Briefings ...

Morpho Detection, Inc. — a Safran group security business based in Newark, CA, enters into a definitive agreement to acquire Syagen Technology, Inc., Tustin, CA — a leading mass spectrometry technology development company for security applications.

Pet Airways — of Delray Beach, FL adds St. Louis to its network of 14 destinations., beginning this summer.

Asheville (NC) Regional Airport Authority — announces non-stop service on US Airways to Philadelphia, beginning May 8.  

A J Walter Aviation — of Miami partners with Loudoun Aviation, a business jet dealer based near Washington D.C., to deliver spares support to the corporate sector; www.ajw-aviation.com

SC Technology and Aviation Center — of Greenville, SC has available a 60-acre ‘Parcel H’ and 13,000 sq. ft. hangar for rent;  10,000 sq. feet of hangar space, 3,000 sq. ft. of office space, on 1.36 acres adjacent to Donaldson Field.

Cessna Aircraft Co. — appoints Genesis Aviation of Shanghai as an Authorized Sales Representative in China for Citation business jets; and establishes a Citation business aircraft service facility in Prague.

• Cessna also congratulates Judy Phelps of CP Aviation, based at Santa Paula, CA for being named Certified Flight Instructor of the Year for 2011 by the General Aviation Awards program.

Chicago Department of Aviation — opens a public electric vehicle charging station at O’Hare Int’l Airport.

• CDA and the O’Hare Express Blue Ribbon Committee launch the O’Hare Airport Express Rail Service website (www.ordexpressrail.com) and the release of a Request for Information and Interest (RFI&I) for the development of a rapid passenger rail system connecting Chicago’s Central Business District and O’Hare International Airport.

Vision Airlines — launches five routes flying directly to Destin, FL from Las Vegas; Fort Lauderdale; St. Louis; Memphis; and Lafayette, LA., beginning June 1.

ASIG® — based in Orlando receives the Atlas Air Worldwide Holding Safety & Compliance Award for superior standards compliance and safety performance for its ground handling services for Atlas’s subsidiary, Polar Air Cargo, at LAX.

ConocoPhillips — reaches  a multi-year agreement to be the presenting sponsor of EAA AirVenture’s “West Ramp” marquee attraction area, which will now be known as ConocoPhillips Plaza.

Vancouver Airport Authority — will host Future Travel Experience 2011 on September 7-9. Theme of the conference will be “Innovation to enhance the passenger experience on the ground.” and among the leading organisa

Eurocopter Holding — a subsidiary of EADS and Vector Aerospace Corp. enter into a Support Agreement in which Eurocopter Holding will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Vector Aerospace. Offer values Vector Aerospace equity at approximately C$625 million.

AIRMALL® at PIT — reports that the majority of its stores and restaurants are now open for business at 5 a.m at Pittsburgh Int’l Airport.

• AIRMALL at Cleveland Hopkins Int’l Airports announces the opening of Timothy’s World Coffee, a Canadian-based café chain.

Multi Service — of Overland Park, KS unveils new card artwork for the Multi Service Aero Card program, which coincides with the expansion of the program among global military and government agencies. Merchants should be ready to accept purchases from accountholders carrying either the old, gray Multi Service Aero Card as well as the new, blue Multi Service Aero Card.

U.S. DOT — enacts a new reg that says airline passengers can collect $1,300 when forced to give up a seat on an overbooked flight, a 63 percent increase. Also, foreign carriers must release passengers from their aircraft stuck at U.S. airports within four hours or face fines as high as $27,500, and airlines must refund luggage fees if bags are lost.

TSA — Transportation Security Administration employees will take part in a runoff election on union representation between the National Treasury Employees Union and the American Federation of Government Employees.

NTSB — National Transportation Safety Board reports the U.S. civil aviation sector has seen incremental improvements in safety, with 26 accidents recorded in 2010 for U.S. scheduled Part 121 airlines and six accidents on scheduled Part 135  commuters, all non-fatal. Also, the decline in general aviation accidents in 2010 continued a downward trend, with a total of 1,435  accidents, 267 of them fatal, resulting in 450 fatalities.

ARGUS INT’L — announces that its subsidiary, PRISM (Professional Resources In System Management), has been qualified by FAA as a certification consultant for 14 CFR Part 121 Air Carrier applicants. PRISM is now capable to assist air carrier applicants as they proceed through the Part 121 certification process.

Avfuel Corp. — based in Ann Arbor, MI enhances its  worldwide contract fuel program with an enhanced billing process that is customizable to individual flight departments’ needs; expedited invoicing; and faster price quotes; www.avfuel.com.

Asheville (NC) Regional Airport — is awarded the General Aviation Project of the Year by the Southeast Chapter of AAAE for its creative use of a regional partnership to efficiently, effectively, and safely conduct a major fill project that created 15 usable acres of aeronautical use land on the airport campus.  Project capitalized on an EPA-encouraged beneficial use program utilizing coal combustion byproducts (CCBs) for engineered-fill material. 

DELTA AIR LINES — Beginning June 6th, you can enjoy new, nonstop Delta service to Kansas City from Columbus. This new flight will add another city to Delta’s many nonstop destinations from Columbus, including Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Memphis, Minneapolis, New York City (JFK & LaGuardia), Raleigh-Durham, Washington, DC and seasonal service to Cancun. And don’t forget with Delta’s worldwide network you can get to places like Asia, Europe and the Caribbean with just one stop.

Hawker Beechcraft — is accelerating the Hawker 400XPR development program by adding a second aircraft to the test program.

IATA —  Int’l Air Transport Association calls on the U.S. government to reinforce the competitiveness of the nation’s air transport industry with strategic long-term thinking, and urges the U.S. accelerate NextGen implementation, renew its focus on liberalization, revise proposals for passenger rights legislation, and address the rising cost of security.

MYPILOTSTORE.COM — of Scottsdale, AZ is named 2010 dealer of the year by Sennheiser.

Mid-Continent Instruments — of Wichita is selected as Kannad’s Midwest factory-authorized repair and warranty center for the line of standard and compact 121.5 MHz and 406 MHz digital emergency locator transmitters (ELTs).

AEROMEXICO — on July 16 begins daily nonstop service to Guadalajara from Sacramento Int’l Airport. 

COMEFLY — a Scandinavian tour operator, will debut nonstop service between Southwest Florida Int’l Airport in Ft. Myers and Aalborg, Denmark will begin on June 21,

Connecticut DOT — receives an FAA grant for $3.29 million for runway safety improvements at Groton-New London Airport. Grant will be combined with $790,000 in state bond funds to underwrite the project.

Flight Options, LLC — based in Cleveland reports strong year-over-year growth in sales and operations during the first quarter of 2011. Company recorded a 467 percent increase in fractional jet sales and a 46 percent increase in JetPASS Card Sales during the first quarter.

ACI-NA — Airports Council International – North America submits comments in response to a DHS Notice on Reducing Regulatory Burden and Retrospective Review and the DOT’s Regulatory Review of Existing Regulations. Among its recommendations, ACI-NA urges both agencies to establish a transparent regulatory review process with a reasonable schedule so that industry stakeholders can provide input; see complete report at www.aci-na.org.

OAG — in its latest monthly snapshot of airline activity reveals unprecedented capacity levels planned for April, with the world’s airlines scheduled to offer 317.4 million seats for the month. Additionally, for the first time, low-cost carriers now represent over 30 percent of available capacity of the domestic U.S. market. 

Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority — reports in an update about  its recycling and environmentally sustainable efforts that last year Nashville Int’l Airport (BNA) recycled 170 tons (or 340,000 lbs.) of material, a 12 percent increase from 2009. In November, BNA will open its new consolidated rental car facility, which is expected to significantly reduce emissions.

LOS ANGELES WORLD AIRPORTS — releases a report that shows Los Angeles Int’l Airport’s $4.1 billion capital development program will generate some $6.89 billion in economic output, creating 39,900 jobs. There are 25 major construction projects underway at LAX, including the $1.5-billion Bradley West Project, $438-million Central Utility Plant replacement, $270-million for replacing all elevators and escalators, and $636-million renovations in Terminals 4, 5 and 6.

• LAWA also reaches a settlement with Alaska Airlines, regarding a 2007 Lawsuit Over Terminal Charges. Alaska will pay some $271-million toward the renovation of Terminal 6 at LAX.  Under the agreement, Alaska Airlines agrees to dismiss claims in the litigation and LAWA and Alaska enter into a ten-year lease agreement for Terminal 6.  

Standard Aero Business Aviation — of Tempe, AZ adds line services on the Pratt & Whitney Canada PW300-series of engines to its list of maintenance capabilities at its Springfield IL service center. Airframe platforms powered by these engines include the Falcon 2000 DX/EX/LX, Falcon 7X, and the Hawker 4000.

Avocet Aviation Services, LLC — opens a 55,510-sq. ft. hangar at Orlando-Sanford Int’l Airport. Facility will be a full-service, commercial aircraft maintenance operation at the airport, capable of housing aircraft as large as the Boeing 767-300.

ACSF — Air Charter Safety reports that FAA has recognized the ACSF’s Industry Audit Standard (IAS) as meeting the ICAO safety management system (SMS) standards for general aviation (e.g., Part 91) operators. In the recently released FAA Information for Operators (InFO) bulletin, “FAA SMS Developments for General Aviation Operators,” the ACSF is listed as a source for validating a company’s SMS in order to fulfill the ICAO requirements for general aviation operators.

Duncan Aviation — adds several authorizations to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) Repair Station Certificate in Lincoln, NE. New authorized airframes include the Falcon 900DX, 2000, and 7X models. Duncan is one of only three Falcon service centers in the world that have a Chinese certificate.

MIA — after setting a new record for annual passenger traffic in 2010, Miami Int’l Airport reports that in the first quarter of 2011 it handled the most passengers ever during that period— more than 9.3 million travelers, an increase of 6.1 percent.

The SunBorne Companies at Centennial InterPort™ — ?enters an office space lease agreement with Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum at One InterPort. Wings Over the Rockies is headquartered in Lowry, CO.

GAMA — General Aviation Manufacturers Assn. adds veteran Capitol Hill staffer Amanda Joyner as its new director of government affairs.  Joyner comes from the office of U.S. Rep. Howard Coble of North Carolina where she most recently served as senior legislative assistant. 

Gary/Chicago Int’l Airport Authority — approves a landmark agreement clearing the way for airport expansion via a final memorandum of understanding with three railroads encompassing rail projects needed to move tracks that block expansion of its main runway.

NATA — National Air Transportation Assn. establishes a fund to battle what it sees as threatening California legislation, passed in 2009, that impacts flight training providers. Legislation was designed to regulate traditional career schools and private colleges, but has spilled over to flight training providers, says NATA, which charges that the legislation would impose numerous burdensome requirements upon providers of flight training, including a $5,000 registration fee and an annual fee equal to 0.75 percent of gross revenue; www.nata.aero.

Broad and Cassel — an Orlando-based law firm, is  selected to conduct a study on “Procurement Standards for Airport Contracting” as part of  the Transportation Research Board Cooperative Research Program. Results will be published in the ACRP’s Legal Research Digests series; www.broadandcassel.com or www.trb.org.

Priester Aviation, LLC — of Wheeling, IL partners with TAG Aviation Asia as its Asian charter operating partner, enabling TAG Aviation Asia to offer through Priester N-registered, commercial aircraft operations to its clients. 

Aviation Press Room — ?teams up with Marketing Alternatives Inc. of Chesterfield, MO to offer public relations services to companies that are aviation-specific. Aviation Press Room (www.aviationpressroom.com) allows clients to customize a plan that fits their budget.