Piaggio investors Tata Group and Mubadala Development Company have increased their shares in the Italian airframer, a move that will hike the equity in the company by €190 million ($256 million) and narrow the Ferrari stake to just 2%. The investment provides capital to further development of the P.1HH HammerHead and the MPA Multirole Patrol Aircraft.
JASON BERG has joined TWC Aviation as chief aviation officer. In this role, Berg will oversee TWC’s flight operations, safety, and maintenance departments. He will also help implement the company’s new environmental initiative. He formerly spent more than nine years at Sun Air Jets, where he served as chief pilot. He has also served as a lead pilot on a Global Express for an entertainment company.
JULIO RAMIREZ was appointed general manager of AeroMaritime America’s Mesa, Ariz., facility, which specializes in Rolls-Royce M250 series engines. Ramirez has served with AeroMaritime parent ITP Group for more than 15 years, including three years as general manager of AeroMaritime’s facility in Queretaro, Mexico.
Los Angeles-based TWC Aviation and Oxford, Conn.-based Key Air each added aircraft to their respective charter and management fleets. TWC added a fourth Bombardier Global Express. The 6,000-nm Global Express becomes one of 20 large cabin jets available for charter from TWC Aviation. Meanwhile, a Dassault Falcon 900C joined the Key Air fleet. The Falcon is based in Virginia, helping to expand Key Air’s newest market, Washington, D.C., and the Mid-Atlantic region.
The House on Nov. 14 gave final clearance to a bill designed to boost the general aviation industry. House approval, by unanimous consent, followed Senate approval of the Small Airplane Revitalization Act, H.R.1848, last month. The bill, which calls on FAA to adopt new Part 23 certification standards by the end of 2015, next heads for President Barack Obama’s signature.
Astronics Corporation’s Max-Viz Enhanced Vision System was selected as standard equipment aboard the Simplex Aerospace SkyCannon and Fire Attack systems. The SkyCannon is a helicopter-mounted system for firefighters. The Max-Viz system will enable operators of Simplex firefighting equipment to see through smoke while fighting high-rise fires. The Fire Attack system supports data acquisition of door operation, hover pump activation and foam pump activation, all correlated with aircraft GPS position.
Berkshire Hathaway is crediting increased share sales by its fractional ownership business NetJets for helping improve overall company revenue. NetJets is part of Berkshire Hathaway’s “other services” group, which also includes FlightSafety International, Dairy Queen, Business Wire, TTI and a range of other media outlets.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators last week were on scene of the crash of a Mitsubishi MU-2B-25 near Owasso, Okla., that claimed the life of Sen. James Inhofe ’s 52-year-old son, Perry Inhofe.
BELL Model 230 helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0492; Directorate Identifier 2008-SW-013-AD; Amendment 39-17608; AD 2013-20-02] – requires installing a placard on the instrument panel and revising the limitations section of the rotorcraft flight manual (RFM). This AD was prompted by several incidents of third stage engine turbine wheel failures, which were caused by excessive vibrations at certain engine speeds during steady-state operations.
While the current FAA authorization continues through the end of fiscal 2015, lawmakers and aviation groups are beginning to lay the groundwork for a new FAA reauthorization bill now with the hopes of averting another scenario in which the agency’s spending authority runs on years of short-term extensions, says Tom Hendricks, president and CEO of the National Air Transportation Association.
As budget talks heat up in Washington, so is renewed focus on depreciation schedules for business aircraft. Senate Democrats reportedly are floating a list of a dozen tax loopholes that they are calling most egregious. In an opinion piece published by The Washington Post, Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (Wash.) states, “The U.S. tax code clearly benefits the wealthy and well-connected.
Aviation Search Group, an executive recruiting firm for the aerospace and aviation industries, formed a new recruiting department dedicated to business aviation clientele. Grayson Barrows, director sales, says that hiring demand in the business aviation segment has grown significantly recently. Aviation Search Group works with manufacturers, airlines, service providers, business and general aviation businesses and airports.
Constant Aviation has moved its interior operations to a new 30,000-sq.-ft. facility, after quickly outgrowing the existing facility at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The company in 2011 expanded its facilities to accommodate the interior work, but within two years, “our interior business has grown to the point where we needed to relocate the facility to a larger location with a better layout to increase productivity,” says Dave Bowman, vice president of operations at Cleveland.
Bombardier received FAA certification on Nov. 14 for the first of the new Learjets, the Learjet 75, clearing the way for deliveries to formally begin. Bombardier on Oct. 17 held a ceremonial celebration for the delivery of the initial Learjet 75s – ceremonial because the aircraft was not yet certified. Bombardier had hoped to arrive at last month’s National Business Aviation Association annual convention with FAA approval in hand, but that was pushed back by the government shutdown.
Signature Flight Support, already the largest and fastest-growing fixed-base operation chain worldwide, is set to further its penetration in the Caribbean, winning a request for proposals for a new FBO at Port of Spain, Trinidad. The RFP, for a facility at Piarco International Airport, is the second RFP that Signature has won this year; Signature earlier captured a bid to build a $70 million facility at San Jose International Airport.
Flexjet, which every year packages a holiday experience that couples flights with venues typically not readily available to the public, this year has assembled a $1.5 million “Passport to the World” trip with around-the-world experiences. FlexJet worked with Abercrombie & Kent to develop the package, which includes a 14-day journey for up to eight people aboard a Challenger 605 aircraft. The travel, provided by Jet Solutions, includes stops in Anchorage, Kyoto, Japan, Beijing, Hong Kong, Arga, India, Istanbul and Paris.
Gulfstream Aerospace recently named Prestige Jet as a commercial sales representative in France. The recognition builds on Gulfstream’s relationship with Swiss-based Prestige Jet, which also handles Gulfstream’s transactions in Italy and Switzerland. The firm has representatives in Geneva, Milan and Paris.
EMIL IANNONE was named director of operations for Meridian Air Charter. Iannone rejoins the Teterboro, N.J.-based operator, where he formerly spent 10 years as a pilot and chief pilot. In 1994 he became director of operations for Million Air Charter and has also flown for a private flight department. He has also served as senior vice president of a New York investment banking firm.
Along with releasing a comprehensive new rule aimed at airline pilot training and simulator use, FAA last week released a report containing a series of recommendations on improving testing standards for private, commercial and instructor certificates. The recommendations were developed by a government-industry working group – the Airman Testing Standards and Training Work Group Aviation Rulemaking Committee.
Duncan Aviation continues to expand its international authorizations for its maintenance services, with the latest approvals from the Mexican Civil Aviation Authority for its Provo, Utah location and from Bermuda for the Battle Creek, Mich., base. Duncan Aviation’s facilities in Lincoln, Neb., Battle Creek and Provo hold certificates for 10 additional civil aviation authorities around the world, along with FAA approval.
Million Air continues to expand its network of fixed-base operations (FBOs) through new franchised additions and has plans under way to invest millions into its new facilities. But at the same time, CEO Roger Woolsey stresses that the company remains firmly focused on the FBO business – not the mergers and acquisition business.
Cessna Aircraft recently confirmed the Mach 0.935 speed of its new Citation X in high-speed certification flights with the FAA, taking a key step toward reclaiming the fastest business jet title. Cessna says it has now completed all testing requirements to validate the Mach 0.935 speed. The original X reigned as the fastest business jet with a top speed of Mach 0.92 until Gulfstream’s Mach 0.925 G650 reached market last year.
EUROCOPTER DEUTSCHLAND Model EC135 P1, P2, P2+, T1, T2, and T2+ helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2013-0446; Directorate Identifier 2010-SW-007-AD; Amendment 39-17629; AD 2013-21-05] – requires inspecting each linear transducer bearing for freedom of movement and replacing the bearing if there is binding or rough turning or if there is chafing or damage on the lower side of the floor. This AD also requires modifying and reidentifying a certain rod. This AD was prompted by an incident involving limited control of a tail rotor because of the binding of a bearing.
