Bombardier Aerospace has had to make a complete ``U-turn'' on Dash 8 Q400 certification for London City Airport (LCY) operations. The Canadian company had previously regarded the requirement as a low priority for the Q400 program, but pressure from new U.K. Q400 customer British European has changed all that. The airline has requested that the aircraft be certificated for full passenger load operations from both LCY and Belfast City Airports.
`` I really see this as one of the paramount challenges of our industry.'' The speaker was Don Baldwin, manager of Texaco's Aviation Transport Services, and the ``this'' to which he referred is the steady depletion of the pool of experienced young pilots available for positions with business aviation flight departments. The cause is easily identified.
The first Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 717-200 was handed over at Boeing Long Beach, Calif., on March 1. The airline has ordered 13 aircraft with seven options. The first aircraft went into inter-island service on March 15. The aircraft are configured to carry 123 passengers, eight in first class and 115 in economy.
Chevron's $35 billion buyout of rival Texaco will see a merger of the two companies' respective flight departments at Oakland International Airport near San Francisco. Texaco's two Gulfstream IVSPs will relocate from Westchester County Airport (HPN) to Oakland, and the flight department's five pilots and 11 other employees are likely to be offered relocation. Texaco also owns a quarter share of a NetJets Citation VII, but its fate is unknown.
Imagine Boeing Business Jets preparing to deliver its first BBJ 2 aircraft, when 10 minutes before departure an earthquake hits and shuts down the field. To Boeing and the customer's relief, the aircraft was not damaged during the February 28 quake, but the runway at Washington State's King County International Airport (BFI) was impaired, leaving only 4,700 feet usable for takeoff.
Manchester Airport has bought East Midlands and Bournemouth Airports from National Express plc for $362 million. The Manchester Airport group of companies also has an 82.7-percent majority stake in Humberside Airport, which now makes the group the second-largest airport owner in the United Kingdom, behind the British Airports Authority.
Atlantic Aviation, Wilmington, Del., has named Joseph Fazio as general manager of flight support for its Teterboro (TEB) FBO. Prior to working for Atlantic Aviation, Fazio served as vice president and general manager for Jet Systems at Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains, N.Y.
British Midland Commuter has converted four options for two Embraer ERJ 135s and two ERJ 145s with deliveries due in January and April 2002. This takes British Midland's firm orders for the ERJ 135 to four and ERJ 145 to 10. The airline holds six more options for the ERJ 145, taking the total contract value to $270 million. Its seventh ERJ 145 arrived in February.
Charlotte County Airport (PGD), Punta Gorda, Fla., tenants are in an uproar after a memorandum was issued by Director Fred Watts requiring a 20-gallon minimum fuel fill before a truck is dispatched to a hangar. At a recent board meeting, Lionel Schumann, a tenant, told attendees that the memo discriminates against aircraft that won't hold 20 gallons and it discourages owners from topping off their tanks.
Airport peak-hour pricing proposals are gaining momentum in Washington, D.C. as government officials grapple with ways to ease growing congestion in the nation's airways. A number of industry economists and analysts recommended allowing the nation's most crowded airports to charge higher prices for takeoffs and landings during the busiest times of the day. This concept apparently has begun to gain support from some senior Washington officials, including Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and Senate Aviation Subcommittee Chairwoman Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas).
Newly operational fractional operator CitationShares says it expects to double its fleet by the end of the year. The Cessna/TAG Aviation partnership now flies 13 aircraft and plans to add about two aircraft per month beginning in June, including six Cessna CJ1s, six Bravos and the company's first Citation Excel. CitationShares CEO Steve O'Neil says pilot hiring is to progress at a fast pace through the end of the year, with plans for 50 to 60 new hires, more than doubling the present 45 pilot roster.
Teterboro Airport is about seven miles from the George Washing-ton Bridge and is the quick way to ``Downtown Big Apple,'' notwithstanding the fact that La Guardia is geographically closer. Timewise, Teterboro wins hands down, owing to the fact that merely landing at LGA is a daunting task in itself. The Marine Air Terminal at LGA has long since been usurped by the commuters, relegating general aviation aircraft way out in the tewlies.
The FAA has adopted as an AD a manufacturer's service bulletin prohibiting the flight of Learjet 45s into known icing conditions. The restriction resulted from an incident in which a Model 45 aircraft experienced anti-ice system difficulties, generating a warning to the flight crew of an overheat condition of the horizontal stabilizer. The AD requires replacement of the anti-ice manifold assembly within 100 flight hours, whereas the alert service bulletin required such action within 25 hours.
Austrian Airlines President Dr. Herbert Bammer announced that it will buy Rheintalflug, a small regional airline based in Austria, subject to regulatory and anti-trust approval for an undisclosed amount. Rheintalflug currently operates a fleet of two Dash 8-Q300s and three Embraer ERJ-145MPs for Team Lufthansa.
What criteria do you use in choosing a handling service? Diane Heine, a dispatcher at AirFlite, Inc., a charter/management company in Long Beach, Calif., offered some suggestions -- and an interest-ing story:
The experts speak. B/CA consulted two veteran international business pilots on how they organize complex trips abroad and the checking processes they employ to ensure that everything works out according to plan. Implicit in this is how they interact with and use their handling services.
A new online course is being offered to reduce runway incursions. The Air Safety Foundation's new Runway Safety Program incorporates three-dimensional graphics and audio to enhance pilots' knowledge of ground operations at busy airports. Working air traffic controllers contributed audio for the project, which also contains an arrival sequence at Long Beach Airport in California, a departure from Pittsburgh International Airport and a quiz.
British European has ordered 20 new Avro RJX-100 airliners from BAE Systems. Valued at more than $600 million, the deal includes firm orders for 12 of the 112-seat aircraft and options for eight more. The British regional carrier currently operates a fleet of 17 BAe 146s throughout Europe and the British Isles. RJX-100 flight testing is expected to begin this month, with certification and initial deliveries planned for the first and second quarters of 2002, respectively.
The 11th annual Head in the Sand Awards lampooned manufacturers and government regulators for contributing to ``the denial, the discounting or the ignoring of significant aviation risks or opportunities.'' Top honors went to the FAA's Airspace and Rules Division for permitting construction in Anchorage of a 497-foot-tall tower in a special VFR corridor requiring flight below 600 feet msl.
AC-U-KWIK is offering FBOs real-time flight information through its Web site. The program enables ground service providers time to prepare for an incoming aircraft's arrival. Information can be accessed on any aircraft that has filed an IFR flight plan; individual flight details are displayed when viewers click on a specific aircraft icon. AC-U-KWIK also will place a subscribing FBO's icon on its Web site that will link to a form that when submitted alerts the FBO to service requirements of arriving aircraft.
Eclipse Aviation founder Vern Raburn has been named one of Time magazine's Top 100 Innovators of the 21st Century, now in its second year. Calling the proposed Eclipse 500 a ``baby jet'' and ``the ultimate escape vehicle,'' the magazine lauded Raburn's early success attracting $120 million from investors and several dozen orders for the $837,500 twin jet and cited his alliance with Dr. Sam Williams of Williams International as a key to the project's success.
Raytheon Aircraft Services, Wichita, has received the FAA's Diamond Certificate of Excellence Award for training at its Houston William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) FBO. In addition, 30 of the FBO's technicians have received individual awards for training.
Bombardier has made its first CRJ700 sale to Africa with an order for one of the 68 seaters plus a CRJ200 to Cameroon Airlines of West Africa. Delivery of the CRJ700 is set for first quarter 2002 while the CRJ200 is due in the fourth quarter of this year. The Douala-based airline intends to use the CRJs on regional service to the surrounding countries of Gabon, the Republic of Congo, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast and Chad.
