Certainly numbers can be gray -- no one other than a statistician really wants to spend much time with statistics -- but numbers can be a useful tool in safety management. They can tell us how we're doing and where we must focus in our training programs and procedures development processes.
As regional airline industry leaders met in Nashville for the Regional Airline Association's annual convention in May, a group of regional pilots who claim the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) is failing to represent them properly has abandoned talks organized to settle their differences and reactivated a year-old legal challenge against the union.
Glenn E. Hess, a veteran of McDonnell Douglas and Boeing, was named president and CEO of Textron's Bell Helicopter. Hess, 52, will have overall responsibility for designing and building the company's line of turbine-powered helicopters. He fills a post that has been vacant since September 2001, when John Murphey was named chairman and chief executive. Murphey, a veteran aerospace executive, was promoted after John Janitz, who had been Textron's chief operating officer, and Terry Stinson, who had been CEO of Bell Helicopter, left the company last year.
Honeywell forecasters say the outlook remains strong for business jet manufacturers. Jim Wojciehowski, who heads the Honeywell forecast unit, told the FAA's General Aviation Forecast Conference this month in Wichita that OEMs still have a backlog of approximately 2,000 aircraft, up to 50 percent of which represents orders from fractional aircraft providers. While new business jet deliveries will decline slightly in 2002 and 2003, Wojciehowski said forecasters expect shipments to return to 2001's record levels by 2005.
One year after acquiring Galaxy Aerospace, Gulfstream officials say that many of the customer service, support and delivery issues have been resolved. The manufacturer is expected to deliver the first G-200 completed at Dallas Love Field later this month. Gulfstream relocated the G-100 and -200 completions from Galaxy's former Alliance Airport headquarters earlier in the year.
The new London City Airport Jet Center, due to open only a couple of weeks after EBACE, is also to be a corporate jet charter operator. The airport company has purchased and will operate its own Dassault Falcon 900EX (costing $34.8 million) for commercial charter. Says London City's (LCY) Managing Director Richard Gooding, ``The airport's management is demonstrating a real commitment to corporate aviation by this purchase. Delivery is set for July 31 and the completion undertaken by Jet Aviation of Basel.''
OGIO International has introduced a hard-shell golf bag travel cover that meets airline standards for checked baggage. The company touts the cover as the only ``travel-to-cart'' solution for transient golfers since it can be checked without the surcharge airlines often impose on soft bag covers. A removable hinged and padded lid that protects club heads during travel detaches to make the bag mountable on pull carts or golf carts. Dubbed the ``Rig,'' the extruded plastic casing holds up to 14 clubs and accommodates drivers up to 46 inches long.
A new dues structure that the NBAA will begin implementing in July is intended to generate more financial support from members and make the association less dependent on other sources of revenue, such as its annual convention and trade show. The change in the dues structure is the first since 1969, a span of 33 years.
The Experimental Aircraft Association expects to recreate the Wright brothers' first and last flights at Kill Devil Hills, N.C., on December 17, 2003. That date is the 100th anniversary of the Wrights' first flight. The EAA hired Ken Hyde of The Wright Experience to build an authentic reproduction of the 1903 Wright Flyer, which they say will be the most accurate of its kind. Sponsor Ford Motor Co. is contributing money and technical expertise to the project.
Toledo Express Airport announced an agreement with Airpath Wireless to provide wireless Internet access throughout the passenger terminal areas of the airport. Passengers with a PDA or laptop equipped for 802.11b (WiFi) wireless access can have complete Web and e-mail access to the Internet. This kind of access, often totally free -- and very fast -- is widespread in ``hot sports'' in most urban areas of the country and is a trend sure to continue to proliferate to other airport terminals and the more canny FBOs.
Satcom systems took center stage at the 45th annual Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) Convention held in late April. EMS Technologies, for example, introduced its HSD-128 Swift64 data link system, which is compatible with the Rockwell Collins ARINC 741 satcom system, thereby allowing users to surf the Internet. EMS is also developing a private-label version for Rockwell Collins called HST-900 that will enable users to talk and use data link services simultaneously.
Saying it hopes to attract current and potential business aircraft users who ``don't have time to attend NBAA'' and other industry events, Pentastar Aviation is launching the Detroit International Aviation Expo this summer.
The Corporate Angel Network, which arranges free travel on corporate aircraft for cancer patients traveling to and from treatment centers, will receive a check for $101,000, the proceeds of last month's Greater Washington Aviation Open (GWAO) golf and tennis tournament. The May 6 event, held at the Indian Spring Country Club in Silver Spring, Md., was the 14th GWAO. Honorary chairman of the event was Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Bombardier Aerospace named Stephen McNally general manager of its Tucson Service Center. He will report to Bob Sundin, regional vice president. McNally, who has more than 20 years of aviation experience, was most recently director of the company's Dallas Service Center.
Although the Bush administration has kept general aviation restricted far longer than any other industry, senior officials are opposing efforts to compensate businesses devastated by the government's actions, saying enough is being done to help already.
Applications for Helicopter Association International Aviation Maintenance Technician scholarships are being accepted through October 1. Five applicants will be selected and ranked by the HAI Technical Committee. The top selectee can choose any one of five sponsored training programs, the next can choose from the remaining four, and so on. Scholarship sponsors are Agusta Aerospace, Bell Helicopter, Eurocopter, Pratt&Whitney Canada, Rolls-Royce/Allison, Turbomeca and Southern Illinois University.
Despite general aviation opposition, the FAA has published a draft rule proposing a one-step transition to domestic reduced vertical separation minimums (DRVSM) in December 2004. The notice of proposed rulemaking has a 90-day comment period. The move would add six flight levels between FL 290 and FL 410 by reducing required vertical separation between airplanes to 1,000 feet from the current 2,000 feet. Non-equipped aircraft will be allowed to transition through the airspace.
Gulfstream now has a dedicated courier aircraft on 24-hour alert to dispatch technical support personnel or parts to aircraft under warranty when commercial transportation will not satisfy urgent requirements. According to Larry Flynn, senior vice president, aircraft services, a G-100 with custom interior and distinctive paint will be on standby around the clock, seven days a week, 365 days a year to deliver tech support and flight-essential parts to customers in North America and the Caribbean.
``It's a sick organization, and you survive in that environment by not making any waves. The mediocre survive. They go along to get along.'' Billie Vincent, a former FAA chief of security, regarding his former employer. (Playboy) ``Radio was the air-navigation technology of the 1930s. It's nice to move forward.'' Tom Holford, senior staff representative of flight operations technology at United Airlines, regarding Nav Canada's automated oceanic control. (The Wall Street Journal)
U.S. government officials hoped to allow private airplanes back into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport by the end of May, a senior official with the DOT said as B/CA went to press. With the exception of government operations, security officials have barred private aircraft from using the airport since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
GAMA reported general aviation billings dropped 20 percent as shipments fell 18.8 percent for the first three months of 2002. It called the decline predictable in the post-9/11 economy. ``We expected a drop in shipments and billings,'' said GAMA President Ed Bolen to the Weekly of Business Aviation. ``Last year, in response to the slowing economy and the terrorist attacks, nearly all of the manufacturers announced reductions in their 2002 production schedules. That is now being reflected in the first-quarter numbers.
NLX Corp., Sterling, Va., said its King Air 350 full flight simulator received FAA Level D certification at the CAE SimuFlite training center at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The Model 350 simulator is the second of five Level D devices NLX is building for CAE SimuFlite, the manufacturer said. The order is part of a deal NLX originally signed with GE Capital before GE sold the simulator training center to CAE. NLX is also scheduled to deliver Cessna CitationJet, Dassault Falcon 900 B/C/EX and Falcon 2000 simulators during the next 12 months.
The NBAA advises that if you hold an airman certificate that uses your Social Security Number (SSN) as your certificate number, you can have the FAA change that to a unique number other than your SSN. You also can have the FAA remove your SSN completely from its records. To do so, complete, sign and submit a Request of Change of Certificate Number form. It is available as a PDF file. Further information is available at the FAA Web site at http://registry.faa.gov/airmen.asp.
Momentum continues to grow in Congress for arming airline pilots. The concept has strong backing from the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations, which believes pilots ``must be armed.'' In addition, both the Allied Pilots Association and Air Line Pilots Association have released their own statements in support of arming trained volunteer pilots. But senior government officials are still reluctant and prefer another cockpit defense solution.
Jeppesen has introduced EasyBrief, a browser-based interface for JetPlan that lets pilots self-brief anywhere they have access to the Internet or a company LAN/WAN. By using browser technology and the Internet, EasyBrief lets users avoid SITA and ARINC forwarding charges. A management feature of EasyBrief automatically confirms and records that a crewmember has retrieved a briefing package.
