Michael Graham became the 45th member of the National Transportation Safety Board on Jan. 3, 2020, bringing with him a deep background of military and business aviation operations and safety expertise. Beginning his career as a U.S. naval aviator flying A-7s and F/A-18s, Graham also spent more than two decades with Textron Aviation, most recently as director of flight operations safety, security, and standardization. He has chaired the Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) as well as led the NBAA Safety Committee’s Single Pilot Safety Working Group.
He recently spoke with AIN about his transition to the Safety Board and his thoughts on risk management and safety management systems (SMS).
The passenger experience aboard business jets continues to improve dramatically as the industry responds to new technologies, fierce competition, and ever-more-demanding customer expectations. This roundup showcases seven of the most noteworthy recent innovations for the cabin.
They include the Collins Aerospace SpaceChiller, Lufthansa Technik voice-controlled Nice cabin management system, and SmartSky connectivity.
The combination of two 80-year-old Wichita aircraft manufacturers–Cessna and Beechcraft–under the new Textron Aviation umbrella marks its debut at NBAA 2014 in Orlando, Florida. With 21 airplane models in production between the two factories, which are about 10 miles apart in Wichita, and a full-service network that is rapidly becoming capable of handling all of the Beechcraft and Cessna turbine models, Textron Aviation and its president and CEO, Scott Ernest, continue to invest in new products as the integration of the two companies solidifies.
At the static display, Textron Aviation brought 12 aircraft. The new Citation Latitude equipped with the first production interior was part of the display and well worth a visit to experience the larger flat-floor cabin and the spacious new flight deck. Other Cessnas include the Citation X+, Sovereign+, XLS+, CJ4, CJ3+, M2, Mustang and Caravan EX. The Beechcraft family is represented by a King Air 350i in Wheels Up livery, a 250 and a C90GTx with a new performance improvement package.
Leonardo and prime contractor Boeing have delivered the first of four MH-139A Grey Wolf test helicopters to the control of the U.S. Air Force’s Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, as the service looks to replace its aging fleet of Bell UH-1N Hueys.
The delivery comes after the FAA issued the last supplemental type certificate (STC) necessary to complete U.S. Department of Defense Form 250 and formally commence aircraft acceptance. Boeing and the Air Force will now continue with additional developmental and initial operational testing to support the aircraft.
First-time exhibitor Vision Products is debuting PilotVision—a headset-mounted augmented reality display—this week at NBAA-BACE 2022. The device costs $27,000 and serves as a portable head-up or head-wearable display. The high-resolution (1920 by 1200 pixels) monocular system provides a 62-degree diagonal field of view with minimal obscuration, offering overlays that show groundspeed, altitude, attitude, and terrain information.
Rather than relying on flight deck input, PilotVision’s current iteration is fed by a self-contained, battery-powered control unit with an integrated Samsung S8 smartphone and AHRS unit, augmenting and serving as a backup for panel instrumentation. Display data is provided by the iFly GPS EFB app, which includes IFR and VFR charts, georeferenced approach charts, synthetic vision, ADS-B receiver support, wind-optimized flight planning, fuel prices, and more.
Spirit Airlines shareholders voted in favor of JetBlue’s purchase offer during a special meeting convened on Wednesday, leaving regulatory approval as the last hurdle the airlines need to clear to complete the transaction. In a statement, Spirit said the airlines expect to close the transaction no later than the first half of 2024.
Nevertheless, regulatory approval will not amount to a mere formality given the Biden administration’s tough stance on corporate consolidation, evidenced by a Justice Department suit to block JetBlue’s Northeast Alliance (NEA) agreement with American Airlines. According to the department, the deal would result in the consolidation of the two airlines in New York and Boston, eliminating what it called important competition in those cities and decreasing JetBlue’s incentive to compete with American Airlines elsewhere.
Heart Aerospace and Portuguese airline Sevenair have signed a letter of intent (LOI) covering the purchase of three electric ES-30s and an option for three more. With the expression of interest from Sevenair, the Swedish electric airplane manufacturer has collected commitments for the purchase of 230 ES-30s, options for 100, and LOIs for a further 99 of the 30-seat model it launched in September.
Sevenair serves on Heart’s industry advisory board, representing airlines, leasing companies, and airports worldwide. Specializing in public-service operations and wet-lease contracts, the airline operates seven routes in Portugal, all of which the ES-30 can cover with its 250-nm extended range, based on the use of a hybrid-electric propulsion system.
AINalerts News Tips/Feedback: News tips may be sent anonymously, but feedback must include name and contact info (we will withhold name on request). We reserve the right to edit correspondence for length, clarity and grammar. Send feedback or news tips to AINalerts editor Chad Trautvetter.
AINalerts is a publication of AIN Media Group, 214 Franklin Avenue, Midland Park, New Jersey. Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited.
