Latest News From Around Business Aviation

Bombardier Aviation President David Coleal left last week in a not entirely unexpected move as the Canadian transportation company nears the sale of its railway division to Alsthom. The pending sale has marked a management reorganization in what will soon become solely a business-aviation company. “Our goal is to create a leaner, more agile and customer-centric company to better capture the growth opportunities with our industry-leading business jet portfolio. This includes simplifying our corporate leadership structure,” said Bombardier President and CEO Eric Martel. See article about Coleal's departure.

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Sounding Board: Five Minutes With David Coleal, Bombardier Aviation President

Daher reached a notable milestone late last month with the delivery of the 1,000th TBM. The aircraft—a TBM 940, top of the current line­—was rolled out of the company’s plant in Tarbes, France, ahead of handover to its American customer at Pompano Beach, Florida. The pressurized single-engine turboprop has been in production since 1990, with Daher acquiring the model 10 years ago. The company’s aircraft division senior vice president, Nicholas Chabbert, notes that more than half of those 1,000 aircraft have been supplied during that decade.

Bell’s 505 Jet Ranger X global fleet has surpassed 50,000 flight hours since delivery of the first of the light helicopters in March 2017. There are now more than 260 in service in 55 countries. Recent deliveries include one to Montenegro’s air force in mid-September, while a single operator—Italy’s Elicompany—is logging almost 1,000 flight hours per year. “We’ve experienced very low maintenance and essentially no time grounded,” says Christian Forghieri, Elicompany’s co-owner and flight operations director. “We are really happy because when we plan it, the Bell 505 can do it.”

Diamond Aircraft has received certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency for the Austrian company’s DA50 RG five-seat single-engine flagship. The company says it will deliver the first of the type to a European customer in the first quarter of 2021. “With the DA50 RG, we are introducing an innovative 21st-century retractable single that we are convinced the market is missing,” says CEO Liqun “Frank” Zhang. “We are simply overwhelmed by the huge interest, the number of inquiries and feedback we have been receiving for this gamechanger since the launch in June.”

At the end of August, Cessna marked the fifth anniversary of the Citation Latitude, with 240 aircraft delivered. The company says the midsize jet has been the most-delivered aircraft in its market segment for four consecutive years. The global fleet has clocked over 320,000 flying hours. “Five years since its introduction, the Citation Latitude is now an industry icon,” says Vice President-Sales Rob Scholl. “Customers have returned to the Citation Latitude time and time again, proving its enduring performance over the past half-decade. Its low direct operating costs have made it the cornerstone of many fleets, and we look forward to seeing this popular aircraft rise to new missions.”

With sustainability high on every business-aviation entity’s agenda, Textron Aviation says it will offer customers the option to have their aircraft delivered using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Customers can also choose SAF when refueling on departure from the company’s service center in Wichita. “We are proud to be making this fuel type available as part of our new aircraft delivery experience,” says Christi Tannahill, senior vice president of customer experience. Earlier this year, the company signed a deal with Evergy Inc. which foresees almost all of the company’s energy needs at its Wichita and Independence, Kansas, plants being met by wind power.

Shell is to offer sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) produced in Europe for the first time this month under an agreement with Finnish company Neste. “Shell Aviation aims to reduce the carbon intensity of the fuels we sell. The effort will include selling more lower-carbon fuels like sustainable aviation fuel, over time,” says Anna Mascolo, Shell Aviation president, adding the agreement “demonstrates the kind of progress we can deliver by working in collaboration with others.” Neste also has been working with AirBP to supply SAF to Scandinavian airports since 2018, and in August announced plans for a five-fold increase in deliveries.

DC Aviation Group of Stuttgart, Germany, has expanded its rapid pre-flight COVID-19 tests for ground and air crew. The company—owned by Dr. Lutz Helmig, founder of the Helios hospital group—introduced an innovative fast pre-flight test regime in May. “As passenger numbers have increased, the demand for flights to and from a greater variety of countries has also risen,” says Michael Kuhn, DC’s CEO. “This has meant that we have had to deal with a larger and more varied number of restrictions and regulations. Therefore, we have introduced the rapid-testing program for any flight, from any departure point.”

Another company joining the “1,000th Club” is Vertigo Aviation Detailing Ltd. The company, based at London Biggin Hill Airport and founded in 2006, completed its 1,000th cleaning of an aircraft on Sept. 9. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has been offering complete aircraft disinfections in addition to its existing portfolio of exterior and interior valeting and polishing services. The 1,000th aircraft was a Pilatus PC-12, with the job booked by Vertigo’s Biggin Hill neighbour, Oriens Aviation, which is the exclusive UK sales and service agent for Pilatus.

While many aerospace businesses have struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, those that rely less on in-person contact have had an opportunity to buck the trend. Web Manuals, the San Diego-based company that works with aviation companies to digitize their operational documentation, has seen a 25% increase in customer numbers since the start of the year, and business-aviation customers account for a large part of that. “The trend toward business aviation, specifically charter flights, as a way of safe traveling has increased this sector of our customer base,” says the company’s director of operations for America, Krister Genmark. “Business aviation now accounts for just over 10% of our customers.”