The FAA now requires safety management systems (SMS) for all Part 135 operators, certain Part 91 air tour operators, and some type certificate and production certificate holders under Part 21. Part 135 operators include on-demand charter, commuter, and air ambulance operators. But for the operators, what does this mean? And are they ready?

The final rule was published on April 26, 2024. The number of affected organizations is significant, and now each has less than 36 months to comply with the new SMS mandate. The deadline for an operator to provide the FAA with a Declaration of Compliance (14 CFR 5.9) is May 28, 2027. It’s important to note that from a regulatory compliance perspective, the Declaration of Compliance is the end of the SMS development and implementation process—not the beginning.

Sometimes the worst part of the private jet experience is the commute to the airport. With that in mind, in 2022 fractional operator Flexjet formed its own vertical lift division after acquiring helicopter service providers AAG in the U.S. and Halo Aviation in the UK in 2021. Customers can now apply their fixed-wing fractional hours to helicopter service on an interchange basis.

Flexjet Vertical Lift provides the service with 21 helicopters in three main areas: New York City/Northeast, South Florida/Bahamas, and London. New York and London have long been popular helicopter passenger markets, but the popularity of the service in South Florida surprised Eli Flint, president of Flexjet Vertical Lift.

In what was hailed as a “giant first step” in reopening Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (KDCA) to general aviation, a Hawker 1000 operated by New World Jet for Jet Aviation landed at dawn on Oct. 18, 2005, after flying to the nation’s capital from Teterboro Airport (KTEB) in New Jersey.

After the Hawker taxied to Signature Flight Support, the first passenger to debark was then-National Air Transportation Association president Jim Coyne, whose association, with NBAA, spearheaded the drive to return general aviation to KDCA after a four-year-long absence in the wake of 9/11.

Has managing all your ERJ landing gear overhauls got you feeling overwhelmed? A third-party provider can assist with the entire process, but is outsourcing right for you? In this resource, C&L Aviation Group explains the benefits of working with a provider for all your ERJ landing gear overhaul management needs. 

The UK’s Farnborough Airport has always been associated with advancements in aviation and so is a fitting location for the biennial air show staged there. After being the site of the country’s first powered flight in October 1908, it became the headquarters of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) during the First World War and the site of the Royal Aircraft Factory, which designed and built hundreds of airplanes during the war.

In 1918 when the RFC was renamed the Royal Air Force (RAF), it was thought to be too confusing to have two entities with the initials RAF. As such, the aircraft design and manufacturing facility was also renamed to the Royal Aircraft Establishment, a name it would hold for much of the 20th century.

Bottom line for existing and potential private jet owners: If it’s in their beach house or Bentley, they want it in their airplane. If hot tubs were possible at 30,000 feet, they’d ask for those, too.

Every year, jet builders become incrementally better at meeting those rarefied expectations. Over the last decade alone, the market has seen demonstrable and dramatic improvements in passenger seat comfort and functionality, including better lighting, bigger cabin windows, and larger galleys and lavatories, not to mention a collection of “whiz bang” technology—fast and seamless Wi-Fi and voice communication, larger TVs, and onboard servers that can store video and audio entertainment.

Heart Aerospace on Thursday unveiled the first full-scale demonstrator of its 30-passenger ES-30 hybrid-electric regional airliner. During the “hangar day” event at its Gothenburg, Sweden headquarters, the company said it will use the Heart X1 experimental aircraft to complete the development of the ES-30 and aims to start flight testing in second-quarter 2025.

Over the next few months, Heart’s engineering team will test critical systems by running hardware both on and off the airplane. Funding to produce the 105-foot-wingspan airplane has been provided by Sweden’s Vinnova innovation agency.

NBAA is honoring Sydney Bosmans for her quick thinking and professionalism that saved the lives of two passengers from the fatal Hop-A-Jet aircraft crash in February in Naples, Florida. Bosmans will receive the Above and Beyond Award for Heroic Achievement from NBAA during a special reception held during NBAA-BACE in October in Las Vegas.

Both pilots perished in the February 9 crash of a Bombardier Challenger 604 that was en route from Columbus, Ohio. The pilots had reported a dual-engine flameout and attempted to land at Naples Municipal Airport but reported they would not make it to the airport. Instead, the aircraft touched down on the southbound lanes of Interstate 75 and continued through the breakdown lane into a grass-shoulder area before colliding with a concrete sound barrier.

Proposed Part 380 Changes Continues To Divide Aviation Industry

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AOPA Objects to Possible Florida Airport Landing Fees

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Desert Jet Sells Off Aircraft Charter Management Division, Eyes Expansion