Worldwide Flight Services has closed its FBO at Stewart International Airport (SWF) in Newburgh, N.Y., leaving Rifton Aviation as the only FBO on the field. Rifton said its ``enthusiasm for and commitment to business aviation'' may have been a factor in Worldwide's decision to vacate its general aviation terminal, close a hangar and focus on providing service to the airlines. Peter Pappas, Worldwide's chairman and CEO, said the reasons had more to do with business imperatives.
Ground support staff at Executive Jet Aviation (EJA) have agreed to a new contract with the fractional operator. The four-year labor agreement gives EJA's maintenance technicians, avionics technicians, aircraft fuelers and cleaners retroactive raises up to 43 percent, increased vacation, tool allowances, improved overtime compensation and other work rule changes.
An unstabilized approach may have been a factor in the March landing accident of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 at Burbank, Calif. Preliminary NTSB data show the aircraft beginning its final descent from 3,000 feet, just four miles from the airport. The airliner touched down at approximately 181 knots with a slight tailwind and overran the 6,032-foot Runway 8. Controllers had instructed the crew to remain at or above 3,000 feet until crossing the Van Nuys VOR and maintain 230 knots until advised.
SimuFlite has introduced a two-hour seminar to help pilots understand the effects of high altitudes and recognize the symptoms and types of altitude sickness. The Aviation Physiology class is one of several in SimuFlite's Advanced Airmanship Program, all of which are free for pilots training at the company's DFW training center.
Experimental three-blade Hartzell ``scimitar'' propellers installed on a Britten-Norman BN2B Islander have yielded noise reductions of up to 7 dBA, surpassing expectations. Britten-Norman attributes the result to improved airfoil efficiency, which allows the same power transfer at reduced engine rpm, with consequential lower tip speed and further noise reduction provided by the scimitar planform. The manufacturer began testing
Brazilian manufacturer Embraer has revealed plans to configure two of its regional jet designs as business aircraft. The first will be the ECJ-135, based on the 37-seat ERJ-135 regional jet; the second will be the ECJ-170, based on the proposed 70-seat ERJ-170. The ECJ-135 is available now, Embraer says, with the ECJ-170 following in third quarter 2002.
United Express aircraft will replace larger United Airlines jets in five markets around the United States, but mainline jets will replace United Express aircraft in four markets served from the carrier's Denver hub. United President Rono Dutta said the changes (effective June 8), ``better mesh our seat capacity to customer demand.''
Duncan Aviation has become the first independent authorized service center for Cessna Citation 650-series aircraft. The company already performs factory-authorized service on the Honeywell TFE731 engines that power the Citation VII, and it has been a Citation 500 series service center for the past 27 years. Duncan recently won STCs for installation of Honeywell TCAS II, GPWS and NZ-2000 FMSes on 650-series aircraft at any of seven U.S. locations.
Citing a growing shortage of active helicopter pilots, Oakland-based Sierra Academy of Aeronautics is establishing a Professional Helicopter Pilot Qualification Program, designed to take pilots from ``zero-time'' to ATP in two years. Sierra's Barry Lloyd says the school's Bay-area location produces ``well-rounded professionals'' with actual mountain and overwater flying experience in congested airspace. The helicopter training is patterned on Sierra's Airline Pilot Qualification Program, which guarantees interviews with Continental Express and American Eagle.
Years ago, I climbed into the right seat of a Cessna 182 for a night IFR flight from White Plains, N.Y., to Reading, Pa. The fellow in the left seat was Archie Trammell, former B/CA editor and an enthusiastic proponent of single-engine business airplanes. Their economy, utility and safety are unbeatable, argues Trammell, so long as you take a few precautions including good maintenance, thorough flight planning and the installation, where possible, of dual alternators, vacuum pumps and pitot-static systems.
Business aviation will have a presence at this month's Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-In. In addition to the aircraft and gear for recreational pilots and homebuilders, Cessna, Raytheon, Socata and Pilatus each will exhibit aircraft for the kerosene crowd in Lakeland, Fla., including a CitationJet, Raytheon King Air, TBM 700 and a PC-12. New Piper will not be bringing either the Meridian or a Meridian mockup due to space limitations and scheduling conflicts, but plans to show off the new aircraft in Oshkosh this summer.
Raytheon Aircraft Services has opened its first authorized service center in Mexico in a joint venture with Aerolineas Ejecutivas. Based at Toluca International Airport, 35 miles west of Mexico City, the facility is targeting the more than 1,500 Mexico-based Beech turbine aircraft, many of which traveled to Miami, Houston and San Antonio centers for service. According to Raytheon Aircraft Services President John Willis, the new facility will conform with FAA Repair Station regulations, with all logbook entries being entered in English.
American Aircarriers Support has formed AAS Aircraft Services. The new operation is headquartered at the former Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, Calif., and will perform maintenance, engineering and modifications on narrowbody and wide-body airliners.
Edited by Paul RichfieldBy Paul Richfield Hush-Kit Deal Collapses
The United States will proceed with a formal complaint against the European Union (EU) regarding Europe's ongoing efforts to ban the importation of ``hush-kitted'' Stage 2 aircraft. While it appeared that U.S. and EU negotiators had agreed to resolve the dispute, U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce David Aaron said eleventh-hour talks with EU Transportation Commissioner Loyola De Palacio failed to reach an agreement.
We can't claim credit for the recommendations developed by the Fractional Ownership Rulemaking Advisory Committee (FOARC) about how the FAA should regulate fractional aircraft programs. But it was gratifying to see that many of the ideas advocated in this space (November 1999, page 98) were included in the package that FOARC delivered to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey in late February.
Kendell Airlines of Australia has extended the leases on two of its 16 Saab 340 turboprops for another six years. Kendell aims to replace its Saabs with 12 ordered CRJ-200s, but the transition process is said to be taking longer than expected, due largely to pilot training issues. Sources say Kendell partner Ansett Australia may consolidate Kendell with subsidiaries Skywest Airlines (Western Australia) and Aero Pelican, a de Havilland Twin Otter operator in New South Wales.
Government use of aviation safety data will be the subject of an NTSB symposium planned for later this month in Washington, D.C. Operators have expressed concern over how such data may be used, including possible exposure to criminal prosecution and civil litigation and disclosure of proprietary information to competitors.
Edited by Paul RichfieldBy Paul Richfield Wildlife Offers Charter Challenge
If you think your passengers are demanding, consider the plight of pilot Chris Johns, who had to subdue a huge crocodile during a wild charter flight in Papua New Guinea. Native hunters in Kikori had trapped the reptile and asked that it be removed, so John Lever, head of PNG's Crocodile Management office, chartered a Macair Britten-Norman Islander to fly it to Port Moresby, according to a story in Britten-Norman's Approach magazine.
Non-scheduled air taxi operators and general aviation recorded lower accident rates in 1999, while the rate for FAR Part 121 and 135 scheduled airlines increased, according to statistics compiled by the NTSB. With 1,908 accidents resulting in a total of 623 fatalities, the general aviation accident rate was 7.05 accidents per 100,000 flight hours. Based on FAA estimates, 1999 also was general aviation's busiest year in almost a decade. The accident rate for air taxi operators was 2.71 per 100,000 flight hours and 38 fatalities.
The FAA has proposed a $1 million fine against AAR Airframe and Accessories for hazmat violations. It is the largest hazmat penalty against a single company since the FAA levied a $2.25 million fine against SabreTech in connection with the 1996 crash of a ValuJet DC-9 in the Florida Everglades. AAR CEO David P. Storch countered that his company has ``acted appropriately'' and promised to ``vigorously defend our position'' regarding the FAA allegation and proposed fine.
Edited by Paul RichfieldBy Paul Richfield, in Washington, D.C.
Airports in the United States had an ``economic impact'' of close to $1 trillion in 1999, according to Bob Zuelsdorf, president and CEO of Wilbur Smith Associates, a consulting firm. Speaking recently in Washington, D.C., Zuelsdorf and a panel of airport officials used such figures to plug the benefits airports provide beyond their function as transportation hubs.
The U.S. government has pushed back plans to begin the ``phase-down'' of older navigation aids, to reflect delays in implementing satellite-based systems. Reducing the number of VOR/DMEs, ILSes and NDBs now will begin in 2008 -- three years later than the DOT had projected in spring 1999. The military's TACAN system, which provides DME for civil users, also will go in 2008, a year later than planned.
Jet Aviation Singapore received Honeywell's Line Maintenance Center authorization for the TFE731 engine and GTCP 30/36 APU series. Jet Aviation West in Palm Beach, Fla., has obtained FAA approval to upgrade AlliedSignal GNS-X FMSes installed on Dassault Falcon 900 aircraft. The STC allows the aircraft to use GPS and receive long-range INS data.
Ground has been broken on a new Washington, D.C. area radar facility that will consolidate air traffic formerly managed by four separate Tracons. The new Potomac Tracon will handle traffic for Andrews Air Force Base and Baltimore-Washington International, Dulles and Washington-National airports. FAA officials say the consolidation will result in simplified air routings.
