LMI Aerospace, based in St. Louis, boosted its component business with the acquisition of Versaform Corp. and affiliates, privately held aerospace metal forming companies based in Southern California and British Columbia, Canada. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Versaform makes formed metal components for business and regional jets as well as the military markets. It also produces aerospace and architectural components. Sales for the year ended April 30 were about $12 million. LMI expects the transaction to be immediately accretive to earnings per share.
Mooney Aerospace Group, formerly Advanced Aerodynamics&Structures, Inc., inked a deal with New York investment firm Balfour Advisors, LLC to advise Mooney about making good on its plans to expand.
Aetna is closing its flight department and outsourcing its aviation needs, a company spokesman confirmed. Aetna operated three aircraft, a Falcon business jet and two S-76C helicopters, and employed 24 in its flight department. NetJets has won the Aetna business and will manage one of the S-76C helicopters for the insurance giant. Aetna plans to sell its other aircraft, the spokesman said. NetJets also has agreed to hire some of the S-76C pilots and maintenance personnel. Aetna expects the transition to be completed by the end of the month.
VIRGINIA GOV. MARK WARNER named Charles S. Macfarlane director of the Virginia Department of Aviation. Macfarlane, a realtor and private pilot, served as president and was a major stockholders of the former Aeropark, Inc., located near the Richmond, Va. International Airport. Most recently he was senior vice president of Brandywine Realty Trust.
BUSINESS AVIATION OPERATORS DISCUSS NEW SECURITY PROCEDURES AT DCA - Despite this month's announcement that the Department of Transportation plans to publish a rule by the end of May to allow general aviation back into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), a lot of work remains to be done to establish the new security measures, the National Business Aviation Association said Monday (BA, May 13/221).
Docket No.: FAA-2001-9874 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 61.113(e) and 119.1(a)(1) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit Civil Air Patrol (CAP) to reimburse members for service and maintenance expenses incurred while serving on official U.S. Air Force assigned missions, and to permit CAP/Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadet orientation flights. Partial Grant, March 19, 2002, Exemption No. 6771B
RAYTHEON Beech Model C90 airplanes (Docket No. 2001-CE-13-AD; Amendment 39-12745; AD 2002-09-12) - requires inspection of the left-hand (LH) and right-hand (RH) nacelle and spar assembly for the existence of rivets, and requires installation of rivets if they do not exist or are the wrong size or type. This AD is the result of Raytheon identifying several instances where rivets were either missing or were the wrong size or type on these airplanes.
Stevens Aviation Dayton in Ohio was approved as an authorized service center for Raytheon Premier I aircraft. Stevens is authorized to perform heavy and scheduled maintenance, airframe maintenance and engine repair on Premier I aircraft.
Docket No.: FAA-2002-11981 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 25.853(c) Description of Relief Sought: To obtain a one-time, five-year exemption from meeting the fire blocking test requirement for passenger seats of 14 CFR 25.853(c) for the Falcon 900EX airplane.
Honeywell expects its AS907 turbofan, which will power the Bombardier Continental business jet, to win FAA certification next month, and officials are confident the new powerplant will enjoy a trouble-free service introduction based on an extensive test program.
Proponents of the $5.5 billion general aviation relief bill received another setback last week after the House Appropriations Committee moved to rescind portions of the $15 billion airline bailout bill. The committee approved a provision that would rescind the remainder of $5 billion in direct compensation that has not already been handed out to air carriers under the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act. It also would cancel the $10 billion guaranteed loan program, and delay payments already approved until after October.
Stevens Aviation Dayton in Ohio was approved as an authorized service center for Raytheon Premier I aircraft. Stevens is authorized to perform heavy and scheduled maintenance, airframe maintenance and engine repair on Premier I aircraft.
Gulfstream Aerospace executives claim to have markedly improved the quality of Gulfstream 200 (Galaxy) business jets since acquiring Galaxy Aerospace nearly a year ago (BA, June 11/271). In June 2001, the average number of squawks or "exceptions" at delivery was in excess of 100, officials said this month. The average had fallen to under 20 by March and to 10 with the most recent delivery.
NBAA PLANNING AVIATION FORUM IN CHICAGO - The National Business Aviation Association, seeking ways to promote closer interaction with its members and promote the use of business aviation to companies that do not currently operate their own aircraft, is sponsoring a Chicago Area Business Aviation Forum and Static Display next month at DuPage Airport in West Chicago, Ill.
HARRY ARNOLD was named vice president and general manager commercial programs for Goodrich's aerostructures business. He will focus on sales, marketing, engineering and business management. Arnold joined Goodrich in 1999 after 25 years at Boeing.
Israel Aircraft Industries posted net profits of $15 million on revenues of $509 million in the first quarter. Profits fell 25 percent from the $20.1 million earned in the first quarter of 2001, while revenues rose about two percent.
MOONEY SIGNS ON ADVISORS TO MOVE AHEAD WITH ACQUISITIONS - Mooney Aerospace Group, formerly Advanced Aerodynamics & Structures, Inc., inked a deal with New York investment firm Balfour Advisors, LLC to advise Mooney about making good on its plans to expand.
Aviation General reported revenues dropped from $2.6 million in the first quarter of 2001 to $1.5 million in the first quarter ended March 31. The company losses, however, improved from $598,587 in first quarter of 2001 to $290,185 in the most recent quarter. Aviation General said first quarter performance was in line with company expectations and added that it expects to report a profit and "substantially higher revenues" for the second quarter. "The company is experiencing increasing business and interest for its products and services," the company said.
LMI Aerospace, based in St. Louis, boosted its component business with the acquisition of Versaform Corp. and affiliates, privately held aerospace metal forming companies based in Southern California and British Columbia, Canada. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Versaform makes formed metal components for business and regional jets as well as the military markets. It also produces aerospace and architectural components. Sales for the year ended April 30 were about $12 million. LMI expects the transaction to be immediately accretive to earnings per share.
Us Airways is warning that it may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection later this year if it does not win concessions from its union groups and vendors in order to lower its high cost structure and turn a profit. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the airline said it has not generated positive operating cash flows since Sept. 11 and "there can be no assurances" that it can ever "achieve or sustain positive cash flows" under its current structure.
HARRY ARNOLD was named vice president and general manager commercial programs for Goodrich's aerostructures business. He will focus on sales, marketing, engineering and business management. Arnold joined Goodrich in 1999 after 25 years at Boeing.
Docket No.: FAA-2002-11888 Section of 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 121.463(c) Description of Relief Sought: To permit Comair to allow the required five hours of dispatcher operating familiarization time for the Canadair Regional Jet CL-65 (CL-65) aircraft to fulfill the dispatcher operating familiarization time requirement for the CL-65 and the Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia aircraft (EMB-120), provided the dispatcher has been previously qualified on the EMB-120 and is undergoing recurrent training.
BAE Systems and Mesaba struck an agreement under which BAE will have access to Mesaba's Minneapolis-based regional aircraft facility to provide on-site overhaul and repair. BAE will operate a repair station at Mesaba's 126,000-square-foot maintenance facility, relocating the manufacturer's Regional Aircraft Service team from Herndon, Va.
Vistagy, Inc. of Waltham, Mass released a new version of FiberSIM, a software program for engineers who design products made of composite materials. Version 4.0 is redesigned to "promote complete digital product definition" which can be used to streamline product development and automate manufacturing processes. The software is available for the Microsoft Windows PC platform and the Motif UNIX system.
ANN HOLMES was named director, cabin safety and service, at TAG Aviation. She will be responsible for developing training programs, procedures and service standards. Holmes previously worked for Gulfstream and has worked as a commercial and business aviation flight attendant for 20 years.
