The general aviation fleet will grow at an average rate of just 0.3 percent over the next 12 years, FAA said last week, with almost all the growth accounted for by high-end business and corporate aircraft.
DARRELL RICHARDSON was promoted to the newly created position of president and CEO of PACE Airlines at Piedmont Hawthorne. He was most recently executive vice president at Piedmont.
SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R-Okla.), as expected, last week introduced S.2007, the General Aviation Industry Reparations Act of 2002. Inhofe's bill is identical to H.R.3347, which was approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last month. If enacted, the measures would set aside $3 billion for general aviation loan guarantees and provide $2.5 billion in general aviation grants for firms and individuals affected by the Sept.
THE NATIONAL AERONAUTIC ASSOCIATION'S 2001 Robert J. Collier Trophy will go to the Integrated Lift Fan Propulsion System that Pratt&Whitney and Rolls-Royce will build for Joint Strike Fighter prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The system is designed for the short takeoff/vertical landing version of the JSF.
MICHAEL P. FIELD was named chief of Pratt&Whitney's commercial engines marketing and sales division. He will be responsible for marketing and sales of new equipment and aftermarket service. Field was most recently senior vice president, sales and customer support, at International Aero Engines.
American Eagle Airlines is facing a $1 million civil penalty, proposed by FAA for what the agency said was a violation of the carrier's maintenance standards. FAA said American Eagle operated nine aircraft on 514 flights between May 1 and Aug. 24, 1998, when they were not in compliance with the company's oil consumption monitoring program. Federal officials said that program requires daily engine oil level checks for Saab 340Bs and the company did not follow the procedures.
Bombardier signed an agreement with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) Corp. under which the Canadian manufacturer will have a major presence at the three IMS races each year, as well as the 15 Indy Racing League races across the country.
FAIRCHILD DORNIER plans to proceed with a rollout ceremony for its 728JET this Thursday, but the company's primary focus is finding a strategic partner to help provide the financial strength, and possibly infrastructure, it needs to bring its aircraft programs to market. The company has been hit hard by post-9/11 fallout among its airline customers. See article below.
The Federal Aviation Administration is on track to release a proposal in April that is expected to reduce aircraft separation minimums between flight levels 290 and 410 over domestic airspace by December 2004. The move to push for full domestic reduced vertical separation minimums (DRVSM) implementation comes despite the wishes of general aviation community leaders, who hoped to convince the agency to limit reduced domestic vertical separation to between FL350 and FL390 initially and gradually widen the range to between FL290 and FL410.
SERGUEI V. KOUZMINE was appointed to the board of directors for Mercury Air Group. He is the managing general partner at Russian Investment Solutions and also the president of R.I.F.: Research, Investment, Finance, a Russian investment company. "Serguei's addition to the board of directors will enhance our development of new markets and we look forward to his input in our strategic efforts to enhance shareholder value," said Joseph A. Czyzyk, Mercury president and CEO.
DOUG SMITH, the veteran aircraft marketing and sales executive, was promoted to regional vice president, sales for the eastern U.S. for Bombardier Aerospace, Business Aircraft. Smith, who is based in White Plains, N.Y., is responsible for directing and managing the six sales directors in the Eastern Region who are selling the entire Bombardier line of Learjet, Challenger and Global Express business jets. Smith, who will report to Bill Monroe, senior vice president of sales for the U.S., joined Bombardier in 1998.
The Federal Aviation Administration awarded a $26 million follow-on contract to Harris Corporation to maintain and support a weather tracking system, the Weather and Radar Processor (WARP), Harris said last week. WARP analyzes weather information from various sources and provides consolidated weather data to meteorologists at FAA en route centers.
Orange County, Calif., voters passed a measure rezoning the proposed El Toro airport into parkland, defeated a county board supervisor who backed the airport and were apprised last week of Navy expectations to sell the land for other uses.
BRAZILIAN MANUFACTURER Embraer completed its acquisition of the operating assets of Celsius Aerotech, Inc., Nashville, Tenn., from Reliance Aerotech, Inc. (BA, Jan. 14/25). Embraer is retaining the more than 200 Celsius employees and plans to continue providing aircraft maintenance and refurbishment, as well as component repair and overhaul for U.S. operators. The acquisition was made by Embraer Aircraft Maintenance Services, Inc, (EAMS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Embraer Aircraft Holding, Inc.
ROBERT W. O'BRIEN was named executive director of the Greater Rockford Airport Authority in Illinois. He was most recently the executive director of aviation at Capital Airport in Springfield, Ill. O'Brien retired from the United States Army as a captain and has more than 25 years of airport and aviation experience.
DPI LABS has developed a new portable diagnostic tool, the Fly-Away Kit, which will test, verify, and diagnose cabin management systems. The kit is designed for use for DPI's Smart-Link II or III Cabin Management Operating Systems and can test systems ranging from the data bus and relays to shipside wiring and individual components. Used with a laptop computer, the kit plugs into aircraft systems, eliminating the need to disassemble the aircraft. It also can be used to update plane configuration software or get online troubleshooting help from DPI via the Internet.
AEROGROUP INTERNATIONAL, the Florida-based company founded in 2001 to provide aviation support to the U.S. military, signed a letter of intent to buy Specialized Transport International. Founded in 1992, STI provides maintenance and support services to the U.S. government and a number of commercial airlines, including Delta, Continental, Atlantic Southeast and Comair. STI has annual revenues of about $3 million and an inventory of aircraft and equipment in excess of $3.5 million. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
SOCATA Models MS 892A-150, MS 892E-150, MS 893A, MS 893E, MS 894A, MS 894E, Rallye 150T, and Rallye 150ST airplanes (Docket No. 2001-CE-41-AD; Amendment 39-12672; AD 2002-05-04) - supersedes AD 77-15-06 which currently requires repetitively inspecting the engine mount assembly for cracks, repair of any cracks found, and modification of the brackets on airplanes with right angle engine mounts.
FLIGHT EXPLORER won an agreement to provide its real-time flight tracking software to Executive Jet, Inc. Executive Jet will use the Flight Explorer software at its operations center in Columbus, Ohio as well as 11 remote locations across the country.
WILD TURKEY in the cockpit can distract pilots during high workload periods, as two Atlantic Coast Airlines Bombardier CRJ pilots found out the hard way March 9. With 50 passengers on board, the crew was hurtling down the runway for takeoff from Dulles International Airport when the airplane was struck by two wild turkeys, according to a National Transportation Safety Board report. No injuries to those on board were reported and the takeoff was aborted. There was damage to the No.
GENERAL ELECTRIC CF34-3A1 and -3B1 series turbofan engines (Docket No. 99-NE-49-AD; Amendment 39-12670; AD 2002-05-02) - supersedes an existing airworthiness directive that currently requires revisions to the engine maintenance program specified in the manufacturer's instructions for continued airworthiness for GE CF34-3A1 and -3B1 series turbofan engines. Those revisions require enhanced inspection of selected critical life-limited parts at each piece-part exposure.
Gulfstream Aerospace won a 10-year contract from the U.S. Air Force to supply up to 20 Gulfstream business jets, a deal with a potential value of $1.6 billion.
SIKORSKY AIRCRAFT signed an agreement to purchase Derco Holding Ltd., including its aerospace and repair services units. The transaction is expected to close in April. Sikorsky said the acquisition "represents a major expansion of the company's aftermarket business, wahich is expected to total $1 billion in annual revenue in 2003. The purchase price was not disclosed. Derco Holding, based in Milwaukee, Wis., is a privately owned provider of military aircraft logistics and component distribution, component repairs, and aftermarket program management.
TEXTRON LYCOMING fuel injected reciprocating engines (Docket No. 92-ANE-56-AD) - proposes to supersede an existing airworthiness directive, applicable to certain Textron Lycoming fuel-injected reciprocating engines, that currently requires inspection, and replacement if necessary, of externally mounted fuel injector fuel lines. Since the issuance of the existing AD, additional engine series have been identified with the potential for the same problem and necessitating inclusion in the AD's applicability.
Warren Buffett, the financial icon who chairs Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., says the fractional aircraft business didn't turn a profit for the company last year, but he's still high on the concept.
