Vista Global, parent of charter operator VistaJet, will acquire per-seat charter broker and digital app developer JetSmarter, the companies announced today. The acquisition caps a turbulent history for JetSmarter, founded in 2012, whose per-seat charter sales model and free seat offering drew thousands of members and large media attention before changes in program rules and heavy-handed management tactics provoked a backlash among customers and extensive negative publicity. Yet the proprietary booking technology underpinning JetSmarter’s operations has long enjoyed industry respect.
This acquisition marks “an important milestone for Vista Global: accelerating and executing our vision of digitizing the entire private aviation offering,” said Vista Global founder and chairman Thomas Flohr. “Customers today want speed, reliability, and value...JetSmarter’s technology will digitalize Vista Global’s market-leading customer offering to program members and on-demand customers.”
The move comes on the heels of JetSmarter’s reported agreement to settle a class-action arbitration stemming from members’ claims the company’s rules changes vitiated promised benefits.
The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter. As part of the transaction, all JetSmarter investors, inclusive of Clearlake Capital and Jefferies Financial Group, will become investors in Vista Global. Jefferies LLC acted as financial advisor to JetSmarter.
LHT Notches 1,000th Nice CMS Delivery
Lufthansa Technik (LHT) has delivered its 1,000th nice in-flight entertainment (IFE) and cabin management system (CMS). Dubbed the world’s first certified, fully digital business jet IFE system by the German company, nice is based on an IFE created for a VIP aircraft, refined for business and commercial jets, and first installed in 2003.
The IFE/CMS debuted in the business aviation fleet on Bombardier’s Challenger 300. A modular, highly flexible and integrated Ethernet/IP-based system, it manages video, audio, lighting, internet connectivity, and other cabin entertainment and environmental functions on business and VIP aircraft of all sizes, including more than two dozen VIP airliners.
Continually updated, today nice HD enables streaming of high-definition content and wireless linking of smartphones and tablets to the system. The latest generation, the fiber-optic-network-based nice Touch, was developed for Bombardier’s Global 7500 and includes a 4K display option, OLED touch dial controls, and the latest hi-fi speaker and sound system. An advanced 4K/HDR distribution system currently in development is slated for service entry in 2021.
Meanwhile, “Even today we can still supply replacement parts for the earliest nice systems,” said Torben Uhl, head of manufacturing services for LHT’s Original Equipment Innovation division.
Bombardier Lines Up European Mx Support for Global 7500
With Bombardier Business Aircraft’s introduction into service of the Global 7500, the Canadian airframer and Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services (LBAS) have put in place options to support servicing of the flagship jet in Europe, the companies announced today. Bombardier has certified seven line maintenance stations for the 7500, while LBAS has received EASA Part 145 approval for line maintenance on the aircraft at its Berlin Schoenefeld facility. The moves follow delivery earlier this year of the first of Bombardier’s ultra-long-range, large-cabin jets in the region.
Bombardier’s certified stations are in Paris, Nice, and Cannes, France; Luton, UK; Linz, Austria; and Olbia and Linate, Italy. They are now qualified to perform standard scheduled line maintenance, and unscheduled and AOG maintenance support on the 7500, Bombardier said. These stations are part of Bombardier’s maintenance support network in the region that includes its Mobile Response Team, as well as its London Biggin Hill service center, which is able to perform tip-to-tail heavy maintenance on the aircraft.
In addition to performing line maintenance at Berlin Schoenefeld, the EASA approval also permits LBAS to offer AOG services to the aircraft type at any of its locations worldwide. LBAS is partly owned by Bombardier and services the airframer’s Global, Challenger, and Learjet lines.
IBAC To Participate in Sustainable Fuel Conference
As it continues its support of the use of sustainable aviation fuels within the business aviation sector, the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) will participate in the first ICAO Stocktaking Seminar toward the 2050 Vision for Sustainable Aviation Fuels, which will take place from April 30 to May 1 in Montreal. The event will provide a forum for the exchange of aviation fuel information and will serve as the first step towards the establishment of a quantified 2050 ICAO Vision for Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
IBAC will represent the business aviation community at the event, which will feature policy and decision makers from ICAO member states and technical experts from the fuel supply chain, airlines, airports, fuel producers, aircraft manufacturers, and others.
“The goal is to inspire member states, industry, and other stakeholders to substitute a significant proportion of conventional aviation fuels with sustainable fuels by 2050,” said IBAC director general Kurt Edwards. “The business aviation community is making progress, but more work needs to be done to increase availability and expand awareness that these drop-in fuels are ready to use today.”
Texas MRO Receives Mexico DGAC Extension
Arlington, Texas-based MRO provider Aviation Maintenance Professionals (AmP) has received a two-year certification renewal from Mexico’s DGAC, including maintenance services for XA, XB, and XC Mexico-registered aircraft.
Included in the DGAC certification is full-suite airframe and engine maintenance and repair for older models such as the Gulfstream II, III, IV, V, and G200; Hawker 700, 800, 800XP, and 900XP; Beechcraft King Air 200/B200; Dassault Falcon 20, 50, 50EX, and 900 series; and Bombardier Learjet 45 and 60 and Challenger 601. Supported engines include Rolls-Royce Spey 511-8, Tay 611-8, and BR700-71DA1-10; Honeywell TFE731; Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-41, PW305A, and PW306A; and the GE Aviation CF34.
“We place high esteem on our existing and growing list of Mexican aircraft clientele,” said AmP COO Jim Balzer, adding the company’s commitment to its south-of-the-border customers reaches back to 2013 when it was first DGAC certified. “We were optimistic that our quality, expertise, and convenient access to Mexico operators would be successful, this renewal affirms our support and long-term commitment.”
Arizona Airport Joins World Fuel Network
Gateway Aviation Services, the airport-owned service provider at Arizona’s Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, is now a member of the World Fuel Network. The recently remodeled FBO has an upgraded flight planning room and pilot lounge, along with an expanded airside entryway and enlarged staff room that increases staff visibility to the ramp area. Other amenities include conference rooms, on-site car rental, and crew vehicles.
While the FBO is open 24/7, U.S. Customs and Border Protection services are available on weekdays between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. and after hours with prior notification. The airport, located 30 miles from downtown Phoenix, offers three runways of more than 9,000 feet in length, and an on-site restaurant can provide catering.
The airport pumps approximately three million gallons of fuel a year for its general aviation customers, and it will now have new payment options with the World Fuel Contract Card and Avcard, as well as loyalty points through the World Fuel Rewards program.
“Gateway Aviation Services’ impressive facility and excellent service heritage are a great addition to the World Fuel Network,” said Steve Dryzmalla, World’s senior v-p for business aviation bulk sales. “Now any operator traveling to the Phoenix-Mesa area will benefit from easy, seamless transactions, and bonus rewards at our newest location.”
PWI Adds Texas, Washington LED Install Centers
Aircraft electronics and lighting provider PWI has signed on two new authorized installation centers, the Wichita-based company announced this week. Deer Horn Aviation of Midland, Texas, and Washington-based Airborne Aircraft Management doing business as Seattle Aircraft Charter are now authorized to install PWI’s entire line of LED lighting products, it said.
A maintenance and modification provider to piston, turboprop, and jet owners, Deer Horn is a Cessna and Cirrus service center and Raisbeck Engineering dealer. Airborne Aircraft specializes in turboprop and piston aircraft service, as well as aircraft management, and has recently seen growth in King Air maintenance, according to PWI, which manufactures cabin lighting for the aircraft type.
Established in 1972 as Precision Winding Inc. with a focus on coil winding, PWI has expanded to include LED products, electronics contract manufacturing, and magnetometers. It also designs, engineers, and manufactures all types of electrical assemblies.
Drone-to-home Delivery Service Begins in Australia
Google/Alphabet unit Wing has launched drone-to-home delivery service in select neighborhoods in Canberra, Australia. Consumers can order beverages, food, and drug store items such as coffee, gelato, and over-the-counter medicines from merchant partners via the Wing mobile app and have their goods within minutes. For now, deliveries are limited to select consumers in the suburbs of Crace, Palmerston, and Franklin. Wing expects to gradually expand to more customers in Harrison and Gungahlin in the coming weeks and months.
Wing has been testing drone delivery in Australia since 2014. Over the past 18 months, it has delivered food, small household items, and over-the-counter drug store products more than 3,000 times to Australian homes in the communities of Fernleigh Park, Royalla, and Bonython. The company said the feedback it received during those delivery trials helped it to refine its operations and that it will continue to expand operations.
Its delivery service required approval from Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), which attached a variety of conditions, including no flight over major roadways and none before 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. on Sundays. Flight over persons is permitted within the boundaries of five meters above and two meters laterally. Wing announced its intention to launch a similar service in Finland in December.
Mandates the introduction of a limitation and emergency procedure to the aircraft flight manual to address velocity decay during low-level altitudes capture (ALTS CAP) during one engine inoperative conditions. According to Transport Canada, the flight guidance/autopilot does not account for an engine failure while capturing an altitude in ALTS CAP or (V) ALTS CAP mode. Thus, if an engine failure occurs during or before a climb while in ALTS CAP or (V) ALTS CAP mode, the airspeed might drop "significantly below" the safe operating speed. Prompt crew intervention might be required to maintain a safe operating speed, the agency said.
Supersedes but retains requirements of EASA AD 2017-0165—which mandates repetitive tapping and visual inspections of the aft fuselage for outer skin debonding on EC155B/B1 helicopters—and expands the applicability to the SA365 models, as well as introduces conditional terminating action for the tapping inspections.
Landing the Bombardier Global 7500 (Cockpit View)
Bombardier’s Global 7500 only needs 2,520 feet to land. Here’s a view from the cockpit as the aircraft lands on the 11,800-foot-long runway at Stewart International Airport (SWF), a former U.S. Air Force base in New York, during a demo flight for AIN on a gusty, bumpy winter day.
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