Pentastar Aviation at Detroit-area Oakland County International Airport (KPTK) and Sheltair at Florida's Tampa International Airport (KTPA) tied for first place in the 2022 AIN FBO Survey covering facilities in the Americas (North, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean), results of which were released this morning. Both FBOs earned an average rating of 4.76 from AIN readers, who evaluated thousands of aircraft handling facilities on a 1 to 5 scale in five categories: line service, passenger amenities, pilot amenities, facilities, and CSRs.
In second place, with an overall rating of 4.75, is American Aero FTW at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport (KFTW), which tied Pentastar for first place in last year's survey. Four facilities earned a 4.72 average rating and tied for third place: Banyan Air Service at Fort Lauderdale Executive (KFXE), Henrickson Air Center at Austin Executive (KEDC), Jet Aviation at Palm Beach International (KPBI), and Wilson Air Center at Memphis International (KMEM).
Sheltair at Denver Rocky Mountain Metropolitan (KBJC) and Western Aircraft at Boise Air Terminal/Gowen Field (KBOI) tied for fourth place, each garnering an average 4.71 rating. And in fifth place is Sheltair Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International (KFLL) with a 4.70 rating.
FBO survey results for the rest of the world will be announced on May 1. The AIN FBO Survey window is already reopened for next year's edition.
On Wednesday, I hosted a webinar about whether the preowned business aircraft market would have a hard or soft landing. We discussed the current seller’s market and its imbalance with respect to many industry segments. Then we went into the quickly rising purchase prices for preowned aircraft, as well as the changing process, including some sellers not being willing to allow any pre-buy inspection.
But when the pendulum begins to swing in the other direction, will it be a soft or hard landing? The consensus was that a hard landing would most likely come from a geopolitical event causing major implications to world order, and I am sure everyone’s eyes are open enough to see what is happening in Ukraine.
The soft, or resilient, landing would occur if demand remains high and the economy remains good. In this case, a slow and steady increase in supply would ease pricing without any huge drops in value.
But what can we do while we are all in this market frenzy to start to control our current destiny and preserve the industry? Perhaps we could collectively begin to “just say no.” No to processes that we know are not smart, no to demands placed on buyers by bad actors that are driving bad decisions to be made in the buying process, and no to rapidly increasing outlandish pricing.
Duncan Aviation is undertaking a $66 million hangar expansion project at its Lincoln, Nebraska and Battle Creek, Michigan sites as the MRO provider anticipates future needs. At both locations, Duncan will add a 46,000-sq-ft hangar with 32-foot-high doors and a 62,000-sq-ft, two-floor wing for storage and back shops. The new hangars will be the largest, and most energy efficient, Duncan has built to date.
“Demand for the safety and flexibility that business aviation travel provides has continued to increase, as has the average size of business aircraft,” said Duncan president Jeff Lake. “This results in increased demand for the hangar space required to complete requested airframe, engine, interior, paint, and avionics modifications for the business aircraft fleet. Looking to the future, we know that to meet current customer requests and needs, Duncan Aviation will need more hangar facilities.”
Construction is expected to begin in the second quarter, with completion at Battle Creek expected in mid-2023 followed by third-quarter 2023 completion at Lincoln. Once complete, Duncan’s Lincoln site will have a total of 769,000 sq ft of hangar, shop, office, and storage space while its Battle Creek location will have a total of 443,000 sq ft.
Additionally, the company plans to add 65 to 75 more employees over five years at each site, including airframe technicians and positions in interiors, installations, engine, paint, and support shops.
Wheels Up has completed its acquisition of UK-based Air Partner in a transaction valued at approximately $109 million, giving the New York-based private aviation membership and on-demand charter company its first international foothold. Air Partner is an aviation service provider founded in 1961 whose services include private jet, group, and freight charter, as well as aviation safety and security solutions.
“We are thrilled to welcome the Air Partner team as Wheels Up officially goes global,” said Wheels Up chairman and CEO Kenny Dichter. “Air Partner’s rich 60-year history in private aviation and complementary services will be an excellent enhancement of our brand as we continue to expand our marketplace and deliver a world-class experience for our members and customers. Bringing these two teams together is a tremendous advantage as we work to reinvent the future of private travel.”
Wheels Up expects to integrate the private aviation services under its brand over time. However, Air Partner subsidiaries Baines Simmons, Redline Assured Security, CHS Engineering Services, and Kenyon International Emergency Services will continue to operate under their brands.
Air Partner’s leadership team, including CEO Mark Briffa, will continue in their roles, according to Wheels Up. “We expect to leverage Wheels Up’s investments in brand, technology, operations, and service as we continue our strong start to 2022,” Briffa added. Air Partner also will retain its headquarters in Gatwick, UK.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Air Safety Institute (ASI) today kicked off a nine-month safety campaign to raise awareness of the risks involved with visual flight rules into instrument meteorological conditions (VFR into IMC) operations. ASI called such flights the most significant cause of weather-related accidents.
In addition, noted ASI senior v-p Richard McSpadden, “VFR into IMC is among the top five causes of fatal general aviation accidents, which are largely preventable. And it’s not only VFR pilots who get trapped; about one-third of these accidents involve instrument-rated pilots.”
ASI research has found that pilots encounter VFR into IMC conditions every other week on average. Related accidents typically result in a fatality, McSpadden added.
“Experience alone is no guard against them. In fact, instrument-rated commercial pilots are twice as likely to be involved in VFR into IMC accidents compared to their non-instrument-rated counterparts,” he said. “Often thought of as a single cause, VFR into IMC plays a role in several other types of accidents, including loss of control in-flight (LOC-I) and controlled flight into terrain (CFIT). “
As part of the campaign, which runs through December 31, ASI has developed an online resource center that is packaging videos, courses, podcasts, articles, webinars, studies, and other educational material, events, and programs.
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada is moving ahead with the DHC-515 Firefighter program, with letters of intent in hand for the first 22 from European customers. Viking Aircraft, which was recently folded into the De Havilland brand by parent Longview Aviation Capital, had acquired the CL-214 and CL-415 programs in 2016 and had since been mulling bringing a new waterbomber to production.
According to De Havilland, the DHC-515 Firefighter turboprop twin will build on its predecessor aircraft but incorporate improvements for increased functionality. The DHC-515 will be capable of carrying nearly 700,000 liters of water into a fire zone per day. In addition, as an amphibian aircraft, it can refill in 12 seconds from nearby sources such as rivers and lakes, the company said.
Plans call to begin delivery by the middle of the decade on the initial orders, which are pending completion of government-to-government negotiations through the government of Canada’s contracting agency, the Canadian Commercial Corp. Deliveries beyond the initial 22 would begin by the end of the decade, the company said. Final assembly will take place at the company’s Calgary, Alberta facilities, where it currently supports the CL-214 and CL-415. De Havilland anticipates the need to hire up to 500 people for the program.
Textron Aviation yesterday delivered five of 10 Cessna 172 Skyhawk piston singles to the Kansas State University Salina Aerospace and Technology Campus, which is expanding its aircraft fleet to support growing enrollment in its pilot training programs.
The deliveries were made during a ceremony at Textron Aviation’s Independence, Kansas plant, where all Cessna piston aircraft are assembled. “This delivery also gives us a great opportunity to celebrate another milestone achievement in our long-standing relationship with Kansas State University,” said Textron Aviation v-p of piston sales Chris Crow.
The K-State Aerospace and Technology Campus placed the order that was announced in October 2021, which will expand its fleet to 22 Skyhawks. Delivery of the remaining five Skyhawks, which feature a custom exterior and Garmin G1000 NXi avionics, will be completed later this quarter. Textron Aviation’s relationship with the school dates back to the program’s inception in 1987.
CCX Technologies has released a new antenna coupler that allows avionics shops to test GPS receivers without interfering with other receivers installed in nearby aircraft. The coupler is designed to work with CCX’s T-RX avionics tester and provides more than 20 dB of antenna isolation.
Available for testing of GPS systems with antennas with diameters of up to six inches, the antenna coupler with TR-X signal generator simulates six satellites and WAAS/EGNOS signals. The simulated GPS information includes dynamic GPS location using latitude and longitude, altitude track, and vertical rate, and the tester automatically downloads the current GPS almanac. A 9.8-foot coaxial cable is included with the testing kit.
“Testing aircraft GPS radios can be finicky because GPS satellite signals must be excluded during the tests, and you don’t want to interfere with another aircraft’s GPS while testing the aircraft,” said Chris Bartlett, president of CCX Technologies. “Our new GPS antenna coupler provides superior signal isolation so that testing can occur inside or outside the hangar without worrying about interference from satellites or interfering with the GPS radios of other nearby aircraft.”
Photo of the Week
Snow business. Corporate pilot Gideon Clement submitted this image—taken by photographer Reseph Keiderling—of him landing his company’s Pilatus PC-12NG on a thin dusting of snow last month. The turboprop single was landing on Runway 23 at Joseph A. Hardy Connellsville Airport (KVVS) in southwestern Pennsylvania. Thanks for sharing this one, Gideon.
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