CORPORATE JET SALES (CJS), Middleburg, Va., hired Dassault Falcon Jet (DFJ) veteran Tony Liotti as director of contracts. Liotti, who will be based in the CJS New Jersey office, will be responsible for preparation and negotiation of contracts for the purchase and sale of new and used corporate aircraft. Liotti spend 14 years as contracts administration manager for DFJ.
COMPASS AEROSPACE named Steve Smith vice president and general manager of the company's Northwest Region. His responsibilities include oversight of two Compass facilities, Barnes Machine, Inc. and Sea-Lect Products, Inc. Smith has more than 20 years of aerospace, engineering and business experience. He was a naval aviator and has held management and analyst positions with Rockwell International and Mobil Corp.
MESA AIRLINES plans to have 151 regional jets and turboprops in its fleet by 2002. At a Salomon Smith Barney conference this month, Mesa said it will divest five more Beech 1900s, three Jetstream 32s and two de Havilland Dash 8s and add 28 Embraer ERJ-145s. Prorate agreements will grow dramatically, eventually representing nearly three quarters of Mesa's code-share structure.
PREMIER TURBINES is continuing its expansion of MPI inspection operations with new equipment for TFE731 engines at its facility at St. Louis Downtown-Parks Airport. The company already has quadrupled shop space and invested more than $300,000 in tooling over the past two years in support of its MPI work.
ROMAN DAVALOZ was named supervisor of interior installations for McKinney Aerospace in McKinney, Texas, which designs and installs custom aircraft interiors in Challenger, Gulfstream, Falcon and Hawker business jets. Davaloz formerly was an interiors supervisor for Bombardier Aerospace in Tucson, Ariz., where he was involved in setting up and supervising the Global Express interior installation program. Before joining Bombardier, Davaloz was an interiors crew lead technician for Gulfstream Aerospace in Dallas, the former K-C Aviation facility.
Docket No.: 27001 Regulations Affected: 14 CFR Sec. 25.562(c)(5), 25.785(a) Description of Petition: To allow an extension of Exemption 5887F regarding the Head Injury Criteria for front row passenger seats on Jetstream Model 4100 airplanes.
LOCKHEED MARTIN AERONAUTICS COMPANY and Korea Aerospace Industry signed a joint marketing agreement this month on the T-50 advanced jet trainer. The T-50, currently in full-scale development with Lockheed Martin responsible for the wings, flight controls and avionics integration, is designed to prepare pilots to operate modern jet fighters. The Korean Air Force plans to replace its fleets of T-38, F-5 and A-37 aircraft with the T-50 and a derivative, the A-50, a fighter-lead-in-trainer and light attack aircraft.
Docket No.: 30070 Section of the 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 47.65 Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit petitioner to obtain a Dealer's Aircraft Registration Certificate without meeting the U.S. citizenship requirements. Grant, Aug. 30, 2000, Exemption No. 7330
Model CL-600-2B16 (CL-604) series airplanes (Docket No. 2000-NM-315-AD; Amendment 39-11972; AD 2000-23-02) - requires, among other actions, a general visual inspection to detect gaps between the vane brackets and the adjacent skin; corrective actions, if necessary; and replacement of the six flap vane actuator beams with new beams.
FEDEX EXPRESS opened its world headquarters campus the week before Thanksgiving, a 1.1 million square-foot office complex set on 89 wooded acres in southeast Memphis, Tenn.
Docket No.: 30171 Section of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 121.344(e) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit CA to operate seven newly manufactured EMB-145 airplanes delivered to Chautauqua prior to Jan. 31, 2001, without those airplanes being able to record data. Grant, Aug. 21, 2000, Exemption No. 7322
National Business Aviation Association and National Air Transportation Association last week called unlawful the Stage 2 aircraft ban that the Naples, Fla. Airport Authority adopted last month (BA, Nov. 20/231). NBAA President Jack Olcott wrote the authority that the ban was "unconstitutional and otherwise unlawful" and "absolutely unrelated to the real facts at the airport." He said the association would take every step it can to prevent the ban's implementation.
A business fare hike of as much as 10 percent initiated by United Airlines was adopted by other carriers last week. Airline analyst Samuel Buttrick of UBS Warburg in New York said the latest hike "represents the sixth increase in business type fares in 2000 with typical year-to-date increases in the 20-22 percent range." He cited the one-way fare from Minneapolis to Orange County, Calif., which has gone up from $856 to $1,031, a gain of more than 20 percent.
Raytheon Aircraft now hopes to win FAA certification of the Premier I business jet by the end or March or early April, after developing fixes to two more technical concerns raised by certification officials. This schedule slip (from yearend 2000 to spring 2001) was disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by parent Raytheon Company last week (BA, Nov. 20/231).
Docket No.: 29491 Section of the 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 21.325(b)(3) Description of Releif Sought/Disposition: To permit Am-Safe to issue export airworthiness approvals for Class II and III products manufactured by Am-Safe, Ltd., in England under Am-Safe's technical standard order authorization (TSOA). Grant, Sept. 8, 2000, Exemption No. 7354
Docket No.: 29986 Section of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 25.562 and 25.785(b) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit certification of medical stretchers for transport of persons whose medical condition dictates such accommodation. The exemption is for an installation on a Cessna Model 560XL airplane. Grant, Aug. 16, 2000, Exemption No. 7318
Bombardier Aerospace mated the wing to the fuselage on its new super midsize Continental business jet, a "key milestone" toward first flight expected in mid-2001, company officials said. The wing mating "is right on schedule and represents another important achievement in the Continental program," said John Holding, executive vice president of engineering and product development. "The program continues to proceed as planned."
HONEYWELL has scheduled a special shareholder meeting Jan. 10 to seek approval of its proposed merger with General Electric Company. The meeting will be held at the company's headquarters in Morris Township, N.J., beginning at 10 a.m. The record date for determining who is entitled to vote on the merger is Dec. 1. Proxy materials will be mailed to shareholders on Dec. 8.
GROEN BROTHERS AVIATION, INC., Salt Lake City, Utah, received a $5 million investment from an institutional investor, which "continues a significant trend involving investments by professional fund managers," said David Groen, president and chief executive officer of the gyroplane design and manufacturing company. Groen said the company will "continue to accept appropriate direct investment from all sources until our business plan goals are met."
BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE named Kontinental Aviation of Istanbul, Turkey as its exclusive sales agent for Learjet business aircraft in the region. Kontinental will be responsible for selling Learjet Model 31A, 45 and 60 business jets. "We are delighted to reach this important agreement with Kontinental Aviation," said Mike Cappuccitti, regional vice president-sales for Middle East/Africa for Bombardier.
U.S. SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS released a series of new Summaries of Airworthiness Directives. The summaries are published in three volumes covering large aircraft (over 12,500 pounds maximum certificated weight) and three volumes for small aircraft, rotorcraft, gliders, balloons and airships. Volumes range in price from $57 to $138.75. For more information, call (202) 512-1800, fax (202) 512-2250 or visit the Superintendent of Documents Online bookstore at http://bookstore.gpo.gov.
Docket No.: 25245 Section of the 14 CFR Affected: 14 CFR 91.215(b) and (c) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit USAF to conduct certain military flight training operations in designated airspace above 10,000 feet mean sea level without being required to operate the aircraft transponders. Grant, Sept. 27, 2000, Exemption No. 4633H
Docket No.: 30178 Section of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 25.857(e)(4) Description of Relief Sought: To permit Sabreliner Model 40 and 60 series airplanes to be modified for the carriage of cargo as Class E compartments (an STC project), without fully meeting the requirements to exclude hazardous quantities of smoke, flames or noxious gases from the flight crew compartment.
B/E AEROSPACE won contracts potentially valued at up to $63 million to supply cabin interior products for two business jet programs. The Nordam Group, which will supply interior kits for Embraer's Legacy business jet, selected B/E Aerospace to provide passenger seats. B/E said it also expects to provide interior lighting and WEMAC air valve products for the Legacy. The second contract, from an undisclosed customer, calls for seats and divans for 10 business jets as well as possible options.
Docket No.: 26048 Section of the FAR Affected: 14 CFR 91.319(a) (1) and (2) Description of Relief Sought/Disposition: To permit NTPS to operate aircraft that have experimental certificates to train flight test students who are pilots and flight engineers through the demonstration and practice of flight test techniques, and to teach these students flight test data acquisition methods for compensation. Grant, Aug. 18, 2000, Exemption No. 5778E
