FAA raised the safety rating for Venezuela to Category 1. The new safety rating follows two audits by the International Civil Aviation Organization that showed safety improvements. FAA assessed the civil aviation authority of Venezuela and found it in accordance with ICAO aviation safety standards. FAA previously rated Venezuela a Category 2 in 1995.
BOMBARDIER won a contract from GE Commercial Aviation Services for five CRJ700 regional jets that will be leased to St. Louis, Mo.-based GoJet Airlines. Valued at about $154 million (U.S.), the agreement converts four conditional orders and includes one new order. The order will boost GoJet's CRJ700 fleet to 15 aircraft. GoJet will operate the aircraft for its United Express service.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT SERVICES in Wichita, Kan. handed over a used Beechcraft 1900D to NetJets Europe. The aircraft will support NetJets' European fractional ownership and charter fleet and will be based at the NetJets Operations Center in Lisbon, Portugal. The 1900D is configured with a mixed passenger and cargo interior, including a moveable cabin bulkhead that will allow 12 passenger seats and an extended cargo compartment.
SHOWALTER FLYING SERVICE celebrated its 60th anniversary as a fixed-base operator at Executive Airport in Orlando, Fla. with a large hangar party during the past weekend. The company was founded in 1946 by brothers Howard and Sandy Showalter and Buck Rogers. The company built a large new executive terminal and headquarters building in 2000. That structure escaped major damage during a series of hurricanes that struck the Orlando area in 2004, but the Showalter family is still in the process of replacing other buildings and T-hangars that were destroyed in those storms.
M7 AEROSPACE NAMES FREDERICK PRESIDENT -- M7 Aerospace, the rapidly growing manufacturing, MRO and logistics provider based in San Antonio, Texas, named industry veteran Ronald W. Frederick president and chief executive officer. He also was named to the board of directors.
FAA GRANTS AMERIFLIGHT PETITION FOR INCREASED CARGO WEIGHT - The Federal Aviation Administration late last month granted a petition to allow Burbank, Calif. cargo carrier Ameriflight to operate its Embraer Brasilia fleet under Part 135 with a freight payload that exceeds the 7,500-pound limit (BA, March 27/141). The approval, some six years in the works, was limited to Ameriflight's EMB-120ER freighters and included a number of conditions designed to ensure the operations meet a safety level equivalent to Part 121.
SENIOR FAA officials agreed to soften the agency's stance on mandating Part 125 certificates for large aircraft operators after meeting with more than a dozen operators and industry officials late last month to discuss a policy shift regarding blanket waivers for Part 125 (BA, April 17/173). Late last year FAA had released draft policy guidance on Part 125 waivers. Since then, some operators have been notified by their Flight Standards District Offices that their deviation authority was being canceled. Others were told they must obtain Part 125 certification.
EMBRAER Model EMB-145XR airplanes [Docket No. FAA-2006-24439; Directorate Identifier 2006-NM-039-AD] - Proposes to require modification of the flap system interface wiring. This proposed AD results from a finding that the aural and visual warnings, which should be activated when the flaps are set to 22 degrees during takeoff, were not enabled during the manufacture of certain Model EMB-145XR airplanes. FAA is proposing this AD to prevent overrunning the runway during takeoff. This proposed AD would affect about 97 airplanes on the U.S. Registry.
A HALF-DAY SEMINAR on the Transportation Security Administration's Registered Traveler program will be held at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. on May 3 beginning at noon. Speakers will include Tom Blank, a former TSA official and now a principal in Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates; Tom Richey, executive director of homeland security at Microsoft; and Steven Brill, founder and CEO of Verified Identity Pass, Inc.
GENERAL AVIATION MANUFACTURERS are on pace for another record-setting year with nearly all showing an uptick of business. Business jet makers delivered 50 more business jets in the first quarter this year than they did last year. Raytheon Aircraft's business jet deliveries were up some 75 percent and Bombardier delivered nearly one-third more business jets in the first three months. See article on Page 196 and BA quarterly shipment chart on Pages 199 and 200.
A recent report by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada about the fatal crash of an overloaded Cessna Caravan two years ago finds fault with the pilot's pre-flight decision making in attempting to take off with what he should have known was a seriously overweight aircraft in dangerous conditions. But the report also notes that studies have found that the wing of the single-engine, high-wing utility turboprop is "very sensitive to leading edge ice accretions."
NEW YORK JET CORPORATE FLIGHT CENTER is celebrating its 60th anniversary in the fixed-base operation business. Based at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, N.Y., the AvFuel-branded FBO recently remodeled its flight planning room and kitchen area and is renovating its reception area.
Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) called on fellow lawmakers to tighten the rules surrounding charter security, saying the American public should be outraged by lax security requirements. "All it takes to get on an on-demand charter flight at a general aviation airport is a credit card," Rothman said in a statement on the House floor Tuesday. "You don't have to go through an X-ray machine. No one is going to look into your carry-on bags. You and your friends can literally bring anything you want ... and no one is going to stop you."
Air Midwest will face competition from RegionsAir in its bid to renew its essential air service for the Kansas communities of Salina and Manhattan. All four options that Air Midwest proposed for the U.S. Dept. of Transportation's approval would link the two communities to Kansas City International Airport, where it will offer code-share flights with US Airways and Midwest Airlines. The carrier also seeks $200,000 in additional subsidies, citing fuel costs. RegionsAir proposed three daily roundtrip flights from Salina and Manhattan to St.
Boeing will invest US$100 million to jointly set up an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul company in Shanghai with two Chinese companies in the first half of the year.
European Union Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot and Moroccan Minister for Equipment and Transport Karim Ghellab on Dec. 14 signed a "horizontal" air transport accord to replace the bilaterals between Morocco and the different European Union countries with one agreement covering the EU in its entirety. "The agreement will pave the way for the harmonious development of a bilateral market of 4.5 million passengers a year," said the EC.
German construction conglomerate Hochtief is looking to expand its air transport portfolio beyond airports and is interested in taking over a majority stake in air traffic control company Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS), CFO Peter Noe said. "We are looking at DFS but have not made a decision yet," Noe noted. Hochtief's airport division is expected to make a profit in 2006, three years ahead of the schedule laid out in an internal business plan, but the company also wants to expand the range of investments by considering DFS as a target.
The European Union signed an agreement with 10 nations to expand the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA), the European Commission announced this week. New ECAA members are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, Norway and Iceland.
Ecuadorian domestic carrier Aerogal recently took delivery of two 120-passenger Boeing 737-200s, which it will use on routes from the mainland and to the Galapagos Islands. In January, a fourth 737-200 will be based in Cuenca to serve heavy traffic on the Cuenca-Guayaquil route, opened seven years ago by Aerogal. New services between Cuenca and Latacunga near Quito, as well as to Coca in the Amazon region, will launch next year.
AirTran's customer service, ramp and reservations agents yesterday rejected representation by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Ballots for the election, which was conducted by the National Mediation Board, were mailed to 2,353 employees on Nov. 17. The NMB yesterday reported that the Teamsters received 36% of the total votes.
Brazil's domestic passenger traffic improved 21.1% in November from the same month last year, largely because of lower fares. Year-to-date domestic traffic has grown 10.6%, with international up 7.4% from the same 11 months in 2004.
