Dassault Falcon has begun rolling out its new tiered approach to service, which is designed to enhance its existing capabilities and reach customers even in remote locations, the company said recently. The tiered approach marks a major change in Dassault’s service, which previously relied on a single designation for its service centers to provide a range of capabilities. Dassault now will designate centers as line, major or heavy and match capabilities with the needs of the markets.
The National Transportation Safety Board last week released a series of recommendations on improving training after an internal study found that single-engine aircraft equipped with glass cockpits had a no better overall safety record than those with conventional instruments. The General Aviation Manufacturers Association noted a number of the recommendations already have been implemented, but cautioned that the study used early and limited data.
MSP JET CENTER at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport has secured its Part 145 repair station certificate. ASI Jet Center opened MSP late last year, filling a vacancy created after General Dynamics Aviation Services left the airport in 2009. MSP is located at Signature Flight Support and can provide inspection, maintenance, repair and upgrades for a range of business jets, including Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault, Embraer, Gulfstream, Hawker Beechcraft, IAI, and Sabreliner.
THREE NORTHEAST aviation associations – the Teterboro User’s Group, Morristown Aviation Association and Westchester Aviation Association – have scheduled a joint Northeast Regional International Operations Symposium (IOS) on April 13 in Morristown, N.J. The IOS will include a keynote address from fatigue expert and National Transportation Safety Board nominee Mark Rosekind, and include concurrent programs for pilots, maintenance technicians, flight attendants and schedulers and dispatchers.
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT King Air B300 and B300C airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2009-1180; Directorate Identifier 2009-CE-060-AD; Amendment 39-16220; AD 2010-05-10] – Inspect the terminal board on the circuit-card rack assembly to determine if the correct bus bar is installed. Replace the assembly, if necessary, per the instructions of Hawker Beechcraft Mandatory Service Bulletin SB 31-3948 (dated April 2009). Also, conduct an operational check of the left and right pitot-heat annunciators for proper operation and take corrective action as necessary.
While JP Morgan expects used market conditions to continue along the gradual path of improvement, it has noted that bumps in the road are likely, and February was a small one, according to the JP Morgan March Business Jet Monthly. “Used inventories increased for the first time in six months, prices dropped after appearing to stabilize, and while flight operations were up nicely year over year, they fell sequentially on a seasonally adjusted basis,” wrote analyst Joseph Nadol.
MIDCOAST AVIATION has expanded its mobile maintenance team services to customers throughout the U.S. Midcoast technicians will be available to travel to customer locations to provide on-site services such as inspection, nondestructive testing and troubleshooting. The services previously had been available on a “by-request” basis, Midcoast said.
CESSNA’s Sport/Private Pilot Course received approval from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in India for pilot training at three Cessna Pilot Centers (CPCs): Touchwood Aviation Academy, New Delhi; Chimes Aviation Pvt Ltd, New Delhi; and Wings Aviation Pvt Ltd, Secunderabad. Cessna developed the course with King Schools and released it to the CPC network in September. Cessna called the course the foundation of its Web-based Flight Training System offered by the CPC network.
The general aviation aircraft fleet will grow by about 50,000 airplanes and 52,000 active pilots by 2030, according to FAA’s forecast released last week. The agency acknowledged the recent economic woes of the general aviation industry, noting “record declines by several measures of activity and double-digit declines by most measures.”
JIM DOBBINS was named vice president, eastern division for Gulfstream Aerospace. Based in North Carolina, Dobbins will oversee Gulfstream aircraft sales in the eastern U.S. and in eastern Canada (Quebec, Newfoundland/Labrador, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia). He previously was vice president, western division for the Savannah, Ga., plane maker, and before that was vice president, key accounts, western division. He also has served as a sales director, Southern California/Southwest and director, sales engineering. He joined Gulfstream in 1992.
MATHIS SHINNICK was appointed chief executive of Hong Kong Aviation Company, an aircraft leasing, financing and management company. Shinnick will begin his new role in May and be based in Hong Kong. He has 20 years of transportation experience, most recently as the global head of transportation of HSH-Nordbank AG, and before that was head of transportation at Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance.
The Senate last week finally renewed consideration of comprehensive FAA reauthorization legislation after a series of holds and other non-aviation issues held up consideration for nearly two years and forced a series of short-term extensions of the agency’s funding authority and the aviation excise taxes. The latest extension is set to expire at the end of the month, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has made full Senate action on the bill a priority.
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT CORPORATION (HBC) and FlightSafety International were approved by the Civil Aviation Authority of China to offer theoretical and hands-on technical training to support the Hawker 4000 and Beechcraft King Air C90. The authorization allows HBC and FlightSafety to provide their MxPro Regulatory maintenance training to Chinese technicians who, upon completion of the course, will be certified to perform maintenance on the two models, both of which are already operating in China.
SCOTT NEAL was named vice president of Gulfstream Aerospace’s North American sales group. Neal will be responsible for sales of Gulfstream aircraft in the Central U.S. and Ontario, Canada. Most recently eastern division sales director, responsible for Gulfstream sales in the New York region, he also has served as vice president, key accounts, eastern division; sales director for Texas and Oklahoma; and a regional sales manager for preowned aircraft sales. He formerly served with Raytheon Corporate Jets and British Aerospace before joining Gulfstream in 1994.
EXECUJET has added its sixth Bombardier Global Express ultra-long range jet to its European fleet. Although home-based in Zurich, the aircraft will be operationally based in Kiev, Ukraine, to capture charter demand out of Eastern Europe.
EMBRAER E- 170 and ERJ 190 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0174; Directorate Identifier 2009-NM-186-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to conduct initial and repetitive replacements of the low-pressure check valve (LPCV) and associated seals of the engine bleed system. Replacing the LPCV with one of improved design is the terminating action for the repetitive valve and seal replacements. This proposed AD, which would supersede an existing directive (AD 2007-16-09), resulted from an MCAI originated by the aviation authority of Brazil.
ADAM LETTS was promoted to vice president, operations for Executive AirShare. Letts will be responsible for all areas of operations for the fractional ownership company and its Executive Flight Services subsidiary. He will be based at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport in Texas. He most recently was director of operations of a Kansas City, Mo.-based fractional aircraft ownership company. Before joining Executive AirShare in 2006, Letts was a corporate pilot and director of maintenance for L.S. Management, Inc.
EMBRAER E-170 airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2010-0176; Directorate Identifier 2009-NM-201-AD] – This proposed AD would require operators to revise the “Airworthiness Limitations” section of the “Instructions for Continued Airworthiness” to incorporate new structural inspection requirements. This proposal, which resulted from an MCAI originated by the aviation authority of Brazil, is intended to ensure timely detection of fatigue cracks that could adversely affect the structural integrity of the airplane.
EMBRAER has begun displaying a Legacy 500 executive jet mock-up at the Grand Hyatt Mumbai Hotel in India as part of a world tour to promote the midsize jet. The Legacy 600 has been certified and operating in India for the last five years. The Phenom 100 gained approval from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in December.
JANE GARVEY has joined the board of directors of air traffic management specialist Metron Aviation. Garvey, currently the chairman of Meridian Investment Fund North America, was appointed by President Clinton in 1997 to serve as FAA administrator. She also recently served on the Obama administration’s transition team, and has headed the U.S. public/private partnerships at JPMorgan.
BRIAN MILLER was appointed vice president for the North American sales group of Gulfstream Aerospace. Based in the Los Angeles area, Miller manages Gulfstream aircraft sales in the western U.S. and western Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba). Most recently a western division sales director, he joined Gulfstream in 2004. Before that he was vice president, marketing for software specialist Tyler Technologies in Dallas. He also has been a Chicago-based sales director for Bombardier Flexjet and has held sales positions with Cessna.
WHILE the first quarter of 2010 likely will mark a low point for Cessna, results should increasingly improve with lower second-quarter losses – or possibly break even, says JP Morgan. “The benefit of first-half visibility on traffic data and likely growing business confidence, particularly international, [is] driving a better order-demand picture starting in the second half of 2010,” the analyst said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is meeting this week to discuss the safety ramifications of installing glass cockpits in small general aviation aircraft. The safety board has conducted a study on whether the sweeping changes in GA cockpits have had any impact on the safety record.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed guidelines for dealing with deicing fluids recently drew opposition from aviation groups, which charged that the notice of proposed rulemaking would bring unnecessary costs while potentially compromising safety.
Operators are “extremely concerned” about a court decision to make previously confidential tail numbers, which had been sequestered by FAA under the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program, available through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, a regional representative from the National Business Aviation Association said last week. NBAA called the court finding unwise, but said the association is leaning against an appeal at this time.
