Viking Air has completed paint and interior work on the first of the reborn DHC-6 Twin Otter line, the company says. The Victoria, British Columbia, manufacturer reports orders in hand for nearly 50 aircraft. According to David Curtis, Viking president and chief executive, the first aircraft, destined for Zimex of Switzerland, is in the final stages of completion at Victoria International Airport. Software certification of its Honeywell Apex avionics suite is to be completed this month.
NetJets is continuing to take steps to improve its financial footing, announcing plans to consolidate NJI, Inc., which operates the company’s Gulfstream large-cabin fleet, with NetJets Aviation in Columbus, Ohio. As a result, most NJI functions will move from Savannah, Ga., and South Carolina to Columbus, NetJets Chairman and CEO David Sokol said in a statement last week.
London-based charter broker Air Partner plc has launched a consumer website to sell empty legs and is the first to buy Avinode’s newest software. The website – www.emptysectors.com – enables business travelers to search for one-way flights on business jets worldwide. The Avinode software enables real-time searches.
SOCATA TBM 700 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0286 Directorate Identifier 2010-CE-013-AD; Amendment 39-16320; AD 2010-11-15] – Remove from service certain L’Hotellier fire extinguishers, replacing them with serviceable units, per the instructions of DAHER-SOCATA TBM Aircraft Mandatory Service Bulletin SB 70-183 (dated January 2010).
DAN AZMON was promoted to vice president for L-3 Communications. Azmon has served with L-3 since October 2000, most recently as controller and principal accounting officer. He has held financial management and financial reporting positions at ASARCO Incorporated, Salomon Brothers, Inc. and Coopers & Lybrand, LLP.
BOMBARDIER CL-604 and CL-605 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0439; Directorate Identifier 2010-NM-029-AD] – Before further flight, replace all air-driven generator (ADG) balance washer screws with new screws, per the instructions of Bombardier Service Bulletin 604-24-021 or 605-24-001 (both dated July 13, 2009), as applicable.
Bombardier officials point to activity at the most recent European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva as an indicator that the business jet market is stabilizing. Guy Hachey, president and chief operating officer of Bombardier Aerospace, told analysts that the 2009 EBACE could have been called “the cancellation show. Our customers would come in and basically want to renegotiate their terms, cancel, defer or restructure the deal.” This year, he says, there were no cancellations.
Abu Dhabi-based business jet operator Royal Jet has launched a “100 Club” to attract companies that travel less frequently. The new 100 Club card provides companies discounts of up to 9%, but also offers rewards for more frequent travel.
MARIJANA O’DWYER was named head of commercial for Aviatrax S.A., a Luxembourg-based aviation consultancy that provides aircraft acquisition, financing, crew and operation support for business and commercial aviation. O’Dwyer joined Aviatrax after serving as head of marketing and administration for Dubrovnik Airport, Croatia.
BRENT MOLDOWAN has joined ACM Aviation as vice president of owner services. Moldowan has more than 15 years of aviation industry experience. He will be responsible for building operations at ACM’s newly opened Denver office.
TURBOMECA Arriel 1B, 1D, 1D1 and 1S1 engines [Docket No. FAA-2005-21242; Directorate Identifier 2005-NE-09-AD; Amendment 39-16288; AD 2010-10-09] – Lower the initial and repetitive thresholds for replacement of second-stage turbines. This new AD supersedes an existing directive (AD 2008-07-01) that requires initial and repetitive relative position checks of the gas generator second-stage turbine blades and initial and repetitive replacements of second-stage turbines on certain powerplants.
Two Honeywell TPE331 turboprop engines that flew through the ash cloud generated by Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano are scheduled to arrive at the manufacturer this week for teardown and inspections. The engines that power a Dornier 228 research aircraft operated by the National Environmental Research Council’s Airborne Research and Survey Facility in the U.K. logged 10 hours in the cloud and 22 hours on its periphery.
EMBRAER EMB-135BJ, -ER, -KE, -KL and –LR; and EMB-145, -145ER, -MR, -LR, -XR, -MP and -EP airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0132; Directorate Identifier 2008-NM-081-AD; Amendment 39-16306; AD 2010-11-01] – Revise the “Airworthiness Limitations” section of the “Instructions for Continued Airworthiness” to incorporate new structural inspection requirements.
Summit Aviation plans to hold a groundbreaking ceremony on a 78,000-square-foot expansion of its Middleton, Del., facility. The expansion will include a new hangar, paint facility, cold storage units and support and office space. The new 37,400-square-foot hangar would be capable of holding three Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey aircraft. The expansion comes as the facility just completed $2.5 million in upgrades for additional corporate and general aviation capacity. The latest expansion is slated to be complete in second quarter of 2011.
Conklin & de Decker Associates and the National Air Transportation Association are co-hosting their Commercial Operators Tax Seminar Aug. 17-18 in Indianapolis, Ind. The seminar is designed for commercial operators and addresses tax issues affecting aircraft charter and management. The seminar will cover tax responsibilities, tax collection, costs of placing aircraft on a Part 135 certificate, like-kind exchanges and the impact of FAA Operations Specification A008. The seminar costs $795 for registration before Aug. 1 and $995 after that date.
Bombardier executives last week were encouraged by slowing business jet cancellations, despite a sluggish first quarter that saw revenues and earnings slide. Bombardier Aerospace took in $1.9 billion in revenues in the company’s fiscal first quarter that ended April 30, down from $2.2 billion from a year earlier. Earnings before income and taxes (EBIT), meanwhile, dipped from $110 million (or 5%) in the first quarter a year ago to $89 million (or 4.6%) this year.
BOMBARDIER Regional Jet Series 100 and 440 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-0525; Directorate Identifier 2009-NM-027-AD; Amendment 39-16275; AD 2010-09-10] – Replace the existing overwing emergency exit placards with new, corrected placards in accordance with the instructions of Bombardier Service Bulletin 601R-11-088, Rev. B (dated Nov. 17, 2009). This new AD, which supersedes an existing directive (AD 2003-04-21), was issued as a result of an MCAI originated by an aviation authority of another country.
Gulfstream’s G650 certification program is continuing to gain momentum with a third test aircraft joining the flight trials and already accumulating 10 hours, the Savannah, Ga., airframer announced last week. S/N 6003 will be used to measure aerodynamic loads and test the ice-protection performance. In addition, the aircraft is the test bed for the G650 avionics, including the PlaneView cockpit, Gulfstream says.
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt last week strongly endorsed voluntary reporting, saying, “After having experience on both sides of the table, I am convinced that the voluntary reporting systems are the only tools we have that will allow us to step safety up to the next level.” Speaking June 2 in San Diego, Babbitt said, “A just safety culture demands” that people speak up when they see potential safety issues and that they do it without fear of reprisal.
Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Fla., has partnered with Bristow Academy Inc. in Titusville, Fla., to offer a combined university aviation education and helicopter flight training program beginning this fall. The program will be tailored to students seeking careers as professional pilots in the helicopter industry. The program will offer a four-year university degree and ratings as a commercial and instrument helicopter pilot.
While competitor NetJets continues to shore up its operations to control costs, Bombardier’s Flexjet fractional ownership operation was able to remain profitable in the first quarter, says Bombardier President and CEO Pierre Beaudoin. He believes operating a simpler fleet has helped Flexjet, saying the unit can be more efficient. At the same time, Beaudoin says the company is seeing increases in fractional and jet card sales.
Business aviation manufacturers developing new models are poised to fare better during and after the economic turmoil, says JP Morgan analyst Joseph Nadol. “A number of new product launches remain in the pipeline across segments, especially in the very light jet and midsize portions of the market,” he writes in JP Morgan’s most recent Business Jet Monthly report. But Nadol also cautions that the economy could continue to take its toll.
FAA has proposed a rule that would prohibit U.S. civil flight operations below Flight Level 160 (16,000 ft.) in Afghanistan airspace, unless flights are FAA-authorized. Those affected by the rule would include U.S. air carriers, as well as holders of a U.S. airman certificate and operators of U.S.-registered aircraft, with exceptions. Increased insurgent activity that threatens the safety of U.S. civil aircraft prompted the May 26 proposed rulemaking. The agency notes there have been several reported incidents of aircraft being hit by small arms fire, although no U.S.
Vector Aerospace Engine Services – United Kingdom was granted European Aviation Safety Agency Part 145 approval for servicing all variants of the Rolls-Royce 250 engine. Vector is servicing the powerplants at its new Fleetlands facility based in Gosport, Hampshire. Vector acquired the site from the Ministry of Defense in 2008 and has since refurbished the facility to create an engine repair, overhaul and service center of excellence. The Fleetlands operation also is a designated overhaul facility for Pratt & Whitney Canada PW307A, PW308A and PW308C model engines.
