FLIGHTSAFETY INTERNATIONAL'S Cessna Learning Center won FAA's Level D certification for its Citation Encore full flight simulator. The simulator was designed and built by FlightSafety Simulation in Tulsa, Okla. The FlightSafety Visual Simulation Systems division in St. Louis, Mo. built the new simulator's visual system.
ANDY BILLER was named turboprop acquisition specialist at Duncan Aviation. He will join Duncan's JetResources Aircraft Acquisition team. Biller has worked for the last seven years as King Air sales representative at Raytheon Aircraft.
MIDWEST EXPRESS HOLDINGS deferred for one year the planned delivery of Embraer regional jets for its subsidiary, Skyway Airlines. The delivery of 20 Embraer ERJs will be rescheduled to begin January 2004, at a rate of one aircraft approximately every other month. Midwest Express said postponing Embraer deliveries would allow the company to "better focus on the acquisition of Boeing 717 aircraft for its Midwest Express Airlines subsidiary," which begins in February 2003. Midwest Express placed a firm order for 20 Boeing 717s last April.
Models PC-12 and PC-12/45 airplanes (Docket No. 2001-CE-07-AD; Amendment 39-12687; AD 2002-06-10) - requires replacement of the metered connector and oxygen tubing and related components in the rear seat bench. This AD is the result of mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the airworthiness authority for Switzerland. The actions specified by this AD are intended to correct the potential for insufficient oxygen quantity that is available to occupants of the rear seat bench in some emergency conditions.
BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE sold two Bombardier CRJ200 extended-range regional jets to Malev Hungarian Airlines of Budapest, Hungary. The airline also holds options for six additional CRJ aircraft. Malev will use the new 50-seat aircraft "to feed its own hub at Budapest's Ferihegy Airport, as well as its KLM/Northwest code sharing partners," said Bombardier. The airline also is planning to add regional services from Budapest to cities in the Ukraine, Romania, the Balkans and Western Europe.
LUFTHANSA TECHNIK AG and its wholly owned subsidiary, LHT Acquisition Corporation, will merge with Hawker Pacific Aerospace by buying all of its outstanding stock at a price of $3.25 per share. Lufthansa Technik already owns about 72.7 percent of Hawker Pacific Aerospace shares. The cash offer has a maximum total purchase price of $9 million. The deal is expected to close this month.
HENRI LAURAS was appointed international sales director, pre-owned aircraft for Bombardier Aerospace, Business Aircraft. Based in Paris, France, Lauras will be responsible for the sale of pre-owned Bombardier and non-Bombardier business aircraft in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
BOEING'S Preston Aviation Solutions unit licensed its Total Airspace and Airport Modeler (TAAM) to Landrum&Brown, an international airport planning consultant, to study aircraft movements as it prepares analyses for airport investment, air traffic control, aircraft noise and air quality dispersion. Landrum&Brown used the TAAM software to study aircraft ground movements at Chicago O'Hare International airport. TAAM simulates aircraft movements gate to gate.
General aviation reached record lows in numbers of accidents last year, but a drop in hours flown drove up the accident rate for private operators, according to statistics released for 2001 by the National Transportation Safety Board last week. The GA accident rate increased from 6.33 accidents per 100,000 flight hours in 2000 to 6.56 last year. But the total number of accidents dropped from 1,838 in 2000 to 1,721 in 2001.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT CHARTER&MANAGEMENT added eight aircraft to its charter certificate. The new aircraft and their bases are: a King Air 90 in Van Nuys, Calif.; a King Air B200 in Ontario, Calif.; a Citation III in Atlanta, Ga.; a Beechjet 400A in Camarillo, Calif.; a King Air 350 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.; a Diamond Jet in Owensboro, Ky.; a Beechjet 400A in Farmingdale, N.Y.; and a King Air C90 in South Bend, Ind.
Mode C transponders (Docket No. 2000-NM-284-AD; Amendment 39-12682; AD 2002-06-05) - requires, for various transport category airplanes equipped with certain Mode C air traffic control transponders manufactured by Rockwell Collins, Inc., testing each transponder; replacing certain parts in any transponder that fails the initial test with new parts and performing additional test(s); and making repairs, as necessary, so that the transponder passes the test.
UAL Corp. hopes to wind down its business jet operations by mid-May, leaving business jet manufacturers to fill in the gaps in the orderbooks that Avolar's 300-plus fleet would have accounted for. UAL Corp. announced the decision to pull out of the business jet market late last month, a little less than a year after the corporation unveiled an ambitious plan to sell shares in hundreds of fractional aircraft, provide charter and corporate shuttle service and manage aircraft (BA, March 25/141).
BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE named British European Aviation Services (BEAS) a recognized Q Series/Dash 8 maintenance facility in Europe. Under the agreement, BEAS is approved to perform C checks, other heavy maintenance as well as aircraft modifications and upgrades on Dash 8-100, 200 and 300 and Q200, Q300 and Q400 aircraft. Bombardier has sold 165 Q Series/Dash 8 aircraft in Europe. BEAS is based at Exeter International Airport in southwest England along with its sister airline, British European.
THE CANADIAN BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION will focus on security and accessibility issues at its 41st annual convention in Montreal, June 17-19. Seminars at the convention will cover topics such as aircraft basing options operational safety standards system, aviation security and national standards policy-making and Customs through the CANPASS and GATE programs. For more information, contact CBAA in Ottawa at (613) 236-5611.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT CO. of Wichita, Kan., is being awarded a $15.8 million firm-fixed-price contract modification to provide for continued fiscal 2002 contractor logistics support for Option VII of the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System for T-6A aircraft. At this time, all the funds have been obligated. The Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio is the contracting authority.
CHEVRONTEXACO signed a deal with FlyteComm of Florida to provide its web-based flight tracking tool for ChevronTexaco fixed-base operators. ChevronTexaco is providing the FlyteComm aircraft situational displays through its ChevronTexaco TotalGA web site. The services include Flytecomm's FlyteTrax 2002 and FlyteTrax Express, which track flights and weather information in North American airspace.
BILL WENDELL was appointed sales director, pre-owned aircraft, non-Bombardier products for Bombardier Aerospace, Business Aircraft. Wendell has more than 20 years of sales experience and will be based in Georgetown, Tex.
KAISER AEROSPACE&ELECTRONICS CORPORATION, a Rockwell Collins company, sold Kaiser Fluid Technologies to Tactair Fluid Controls of Liverpool, N.Y. "Kaiser Fluid Technologies will be better able to enhance their strategic position under the ownership of Tactair, a company more closely aligned with the market KFT addresses," said Clay Jones, president and CEO of Rockwell Collins. KFT's product lines include valves, actuators and dampers for landing gear, brakes, engine bleed air, flight control and utility control systems on aircraft.
THE BATTLE TO REGAIN business jet access to Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) penetrated the White House last week when Signature Flight Support President Beth Haskins met with one of President Bush's advisers to discuss the situation.DCA has been a prestigious and profitable base for Signature for years, but except for limited fuel sales to government aircraft, the facility has sat largely empty since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Salt Lake Jet Center achieved a significant increase in its share of the corporate and general aviation fuel market at Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) with its acquisition last month of the former Hudson General assets, leasehold and facilities at the airport. The transaction reduces the number of FBOs on the airport from three to two, with the other survivor being Million Air-SLC. Hudson General and Salt Lake Jet Center had previously formed a joint venture that took over the former Majestic Aviation holdings at SLC.
The Air Group, the Los Angeles-based aircraft management and charter provider, said its fleet has grown by 25 percent since Sept. 11. The company has added 10 aircraft in the past six months including six Gulfstream business jets, boosting the fleet to 50 aircraft at 10 locations across the country. "The economics of owning an airplane are better today than ever before when you calculate the added productivity and time savings you get from a private jet's predictability, flexibility and convenience," said Jon Winthrop, president and CEO. "While Sept.
Raytheon Travel Air sealed a deal with Cleveland-based Flight Options to combine their fractional ownership programs. The new company, which will be known as Flight Options, LLC, will consolidate more than 1,600 shareowners and a fleet of about 200 new and used aircraft, making it the second largest fractional provider in the world. Under the terms of the merger agreement, first announced in December 2001 (BA, Jan. 1, 5), Flight Options will hold 50.1 percent ownership of the new company and Raytheon will hold 49.9 percent.
GEORGE FERITO was named manager at FlightSafety International's Fort Worth Training Center. Ferito was previously the assistant manager at the center. He is a business aircraft pilot with ratings in three types of corporate jets and holds a commercial helicopter license.
SIKORSKY Model S-76A helicopters (Docket No. 2000-SW-46-AD; Amendment 39-12674; AD 2002-05-06) - supersedes an existing AD for Sikorsky Model S-76A helicopters that currently requires a service life limit on certain landing gear parts based on hours time-in-service (TIS). This amendment adds another method of calculating the life limit for certain landing gear parts based on cycles and requires the operator to choose and record the method of calculating the service life of each part in the rotorcraft history or equivalent record.
