficult climate, said Alex Hunter, managing director of London-based Private Jet Share. “It’s a way to drive costs of corporate travel down by 50 percent. It’s also a smarter use of a corporate tool,” added Jamie Lindsay, spokesman for Omaha, Neb.-based CoGo Jets.
Republican Kansas Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback have joined the growing number of government officials who have written President Barack Obama to protest statements deriding the use of corporate jets. In a March 18 letter, the senators said they were concerned that general aviation “has suffered not only from global economic challenges but also from misinformed public statements by elected officials.”
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GARY HEBB was named vice president, innovation and strategy for EMS Technologies . Hebb will be responsible for coordinating initiatives across EMS’s core and newly acquired businesses. Hebb formerly was general manager with EMS Satcom. He also has served as vice president of engineering and business development with EMS SATCOM.
BILL BOISTURE, who last week took the helm of Hawker Beechcraft Corp., is facing challenges at his new company with dropping production rates and unsold jets. Boisture, however, is upbeat about the prospects for the Beech King Air 350, calling it “the right product for the times, particularly in this political climate.” See article on Page 146.
Sikorsky was working toward retrofitting the entire S-92 fleet with steel gearbox oil bowl mounting studs by the end of last week, the helicopter manufacturer said. Sikorsky revised a service bulletin March 20 calling for the immediate stud replacement after the investigation into a March 12 crash of a Sikorsky S-92A off the coast of Newfoundland revealed broken titanium studs.
The Italian Ministry of Justice agreed to collaborate with the Italian flight safety board, ANSV, in investigating accidents. Agenzia Nazionale per la Sicurezza del Volo (ANSV) said it was pleased that the Ministry of Justice agreed that is would not tamper with or alter evidence involving an aircraft accident before ANSV investigators can participate. The Ministry of Justice also pledged to coordinate wreckage recovery with ANSV personnel.
Business aviation organizations and companies defended the industry against JetBlue’s “Welcome Bigwigs” advertising campaign making fun of the use of business jets. But some public relations practitioners questioned whether the defense was effective. In a March 20 letter, National Business Aviation Association President and CEO Ed Bolen urged JetBlue President and COO David Barger to pull the campaign, saying it “promotes a caricature that does not represent the people and companies that need business aviation to compete and survive” (BA, March 23/137).
ERA SYSTEMS CORPORATION was selected to provide an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) system to the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA). JCAA will use the system for operational testing before deploying nationwide wide area multilateration and ADS-B.
W.W. “Bill” Boisture has been chairman and CEO of Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC) for just a few days, but he’s already doing things differently from his predecessor, Jim Schuster. He ate lunch in the cafeteria to give him time to listen to rank-and-file workers. He routinely visits senior leadership team managers in their own offices. He’s asking lots of folks for advice on how to right-size the company so that it can survive the next 12 months.
CHANTILLY AIR added a Hawker 850XP to its charter fleet. Based in Manassas, Va., Chantilly Air began as a corporate flight department in 1990 with a single jet and has grown to provide aircraft charter, management, maintenance, hangar, and ground support services.
JOHN DOW, who recently bought back the Elmira/Corning, N.Y.-based FirstFlight charter and management business that he founded in 1987 (BA, March 16/121), last week said he hopes the company will emerge as a leaner operation that will “focus on the accounts we feel that we can add value to the most.” FirstFlight had ambitious growth plans under its previous management structure, but Dow said the rapid disintegration of the economy has caused the company to take a close look at all of its operations and take a more conservative approach that provides a reliable revenue strea
THE CORPORATE ANGEL NETWORK reached a new milestone, topping 31,000 patient flights, when the network carried Winston Churchill, the grandson of Sir Winston Churchill, and Susan Polan, another cancer patient, home to Florida from treatment at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Churchill in the past had served as a volunteer of St. John’s Ambulance Air Wing, which transports organs.
EMBRAER named Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based Al Saif Group to serve as an authorized sales representative for the Embraer Executive Jets line. Founded in 1985, the Al Saif Group manages a diverse portfolio of 10 companies and assets in excess of $950 million.
FAA is targeting a June 30 release of an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) laying the groundwork for requiring aviation operators and businesses to implement a Safety Management System (SMS). FAA last month completed the initial ANPRM and sent it for Department of Transportation review. The ANPRM also must undergo Office of Management and Budget review.
The Virginia Airport Owners Association (VAOA) has been created to advocate on issues on behalf of the state’s privately owned, private use airports. The Virginia Department of Aviation under Randy Burdette has been proactive, said VAOA President John Mazza Jr. “But it really didn’t have much they could do for privately owned, private use airports,” he said. “We were required to register with the commonwealth, but that’s where it ended.”
The Transportation Security Administration has named a liaison specifically to work with the general aviation industry. The agency also will begin holding monthly teleconference calls to communicate with interested parties.
REP. JOHN MICA, ranking Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, took his fellow House and Senate lawmakers to task last week for resorting to a sixth short-term extension of FAA reauthorization. “With this extension, it will be the longest period of time between FAA reauthorizations in decades,” Mica said, calling the latest extension a Band-Aid. “If there’s anyone to blame for the growing problems at the FAA, it’s Congress,” Mica said. “Continued dithering, delaying and dodging our responsibilities potentially dooms the FAA to failure.
GULFSTREAM AEROSPACE Senior Airworthiness Inspector Richard Thrasher recently was recognized with FAA’s Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award. The award honors the lifetime achievements of senior mechanics. Thrasher is the first Gulfstream employee to receive the award. His aviation career spans 53 years, beginning as a jet mechanic with the U.S. Marine Corps in 1956. He served as a mechanic, crew chief and assistant foreman for Gulfstream and then served as a mechanic, maintenance chief and senior flight engineer for Raytheon.
