Jessica is Executive Editor of Business & Commercial Aviation magazine. She started as Editor of ShowNews Online, Aviation Week's on-site trade show daily published at the Paris Air Show, NBAA Annual Convention, Singapore Air Show and at other significant aerospace gatherings.
Jessica has worked in television production and management consulting. While not yet a licensed pilot, Ms. Salerno has received flight instruction and has soloed.
General aviation aircraft deliveries and billings rose more than 4% in 2014 over 2013, although results in individual segments were mixed. Deliveries of business jet and piston-powered airplanes rose in 2014, for example, while shipments of turboprops and rotorcraft decreased. Total worldwide general aviation airplane deliveries rose 4.3%, from 2,353 units in 2013 to 2,454 units in 2014.
The general aviation industry contributed $219 billion to the U.S. economy in 2013 and supported 1.1 million direct and indirect U.S. jobs, according to a just-released 16-page report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. That’s up dramatically from the last study performed in 2004 and 2005, when the industry contributed $150 billion to the U.S. economy, said General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) President and CEO Pete Bunce. The last study was done when the industry was ascending and before the economic downturn.
The third prototype of the AgustaWestland AW609 commercial tiltrotor is set to fly in May, paving the way for deicing tests of the aircraft at year-end. Engineers are currently assembling the aircraft in Italy, where shakedown flights will be conducted before it is dismantled and sent to Philadelphia in preparation for testing of the aircraft’s deicing system in Minnesota toward year-end.
