Menzies Aviation Group, a U.K.-based aviation services provider, will acquire the ground handling operations of Ogden Aviation Services for $118 million. When the deal is closed, Menzies will provide ground handling services at 63 airports in 21 countries including London Heathrow, Los Angeles International and Schipol in Amsterdam. Ogden's executive offices will relocate from New York to Menzies' headquarters in the United Kingdom.
Everest VIT, Inc. is now offering VideoProbe XL PRO, the next generation of 6mm, 7mm, and 8mm video borescopes with digital features. This small-diameter remote visual inspection tool includes an integrated file management system, image manipulation options, digital zoom and internal tools that allow you to measure, gauge, grasp, hook or magnetically adhere loose parts during an inspection. The integrated file management system has an internal flash memory and an integrated 1.44MB disk that allows export of images into JPEG or BMP format. The 32-lb.
BAE Systems' Asset Management division has leased and sold several BAe 146 aircraft recently. Ireland's Aer Lingus leased two BAe 146-300s, WDL of Germany has purchased a BAe 146-200 and Qantas Australia has leased a 200 series aircraft for use on Qantas Airlink regional services.
The working relationship between controllers and pilots has played a major role in developing the safe and dependable air transportation system we have today. Pilots place a heavy reliance on the unseen voices of the ATC system. Pilots, literally, put their own lives and the lives of their passengers in the hands of controllers.
The FAA has identified 10 runway safety initiatives it hopes to implement by year-end. Gathered from suggestions made at the agency's Runway Safety Summit in June, the plan includes enhanced controller training; foreign air carrier pilot training; increased runway marking visibility; as well as work on pilot education, communication and phraseology review and the assessment of new technologies to improve safety. These initial steps have been identified by the FAA's Runway Safety Program Office as having the greatest potential for near-term safety improvement.
JetFleet Management Corp. (JMC), located in Burlingame, Calif., appointed Jack Humphreys as the director of aircraft maintenance. Prior to joining JMC, Humphreys held positions at Raytheon, Johnson Controls and Wien Air Alaska.
The NBAA and several other aviation organizations are co-sponsoring a U.S./China Aviation symposium in October in Washington, D.C. The gathering will focus on aviation training, technology and safety, as well as airline-related issues. China is a virtually untapped business aviation market. Further information is available from the NBAA's Pete West at (202) 783-9262.
Embraer has tapped BFGoodrich Aerospace to supply emergency evacuation systems for the ERJ170 and 190 and to provide wheel and brake systems for the ERJ140. BFGoodrich supplies components for other Embraer aircraft.
Gulfstream is seeking an STC for a new electronic device that brings true ``paperless'' cockpits one step closer to reality. Northstar Technologies' CT-1000 flight deck organizer system combines an approach plate database with a bright moving map display, replacing bulky approach plate binders with just two CD-ROMs. Tom Horne, lead Gulfstream test pilot for the Northstar program, says that unlike other ``electronic flight bags,'' only the Northstar unit will be FAA certified and ``cockpit compliant.''
Actor Harrison Ford starred in a real-life drama recently, rescuing a sick hiker in his Bell 407 helicopter. Ford -- an avid pilot and the owner of several aircraft -- is a volunteer rescue pilot near his Jackson, Wyo., ranch. As the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. The 20-year-old hiker vomited in the helicopter just as Ford, his copilot and an emergency medical technician were about to land at a local hospital. Ford is adding to his fleet, having recently ordered a modified de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver from AOG Air Support.
The British Aviation Insurance Group Ltd. (BAIG) has agreed to purchase Associated Aviation Underwriters (AAU) for an undisclosed sum. AAU is owned by insurance giants Chubb and CNA, and insures private, corporate and
Raytheon's Travel Air fractional ownership program claims 550 owners, with the signing of David K. Welles. Welles, chairman and CEO of Therma-Tru Doors of Maumee, Ohio, purchased shares in a Beechjet 400A and a King Air B200 .
Descriptions of the major players in air charter e-commerce, loosely categorized, follow. New entrants are emerging almost weekly. As of midsummer, these were the movers and shakers in retail, auction and support activities. To see which works for you, log on and try them out; you can get trip quotes without booking a charter. For sites that are locked out, ask for a demonstration; some allow you to temporarily register and take a test flight. Retail Web Sites Skyjet.com (www.skyjet.com)
Explorer Aircraft selected Hartzell, S-TEC/Meggitt and Garmin International to provide components for its proposed single-engine 500T utility aircraft. The PT6A-135B-powered aircraft will be equipped with a four-blade, 94-inch Hartzell propeller. Explorer also has outfitted its first test aircraft with a Garmin avionics suite, including dual GNS 430s, a GMA 340 audio panel, GTX 327 digital transponder and a GI 106A course deviation indicator. An S-TEC/Meggitt System 55 autopilot also is installed on the 500T.
Mercury Air Group plans to cut around 20 administrative jobs and delegate their functions down to the FBO level, as part of a bid to save up to $3 million per year. The action is part of a major restructuring of the Los Angeles-based FBO chain, which includes the retirement of Chairman Seymour Kahn, and the acquisition of Kahn's $11.4 million equity stake by three Mercury board members.
NASA unveiled three new technologies to make aircraft safer and airport operations more efficient. The agency recently demonstrated a wake vortex prediction tool that may increase runway capacity by as much as 15 percent. The Aircraft Vortex Spacing System (AVOSS) uses winds and atmospheric conditions and aircraft performance information to space traffic more efficiently. Developed by the Langley Research Center, NASA has been testing the system at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport for the past three years.
Marshall Aerospace and the University of Cambridge are creating a new ``virtual'' research institute dedicated to aeronautical studies. Known as the Sir Arthur Marshall Institute for Aeronautics, the program will fund student research into aerodynamics, engines, structures and other facets of aeronautical engineering. The program has been called a ``virtual institute'' because it will not occupy a dedicated facility at Cambridge. U.K.-based Marshall Aerospace, founded in 1909, helped train pilots and repair aircraft during World War II.
Atlantic Aviation expanded its flight services division with the addition of a Gulfstream III at the Morristown, N.J., facility and a Falcon 50 based in La Jolla, Calif.
Bombardier's Learjet 45 has received Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) approval from the FAA. The approval means that appropriately equipped aircraft may now operate with reduced vertical separation in the North Atlantic regions from FL 290 to FL 410 and in European airspace when RVSM takes effect in January 2002. The manufacturer is preparing a guidebook for Learjet 45 operators wishing RVSM approval that should be available at Business Aviation Services facilities this fall.
The Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) will conduct a workshop entitled ``Living with the Medicare Fee Schedule'' on October 15 in Salt Lake City. The seminar is designed to help air ambulance services understand and conform with new Medicare reimbursement rules. Participants will receive a free copy of the organization's publication, AAMS' Medicare Reimbursement Survival Guide, which otherwise sells for $300. The workshop precedes the AAMS' Annual Air Medical Transportation Conference, which is scheduled to take place in Salt Lake City from October 16-18.
Elliot Aviation, of Moline, Ill., has received multiple STC approvals to install the new Honeywell Mark VI Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS) in King Air 200 and 300 series aircraft.
