The newly privatized Stewart International Airport (SWF) near Newburgh, N.Y., is on a growth spurt, and one of the early beneficiaries is the well-known College of Aeronautics. Long established near New York's La Guardia Airport, the College is offering a four-year bachelor of science degree in airport management at its SWF extension, which opened in September 1999. The program includes courses in airport operations, airfield safety, aviation law and emergency planning.
Airis Corp. has named Al Shively as senior vice president located in Atlanta. Airis is a private developer of aviation facilities and designs, builds, owns and operates facilities for aviation.
As the saying goes, safety is no accident, so the new line of ICAO safety posters should be a welcome addition to any flight department, FBO, regional airline or other aviation-related business. Sporty's is now selling a series of 16 safety posters covering such diverse topics as turbulence, VASI systems, taxiing guidance, wind shear and volcanic activity. All of the posters have vivid graphics and text and will help new and veteran aviators remember the ``rules of the road.'' Price: $11.95 each Sporty's Pilot Shop
American Eagle flights will carry TWA code-share passengers between Los Angeles and seven California cities. The move is designed to beef up TWA's West Coast presence as it mounts a 70-percent service expansion in Los Angeles. According to Marc Siegel, TWA's managing director for regional alliances, the code-share applies only to through service between other TWA destinations and Bakersfield, Fresno, Monterey, Palm Springs, San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara.
Silverhawk Aviation at Lincoln (Neb.) Airport (LNK), joins Air BP's dealer network through Valley Oil Co. Silverhawk said it was the area's newest full-service FBO and charter operator. The FBO offers light jet, turboprop and piston aircraft maintenance as well as avionics sales and services.
David E. Newell received the Verne Lowe Award for outstanding contributions to aviation safety and product development. Newell is director of corporate aviation and travel for VF Corp. of Greensboro, N.C.
You're going to learn a lot more about runway incursions over the next 12 months than you really want to know, but the lessons won't be optional. The FAA, with plenty of support from Capitol Hill and the NTSB, is undertaking a major effort to reduce the potential for catastrophic runway incursions, and that effort will involve you in a number of ways.
No, B/CA is not turning into an office supply catalog, but the MONO Dry Highlighter is a welcome, inexpensive cockpit tool. What distinguishes this highlighter from most others is that it, as the names implies, applies dry and is easily erasable. So if you need to temporarily highlight charts, maps, clearances or other items -- and don't want the mess that comes with other products -- the MONO Dry Highlighter may be your solution. It's available at many stationery stores and major office supply stores such as Office Depot, Office Max and Staples.
CommutAir, a Plattsburgh, N.Y.-based regional carrier, has ordered 26 new Raytheon Beech 1900Ds with options for an additional 26 aircraft. The order, valued at more than $125 million, is the largest for the 19-passenger turboprop since 1995. The new aircraft replace 26 older 1900Ds in the airline's existing fleet of 31 aircraft. Raytheon has delivered 11 aircraft, with the remaining 15 scheduled for delivery by the end of the year. With these deliveries, Raytheon will mark the 400th 1900D manufactured.
A year ago, the focus in Washington aviation circles was the effort to win support for FAA reauthorization legislation, a process that included more plot twists than a long-running soap opera. Finally, however, Congress completed work on the Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR-21) in March and the measure was signed into law in April.
First, I am in recovery from Tiger Woods' clinical and surgical dissection of Pebble Beach, and, by the time you read this, he will have spread his talents over the British Open, heavily favored. During the same time spread, NBC's Hannah Storm interviewed Tracy Stewart, Payne Stewart's widow, with snippets of their happy family life together and spotlighting Payne's considerable golfing talents, including his victory at the 1999 U.S. Open. Then it got tacky as Ms.
Although it said most evacuations were carried out without difficulty or injuries, the NTSB has recommended further study of aircraft evacuations. The board wants the FAA to require ``one level of safety'' that applies to larger commercial aircraft and those seating fewer than 44 passengers, which currently do not require evacuation demonstrations. The NTSB also wants the FAA to study optimum escape hatch dimensions, methods of communicating emergency procedures to passengers and the high failure rate of evacuation slides.
The FAA says a ground-based inerting system needs development, which would require pumping of nitrogen into aircraft fuel tanks, reducing oxygen from the vapor space. That recommendation, and 40 new Airworthiness Directives targeting ignition sources, arose from the crash of TWA Flight 800 in July 1996. The FAA said the system will cost $1.6 billion over 13 years to implement. The recommendations were based on a flammability model created by the FAA, with ground-based inerting showing the best results.
Mercury Air Group is expanding again with the planned acquisition of the Raytheon Aircraft Services' (RAS) FBO in Birmingham, Ala. Mercury COO John Enticknap says the facility will continue as a Raytheon Authorized Service Center for Beech Bonanzas through King Airs and no management or staff changes are planned. The Birmingham facility is the sixth RAS FBO Mercury has acquired in the past four years. According to Enticknap, Mercury plans to continue acquiring FBOs that fit into the company's geographical and operational requirements.
Bombardier Aerospace has acquired online reservations service Skyjet.com for an undisclosed sum. Formed in 1997, Skyjet.com offers real-time availabilty, online booking and recently introduced an auction service to fill empty legs. Bombardier Business Aircraft President Rob Gillespie says the move helps the manufacturer assume ``a leadership role in the growth of the charter industry.'' No changes in Skyjet.com staff are planned and the operation is expected to remain in Washington, D.C. (See page 54 for additional information.)
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's annual Industry/Career Expo is scheduled for November 1 and 2 at the institution's Daytona Beach, Fla., campus. The event, which is free and open to the public, helps companies recruit for a variety of aerospace jobs, including flight crews, maintenance, management, engineering and computers. Planned exhibitors this year include Gulfstream, Boeing and Signature Flight Support, as well as numerous airlines and other airframe and component manufacturers.
Aerostar Jet, which is planning a turbofan-powered version of the Piper Aerostar piston twin, is re-forming itself as a limited liability corporation to make itself ``more attractive to investors.'' The restructuring will result in a six-month delay in the planned certification of the proposed FJ-100. First flight of the Williams FJ-33-1-powered aircraft is now planned for March 2002, with certification and first deliveries now expected in mid-2003.
Getting a handle on costs, and what drives them, is increasingly important in today's business environment, where managers face seemingly constant pressure to provide safe, efficient and cost-effective transportation. The Operations Planning Guide is designed as a complement to the May Purchase Planning Handbook, and is intended as a tool for developing and analyzing flight department activity and budgets. The operating cost data presented in the following tables are optimized for use as a benchmarking tool for analysis of your own costs.
Seconds count in an explosive decompression -- leaving little time to locate and don life-saving oxygen masks. West Star Aviation recently received an STC for the new Puritan-Bennett Sweep-On 2000 crew oxygen masks for Cessna Citation 500, 525, S550, 560 and 560XL aircraft. The masks mount on the forward dividers in the cockpit and can be equipped with optional smoke goggles. Designed as a replacement for the Citation's original oxygen masks, the Sweep-On 2000 saves space and, more importantly, time in an emergency.
Swissair plans to spin off its pilot and flight attendant training operation, and offer its simulators for rental to other airlines and operators. Swissair CEO-designate Manfred Brennwald said he expects the new venture -- called the Swissair Training Center AG -- to employ 80 full-time staff and generate annual operating revenues of CHF 60 million. In July, Jeffrey Katz resigned after three years as Swissair's CEO, to take an e-commerce CEO job in the United States.
Rolls-Royce Corp. (RR) and the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Workers of America (UAW), Local 933, have opened a $6.5 million joint training facility at RR's Indianapolis facility.
