Briefings ...
1ST ANNUAL LEARN TO FLY DAY — is being held across America on May 15, set up by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Over 300 flight schools and organizations across the country are participating.
aea — Aircraft Electronics Assn. elects Greg Vail, the general manager of Bloomington (IL) Avionics, as its new chairman.
airmall at boston logan — announces that BAA Boston and Dine Boston welcome Jose Duarte, chef and owner of Taranta Restaurant, as the latest headliner of the Dine Boston Visiting Chef Program, which showcases New England chefs’ specialties for a three-month period.
american airlines — delays launching daily, nonstop service from Chicago to Beijing after being unable to receive commercially viable landing and takeoff slots for Beijing Capital Int’l Airport from Chinese aviation authorities.
ARGUS — TRAQPak data indicates March business aircraft activity was up 12.9 percent from February 2010. Year over year, activity was up 8.5 percent overall, with Part 91 operations having the strongest increase at 11.5 percent.
asheville (nc) REGIONAL — Airport Authority reports its largest month-over-month passenger traffic increase in more than four years, with a 19.2 percent increase in enplanements over March, 2009.
ASIG — of Orlando announces that Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) has awarded ASIG the contract to provide equipment maintenance and operation services for Terminal 3 at Los Angeles International Airport.
associated air center — at Tempe, AZ adds services to support Boeing Business Jet customers, including SFAR-88 modifications, main-landing-gear trunion-pin replacement, and Lower Cabin Altitude modifications.
ATLANTA HARTSFIELD-jACKSON INT’L — kicks off a “Name the Train,” four-week social media contest to select an official name for the airport’s new people mover.
Baa cleveland — the developer of the AIRMALL at Cleveland Hopkins Int’l Airport, opens Hudson Booksellers and Hudson News units.
Blue grass airport — in Lexington, KY unveils $2.6 million in terminal improvements.
BRANSON (mo) AIRPORT — and Frontier Airlines announce the arrival of non-stop service to Denver.
BUSINESS JET ACCESS — at Dallas Love Field has been awarded a FAR Part 145 Repair Station Certificate, which includes limited airframe ratings for Falcon 900 series, Hawker 800 series, Hawker 850XP, and Citation 650 aircraft.
canadian airports council — names Saskatoon Airport Authority president and CEO William A. Restall chairman of the association for two years.
centennial airport business assn.— changes its name to the Colorado Aviation Business Assn. in an effort to better foster and promote aviation and related businesses in the state.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT CO. — a Textron Inc. company based in Wichita, announces delivery of the first Citation CJ4. It was also the first Citation delivered with Cessna’s newly released GreenTrak flight planning software.
• Cessna posts a $24 million loss as revenues dropped 43 percent to $433 million in the first quarter of 2010.
• Cessna also receives an order during Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In in Lakeland, FL for 12 Skylanes from the Civil Air Patrol (CAP).
• Cessna plans to accelerate customer deliveries of the new 162 Skycatcher light sport aircraft, the first of which was delivered at the end of 2009.
CHARLES M. SCHULZ-Sonoma County (CA) airport —teams up with Republic Parking System and THANKS AGAIN® to offer airport travelers rewards. The STS Traveler Rewards Program (www.thanksagain.com/STS) enables airport passengers and residents to earn frequent flyer miles when they park and dine at the Sonoma County Airport.
CITY OF KANSAS CITY (mo) — announces that Kansas City, KS-based Jet Midwest will sign leases to consolidate its multiple U.S. locations and relocate to the KCI Overhaul Base at Kansas City Int’l Airport. American Airlines has returned to the city more than one million square feet of the KCI Overhaul Base facility.
CONKLIN & DE DECKER — releases the latest Aircraft Cost Evaluator for 2010; www.conklindd.com.
delta air lines — adds service to Amarillo, TX and Evansville, IN from its Memphis Int’l hub.
dfw int’l airport — increases its ranking to No. 9 on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Top 20 Local Government list of the largest green power purchasers. The airport is purchasing 60 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually from Champion Energy Services, which is enough green power to meet 20 percent of the organization’s electricity use.
duncan aviation — of Lincoln, NE adds Bridgeport, CT to its list of more than 20 satellite avionics facilities, located at the new Volo Aviation facility. Meanwhile, Duncan will maintain its presence at the Westchester County Airport in White Plains, NY, with a work away station located at Signature Flight Support.
eclipse aerospace — participates in the EBACE air show in Geneva, Switzerland, displaying the Eclipse EA500 aircraft.
embraer — delivers one more plane in the first quarter of 2010 than 2009, with its Phenom 100 very light jet (VLJ) accounting for 16 of 20 executive jets delivered.
epa — Environmental Protection Agency issues an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on lead in aviation gasoline, the first step in investigating the necessity of regulations for lead emissions from general aviation. Once published in the Federal Register, industry will have 60 days to comment; www.epa.gov.
faa — Federal Aviation Administration calls on air carrier operators to create and enforce policies that will limit distractions in the cockpit and keep pilots focused on transporting passengers safely. Move stems from incident last October when pilots of Northwest 188 overflew their destination by 150 miles because they were using their laptop computers for personal activities and lost situational awareness; www.faa.gov.
• FAA proposes a $348,000 civil penalty against Chautauqua Airlines for allegedly operating some of its regional jets without performing inspections required by five different FAA airworthiness directives (ADs).
• FAA also proposes a $330,000 civil penalty against North-Aire Aviation, LLC, of Prescott Valley, AZ, for failing to comply with its FAA pilot school regulations and falsifying records. FAA alleges North-Aire Aviation’s training courses were not valid under the FAA’s pilot school regulations and that instructor and student records did not comply with Federal Aviation Regulations. The school also used unapproved training course outlines.
• FAA also proposes to assess a $260,000 civil penalty against ERA Helicopters Inc., of Lake Charles, LA, for failing to perform test flights and other required checks before returning an aircraft to passenger service.
george bush intercontinental airport — in Houston has available for lease two corporate hangars at the airport’s south entrance and on the west side of the airport; visit www.fly2houston.com/JFKHangar.
hawker beechcraft services — opens its expanded and enhanced aircraft maintenance facility at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, AZ, completing the final phase of a $14 million project that added a second 26,000-sq. ft. hangar.
heritage aviation — opens its new, 79,000-sq.ft. eco-friendly fixed base operation at Burlington (VT) Int’l Airport.
IATA — Int’l Air Transport Association reports March 2010 international scheduled air traffic was up 10.3 percent, while cargo demand grew 28.1 percent. North American carriers posted a traffic growth of 7.8 percent.
• IATA estimates that the Icelandic volcano crisis cost airlines more than $1.7 billion in lost revenue for the six days after the initial eruption.
jacksonville (FL) aviation authority — reports American Airlines is beginning service to Chicago O’Hare Int’l with three daily nonstop flights.
jda aviation technology solutions — of Bethesda, MD announces dates for a one-of-a-kind regulatory affairs training course, May 25-26, at the American Airlines Training Center in Ft. Worth, with a focus on expanding FAA regulatory affairs knowledge for air carrier and repair station personnel; www.jdasolutions.aero.
JETNET LLC — of Utica, NY releases first quarter 2010 results for pre-owned business jet and turboprop markets. At the end of March, the percentage of preowned business jets for sale was at 15.6 percent, compared to a high of 17.7 percent in July 2009. Inventory levels for pre-owned turboprops for sale in the first quarter were at 11.1 percent.
melbourne (FL) int’l airport — which is being considered for several new aircraft manufacturing, maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities, sends out a local call for qualified resumes. Airport receives over 250 resumes in some 45 days; [email protected].
miami int’l airport — sees increases of nearly 3.5 percent in passenger traffic and 25 percent in freight for the first quarter of 2010.
MWAA — Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority appoints E. Lynn Hampton as the interim president and CEO effective May 9, 2010. Hampton has served as the vice president for finance and COO since 1989. She succeeds James E. Bennett who will retire on May 8 to join the Abu Dhabi Airports Company as CEO.
memphis int’l airport — is the world’s leader in air cargo volume for the 18th consecutive year according to preliminary figures released by Airports Council International.
meridian — an aviation services provider at Teterboro, NJ reports aircraft technician crew chief John Bahrenburg is the recipient of the Charles Taylor “Master Mechanic” Award, the top award FAA issues to persons certified under Part 65.
metro aviation, inc. — of Shreveport, LA completes and delivers the third EC145 to Cleveland Metro Life Flight in Cleveland, OH.
• Metro also wins the bid to provide comprehensive new helicopter completion services for the State of Texas. The company will perform law enforcement completions on two new AS350B3 “green” airframes.
ntsb — National Transportation Safety Board opens an investigation into the near collision of a commercial jetliner and a small private plane at the intersection of two active runways at Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport in Southern California in April.
• NTSB releases preliminary aviation accident statistics for 2009 showing an overall decrease in U.S. civil aviation accidents that includes general aviation and on-demand Part 135 operations, which had the lowest number of accidents and fatal accidents in two decades. Total number of U.S. civil aviation accidents decreased from 1,658 in 2008 to 1,551 in 2009. Total fatalities also showed a decrease from 566 to 534; visit http://www.ntsb.gov/aviation/Stats.htm.
OAKLAND — Board of Port Commissioners appoints Deborah Ale Flint as director of aviation for the Port of Oakland. She is the first woman to hold this post and the first African-American woman director at OAK.
o’hare modernization program — receives a letter of intent from U.S. DOT for $410 million toward funding the completion phase (Phase 2) of its capital development program, which includes a new Runway 9C-27C, new Runway 10R-28L, and the extension of Runway 9R-27L. Projects are estimated to create as many as 13,000 jobs.
philadelphia int’l airport — controllers now have access to satellite-based tracking with the installation of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B).
philadelphia jury — hands down a $89 million verdict against aircraft engine OEM Lycoming as a result of a 1999 takeoff accident involving a Piper PA-32-260 Cherokee in which four people were killed. Jury awarded $24.7 million in compensatory damages and $64 million in punitive damages. Lycoming was found liable despite an NTSB determination that the probable cause of the accident was pilot’s loss of control during a turn back for landing.
phillips 66 aviation — offers a $1-per-gallon rebate to pilots flying missions organized and approved by Angel Flight Northeast and Mercy Medical Airlift (which administers Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic and Airlift Hope America) when they purchase fuel using a Phillips 66 Aviation Personal Credit Card at a Phillips 66 Aviation branded FBO. Phillips reports the program could initially support more than 1,600 active pilots.
port authority of Ny&NJ — issues a request for proposals for a new fixed base operation at JFK Int’l Airport. The FBO is currently being operated by the authority, but it wants to lease the space for five years with the option for another five.
RANGER JET CENTER — returns to business at the Orlando/Kissimmee Gateway Airport. The fixed base operation, under another management and brand for two years, is now renamed Ranger Jet Center.
REPUBLIC AIRWAYS HOLDINGS — will lose the Midwest Airlines brand and go with the Frontier brand. Republic purchased Midwest Airlines in July 2009 and Frontier Airlines in October 2009. Since then, the two carriers have operated as partners.
sacramento int’l airport — will provide scheduled shuttle service to Tahoe and Napa.
SAN DIEGO COUNTY — Regional Airport Authority is selected by the City of San Diego’s Environmental Services Dept. as a 2010 Recycler of the Year.
• Authority also announces that Alaska Airlines will add two new nonstop flights, serving Maui and Puerto Vallarta, from San Diego Int’l Airport.
SFO — San Francisco Int’l Airport hosts a “green” tour of Terminal 2 (T2), featuring the sustainable aspects of its $383 million renovation, expected to be completed by spring 2011. When completed, T2 is expected to achieve a LEED Silver designation. The renovated T2 will be the new home for Virgin America and American Airlines.
southwest airlines — adds service between Minneapolis-St. Paul Int’l and Phoenix Sky Harbor.
standard aero — of Tempe, AZ signs amendments to exclusive MRO agreements with GoJet Airlines for additional support. Amendments add 20 CF34-8 engines, for a total of 50 engines plus spares, in addition to 15 RE220 auxiliary power units (APUs), increasing the company’s number of GoJet APU MRO work to 25. All CF34 work will be conducted at its Winnipeg facility with the RE220 APU work being performed at its Maryville, TN facility.
tennessee governor — Phil Bredesen unveils a proclamation declaring April 2010 “General Aviation Appreciation Month” at the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville.
U.S. congress — passes an FAA reauthorization extension through July 3, following an inability to get long-term reauthorization passed.
u.s. DOT — rejects all requests for temporary exemptions to the new tarmac delay rule, implemented April 29. Violations could result in fines costing airlines up to $27,500 per passenger.
U.S. House and senate — Congressional leaders are urged by aviation groups to renew the 50 percent bonus depreciation on aircraft that expired in December.
valley int’l airport — in Harlingen, TX is one of six airports selected by FAA to participate in an Airport Geographic Information System (A-GIS) and Electronic Airport Layout Plan (e-ALP) pilot program being conducted in the FAA’s Southwest Region. VIA was awarded a $600,000 grant from FAA for fundng.
vector aerospace — Helicopter Services of North America opens a business office located in Huntsville, AL, primarily to support U.S. Army customers.
WASHINGTON STATE — legislature approves a tax revenue bill without a controversial aviation tax increase. Lawmakers had proposed a 0.5 percent annual excise tax on aircraft based in the state.
WEST STAR AVIATION — announces that its East Alton, IL facility is awarded an Airframe Class 4 and Airframe Class 2 FAA repair station certificate.
