Jet Aviation (Dusseldorf, Germany) -- Johannes Turzer has been named general manager for the Dusseldorf, Kassel, Saarbrucken, Han-nover, Munich and Cologne/ Bonn facilities. Klaus-Dieter Hessenmuller retired from the position due to health reasons.
President Clinton signed a three-year FAA reauthorization bill in April that will go a long way toward providing the money the agency needs to handle the massive increases in air traffic forecast over the next decade. The bill that finally passed Congress was about as good as the industry could hope for, given the anti-aviation animus of the Clinton administration and the fanatics on the House and Senate Appropriations Committees who held the entire process hostage for months.
According to GAMA, a record-breaking $2.1 billion in general aviation aircraft were shipped in the first quarter, a 12.3-percent increase over 1999. A total of 613 aircraft were delivered, including 136 jets and 78 turboprops. Jets delivered included three Boeing Business Jets, 18 Gulfstream IVSP and V models, 46 Cessna Citations, 41 Learjets, 13 Beechjets and 15 Raytheon Hawker 800XPs. Turboprop deliveries included 50 King Airs and 12 Beech 1900Ds, 22 New Piper Malibu Mirages and 16 Cessna Caravans.
ATI has introduced three new models of heavy-duty, counter-balanced mobile hydraulic cranes in 10,000-, 15,000- and 20,000-pound capacities. The cranes are self-propelled, battery operated and equipped with variable-speed drives, making it capable of speeds as slow as 10 inches per minute. The steering control handle swings 90 degrees to the left and right for turning sharp corners. The units are built of heavy-duty steel for industrial use. Price: $31,998; $35,500; $39,500 Air Technical Industries 7501 Clover Ave.
American Eagle has agreed to a Fleet Management Program (FMP) with Pratt&Whitney Canada for maintenance of the engines that power the carrier's fleet of ATR turboprops. The American Airlines subsidiary operates 78 P&WC-powered ATR-42s and -72s and has a total of 97 PW127 and PW127F installed and spare engines. The 12-year agreement is worth around $110 million, according to the engine manufacturer.
``Aviation fuel is a complex hydrocarbon mixture whose properties are absolutely specified to ensure satisfactory performance.'' The speaker is Chevron (formerly Standard Oil of California) Products Corp. aviation fuel guru Fred Barnes, explaining how we get aviation fuels from the crude oil whose volatility on world financial markets of late has been as flammable as crude's energy potential. Barnes is Chevron's manager of aviation product engineering, based at the producer/refiner's headquarters in San Francisco.
The FAA has proposed a $195,000 fine against Toledo, Ohio-based Grand Aire Express. According to the agency, Grand Aire operated a Fairchild Swearingen SA226TC on 218 flights in 1999 without conducting required testing following replacement of one of the aircraft's engines. Failure to conduct these tests rendered the aircraft unairworthy. Grand Aire Express operates on-demand cargo flights under FAR Part 135 with a mixed fleet that includes Dassault Falcon 20s, Swearingen Metros and Merlins, a DC-9 and a Cessna Citation II.
Honeywell's Hardware Product Group is opening a 384,000-square-foot parts distribution center in August at Alliance Airport in Fort Worth. The new center will distribute parts worldwide and employ 150 people initially. Honeywell is the latest in a series of aerospace companies at Alliance. Its neighbors will include Galaxy Aerospace, Bell/Agusta and Century Aerospace.
Edited by Paul RichfieldPerry Bradley, in Brussels, Belgium
European business aircraft operators describe their principal challenge in just three words: access, access, access. Crowded skies, limited numbers of reliever airports and mounting restrictions on access to the facilities that do exist are a constant challenge for operators, according to a host of speakers at the recent European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) annual meeting in Brussels.
Air Ontario's 172 unionized flight attendants have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the company, but one that only lasts nine months. According to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the union that represents Air Ontario's flight attendants, the brief contract is seen as a ``bridge agreement'' designed to position both sides for ``integrated bargaining'' as Air Canada's regional feeders consolidate.
Stage 4 noise certification rules could be adopted by ICAO as early as 2003, predicted Bonnie A. Wilson, the senior director of airport facilities and services for the Airports Council International -- North America. Speaking at a noise symposium conducted at Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains, N.Y., in April, Wilson said the new, more-stringent noise standards would probably be accompanied by a Stage 3 non-addition rule and eventual phase-out of Stage 3 aircraft, a process that she estimated could take up to 12 years.
Aviation consultant Conklin&de Decker has launched a series of seminars focusing on flight department financial and tax issues. Aviation tax expert Nel Saunders is organizing the seminars known as FACT (Financial Accounting Cost and Tax), which include panelists from operators, law, accounting and consulting firms specializing in aviation. Future FACT programs are planned for Washington, Minneapolis and Houston. Further information is available at www.conklindd.com.
Charles (Chuck) Millard Cox, who recently retired after a 27-year career training corporate pilots, died on March 5, at age 67. Cox most recently was an instructor at SimuFlite in Dallas, and before that worked for FlightSafety in Wichita. Before he began training pilots, he flew for several corporations. Cox is survived by his wife, three children, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Aerospace Industries Association (Washington, D.C.) -- Boeing's Blair French has been elected chairman of the trade group's Supplier Management Council Executive Committee. Judy Northrup of Northrop Grumman was elected vice chairman.
This directory is a selective listing of specialized products and services not included elsewhere in the 2000 Purchase Planning Handbook. In many cases, the products or services are not available directly from the manufacturer, but from authorized distributors. Operators should contact the manufacturers shown in the address listing to obtain purchasing information. The listing of a product or service in this directory is not an endorsement or recommendation by B/CA. Compiled by Anna Santo with Chris Drapala and Kim Gilbert. CATEGORY INDEX
Last year was a record year for general aviation, as total billings soared 35.1 percent over 1998, reaching $7.9 billion for the year, according to GAMA. The 1999 growth was more than 10 percent above the 1998 increase. Put into perspective, general aviation sales in 1999 were quadruple those of 1992. Last year also marked the first time in GAMA's history that both billings and shipments increased for five consecutive years.
In the early 1970s, people began to wonder why properly functioning aircraft flown by competent pilots were flying into the ground, usually in instrument weather conditions. Several studies later, it was agreed that a GPWS could help prevent such accidents, warning the crew of impending impact with terrain in time for them to climb or take other corrective action.
It's important that worldwide aviation dialog focuses on preserving a place for business aircraft. As the business climate becomes ever more global in scope, it's necessary that tools that serve business also evolve. It is evident in production figures of business aircraft that the evolution is in place. In 1999, more intercontinental business jets were built than the industry's entire output just a few years ago.
Aviation Research Group/US (ARG/US) has launched a new safety audit program for charter operators. The new audit is modeled after the U.S. Department of Defense's Air Carrier Quality and Safety Requirements Program. ARG/US is employing ex-DOD safety inspectors to conduct on-site reviews of operators' financial records, safety training and operating policies to create a report that does more than just ``repeating the work done by the FAA FSDO office.'' Audit clients will receive detailed reports highlighting areas needing improvement and recommended solutions.
Delta Connection, Delta Air Lines' regional subsidiary, has signed a letter of intent to purchase 94 Bombardier Canadair Regional Jets (CRJs), with options for 406 more. The order is subject to the signing of definitive sales agreements with Bombardier and General Electric, whose CF34-series engines power all CRJ variants. Deliveries of the 94 firm aircraft are slated to begin in first quarter 2001, and extend through the end of 2004.
Bombardier has named Innotech-Execaire an Authorized Service Facility for Global Express aircraft. Innotech's Montreal facility already provides factory service on Challenger business jets and its Vancouver operation is a factory-authorized Learjet service center.
Edited by Paul RichfieldBy David Esler, in New Orleans Global Operations Update
Sydney Olympics -- If you're planning to attend the 2000 Olympics at Sydney in September and don't have prepaid hotel reservations, parking confirmation for your aircraft, and an arrival slot by now, you probably should plan on watching the Games on TV. As of this spring, most local hotel reservations had been filled (75 percent by the International Olympic Committee), and slot allocation at Sydney Interna-tional and nearby Bankstown Airport was well underway. Without a confirmed parking reservation, you don't get a slot.
An Internal Revenue Service (IRS) proposal that changes the way taxes on air charter flights are collected has incited criticism from at least one industry group. The National Air Transportation Association (NATA), which represents FAR Part 135 operators and FBOs, says cutting the filing time for excise tax credit forms from the present 60 days by half will ``severely impede the cash flow of air charter companies.'' The revised schedule, NATA says, will obligate operators to pay the government before sales revenue can be collected.
If you're planning to fly to or within Europe after January 24, 2002, your turbine-powered aircraft must be approved for reduced vertical separation minimums (RVSM) or you can forget about filing for a flight level between 290 and 410. On that date, vertical airspace restructuring, reducing separation from 2,000 to 1,000 feet, will go into effect over the 15 European Union members plus 24 other nations, effectively blanketing the entire Continent.
