Gulfstream appointed Darrell Frey as general manager of its service center in Savannah, Ga. In addition, Elizabeth Nelson was promoted to diversity manager at Gulfstream Aerospace and Lisa Saxon promoted to staffing manager.
Raytheon Aircraft opened a new regional sales office in Littleton, Colo. for its Hawker product line. The company tapped Dan Keady to run the office. Keady, who has served with Raytheon Aircraft for eight years in international sales, will oversee Hawker sales in the central western U.S, including Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
Nearly 25 percent of all business trips by investment bankers are made within 24 hours' notice, and half are within 48 hours, according to a survey by the National Business Travel Association.
Rockwell Collins will partner with Innovative Media Solutions to provide eOffload to Delta Air Lines. The product is an Internet-based service that gathers and displays data on passenger use of broadcast and on-demand audio and video as well as game usage and passenger survey data. The information will be analyzed and used to determine which amenities passengers value most. Delta is the first major carrier to use eOffload.
EUROCOPTER TO SUPPLY EC-135s FOR CZECH POLICE IN $41M DEAL - Eurocopter will supply eight EC-135 helicopters to the Czech police air service in a deal worth $41 million. The Franco-German Eurocopter consortium said Sept. 24 that the first of the helicopters should be delivered before the end of this year and the order should be completed by 2008.
ATHENS TO USE BIOMETRIC ACCESS CONTROL - Athens International Airport is to test a biometric access control system designed by Netherlands-based company, Dartagnan biometric solutions. The biometric system, which will be used to control staff access to the airport's Security Operations Center, is based on iris recognition technology. The system should be installed within the next few weeks under an agreement signed Sept. 10 between Dartagnan and Athens Airport.
IRISH GOVERNMENT BUYS MODEL 45 LEARJET - Bombardier Aerospace Wednesday finalized the sale to the Irish government of a Model 45 Learjet, an aircraft that is scheduled for delivery in December in preparation for Ireland's assumption of the European Union (EU) Presidency in January 2004. The eight-passenger business jet will be based at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, near Dublin.
October 7-9 - National Business Aviation Association 56th Annual Meeting and Convention, Orlando, Fla., (202) 783-9000 October 30-November 1 - Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Expo 2003, Philadelphia, Pa., (301) 695-2000 November 4-9 - Korea Air Show 2003, Busan Exhibition & Convention Center, Busan, Korea. Visit www.seoulairshow.com. November 16-20 - Aviation Distributors & Manufacturers Association 121st Semi-Annual Meeting, Marriott Marco Beach Resort, Marco Island, Fla., (215) 564-3484
DOT APPOINTS SIX MEMBERS TO MAC BOARD AT FAA - Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta named six new members to FAA's Management Advisory Council (MAC) last week, taking another step to build a team that will help the agency achieve one of its primary objectives of becoming a performance-based organization.
Los Angeles City Officials are trying to get the word out that they take seriously violations of the Stage 2 aircraft non-addition rule at Van Nuys, Calif. Airport. The city is filing a lawsuit against a Santa Monica, Calif.-based charter business for alleged repeated noise violations, the second legal action within a three-month span to clamp down on alleged violators. "This legal action sends a clear message that noise restrictions in place at Van Nuys Airport will be strictly enforced," said Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn.
The First Flight Centennial Celebration organizers plan to move ahead with the Dec. 12-17 event at Kill Devil Hills, N.C. as scheduled, despite the devastation of Hurricane Isabel earlier this month. "Our thoughts are with our neighbors in Dare County. Right now we are focused on clean-up efforts in our communities, parks and taking care of our people," said Lawrence A. Belli, superintendent of the Outer Banks Group for the National Park Service.
Elite Flight Solutions launched charter operations at Sarasota, Fla. International Airport. The company will house up to six aircraft at its Sarasota hangar. Elite Charter is planning to acquire three aircraft for the Sarasota facility. It has access to more than 50 aircraft through its marketing agreements with American Air Network.
Hurricane Isabel prevented the National Air Tour from making its scheduled landing in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. The caravan of 25 vintage aircraft, which are retracing tours conducted from 1925-1931, was scheduled to land at Dare County Airport Sept. 20. The tour, however, instead conducted a fly-over and headed on to Richmond for a fuel stop before reaching the headquarters of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Sept. 21 in Frederick, Md.
The Air Cargo Recommendations will be the culmination of three separate working groups comprising a large cross-section of companies, industry organizations and some government agencies, such as the U.S. Postal Service. Those working groups, more large-airport and Part 121 oriented than the general aviation groups, produced much more contentious results than the GA groups'. In fact, the National Air Transportation Association wrote a four-page dissent on the recommendations stemming from the working group focusing on all-cargo operations.
BOMBARDIER SECURES $862 MILLION SKYWEST ORDER - Bombardier Aerospace won a contract from SkyWest Airlines of St. George, Utah for 30 70-seat Bombardier CRJ700 regional jets in an order that is valued at $862 million (U.S.). The order included options for up to 80 more of the CRJ700 airliners, which could boost the value of the deal to about $3.35 billion. Deliveries of the initial firm order are slated to begin early next year and continue through 2005.
Air Methods' pilots voted to join the Office and Professional Employees International Union. The National Mediation Board held an election in which 298 out of 540 eligible voters, or 55 percent, chose to join the union. "We will look to continue the environment of mutual respect that we have traditionally had with our pilots," said Aaron Todd, CEO of Air Methods.
Executive Jet Management earned ISO 9001:2000 certification, making it one of the few U.S. aircraft charter, management, shuttle and maintenance companies to achieve such recognition, the company said. The standard recognizes companies that have implemented a quality management system covering all activities, including hiring and training, customer interaction, vendor management and service delivery processes and procedures. The recognition came after EJM spent two years implementing a business operating system that focuses on quality and process improvement.
Business Jet Center, based at Dallas Love Field, joined the Aviation Points Exchange (APEX) dealer network. APEX is a nationwide loyalty and reward program for pilots and others in the aviation field. Business Jet Center will be the exclusive APEX dealer on Dallas Love Field. The facility, a Phillips 66 dealer, includes 178,000 square feet of hangar, terminal and office space. Business Jet Center provides fueling and line services as well as aircraft maintenance, charter and management.
MICHAEL BUELL was named director of domestic sales at JSSI. He will manage day-to-day operations of JSSI's domestic sales team and report to COO Ed Hawkins. An instrument rated private pilot, Buell has more than 20 years of sales and management experience and was most recently president of O/E Systems, a company he founded 10 years ago. JSSI provides financial services to manage costs of operating and maintaining aircraft and helicopters.
Cessna Aircraft Company developed a new promotional program, "Skyhawk SP Fly Fuel Free in 2003," to boost Skyhawk sales for the rest of the year. Cessna is offering a $3,500 fuel card to customers who take delivery of a Cessna 172S Skyhawk SP during the remainder of 2003. The promotion applies to Skyhawks currently in inventory as well as those on schedule for delivery. The fuel card will be valid at any fixed-base operation that accepts Multiservice Fuel cards. The card expires two years after the activation date, Cessna said.
FAA awarded a $26.9 million contract to the Phelps Construction Co. of Dallas, Texas to build a new 398-foot-tall air traffic control tower at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. The new tower will be built 500 feet northwest of the current tower. FAA expects the tower will be completed and operational in 2006.
