SIMCOM Training Centers has opened a 67,000-square-foot training center adjacent to Florida's Orlando International Airport (MCO). The center features expanded services that include simulators for the Cessna Citation series and Learjet 35/36, along with multimedia programs. ``The new facility is designed to give our customers the best possible training environment,'' said Tracy Brannon, SIMCOM vice president and managing director.
Delta Air Lines' John Marshall has been named chairman of the Air Transport Association's Safety Council. He is Delta's vice president, corporate safety and compliance, and previously served as the council's vice chairman. The safety council provides assistance to member airlines by developing and monitoring corrective actions concerning ground and flight incidents and accidents. It also analyzes and shares accident prevention information and works with federal agencies to resolve chronic safety problems.
Contemporary Research has unveiled the FeatherTouch Control System for interactive cabin entertainment management. The system provides control and delivery of up to 96 audio/video channels to hundreds of passenger stations on one cable. The programmable LCD panels can also be used for lighting, attendant call, drapes and galley functions. The base FeatherTouch package includes 12 audio/video media channels with audio page override and is expandable in groups of 12 channels each.
Carter&Burgess, Inc. has won the multi-year contract to provide program management services related to the construction of a replacement airport at St. George, Utah. Only three new air-carrier airports have been built in the United States since 1970. The new St. George Airport is scheduled to open in 2008 with a 35,000-square-foot terminal, 8,000-foot runway and related taxiways plus infrastructure.
The FAA in January released the latest version of its Operational Evolution Plan (OEP), the long-term outline for incrementally modernizing the national airspace system. Except for a few schedule slips in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, little had changed since release of the first version in June.
Roy H. Norris, a veteran of the general aviation aircraft business who has held senior executive posts with several OEMs, was installed in January as chairman, president and chief executive of Advanced Aerodynamics&Structures, Inc. (AASI) -- developer of the Jetcruzer family of aircraft.
FAA headquarters will no longer be totally centralized at 800 Independence Ave. S.W., its home since 1963. Administrator Jane Garvey, the deputy administrator and approximately 1,200 staffers will move across the street to Federal Office Building 10B, which has housed NASA offices. All other functions will remain at 800 Independence. The move could take place by March 2003.
The only BBJ2 customer so far named by Boeing -- Multiflight of Leeds Bradford Airport, United Kingdom -- took delivery of its green aircraft in December 2001. The aircraft was flown nonstop from Seattle to East Midlands Airport, United Kingdom, in eight hours, 40 minutes. Multiflight had expected to take delivery several months earlier, but according to a spokesman for the operator, delivery ``had been delayed due to certification issues relating to the HUD system and long-range fuel tank system.''
A proposal by the Allied Pilots Association (APA), which represents American Airlines pilots, seeks to place APA members in the cockpits of the airline's growing regional jet fleet.
The FAA has entered the dog breeding business in an effort to increase its bomb sniffing presence at U.S. airports. This comes as a response to the January 18 deadline to have all luggage examined for explosives. FAA spokeswoman Rebecca Trexler told reporters that the FAA wants to have over 300 dogs patrolling most FAR Part 139 airports by 2003. The FAA has been using dogs since 1972, after a TWA jet bound for Los Angeles received an anonymous bomb threat.
Global satellite communications provider Inmarsat has introduced the new Swift64 platform of mobile ISDN and mobile packet data services for existing satcom manufacturers. The Inmarsat system consists of eight geostationary satellites and eight earth stations that provide worldwide coverage. Inmarsat's aviation services include enough bandwidth to accommodate more than 1,400 corporate jet operators. Swift64 service features 64Kbps of bandwidth connectivity per user and charges on either a per-minute or per-megabit basis.
The National Association of Flight Instructors has expressed reservations about some elements of the new flight-training security recommendations from the FAA in the wake of the January 5 suicide by a 15-year-old student pilot who crashed a Cessna 172 into a building in Tampa, Fla.
After serving as acting associate administrator for airports for more than two years, Woodie Woodward has finally been officially given the job by Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. The associate administrator for airports is responsible for all national airport planning and administers the airport grant program -- which has $3.3 billion in funds available in fiscal 2002.
Piaggio America, Greenville, S.C., has named Tom McKinnon as its senior demonstration pilot. McKinnon joined Piaggio from U.S. Filter, where he was chief pilot.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research awarded Gulfstream the contract to supply a highly customized G-V for high altitude atmospheric research. With the January award of the $49.8 million contract, Gulfstream will proceed with the production of the HAIPER (High Performance, Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research) aircraft that should enter service in 2005. NCAR currently uses a modified C-130 for similar missions at lower altitudes. The high-altitude capability of the G-V opens more of the atmosphere to their research studies.
Stepping up its efforts to reopen Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), the NBAA went public in early January with a new security plan that would allow business aviation back into DCA by March. The proposal was developed by the NBAA security working group and announced during a meeting of the FAA and industry representatives at Signature Flight Support's FBO at DCA. It calls for the FAA to issue security letters of authorization (SLOA) to FAR Part 91 and 135 operators who apply and agree to comply with SLOA requirements.
NASA's ASRS is making a special effort to solicit, follow-up and analyze security concerns reported through the ASRS system. Initially, ASRS analysts will make ``structured callback'' telephone survey contact with selected reporters to request their participation in a major study. They are interested in a broad range of concerns, such as passenger screening issues, cockpit and cabin security, access, ID and documentation, catering and meal service, screening practices and information dissemination.
Strategic Jet Services, Bethany, Okla., has named Gary Conaway as its service center vice president. Conaway has over 30 years of aviation industry experience and has formerly served with Bizjet International, Midcoast Aviation and Sabreliner Corp.
Experimental Aircraft Association President Tom Poberezny has urged DOT Secretary Norman Mineta to start the search for FAA Administrator Jane Garvey's successor immediately. Poberezny made the recommendation in a January 8 letter to Mineta. Garvey's five-year term expires in August.
The DOT has issued an interim final rule for air carriers to begin collecting the Aviation Security Tax of $2.50 from each passenger enplaned at a U.S. airport. Effective February 1, the rule applies to foreign and domestic airlines. The money goes to the DOT's new Transportation Security Administration. The DOT estimates that the new fee will generate about $900 million this year.
An NPRM has been issued modifying Cincinnati's Class B airspace with a cutout for the airspace over Clermont County Airport, an issue since the Class B airspace was implemented in 1998. However, the proposed rulemaking also raises the ceiling of the Cincinnati Class B airspace from 8,000 to 10,000 feet msl. The AOPA said it will support the cutout over Clermont and oppose the raising of the Class B ceiling.
American Eagle this month is launching regional jet service from California, with 19 new roundtrips planned over the next two months. The American Airlines affiliate begins Embraer ERJ-140 service in early February with three daily roundtrips between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Phoenix (PHX), six roundtrips between LAX and Oakland and a single flight from LAX to Albuquerque, which continues on to Dallas-Fort Worth.
Both Boeing and Honeywell have launched major aviation security initiatives in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Intended to draw on the conglomerates' diverse portfolios of resources and skills, the programs will be oriented primarily toward the manufacturers' airline customers; however, some trickle-down of technologies or services could be expected to reach business aviation operators, as well (especially those fielding BBJs).
Computer modeling techniques play an important role in predicting the movement of volcanic ash clouds. Three primary computer models are currently in use.
