Signature Flight Support, already the largest and fastest-growing fixed-base operation chain worldwide, is set to further its penetration in the Caribbean, winning a request for proposals for a new FBO at Port of Spain, Trinidad. The RFP, for a facility at Piarco International Airport, is the second RFP that Signature has won this year; Signature earlier captured a bid to build a $70 million facility at San Jose International Airport.

The House on Nov. 14 gave final clearance to a bill designed to boost the general aviation industry. House approval, by unanimous consent, followed Senate approval of the Small Airplane Revitalization Act, H.R.1848, last month. The bill, which calls on FAA to adopt new Part 23 certification standards by the end of 2015, next heads for President Barack Obama’s signature.

Business aviation operations are continuing to increase slowly worldwide, improvements that come as flights involving the oil and gas and consumer goods industries picked up notably in the third quarter, according to hourly-cost maintenance specialist Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI). That improvement appears to be continuing early into the fourth quarter as business aviation flights in just the U.S. and Canada in October reached their highest levels since 2008, reports business aviation industry safety expert and analyst Argus.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators last week were on scene of the crash of a Mitsubishi MU-2B-25 near Owasso, Okla., that claimed the life of Sen. James Inhofe ’s 52-year-old son, Perry Inhofe.

While the current FAA authorization continues through the end of fiscal 2015, lawmakers and aviation groups are beginning to lay the groundwork for a new FAA reauthorization bill now with the hopes of averting another scenario in which the agency’s spending authority runs on years of short-term extensions, says Tom Hendricks, president and CEO of the National Air Transportation Association.

Bombardier received FAA certification on Nov. 14 for the first of the new Learjets, the Learjet 75, clearing the way for deliveries to formally begin. Bombardier on Oct. 17 held a ceremonial celebration for the delivery of the initial Learjet 75s – ceremonial because the aircraft was not yet certified. Bombardier had hoped to arrive at last month’s National Business Aviation Association annual convention with FAA approval in hand, but that was pushed back by the government shutdown.

The City of Santa Monica, Calif., is claiming that FAA is violating its constitutional rights by insisting that it continue operating Santa Monica Airport (SMO), saying U.S. interests in the airport ended in 1953. The city on Oct. 31 filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in an attempt to gain control over the future of SMO, a step that would allow the city to close the airport.

Nearly a month after the 16-day government shutdown ended, FAA has made strides in working through its Aircraft and Airmen Registry backlogs and has agreed to provide some operational leeway with oversight and training deadlines. But the agency is still catching up on an already strained certification workload.