Castle Harlan, Inc., a New York merchant bank, signed a definitive agreement to acquire AMR Services from AMR Corp. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. AMR Services had revenues of $202 million in 1997 and that total was expected to grow to $220 million in 1998.
Federal Aviation Administration last month ordered inspections within the next 10 hours time-in-service of 12,278 Aircraft Belts seat restraint systems on several general/business aircraft and helicopter models. The AD, which became effective late last month, calls for an inspection of the mechanism and replacement of the buckle-half of the seat belt, if necessary. FAA said the AD stems from two reports of seat belt failures.
Bombardier Aerospace completed plans to integrate its North American sales forces for the Learjet and Canadair Challenger business jet lines, a new organization that will formally be implemented Feb. 1. Bombardier said the move "is the last of several sales organizations formerly associated with Learjet and Canadair - including international sales and used aircraft sales - that have evolved into single entities under Bombardier Aerospace, Business Aircraft."
Summary: Pursuant to FAA's rulemaking provisions governing the application, processing, and disposition of petitions for exemption (14 CFR Part 11), this notice contains a summary of certain petitions seeking relief from specified requirements of the Federal Aviation Regulations (14 CFR Chapter I), dispositions of certain petitions previously received, and corrections. The purpose of this notice is to improve the public's awareness of, and participation in, this aspect of FAA's regulatory activities.
A VETERAN AIRCRAFT BROKER agreed with that assessment, noting that there are 25 Gulfstream IVs on the market, along with 13 Falcon 900Bs and 900EXs. Regarding G-IVs, he said the question for potential buyers is, "What color do you want?" The number of G-IVs available represents about seven percent of the total fleet, so it is "still a seller's market," he said, "but not the market it was 60 days ago." He attributed much of the increased G-IV availability to the delivery of Gulfstream Vs, which are in many cases replacing G-IVs.
JetCorp, the fixed-base operator and charter company located at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, Mo., named David Roy chief operating officer. All the company's operations, including finance and sales, will report to Roy. He previously held management posts with AlliedSignal, Garrett Aviation and General Electric and most recently was senior vice president of Garrett Aviation in Phoenix, Ariz.
AirCell, Inc., which has been attempting to win government approval of its air-to-ground telephone system for seven years, said the Federal Communications Commission granted a waiver of approval for operation of the AirCell system.
FAA delayed for six more months the effective date for its principal maintenance inspectors to issue new operations specifications for Part 135 operators of altered cargo aircraft. FAA originally was to issue the new ops specs - which would contain a host of new requirements for cargo carriers - beginning Jan. 1, but Flight Standards officials told the National Air Transportation Association that the initiative now will become effective June 1 (BA, Aug. 3/47).
THE AOPA AIR SAFETY FOUNDATION (ASF) is distributing Aircraft Icing, another in its series of safety advisory pamphlets. ASF said the pamphlet goes beyond theoretical icing discussions to provide practical information on where ice is most likely to be found and how to minimize exposure to it. For a copy of the pamphlet, write to Aircraft Icing, AOPA Air Safety Foundation, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Md. 21701, and enclose a check or money order for $1.00.
Aircraft and engine aftermarket supplier AVTEAM completed its acquisition of Medley, Fla.-based M&M Aircraft Services for $30 million in cash and 350,000 shares of its Class A common stock. AVTEAM, headquartered in Miramar, Fla. with operations in Dallas, Texas, called M&M Aircraft Services one of the largest privately held jet overhaul operations. M&M reported revenues of $27 million in 1997 and more than $30 million through the first nine months of 1998.
Horizon Air placed a firm order for 25 of Bombardier's 70-seat regional jets, boosting the total orderbook for the CRJ Series 700 to 96. The Horizon order is valued at $580 million (U.S.) and deliveries are scheduled to begin in mid-2002.
ECHO FLIGHT, Boulder, Colo., is offering its EchoMap, which combines GPS navigation and near-real-time weather. EchoMap, which links to the ORBCOMM satellite constellation, provides near-real-time weather at any altitude throughout the U.S., offers satellite communication via a non-directional VHF antenna, provides two-way communications, and sends position reports. Echo Flight is offering the beta version of its software, including two-way satellite communicator with an eight-channel GPS receiver, for $1,495. For more information, contact EchoMap at (888) 948-9657.
ARCHIE TRAMMELL will present 10 sessions of his one-day Radar Seminar program for pilots at nine U.S. locations during 1999. The seminar series, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, covers all aspects of air-borne weather radar operations and convective weather hazards. The schedule begins Feb. 5 in Dallas, Texas, followed by stops in Tampa, Fla., March 12; Indianapolis, Ind., March 20; White Plains, N.Y., April 9; Phoenix, Ariz., April 23; Kansas City, Mo., May 7; Dallas, May 14; Detroit, Mich., June 11; Washington, D.C., June 18; and, Van Nuys, Calif., Sept.
POSITIVE ECONOMIC INDICATORS, strong market activity and extensive backlogs have business jet manufacturers feeling confident as they head into 1999.However, one OEM executive told BA last week his company has noticed the inventory of used widebody business jets - Falcon 50s and larger - beginning to creep up. Given the generally favorable economic indicators, "I'm not sure what the root of that is," he said, adding that he plans to monitor the situation closely.
WESTERN AIRCRAFT was appointed a Honeywell dealership, allowing it to provide a range of avionics service and support. Western initially will offer Honeywell TCAS 2000 traffic alert and collision avoidance system, FMZ-2000 flight management system, the Primus family of radar systems, Primus 2 radio systems, LSZ-860 lightning sensor and satellite communication systems.
ROBERT BOTTICELLI was named vice president-sales and marketing for AAR Aircraft Component Services-New York. Botticelli joined AAR in 1984 and most recently was vice president-commercial and regional airlines for AAR Cooper Aviation.
EDWARD WALKER joined Ronson Aviation at Trenton, N.J. Mercer Airport as vice president of sales. Walker, a 35-year aviation industry veteran, spent 18 years with the Beechcraft organization.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION formed its 1999 Annual Meeting&Convention Local Committee with James Cannon, flight department manager of Home Depot, as local chairman. The committee also will include: Kathleen Hull of NBAA as staff liaison; Mercer Die of Airway Aviation as ambassador program chair; Laree Cook of Wachovia Bank, N.A.
BBA Aviation continued its growth-by-acquisition trend last week, completing its purchase of engine overhauler Airwork Corp. from GE Aircraft Engines unit UNC for $52 million in cash. The agreement, first struck in August (BA, Aug. 31/93), includes Airwork's major turbine centers in Millville, N.J. and Miami, Fla. and four regional turbine shops in Van Nuys, Calif., Wichita, Kan., Atlanta, Ga. and Dayton, Ohio. BBA will combine Airwork with Dallas Airmotive, the engine overhaul specialist it acquired in two years ago (BA, Feb. 10, 1997/64).
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association named Bob Dickens as its representative for Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. Dickens was formerly safety program manager for FAA's Kansas City, Mo. Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) and also served as the principal operations inspector for the Little Rock, Ark. FSDO.
ALLIEDSIGNAL INC. (formerly Textron Lycoming) ALF502R-5 and ALF502R-3A Model Turbofan Engines (Docket No. 98-ANE-42-AD) - proposes to adopt a new airworthiness directive that would require incorporation of an improved fan core inlet anti-ice system. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to prevent ice accretion on the fan core inlet stator vane surfaces, which can result in engine rollback and loss of thrust control in icing conditions.
SOCATA Model TBM 700 airplanes (Docket No. 95-CE-65-AD; Amdt. 39-10890; AD 98-24-04) - requires repetitive visual inspections of the web of the left and right flap carriage for cracks and replacement of cracked flap carriages with improved ones. The AD stems from mandatory continuing airworthiness information issued by the French airworthiness authority. The actions specified by this AD are intended to detect and correct cracks in a flap carriage, which could result in loss of the flap function and reduced airplane controllability.
THOMAS HARPER was named manager, marketing communications for Avidyne Corp. Harper, a 20-year veteran of the avionics industry, most recently was manager, marketing technical services at AlliedSignal Electronic&Avionics Systems in Olathe, Kan.
TODD CURTIS joined Avidyne Corp., Lexington, Mass., as manager, OEM sales. Curtis has more than 12 years of experience in the avionics industry. He formerly was director of sales and marketing at Teledyne Controls, Business&Commuter Avionics in Bothell, Wash.
DRS TECHNOLOGIES said its DRS Flight Safety and Communications unit in Ontario, Canada won a $2 million contract from the Canadian Department of National Defense to supply its new Emergency Avionics Systems (EAS) 3000F system to upgrade the capabilities of Canada's CP-140 long-range maritime patrol aircraft. The EAS-3000F, a fixed-wing version of the EAS-3000 system for helicopters, will replace the aircraft's existing flight data acquisition unit, flight data/cockpit, voice recorder and emergency locator beacon.
