Archive for March, 2010

American Airlines promised to take a bigger bite out of the Big Apple today, as the Dallas-based carrier’s CEO, Gerard Arpey, stood with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and JetBlue Airways CEO Dave Barger at the American Airlines Theater near Times Square to announce a series of initiatives aimed at expanding its commitment to [...]

Airborne voice and data provider Satcom Direct received FAA approval for inspection authorization (IA) renewal credit for its new Inmarsat satellite communications training course. A&P mechanics holding the IA must document recent experience and at least eight hours of training or other required work each year to qualify for renewal. The Satcom Direct course lasts [...]

AAR has signed an agreement to acquire Aviation Worldwide Services (AWS) from Xe Services (formerly Blackwater USA). AWS provides expeditionary airlift services and aircraft modifications to the U.S. and other government customers. According to a company spokesman, AAR is acquiring the business as part of its long-term strategy to expand its products, services and capabilities [...]

Hawker Pacific’s Singapore maintenance base has been appointed the first Hawker 4000 authorized service center in Southeast Asia. Hawker Pacific has FBO and maintenance facilities throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific Rim, including Dubai, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Singapore, Jakarta, New Zealand and multiple sites in Australia. The company holds multiple OEM service center authorizations [...]

A recent announcement by Bombardier Aerospace is causing a stir among Smart Parts customers. The company is going to begin charging state sales tax on all parts ordered through the hourly program; the tax is not included in the hourly program cost. The change will apply only to sales in those states that require vendors [...]

The FAA’s deputy associate administrator of aviation safety spoke at the Aircraft Repair Station Association (ARSA) symposium in Washington recently and identified safety as a moving target for the industry. “A little over a year ago I became the deputy associate administrator of aviation safety. Having worked in aviation my entire career, I thought I [...]

Avfuel announced that Colorado Springs FBO Colorado jetCenter has joined its dealer network. The jetCenter FBO is a member of the Rocky Mountain jetCenter FBO network and features 22 acres of airport holdings, 400,000 sq ft of ramp space and 50,000 sq ft of climate-controlled hangar space. Amenities include on-site U.S. Customs, WSI weather, crew [...]

Two congressmen have sent a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee asking the tax-writing body to extend the bonus depreciation incentive for noncommercial aircraft purchases.Under bonus depreciation, companies and individuals were allowed to claim an additional depreciation of up to 50 percent during the first year after purchase on capital equipment used primarily [...]

Lufthansa pilots continued negotiations with airline management at press time over what they claim amount to scope-clause violations by the German flag carrier. The pilots, organized in a trade union called Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), started a four-day strike on February 22 for higher pay, better work time arrangements and–above all–job security. However, a court curtailed [...]

The sole ATR 42-600 prototype flew for the first time on March 4 from Toulouse, France, marking the start of an abbreviated flight-test campaign expected to last just 75 hours. Powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127M engines, the aircraft took off at 3 p.m. local time and flew for two hours. [...]

2010_AIN_ComplianceCountdown_April.pdf

Bombardier hopes it has seen the last of the software “glitches” that began plaguing the CRJ1000 control-by-wire rudder system early last summer, resulting in the grounding of the pair of prototypes used for flight testing and a certification delay of at least a year.
Flight testing of Bombardier’s new CRJ1000 resumed on February 13, when [...]

There are no petri dishes where we could grow a perfect strain of safety culture and inject it into those aviation organizations that clearly seem to need it. Come to think of it, all airlines and repair stations could use a booster shot of safety culture to keep their organizations fighting the constant pressures to [...]

While a year ago it seemed as if buyers were beginning to emerge from harsh winter hibernation, in fact inventory was still a few months away from reaching its all-time peak. At the same juncture this year, we find inventory a couple of hundred aircraft below its 12-month moving average, yet still a couple of [...]

Start-up UK regional Varsity Express has closed after Linksair, the wet-lease operator that flew Varsity’s single daily round-trip service between Oxford and the Scottish capital Edinburgh, withdrew its Jetstream 31 after five days, citing unpaid bills. Before launching service early last month, director Martin Halstead told AIN (see March, page 50) that Varsity Express–his second [...]

BA CityFlyer began flying its first Embraer E190 out of London City Airport last month, on a regular route to Edinburgh, Scotland. The E190 recently gained approval to fly the steep approach into the London Stolport, where Switzerland’s Baboo flew the type’s inaugural LCY service on February 10 from Geneva. However, CityFlyer last month became [...]

The FAA has issued a supplemental type certificate (STC) to Sierra Industries for the installation of the Artex C406 (406 MHz) emergency locator transmitter on the Cessna Citation 500, 501, 550, 551, S550 and 560. The STC provides a solution for operators to update their emergency transmitters to current standards. Early last year, [...]

Falcon operators may now turn to Midcoast Aviation to meet the requirements of an impending airworthiness directive that will require structural modification of the wing tank fuel bay on the Falcon 50/900/2000. This structural modification requires sealing the area between ribs four and five in front of the spar, which reduces the risk [...]

Avtrak and Evergreen Helicopters have signed a multi-year agreement under which Avtrak will provide the helicopter operator with its suite of maintenance tracking, work-order management and inventory-control services. Evergreen will be replacing its internally developed system with Avtrak’s services to support its fleet of more than 70 helicopters. “While our in-house-developed technology has [...]

Cobham’s digital audio control system (DACS) has been installed in and FAA approved on the first commercial delivery of an air medical Bell 429. Air Methods installed the system at its Colorado headquarters. The light twin helicopter was scheduled for delivery last month and will operate from the company’s Mercy One hospital-based program in Des [...]