Ed Bolen believes total control of the ATC system is the force majeure behind the airlines' long-held wish to create and dominate an air traffic control corporation supported by user fees. For several decades, some of the big airlines have tried to seize control of the ATC system and the revenues that fund it, the NBAA president and CEO told BCA. "We believe that they want to use that control for their exclusive benefit."
Take some time to put together a plan that offers the opportunity for you and your flight team to gain additional knowledge and continue to grow your operation’s safety culture.
For the business aviation community, at once both a broad but thin and rarefied sliver of society and the body politic, the way forward is rife with questions, opportunities and concerns.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
Marco Tulio Pellegrini, CEO of Embraer Executive Jets, believes that for business aviation to break free of its nearly decade-long slump it needs to change the way it operates. Accordingly, Embraer is proposing a business model in which leasing companies buy business aircraft to lease to charter companies that then operate scheduled point-to-point services between cities with high business-passenger traffic.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
Beechcraft is promoting improved performance on its King Air 350HW and 350ER models by offering a more powerful version of the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A engines and an increased gross weight option. The improvements are FAA and EASA certified and available as factory options on new aircraft.
Most pilots have probably heard the story from Greek mythology about Icarus, the ancient aviator who flew too close to the sun and came crashing down into the sea. Since it was Daedalus, his father, who designed and constructed those wings of bird feathers tied with string and wax, it can be said that not only was he the original aeronautical engineer, but he included a maximum cruise altitude in his design specifications. Fly too high, he warned his son, and the wax used to fasten the feathers would melt.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
The first phase of a three-part modernization of Terminal 3 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport was completed Dec. 6. It includes a new atrium and museum gallery. Targeted for completion by early 2019, Phase 2 of the project will create a 15-gate south concourse with new food and retail areas. Phase 3, to be completed in 2020, will involve the demolition and construction of a new north concourse.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
Flirtey, a start-up drone operation, has begun trials of autonomous pizza delivery, flying to customers' homes from a store north of Auckland, New Zealand. The commercial trials follow a demonstration delivery in August. Currently available to select customers, the two companies plan to launch pizza-by-drone deliveries at increasing scale in the near future. “We are moving closer and closer to widespread store-to-door drone delivery,” Flirtey CEO Matthew Sweeny says.” “To conduct these deliveries in an urban environment ...
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
GI Aviation has earned an air operator's certificate from the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority to enable the start of commercial flights with its fleet of Pilatus PC-12NG aircraft in the Gulf region. GI Aviation has been working to begin new entry-level service for business aviation in the region, which has been dominated by larger business jets. GI Aviation worked with Hendell Aviation in Finland to help it obtain the air operator’s certificate.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
Elliott Aviation has completed its seventh retrofit of a Garmin G5000 in a Beechjet 400A/Hawker 400XP. It was completed in a 1999 Beechjet 400A. Five of the upgrades were done at its Moline, Illinois facility and two at its Des Moines shop. The company says the retrofit can increase the useful load of the aircraft by 200+ lb. The program involves replacing all existing avionics including the autopilot with three 12 in landscape LCD displays that provide synthetic vision, electronic charts, WAAS/LPV, XM weather, engine indication and MFD range rings.
The NTSB report on the Learjet 60 rejected takeoff (RTO) accident in Columbia, South Carolina, noted the following: “In 1990, the NTSB issued a special investigation report (SIR), “Runway Overruns Following High-Speed Rejected Takeoffs,” that examined high-speed RTOs involving commercial jet aircraft. The SIR reviewed three studies, which included data from the NTSB, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Boeing, related to the causes and outcomes of RTOs. The SIR found that tire failures led to more high-speed RTOs than engine-related anomalies.”
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
A new report, commissioned by the Los Angeles World Airports, has found that the Van Nuys Airport contributes $2 billion to the local economy and supports more than 10,000 jobs. Van Nuys Airport tenants are in the midst of capital improvement projects valued at $43.4 million. The study is a “success story about how airport businesses . . . can join together on issues that rise above individual tenant concerns to create positive change, jobs and economic growth,” said Curt Castagna, Van Nuys Airport president.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association says new aircraft deliveries for the first three quarters of 2016 were down 3.5% from the same period in the previous year, with 1,504 units shipped compared to 1,558 units in 2015. Helicopter shipments were even worse—down 16% to 615 units compared to 732 units in the same period in 2015. Combined airplane and rotorcraft billings were $15.9 billion year-to-date in 2016 compared to last year's $19.1 billion, a contraction of 16.5%.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
Canada has selected the Airbus C295W twin turboprop as winner of its fixed-wing search and rescue competition, fully 12 years after the government originally called for a modern platform to replace six 40-year-old de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo turboprops. The $2.4 billion (Canadian) deal involves 16 aircraft and five years of in-service support, as well as an option for 15 years of additional service, which would raise the total value to $4.7 billion.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
Wheels Up, the membership-based aviation company, is now offering flights to and from Havana on its fleet of King Air 350i turboprops and Citation Excel/XLS turbofans. It has also launched an on-the-ground booking assistance program in Cuba for its 3,500+ members, and provides trips through any of the 18 U.S. airports approved by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
Norwegian oil and gas company Statoil has announced it will cease operating the Airbus H225/EC225 for offshore operations even if regulators clear the aircraft for such use. The decision comes after the April 30 loss of a Statoil-chartered H225 operated by CHC crashed as it was returning from an offshore platform, killing all 13 persons aboard. Unions say oil workers no longer had faith in the helicopter. The company says it will henceforth use the Sikorsky S-92 for its heavy helicopter requirements.
By William Garvey, Jessica A. Salerno, Molly McMillin
Even before taking office, President-elect Donald Trump is shaking up the business world, taking credit for keeping UTC jobs in Indiana that might have gone to Mexico. “Companies are not going to leave the United States anymore without consequences,” Trump says. The parent company of Pratt & Whitney may have been motivated to stay to remain in a Trump administration’s good graces.
