EXPRESS AIRLINES I, INC. and Mesaba Aviation, both Northwest Airlink affiliates of Northwest Airlines, were ordered by DOT Secretary Rodney Slater Friday to reinstate scheduled service no later than Tuesday to 17 cities in the Midwest from hubs in Minneapolis, Detroit and Memphis. The carriers had suspended service after pilots at Northwest went on strike, but Slater said the regionals are required to provide minimum levels of service under their Essential Air Service commitments.
EVERYONE KNOWS the market for business jets is hot, but the head of one major original equipment manufacturer says it's not just orders for current products.He told BA he's never seen anything like the current level of activity by manufacturers who are developing new aircraft, indicating confidence in the continued growth of the business jet market. A number of OEMs are expected to announce new aircraft models during NBAA's annual convention in Las Vegas in October.
FAIRCHILD AEROSPACE CORP. named three directors of corporate aircraft sales. Ian Ewing, David Doucette and Salo Roth will be responsible for sales of the company's new family of business jets, the Envoy 3, Envoy 4 and Envoy 7, along with the 328 turboprop, to corporate operators. Doucette, who had been with Boeing Business Jets where he was director of contracts and commitments, will be responsible for sales in the central U.S. Ewing, who had been a sales director with Learjet in the California/Nevada markets, will cover the western U.S. for Fairchild.
Federal Aviation Administration officials are in the final stages of gathering information from the industry before formulating an official policy on fractional ownership aircraft programs that they hope to publish late this year or early in 1999.
SAAB Model 2000 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-151-AD) - requires a one-time inspection for cracking of the rear pressure bulkhead; and installation of a reinforcement angle on the rear pressure bulkhead; or repair, if necessary. The actions specified by the AD are intended to prevent cracking of the rear pressure bulkhead, which could result in sudden loss of cabin pressure and the inability to withstand fail-safe loads. Service information is available from Saab Aircraft AB, Saab Aircraft Product Support, S-581.88, Linkoping, Sweden.
B/E Aerospace, expanding its share of the aircraft interior furnishings market with an aggressive acquisition program, completed the acquisition of a European galley manufacturer last week.
ON A NATIONAL LEVEL, Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) Wednesday introduced legislation to allow Centennial - and other similarly situated airports - to bar public charters. Centennial is facing a second Part 16 complaint for denying access to public charters and that decision is expected this month.
MOONEY Models M20B, M20C, M20D, M20E, M20F, M20G, M20J, M20K, M20L, M20M and M20R airplanes (Docket No. 98-CE-20-AD) - proposes to require repetitive inspection of the aileron control link welded area, and, if cracks are found, replacing the control link with an improved part. The proposal is prompted by service difficulty reports and reported failures of the aileron control link. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to correct cracked aileron control links, which could result in loss of aileron control.
DORNIER Model 328-100 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-140-AD) - proposes to require repetitive tests to detect internal hydraulic fluid leakage within the hydraulic components of the ground spoiler system and to detect a buildup of pressure in the return line of the bypass valve, and corrective action if necessary. The proposed AD also would require installation of additional hydraulic lines and an additional hydraulic shutoff valve in the ground spoiler system and replacement of the valve block of the ground spoiler system with a new part.
Raytheon Aircraft, which last month rolled out its first new internally developed business jet model, the Premier I (BA, Aug. 24/83), completed its supplier selection and wind tunnel tests for its second new jet product, the Hawker Horizon, and is on schedule for rollout and first flight in late 1999. The Horizon, based on the established Hawker family, moves Raytheon into the super mid-size market with intercontinental range, speeds up to Mach .84, a stand-up cabin that can seat eight passengers and a $14.5 million price.
FORT WORTH JET CENTER acquired Tucson, Ariz. based Spirit Aviation. The fixed-base operation will operate as Tucson Jet Center. Fort Worth Jet Center Chairman Mark Barrow said, "we plan on making the jet center the most extensive full service FBO in the area much the same way we have built the Fort Worth and Austin Aero Jet Centers." The Tucson facility will offer 24-hour line service, maintenance and hangar space for private and corporate pilots.
St. George, Utah-based SkyWest will sell the Las Vegas assets of air tour specialist Scenic Airlines to Las Vegas-based Eagle Canyon Airlines, SkyWest announced Thursday. The transaction - which does not include the Page, Ariz., tour operation - will close when FAA amends Eagle Canyon's operating certificate to include Scenic's Twin Otter aircraft, a process expected to take roughly 45-60 days. SkyWest, however, hopes to sell the Page tour operation once the deal with Eagle Canyon is completed.
FAA released draft advisory circular material that provides guidance on compliance with proposed rotorcraft load combination safety requirements for normal category rotorcraft. For more information, contact Kathy Jones in FAA's Rotorcraft Standards Staff at (817) 222-5359.
The fatal crash of a Comair EMB-120 in Michigan on Jan. 9, 1997, probably was at least partly due to "FAA's failure to establish adequate aircraft certification standards for flight in icing conditions," the National Transportation Safety Board concluded last week. All 29 passengers and crew members aboard the flight were fatally injured in the crash and the aircraft was destroyed.
ALLIEDSIGNAL ELECTRONIC&AVIONICS SYSTEMS today is expected to open its new $40 million, 560,000-square-foot headquarters. The facility will consolidate local operations, including 1,800 employees. Employees at Redmond, Wash., Lawrence, Kan. and New Century Air Center in Johnson County, Kan., will not relocate.
BMW ROLLS-ROYCE last week received European Joint Aviation Authorities approval for its BR715 engine, which will power the Boeing 717-200 100-seat jet. The BR715 shares a common core with the smaller 15,000-pound-thrust BR710 on the Bombardier Global Express and Gulfstream V long-range business jets. The BR715 was certificated at a takeoff thrust of 18,500 to 21,000 pounds.
MERCURY AIR GROUP tapped aviation veteran David Miller as general manager of the Mercury Air Center fixed-base operation at Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport in Burbank, Calif. Miller has 25 years of aviation industry experience, most recently as manager of Garrett Aviation Service's FBO in Los Angeles. He also served as chairman of the National Air Transportation Association.
Executive Jet, newly acquired by Berkshire Hathaway (BA, July 27/35), last week held ground-breaking ceremonies in Columbus, Ohio on a new $25 million facility that will almost quadruple the company's space. The rapidly expanding fractional ownership company will move its operational headquarters to a new location at Port Columbus International Airport that will include approximately 112,000 square feet of hangar space, 67,000 square feet of office space and 14,000 square feet of expansion space.
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.
JEPPESEN signed an agreement with Microsoft to supply navigational information for future versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Microsoft will use Jeppesen's worldwide NavData database for the next five years. Microsoft's Flight Simulator currently covers more than 3,000 airports. The Jeppesen database will increase that to include approach information for more than 12,500 airports.
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION stepped up its heliport lobbying activities, joining a coalition of manufacturers, operators and users in New York City seeking additional heliport capacity. The coalition formed after the 60th Street Heliport closed. NBAA also has asked its members in New England to appeal to Boston authorities for a heliport near the Boston Convention Center.
The Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration are soliciting suggestions to replace provisions in DOT's airport rates and charges policy that were vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The appeals court last October vacated language in a DOT/FAA policy statement providing guidance on determining the reasonableness of airport fees.
GARRETT AVIATION SERVICES opened a parts and maintenance support facility in Toluca, Mexico. The facility will provide line troubleshooting and repair of minor airframe and engine defects in addition to supplying more than 2,000 inventory items for engine parts and airframe rotable components and replacement hardware. The Toluca site also will coordinate the repair or overhaul of components and major engine or airframe maintenance through Garrett's center in Houston, Texas.
MICHAEL FANTASKI was named maintenance sales representative for Western Aircraft. Fantaski, who has eight years of sales experience, will be responsible for Hawker maintenance and support sales.
DORNIER Model 328-100 series airplanes (Docket No. 98-NM-157-AD) - proposes to require lubrication of the engine control push-pull cables. This proposal is prompted by mandatory continuing airworthiness information by a foreign civil airworthiness authority. The actions specified by the proposed AD are intended to prevent ice from building up on the engine control push-pull cables, which could result in friction or jamming of the engine controls and consequent reduced controllability of the airplane.
