FEDERICA NAZZANI was appointed vice president, business development for Premier Aviation Overhaul Center. Nazzani was formerly president and CEO of Windsor International Airport. She had a four-year term as a member of the Airports Council International Canada board of directors and served as vice chairman of the Small Airport Caucus of the Canadian Airports Council.
Eclipse Aerospace, in final preparations to renew customer deliveries of its very light jet, received FAA clearance to extend the service life for both the new 550 and the existing fleet of 500s. The new service life is 20,000 hr./20,000 cycles, which Eclipse says will provide a typical operator more than 50 years of operations and improve airframe residual value.
Anthony Foxx’s nomination to succeed Ray LaHood as U.S. Transportation Secretary has been unanimously approved by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. No date has been set for a full Senate vote, although indications from Capitol Hill suggest that Foxx could be a cabinet member by the end of July. Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) on June 10 urged colleagues to quickly schedule a vote on the nomination. Sen.
Industry groups are pushing for a “well thought out” review of Part 27 and 29 regulations governing helicopter certification, saying current regulations work only because FAA is constantly issuing special conditions and exemptions.
Thrush Aircraft received type approval from the Brazilian civil aviation authority (ANAC) for its GE-powered Thrust 510G operations. Brazilian approval follows FAA’s OK in October of the Thrush 510 with the GE H-80 engine. The aircraft has also received certification. Thrush calls Brazilian approval a key milestone since a number of operators in the Brazilian market are poised to replace their aging fleets of agricultural aircraft.
DASSAULT AVIATION Model Fan Jet Falcon Series C, D, E, F, and G airplanes; and Falcon 200, 20-C5, 20-D5, 20-E5 and 20-F5 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2013-0423; Directorate Identifier 2012-NM-176-AD] – proposes to require repetitive weighing of fire extinguisher bottles having a certain part number, and eventual replacement of those bottles to terminate the repetitive weighing. This proposed AD was prompted by reports of a manufacturing defect in the charge indicator on fire extinguisher bottles.
The general aviation avionics market reached sales of $1.7 billion in the first quarter, according to the Aircraft Electronics Association. The sales included installations on new aircraft, as well as retrofits, and reflected reports of 20 manufacturers. This was AEA’s first quarterly report on the avionics market. AEA in March released its first annual report, detailing 2012 sales of $6.28 billion. The reports will provide a baseline for future data on the avionics market.
ECLIPSE Model EA500 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2013-0448; Directorate Identifier 2013-CE-007-AD] – proposes, for aircraft equipped with Avio, Avio with ETT, or Avio NG 1.0 avionics suites, to require either incorporating updates to the aircraft computer system or incorporating a temporary revision to the aircraft flight manual. This proposed AD was prompted by a report of potential aircraft hardware failure in the autopilot control panel and the center switch panel. FAA estimates the AD would affect 81 aircraft on the U.S.
NASA has awarded $38 million in contracts to four companies to address “system technology gaps that are exposed by the operational challenges” of the next-generation air traffic control system (NextGen).
AGUSTA Model A119 and AW119MKII helicopters [Docket No. FAA-2012-0695; Directorate Identifier 2011-SW-031-AD; Amendment 39-17448; AD 2013-09-06] – supersedes an existing AD that currently requires inspecting the pilot and co-pilot engine rotary variable differential transformer (RVDT) control box assemblies to determine if the control gear locking pin is in its proper position. Since FAA issued that AD, Agusta has developed a terminating action for this inspection. This AD requires the same actions as the existing AD as well as modifying the RVDT control box assemblies.
NICK LEONTIDIS was named group president, civil simulation products, training and services for CAE. Leontidis replaces Jeff Roberts. Leontidis has served with CAE for 25 years, most recently as executive vice president, strategy and business development. He has held roles of increasing responsibility since joining the company in 1988 as a software engineer. Leontidis has also served as vice president of marketing and sales for the civil business; vice president of simulation products and executive vice president of civil aviation training and equipment.
Used market trends, slowing flight operations and plummeting aircraft values are pointing to continued market woes as the summer approaches, industry data shows.
BILLY MITCHELL was appointed vice president of operations for OAS Aircraft Support and Alabama Aircraft Support. Mitchell has 10 years of maintenance, repair and overhaul experience, and most recently held technical and senior leadership positions for Vector Aerospace in Vancouver, British Columbia.
While the health of the business jet market is frequently tied to corporate profits, analyst Bernstein Research stresses that they are necessary, but not enough to turn the market. “If profits rise due to cost cutting, they do not create demand for business jets,” the analyst says. Bernstein points to the fact that corporate profits doubled from 1994 to 1995, but business jet deliveries remained below 1984 levels. “Now as then, profit growth was led by margin improvement supported by cost reduction,” Bernstein says, noting corporate profits have jumped 55% since 2008.
Jet Aviation was appointed the exclusive maintenance provider for the Art Aviation fleet of aircraft. Founded in 2012 with offices in Vienna and Moscow, Art Aviation operates two Bombardier Global XRS aircraft, two Global 6000s, a Boeing BBJ1, a Dassault Falcon 900Ex and a Falcon 7X. Jet Aviation will provide scheduled base maintenance from its facilities in Geneva and Basel, Switzerland, and line maintenance from its Moscow Vnukovo facility.
Thales is planning to make its touchscreen-driven avionics human interface system available for integration into aircraft and helicopters by 2020. The manufacturer’s “Avionics 2020” vision, which was unveiled at this week’s Paris air show, uses technologies developed from its Avionics 2030 ideas displayed in 2010.
StandardAero Business Aviation received approval as an authorized testing facility for the latest Honeywell TFE731 engine, the -50. StandardAero is offering the testing at its facility in Houston, the only facility outside of the manufacturer currently with TFE731-50 test capability. The approval comes as the fleet approaches its first scheduled, major periodic inspections. StandardAero estimates that more than 350 of the engines are currently in service. The TFE731-50 powers Hawker 900XP aircraft.
FAA took a concrete step toward replacing leaded aviation gasoline, asking fuel producers to submit proposals by July 1, 2014 for possible options to transition to an unleaded fuel. The agency released a request for proposals June 10 for data packages for potential replacement fuels that could be developed by 2018.
June 17-19—National Air Transportation Association 2013 Air Charter Summit, Marriott Dulles, Dulles, Va., 703-845-9000, www.nata.aero Jun 21–22—National Business Aviation Association Flight Attendants/Flight Technicians Conference, Washington, D.C., (703) 783-9000, www.nbaa.org July 11—National Business Aviation Association, Business Aviation Regional Forum, Denver, Colo., (703) 783-9000, www.nbaa.org July 29-Aug. 4—2013 EAA Airventure Oshkosh, Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wis., www.airventure.org
The business aviation market remains shaky, according to a number of leading indicators. The inventory of in-production business jets for sale increased (40 bps) in May, while pricing marked the steepest decline (3.6%) since the first half of 2009, reports industry analyst J.P.Morgan. “A single month does not make a trend, but May used market data…suggest that business jet demand will remain weak.” The analyst calls pricing an “important ingredient for recovery” and says low residual values are holding back market improvements.
A group of 28 senators are appealing to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta to drop the agency’s plan to charge the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) for federal air traffic controller expenses during next month’s AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis. In a June 6 letter, the senators say the plan marks a “shift in policy by the FAA to charge for air traffic services [that] is tantamount to an imposition of a new user fee on general aviation.”
Pilatus plans to establish a manufacturing facility in India, as the country looks at acquiring more aircraft from the Swiss aircraft maker. The facility will initially manufacture airframes for its single-engine turboprop PC-12 aircraft. “This will be our third support facility for PC-12 aircraft, the other two being in Portugal and Poland. It will be part of our offset commitment in India,” says Pilatus Vice President Jim Roche.
FlightSafety International held a groundbreaking last week to expand and renovate its Teterboro, N.J., facility. The expansion will increase the size of the center by 50%, providing space to accommodate up to eight full flight simulators and facilities for emergency training that requires a pool and other specialized equipment. The renovated center will include classrooms, aircraft cabin training facilities and office areas. The project is slated for completion in early 2014. The center offers training for a range of Dassault Falcon Jet models.
Renovations of the Jet Centre at London City Airport are now complete and a Border Force officer has been installed, supporting the facility’s pledge to whisk business aircraft passengers from plane to car within 60 sec. The airport-owned FBO now features an improved reception area, large passenger lounge, private meeting room, ground floor crew rest area and security screening area, as well as the border checking station. The privately-owned, single-runway, airline-served airport, located just 3 mi. from Canary Wharf and 7 mi.
