REP. DON YOUNG (R-Alaska), current chairman of the House Resources Committee, plans to take over the chairmanship of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which oversees aviation and surface transportation, in the 107th Congress. Rep. Jim Hansen (R-Utah) is expected to succeed Young as head of the Resources Committee. Hansen, a pilot, was instrumental in passage of the General Aviation Revitalization Act in 1994.
BELL Model 205A-1 and 205B helicopters (Docket No. 98-SW-72-AD) - proposes to require inspecting the vertical fin spar cap for cracking, corrosion, or disbonding, and modifying the vertical fin and replacing the left-hand spar cap. This proposal is prompted by five accidents involving helicopters of similar type design. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to detect fatigue cracking or corrosion of the spar cap, which could lead to failure of the vertical fin spar, loss of the tail rotor, and subsequent loss of control of the helicopter.
FRED FRATTO is the new vice president-human resources for Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. Fratto, who will report to Bill Boisture, president and chief operating officer of Gulfstream, had been vice president-human resources for Goody Products, Inc. of Peachtree City, Ga., a plastics injection molding business. Earlier in his career he held several HR posts with Westinghouse Electric Co.
Lucas Aerospace, noting the consolidation of component suppliers for aircraft, announced the purchase of a French manufacturer of flight control actuators. Lucas bought SAMM, a subsidiary of the PSA Peugeot Citroen Group, thereby "escalating the company into the number one market position in the supply of flight control actuation," according to Lucas. SAMM is an Airbus supplier and had revenues of $68 million last year while recording an operating profit of $9 million.
GREG ANTONICHUK was named general manager of Fairchild Aerospace's fixed-base operations at San Antonio International Airport - Gen-Aero and AVSAT. Antonichuk has more than 10 years experience in airport operations. He has served as operations manager for ESSO AVITAT in Richmond, British Columbia since 1995.
MALAYSIA AIRLINES and FlightSafety Boeing Training International announced an aviation training joint venture in Kuala Lumpur under which the carrier will use the joint venture as its exclusive training provider and Boeing will use the facility to train personnel for its other customers in Southeast Asia. The training center will begin operation in the fourth quarter in the existing Malaysia Airlines Training facility, which will be upgraded and expanded to meet growing market demand in the region.
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Rodney Slater and FAA Administrator Jane Garvey have been saying for months that FAA needs a stable stream of funding to ensure the agency's ability to fulfill its responsibilities. Even though Rep. Bud Shuster's bill (AIR-21/H.R.1000) that passed the House Tuesday would provide that reliable funding stream for FAA, Slater still doesn't like Shuster's bill.
KEITH PRODUCTS, INC., Dallas, Texas, won FAA certification for a new R-134a air conditioning system for the Beech/Raytheon Bonanza family of aircraft. The 16,000 BTU system is approved for the V35, F33A and A36 series aircraft with IO-520 and IO-550 engines. Kit installation requires about 70 hours. Total installed weight of the kit is 79 pounds.
Cessna Aircraft Company named Marilyn Richwine, a 30-year veteran of the company, as the new vice president-corporate communications. Richwine, who had been director of corporate affairs, has worked closely with Cessna Chairman Russ Meyer and other senior executives on a range of assignments during her tenure at Cessna.
ISRAEL AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES, whose manufacturing involvement in the business jet field has been limited to the Commander/Westwind/Astra/Galaxy family, may build the fuselage and perform final assembly for the Fairchild Aerospace 428JET regional airliner under a deal announced at last week's Paris Air Show. See article below. IAI bought the Jet Commander line from Rockwell in 1967 and has been building business jets continuously since then.
BELL Model 206L, L-1, L-3, and L-4 helicopters (Docket No. 99-SW-30-AD) - proposes to supersede an existing AD. The AD required the creation of a component history card or equivalent record using the Retirement Index Number (RIN) system for certain masts and trunnions within the next 100 hours time-in-service (TIS) and a system for tracking increases to the accumulated RIN.
LUFTHANSA TECHNIK (LHT) will complete its first Boeing 777 and two Boeing Business Jets (737 variants) for an unnamed Saudi customer. "We've already converted all the standard Boeing and Airbus models into VIP aircraft, but the 777 is still a real challenge for us," said Jurgen Wilken, the company's senior vice president marketing and sales, "especially in view of the owner's challenging time frame." The 777 is scheduled to arrive at LHT's new VIP center in Hamburg, Germany in November.
Bombardier Aerospace announced receipt of type certification approval from Transport Canada for the de Havilland Dash 8-Q400 airliner at last week's Paris Air Show and also unveiled an order for up to 30 of the twin turboprops from Horizon Air of Seattle. The airline placed a firm order for 15 aircraft and took options on 15 more, with the aircraft on order valued at $321 million (U.S.). Horizon plans to replace its older 37-seat Dash 8-100 aircraft with the 70-seat Dash 8-400s, which also will complement the carrier's 37-seat Q200 aircraft on other routes.
AN AIRBUS CORPORATE JETLINER equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks made a nonstop flight from Santiago, Chile to Le Bourget Airport in Paris, France. The 15-hour, 13-minute flight to position the plane at the Paris Air Show covered 6,918 nautical miles. The A319CJ flew over Brazil and the South Atlantic, off the west coast of Africa, over Lisbon in Portugal and up through Spain and France.
Two Seattle-based companies, Aviation Partners, Inc. and The Boeing Company, announced formation last week of a joint venture that will design, develop, certify, fabricate, market and install winglets on in-service Boeing airplanes, pending technical and economic evaluation of each model. Formation of the joint venture follows the work of Aviation Partners in designing a winglet to extend the range of the Boeing Business Jet (BA, June 15/259).
STEVE OKUN was named a public affairs manager in United Parcel Service's Washington, D.C. public affairs office where he will focus on legislative and regulatory international aviation issues. Okun, a Chicago native, spent five years at the Transportation Department under the Clinton Administration, where he was deputy general counsel and aviation advisor to the Secretary of Transportation.
REP. BUD SHUSTER (R-Pa.) will be forced to step down as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the next Congress because of House rules limiting a member to six years as a committee chair, but Shuster won't be stepping far. According to the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has approved an interpretation of the term-limit rule that will permit senior House members to become chairmen of other committees, or to chair subcommittees of the committee they now head.
JOSEPH DINI was appointed president of the National Aircraft Finance Association. Dini, who has 30 years of industry experience, currently is vice president-general aviation with FINOVA's Commercial Equipment Finance Division. Before joining FINOVA, he held aircraft financing positions with DPF Group, AIRFUND Corp., First NH Resources and Integrated Resources, Inc.
FAA's Office of System Architecture and Investment Analysis will hold a public forum July 7 at FAA headquarters to discuss the "transition to a satellite-based navigation (Sat/Nav) infrastructure." The agency said the meeting is intended to obtain input from the aviation community as the FAA considers the analysis and develops the alternatives for a particular approach to navigation. FAA plans to review economic information and a cost-benefit analysis. For more information, contact Millie Butler-Harris at (202) 358-5399 or Dr.
COLIN STEVEN, a former Cessna Aircraft sales executive, was named regional vice president-Northern Europe sales, for Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. Steven will report to Ernest Edwards, vice president-international sales, who heads the company's London, England office. Before joining Gulfstream, Steven was Cessna's regional director for the Middle East, Pakistan and Africa sales. Earlier in his career he was marketing manager for a Cessna agency based in Riyadh, an aviation consultant and a Cessna sales agent in Jeddah.
THE KETCHIKAN, ALASKA GATEWAY BOROUGH is seeking proposals regarding ownership options for the Ketchikan International Airport, and whether any or all airport operations should be contracted out. To receive the request for proposals, call (907) 228-6625 or fax your request to (907) 247-6625. The inquiry and submission deadlines have been extended to June 24 and July 6, respectively.
Flight Options, the Cleveland, Ohio-based fractional aircraft ownership program that has been growing rapidly offering shares in used aircraft, last week announced a deal with Fairchild Aerospace to buy 25 new Envoy business jets, the corporate version of that manufacturer's 728JET regional jet.
VIDAIR AG of Monchengladbach, Germany established a U.S. subsidiary and opened an office in Virginia Beach, Va. Vidair Chairman Markus Rommen named Dillard Woodson general manager for North America and Neil Albrecht vice president of sales and marketing. Albrecht previously was vice president business development at AMR Services. Vidair manufactures systems that can record, monitor and provide real-time video data to the flight crew from the cabin, cargo areas and exterior aircraft views.
House Appropriations Committee, which this month approved a $10.54 billion budget for FAA in fiscal 2000 (BA, May 31/277), called for a new "general aviation safety initiative," which provides funding for programs such as contract towers, flight service stations and aviation safety.
MARK DUNKERLEY was appointed chief operating officer for Worldwide Flight Services. He previously was senior vice president with British Airways, where he was responsible for the Latin American and Caribbean Division.
