The business jet market has continued its spectacular rise, while turboprop shipments grew modestly and piston deliveries dropped sharply, according to first-quarter aircraft delivery stats released today by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. Industry billings increased 16.1 percent, to $5.3 billion, an all-time high for the first quarter,...
moreThe FAA today issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to remove wording in Parts 91, 125 and 135 allowing pilots to take off with frost on wings, stabilizers and flight controls “if the frost has been polished to make it smooth.” The polished frost rules are found in 14 CFR 91.527(a), 125.221(a) and 135.227(a). According to the FAA, 11 known crashes shortly...
moreOn Tuesday, Boca Raton, Fla.-based DayJet made the difficult decision to put its growth plans on hold after not being able to obtain another $50 million in funding to move to the next stage. As a result, the per-seat, on-demand air-taxi operator laid off 100 of its roughly 260 employees and now plans to sell or lease out 16 of its 28 Eclipse 500s. Click...
moreThe Senate bill to reauthorize and fund the FAA is once again stalled on the tarmac because of procedural infighting between Republicans and Democrats. After a surprise compromise that would create no new user fees, lobbyists thought the Senate version of FAA reauthorization was on its way to quick passage. But senators quickly lined up with amendments to...
moreBrazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer recorded first-quarter sales of $1.34 billion, a nearly 61-percent increase year-over-year, and a profit of $85 million, the company said yesterday during an investor conference call. Embraer’s firm order backlog at the end of March increased 8 percent over the previous quarter, to a record $20.3 billion, due to...
moreJohn Bruton, the European Union’s Ambassador to the U.S., received a decidedly undiplomatic reception while testifying on aviation emissions before the House aviation subcommittee on Tuesday. The ambassador got into a rancorous spat with Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), who was designated acting chairman of the subcommittee at the time. What drew the...
moreU.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper disagreed with the NTSB’s probable cause of a midair between two helicopters on Nov. 6, 2003, at Zamperini Field in Torrance, Calif., and ruled that “Defendant United States, acting by and through the conduct of its ATC, their supervisors and the FAA, caused serious injuries to Gavin Heyworth and caused the...
moreEclipse 500 air-taxi operator DayJet has “reduced its employee base across most areas of its business,” according to president and CEO Ed Iacobucci in a statement released earlier this afternoon. DayJet hoped to raise another $40 million of operating capital in the first quarter of this year, he wrote, “but suffice it to say that given the current state of...
moreWinners of this year’s Sikorsky Award for Humanitarian Service talk to Curt Epstein about the past, present and future of helicopter use in firefighting. Click here to watch.
moreThe Cessna Citation CJ4 prototype successfully achieved a two-hour 22-minute maiden flight yesterday morning, taking off from McConnell AFB in Wichita and landing at nearby Mid-Continent Airport. “It was an outstanding first flight,” said Cessna senior engineering test pilot Dan Morris, who flew the aircraft with engineering flight-test manager Dave...
moreOn behalf of the approximately 575 Flight Options pilots, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 1108 last week filed for mediation with the National Mediation Board (NMB), saying that contract negotiations between the pilot group and the fractional provider’s management team have “broken down.” Negotiations on the initial work contract between...
moreMercury Air Group announced today that it has started flight operations at the Royal Terminal in Kuwait, the largest private aviation terminal in the Middle East. The three-story, 100,000-sq-ft FBO facility, owned by Royal Aviation Kuwait, cost $42 million to build and includes amenities typically “found only in the world’s most lavish hotels,” such as...
moreIndependent cabin completion and refurbishment specialist Duncan Aviation recently signed a long-term contract with Dassault Aviation to complete green Falcon 7Xs. According to a spokesman for Duncan, the first 7X arrived last Saturday at its Lincoln, Neb. facility and is due to emerge as a finished airplane in the first quarter of next year. When up to...
moreThe U.S. Senate adjourned at 8:01 p.m. last night without voting on the FAA reauthorization bill, once again putting the legislation at risk of inaction as the clock ticks toward the June 30 FAA funding expiration. Senior advisors to President Bush are recommending that he veto the bill if it doesn’t include user fees and provide more airline control over...
moreKenn Ricci, founder and former CEO of Flight Options, has once more reemerged at a new aviation venture. This time he’s landed at Nextant Aerospace, which recently announced a re-engining and avionics retrofit program for Beechjets and Hawker 400XPs. AIN spoke with Ricci to find out about Nextant’s 400NXT program, as well as parent company Directional...
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