Reductions in air service between smaller communities and congested hubs could result from European Commission proposals to amend the slot allocation regulations. ``We believe that if this becomes law, it could happen,'' said Mike Ambrose, director general of European Region's Airline Association (ERA).
This summer, four old men and their families sailed into Washing-ton, D.C., aboard a C-9 and then were whisked downtown where they became the focus of much attention. Reporters, photographers and camera crews jostled for position as the high and mighty made grand pronouncements. President George W. Bush spoke of the visitors' ``place in history'' and that the nation's gratitude for their service was ``rightly deserved.'' For the most part, the old timers were quiet and reserved, but the honors being bestowed upon them were for behavior of quite a different sort.
The Avro RJX-85 development aircraft, G-ORJX, has been fitted with four ``block 2'' engines and has accumulated approximately 130 hours in more than 60 flights. The aircraft was due to leave the United Kingdom for three months of ``hot and high'' and cold weather trials at Eglin Air Force base, Fla., at the end of August. The plan is for the aircraft to fly to engine-maker Honeywell's base at Phoenix and then on to Colorado Springs, Colo. Cold weather trials will follow in the Freezing Chamber at Eglin.
Russell W. Meyer, Jr. Chairman, Cessna Aircraft Co. A Harvard-trained lawyer and former U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot, Meyer was chosen by investors to help oversee development of the fledgling American Aviation Co. That six-month assignment went on for years as the company evolved into Grumman American. In 1974, Dwayne Wallace, Cessna's legendary chairman, selected Meyer as his successor, and he has been with the company ever since.
Bombardier Aerospace flew its new Continental business jet for the first time on August 14 in Wichita. The aircraft reached an altitude of 17,500 feet and speeds of up to 200 knots during the two-hour flight, which was designed to investigate the Continental's handling qualities and systems functions. Jim Dwyer, manager of Learjet flight test programs and Continental Project test pilot, flew the aircraft with test pilot Ed Grabman.
The NBAA annual meeting and convention is many things to many people. More than 30,000 professional visitors will flock to business aviation's Mecca, in New Orleans September 18-20 to hear major announcements by major manufacturers--and to see Richard Hafner's carpet.
British Airways is aiming for a resumption of Concorde supersonic London-New York service late this month, and Air France's Paris-New York service will start about a month later. Before this can happen Concorde's certificate of airworthiness has to be re-instated to both airlines. A British Airways-modified Concorde flew two verification flights out of Heathrow and they are claimed to be a complete success by Capt. Mike Bannister, chief BA Concorde pilot.
In a bid to alleviate frequency congestion, Eurocontrol plans to expand the coverage area for 8.33-kHz-frequency operations from the current seven to 28 nations before the end of October 2002. Around 11,000 aircraft already are equipped with 8.33-kHz-capable radios; the expansion affects around 800 additional aircraft. Those without the new equipment can expect to be restricted to flights below FL 245, Eurocontrol says.
The Battle of Britain will be fought all over again at this year's NBAA Convention in New Orleans (September 18-20), as FBOs ringing the U.K. capital slug it out to attract transatlantic traffic. Congestion, limited slot availability and high landing fees at Heathrow and Gatwick airports have conspired to brighten the business aviation prospects of London's satellite fields -- with Biggin Hill the latest to shine.
The next all-new engine from Pratt&Whitney Canada will be the PW800, a geared turbofan aimed at 70- to 100-passenger regional airliners and large business jets. If it sounds familiar, it is. The PW800 is the next step in bringing the company's Advanced Fan Technology (AFT) Integrator engine to market, following a successful series of tests in anticipation of first flight in first quarter 2002.
British European (BE) plans to sell its four Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets and acquire four more Dash 8 Q400 turboprops. This move, which will bring its total fleet of Dash 8 Q400s to eight, comes as a result of a major boardroom re-shuffle and aircraft fleet review. The company remains committed to larger RJs, however, and said it finalized negotiations with BAE Systems/Avro for 12 RJXs in late June, with options for eight more. The RJXs will replace the airline's BAe 146s one-for-one as the new aircraft come online from spring 2002.
Planning for the future is a necessary role for any manager. It's our job to help minimize the missteps in the imperfect exercise. Not long ago I got a call from a flight department manager, asking whether I, or another staff editor of my choosing, would be willing to address his local aviation group. ``What's the topic?'' I asked. ``The future of aviation,'' he said.
Honeywell recently received approval from France's DGAC and the U.S. FAA for retrofitting TFE731-40 turbofan engines to the Dassault Falcon 50, essentially transforming the older Falcon tri-jet into a Falcon 50EX. The $5.3 million upgrade package includes engines, increased rudder authority and other systems modifications. The conversion also requires retrofitting the aircraft with a $2.3 million Rockwell Collins Pro Line 4 avionics package. Honeywell, though, plans to offer customers an up to $1 million trade-in credit for their old -3 engines.
Turbomeca has decided to invest heavily in customer support in North America, the French firm's largest geographic market and one with some of the most demanding operators. The new strategy entails building a new facility in Canada, probably near Montreal/Mirabel, to repair and overhaul Arriel and then Makila II engines. ``We decided to have a complete stand-alone zone in North America,'' said Emeric d'Arcimoles, Turbomeca's new chairman and CEO. ``No more engines will cross the ocean for repair -- that is not the case today.''
Lee Monson, Boeing Business Jets' sales vice president, will succeed Borge Boeskov as BBJ president, when the latter reaches Boeing's mandatory retirement age of 65 in June 2002. Boeskov's leadership and BBJ team efforts have resulted in 71 announced sales and 56 green aircraft deliveries to completion centers, four of which are BBJ2s. There are currently 32 BBJs in service. Eight to 10 more aircraft will enter service before the end of the year, according to Monson.
Photograph: David Hurley, CEO, PrivatAir Group When Geneva-based PrivatAir acquired Flight Services Group earlier this year, it installed FSG founder Hurley as head of the entire operation. PrivatAir now manages or owns 57 aircraft, including three BBJs, a Boeing 757, a 737-300 and five FBOs. 1What are you going to do with all those Boeings? Hurley: Executive charter, board meetings and special events. We're already booking for the Athens Olympics in 2004. We see great potential in the shuttle business.
Photograph: Bell 430 Helicentre Expands Into Coventry U.K. helicopter operator Helicentre has started operations from Coventry Airport in the West Midlands. The company gained some television exposure in 2000 when it flew in medical specialists and rail engineers to the scenes of the Shelby and Hatfield railroad disasters. Helicentre now is looking for a site near London, where it can provide ``rapid response charters'' for corporate customers in central London.
A report commissioned by European Transport Ministers into the implications of Europe's growing air traffic saturation problem says that by 2005 the system will be unable to accommodate around seven percent of demand. Entitled ``Constraints to Growth,'' the report predicts that 36 percent of anticipated demand for air travel will be unsatisfied by 2020, and lack of airport capacity will be ``as constraining as lack of en-route capacity.''
Photograph: Richard T. Santulli CEO, Executive Jet, Inc. A Brooklyn-raised mathematician, Richard Santulli ran Goldman Sachs Leasing Corp. before buying Executive Jet in 1984. Two years later, he began marketing NetJets, the original fractional aircraft ownership program and an idea of his own invention. Berkshire Hathaway acquired Executive Jet in 1998, leaving Santulli, 56, in charge. 1 NetJets has been phenomenally successful, but weren't there some hard times? Santulli: We were in big trouble in 1990.
Movie reviewer David Manning is easy to please. The flicks need only be produced by Sony to win his approval. You see, Manning is the fictitious character concocted by Sony marketers to gush about the company's latest offerings. When the ruse was recently discovered by Newsweek, there were lots of red faces at Sony. Elsewhere in Tinsel Town there was much head scratching since studios know raves are easy to come by -- just invite a no-name reviewer from a no-name publication on an all-expense-paid junket.
After-market spares specialist Heico Corp. and American Airlines parent AMR Corp. are forming a joint venture to produce and sell aircraft engine parts. The business is designed to provide a revenue-producing alternative to higher-priced spares offered by General Electric, Pratt&Whitney and other manufacturers of the most popular airline turbofans.
The British government plans to commission a major study of aircraft noise -- the first since the Aircraft Noise Index Study was undertaken in 1985. The investigation will focus on the perceived relationship between noise levels and annoyance, sleep disturbance at night and the value of lower noise levels relative to other environmental factors. Three recent government-sponsored studies on sleep disturbance also will be taken into account within the new study.
Charter broker Air Partner has begun providing a worldwide executive jet service specifically for British Airways passengers. The new business will complement BA's flight network, the airline said, enabling customers to charter an aircraft onto their final destination, wherever that may be. The company claims that booking a business jet is as ``easy as renting a car.'' Four categories of aircraft -- turboprops and small, medium and heavy jets -- are available at daily rates for a block of miles to keep pricing simple.
``Expressions of interest'' to build and operate the new Athens International Airport's FBO are closed, and ``requests for proposal'' are to be submitted by August. Sparta FBO Project Manager Kyriakos Papathanassiou declined to provide a short list of the bidders, saying the information is ``commercially sensitive.''
Business aircraft movements at England's Farnborough Airport were up 20 percent in the first three months of this year and total corporate movements are forecast to hit 17,000 by year-end. That accounting comes from Len Rayment, vice president operations at TAG Aviation, Farnborough, who added ``We are seeing new names every week. I haven't checked if we have lost other regulars but our market share in the U.K. is definitely going up, with TAG Farnborough taking business away from Heathrow and Luton.''
