National Air Transportation Association said Chevron Texaco decided to implement NATA's Safety 1st line-service training and testing program as its standard line-service training protocol. "When we were looking at developing a line-service safety training program, we realized we had to go no further than Safety 1st," said Tom Stephens, manager of airport compliance for ChevronTexaco. "NATA already had everything we were looking for in a first-rate training program; it will complement our 'product integrity' class," he added.
Shell Aviation is expanding its presence in the aviation fuel market with the Shell Aviation Business Jet card. The card will allow customers to buy Shell fuel, AeroShell lubricants and greases and other items at fixed-base operators. Cardholders also soon will be able to buy additional services such as route planning, weather information and hangar space. Shell signed a supplier agreement earlier this year with Eastern Aviation Fuels to offer Shell-branded fuel at 284 FBOs throughout the U.S.
Raytheon chose the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics system as standard equipment for the King Air 350 and B200 aircraft. The package includes three liquid crystal displays, Collins FMS-3000 for flight planning and navigation and Collins GPS-4000A for non-precision approaches with satellite navigation. The Collins Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS-II) and the Integrated Flight Information System (IFIS) will be among the future options available to add to the Pro Line 21 system.
National Air Transportation Association named Eric R. Byer director of government and industry affairs, effective immediately. He takes over most of the responsibilities previously held by Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside, who had been vice president of legislative and industry affairs for the past two years, who left NATA this month. Byer, a five-year veteran of the trade association who has been manager of legislative affairs, previously served on the staff of former Rep. Bill Clinger (R-Pa.).
DeCrane Aircraft Seating Company introduced a new family of lightweight executive single- and double-passenger seats for super midsize and large corporate jets. Designed to be lighter with fewer parts, the seats come with a variety of pre-certified option packages that include rotation and travel limiters, a new leg rest, floor tracking, adjustable arm heights and three different headrest styles. The single-seat frames can be dressed up with up to 70 pounds of upholstery and options and the double-seat frames can be finished to a maximum weight of 225 pounds.
Executive Charter Services, a Boston, Mass.-based charter services provider and broker, reported flight volume jumped 77 percent in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 and new clients grew 75 percent compared with the same period last year. "We are thrilled with the third-quarter results and we know that the arrow is pointing up," said ECS President Kevin Godlewski.
AVCRAFT REFINANCES TO MOVE AHEAD WITH 328JET PROGRAM - AvCraft Aviation secured refinancing with Maple Commercial Finance Group to fund the restart of the 328JET production and continue the rejuvenation of the program.
NARA NAMES SUSAN SHEETS PRESIDENT - Susan L. Sheets, who has served as the principal headquarters employee for the National Aircraft Resale Association since the group's inception more than a decade ago, was elected president of the organization this month. Sheets joined NARA when it was founded in 1991, serving as executive director and most recently as executive vice president. NARA, which represents brokers and dealers of used corporate jets, has grown from five members in 1991 to 72. Sheets, who formerly worked for Aerospatiale, Inc.
Kaman Aerospace Corp. held a ribbon-cutting ceremony presided over by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to celebrate the opening of the company's new Jacksonville, Fla. operations facility. The Jacksonville plant includes two buildings, with a total of 248,000 square feet of space, equipped with state-of-the-art, milti-axis computer-numeric-controlled machining cells. The facility has 158 employees now, but the workforce is expected to total 450 when the facility is fully staffed.
Veteran aviation writer Richard B. (Dick) Weeghman, 75, died Oct. 13 near his home in Sarasota, Fla. A Yale graduate, Weeghman flew F-86s in the U.S Air Force. After leaving the service, he held editorial positions with several aviation publications. He was an associate editor at Flying magazine, editor-in-chief at Air Progress and for many years was the editor of The Aviation Consumer, which frequently took light aircraft and component manufacturers to task for perceived problems in quality and product support.
ARINC Direct opened a new regional aircraft service center in Scottsdale, Ariz. ARINC Direct Scottsdale will be a part of the new 100,000-square-foot Scottsdale Air Center, which opened in March with 75,000 square feet of hangar space. The center will offer pre- and post-flight inspections, and 100-hour, phase and annual inspections. Aircraft-on-ground repairs also will be available. The Scottsdale facility is the first of several regional locations that ARINC plans to open.
THUNDER AVIATION LAUNCHES FALCON RVSM PROGRAM - Thunder Aviation of Chesterfield, Mo. has teamed with Honeywell, Inc. to seek certification of Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums (RVSM) capability for Falcon 10 and 20 aircraft using Honeywell components. Lou Churchville, vice president of sales and marketing for Thunder, said the companies are seeking FAA supplemental type certification of the required hardware by mid-December, with RVSM certification of the system to follow by yearend.
ROCKWELL COLLINS BUYS VIRGINIA ELECTRONICS FIRM - Rockwell Collins, Inc. signed a definitive agreement to buy NLX, LLC, of Sterling, Va., a manufacturer of integrated training and simulation systems for military and commercial customers. Under terms of the deal, which is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, Rockwell will pay $125 million for NLX in a cash transaction. NLX is expected to have revenues of about $125 million in 2004. NLX is being purchased from Arlington Capital Partners, a Washington, D.C.
October 26-28 - International Aviation Womens Association 15th Annual Conference, Lisbon, Portugal, www.iawa.org, e-mail [email protected] October 26-30 - ATCA 48th Annual International Technical Program and Exhibits, Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Washington, 703-522-5717, fax 703-527-7251, e-mail [email protected] October 30-November 1 - Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Expo 2003, Philadelphia, Pa., (301) 695-2000
The Department of Transportation is expected to publish a rule for domestic reduced vertical separation minimums by the end of the month in the Federal Register. Expected to take effect in January 2005, the rule will mandate six additional flight levels between 29,000 and 41,000 feet, reducing vertical separation between aircraft from 2,000 feet to 1,000.
Ultrajet LLC ordered 100 Avocet ProJet aircraft from Avocet Aircraft with deliveries scheduled to begin in January 2007. The Avocet ProJet is a six- to eight-place twin-engine turbojet geared to the air taxi and charter market. A subsidiary of Jet Partners, LLC, UltraJet is a private membership charter company that caters to customers with a fleet of Gulfstream, Citation and Learjet aircraft operated and maintained by AvBase Aviation, a fellow Jet Partners subsidiary.
Mercury Air Group, Inc. notified the American Stock Exchange that the company will delay filing its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2003. Mercury said its new auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, have not completed the audit and preparation of the company's financial statement for the fiscal year. Mercury added that it "does not believe that the continuing audit indicates any underlying weakness in the company's financial conditions or prospects." The company said it is reviewing its accounting related to the Dec.
National Air Transportation Association officials spent three hours with a delegation of French regulatory officials last week providing a "Fractional 101" briefing on the scope, outlook and operational parameters of fractional aircraft providers. The French, like their counterparts in the United Kingdom, are considering whether/how to regulate fractional aircraft and those operated under management contracts that fly into Europe.
SEPT. 11 COMMISSION SLAMS FAA, ISSUES SUBPOENA FOR RECORDS - The White House commission established to investigate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks issued a subpoena last week to obtain the documents it needs from FAA, but the agency said the step is unnecessary.
