A decision by the FAA that the landing-fee structure at California’s Santa Monica Airport (SMO) unjustly discriminates against certain types of aircraft has won praise
from NBAA, which last year filed a complaint with the agency.
NBAA member companies Bombardier Aerospace and Dassault Falcon Jet also filed a complaint about the fees with the agency. They argued that the fee schedule was discriminatory and unlawful.
The FAA has given its 2004 Excellence in Aviation Research Award to the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) for publishing a manual on ditching for corporate, fractional, on-demand and commuter operators.
Some markets that have refused to pick up thus far, despite attractive pricing, might finally spark buyer interest this year. The Gulfstream II and GIII as well as the Challenger 600 may have felt all the pain they are going to. Some buyers have described the GII as a throwaway aircraft, meaning simply that if they buy one, they will do so with the intent of parking it once the engines have no more useful life.
PrivatAir took delivery of a BBJ2 late last year and on January 16 started operating a business-class daily round-trip link between Zurich and Newark on behalf of Swiss International Air Lines. The aircraft is equipped with 56 widely spaced lie-flat seats, each fitted with a laptop connection. Although the airline announced the service as a code-share flight, tickets are available only through Swiss’ sales system.
After numerous delays, start-up company DunnAir Business Jet Completion Center is open for business on Tucson International Airport’s south side.
As I prepared to write this column the television and radio news programs were reporting on the recent spate of business aviation accidents. One of the widely reported accidents that caused considerable concern at the NTSB was the November 28 crash of the Challenger 601 in Montrose, Colo. In this accident the NTSB is investigating airplane performance issues, including the possibility of upper-surface wing ice contamination.
Some feel that the rise in publicly owned aviation companies managed by MBAs has resulted in a decline in personal service.
GE Transportation Aircraft Engines, through Unison Industries, a subsidiary of GE Engine Services, has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Aircraft Parts. The transaction, the terms of which were not disclosed, is pending necessary regulatory approval and is expected to be complete in the first quarter of this year.
A Challenger 600 and Falcon 50 recently rolled out of Elliott Aviation’s Moline, Ill. paint shop, both firsts of those types for the company. The Challenger 600 featured a paint scheme in which Elliott Aviation paint shop manager Kirk Wood collaborated with the customer and outside sources to produce an iridescent “pearlized” look for the aircraft exterior.
Piedmont Aviation Component Services recently added ATR 42 landing gear to its list of capabilities. Jennifer Giordano, Piedmont landing gear marketing manager, said, “Adding the ATR 42 to our landing-gear menu allows us to service additional equipment for our current customers as well as expand our customer base to include those flying the Dash 8-300.” The company also offers Dash 8-300 landing gear equipment for loan/exchange purposes.
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