JSX has selected SpaceX’s Starlink satellite communications system to provide Wi-Fi services to customers flying on its fleet of Embraer ERJ twinjets modified to carry up to 30 passengers. The company expects its first Starlink-equipped jet to fly later this year and will offer Wi-Fi for free to onboard customers.
The scheduled charter operator plans to install Starlink equipment in 100 of its jets and it will work with SpaceX to certify, test, and install the systems.
In August, SpaceX Services filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission seeking “a blanket license for the operation of high-performance earth stations in motion that will communicate with the Starlink non-geostationary orbit satellite system.” The frequencies used by low-earth-orbit Starlink satellites are in the Ku-band (12 to 14 GHz).
Reports indicate that SpaceX has tested Starlink satcom on aircraft, including a demo for the U.S. Air Force and on SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s Gulfstream G650. SpaceX has not responded to repeated inquiries by AIN, and no details are available about the type of antenna Starlink will require for aircraft applications, the airborne equipment that needs to be installed and how much it weighs, the cost for aviation users, or which company is responsible for engineering the ERJ-135/145 supplemental type certificate and who will own that STC. JSX also would not provide AIN with additional details.
AINsight: S&Ds Achieve Work-from-home Balance
It was wonderful to return to the NBAA Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference (SDC) a few weeks ago. It made me think back to my last time at the SDC—ironically, it was on Friday the 13th in March 2020. I was all set to moderate a panel on work/life balance. But the pandemic was upon us and NBAA closed the conference a day early, sending everyone home. Susan McCloskey, the scheduler with Jackson Family Wines, was to be on the panel that never took place to talk about how she managed to work remotely from anywhere in the world.
At the time—pre-Covid—we were aware that this topic would be controversial for many. In fact, some of our other panelists were thinking “no way!” and “how can you be successful as a remote scheduler?”
Then, sure enough, Covid hit a week later, and everybody was working remotely—whether we wanted to or not. With remote work forced upon us, we quickly learned how to adapt. As a result, we’ve developed and put in place new systems, equipment, and technology that have enabled us to do our job from anywhere.
And this new work-from-home paradigm offers flight departments a lot more flexibility. It also gives aviation employees more resilience and much-needed job satisfaction. Perhaps most importantly, it allows operators to be more responsive to their clients.
In recognition of its sustainability initiatives, California-based Clay Lacy Aviation has received certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership, a program that supports businesses and organizations that voluntarily adopt the use of renewable energy. The awarding of the certificate makes the aviation service provider one of the first in the industry to be so recognized.
The EPA cited Clay Lacy’s sourcing of one-third of its energy needs from green resources, including 700,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of wind power and the installation of a 750,000-kWh solar array at its Van Nuys Airport facility.
This latest award—announced today on Earth Day—adds to the company’s environmental stewardship credentials. Its facilities have been carbon-neutral since 2019 and it was the first to be certified by NATA’s Sustainability Standard for Aviation Businesses. Additionally, it was the first to be independently audited and rated Facility Green Level by 4Air, assuring its FBO operations lead industry standards to meet carbon neutrality.
“Receiving the EPA’s Green Power Partner Certificate was a key goal of our corporate sustainability strategy and validates the efforts we’ve undertaken to operate more sustainably,” said Clay Lacy senior v-p for development and sustainability Scott Cutshall. “It complements our carbon-neutral facilities rating, as well as carbon-offset programs and the ongoing supply of sustainable aviation fuel introduced last year at our FBOs to help our clients in achieving their sustainability goals.”
Titan Aviation Fuels has unveiled a carbon-offset program via its FBO network—with Wilson Air Center facilities as the launch FBOs—using Terrapass Green-e Climate-certified carbon credits. The Titan Aviation Fuels Carbon Offsets Program is currently supporting a 162-megawatt wind farm in Crow Lake, South Dakota, with 108 wind turbines generating renewable energy.
All four Wilson Air Center FBOs—in Charlotte, Chattanooga, Houston, and Memphis—are the first in the Titan network to offer the program. “Wilson Air Center has always been centered around satisfying our customers' needs and requirements, and we are pleased to continue serving them by taking this next step with our carbon offsets program to help support our customers’ environmental initiatives,” said Wilson Air Center owner Bob Wilson.
Titan Aviation Fuels president Robbie Stallings said its carbon-offset program will be offered at participating Titan FBOs throughout North America. “This is a logical next step within the aviation industry for us to be a responsible eco-partner and to keep awareness at the forefront of our operations,” he said. “Wilson Air Center has always been an innovator and leader in the FBO market, and their decision to become the launch FBOs for this program again reinforces that mindset.”
SmartSky Networks has signed an agreement naming California-based Thornton Aviation a sales and installation provider for shipsets supporting its air-to-ground connectivity service. Covering both Thornton’s locations in Van Nuys and Burbank, California, the agreement continues SmartSky’s efforts to build out its sales and support network as it rolls out its 5G in-flight connectivity with full continental U.S. coverage by mid-year. SmartSky’s antennas and aircraft base radios are available for installation now.
Thornton brings more than three decades of service experience to its network, SmartSky noted. “Thornton Aviation services and manages a wide range of business aircraft,” said Aria Bahawdory, director of MRO account management for SmartSky Networks. “Its long-standing expertise and broad aircraft knowledge, coupled with available STCs for many of the aircraft it services, will provide customers with an in-flight connectivity solution that meets the needs of cabin, crew, and operators alike.”
In addition to Thornton, SmartSky has announced sales and installation agreements this year with Jet East, Western Jet Aviation, and Global Aviation Technologies. They are among 16 certification and services partners that are in the SmartSky network. SmartSky also has value-added reseller and cabin equipment and avionics partnerships, and is further offering a Skytelligence digital platform.
With the world celebrating Earth Day today, business aviation companies who are doing their part to further Earth-friendly practices have been certified to NATA’s Sustainability Standard for Aviation Businesses.
Ross Aviation has received certification for five of its FBO facilities: Fresno, California; Lincoln, Nebraska; Sarasota, Florida; Scottsdale, Arizona; and White Plains, New York. As part of the process, each location is required to submit an annual carbon footprint, and based on these estimates, Ross will purchase offsets to achieve carbon-neutral status. The company plans for its remaining 11 locations to receive certification by year-end.
“We’re taking a holistic approach to sustainability,” explained Ross CEO Brian Corbett. “We see it as important—not just to ensure our own facilities meet, and in some cases exceed, all new standards—but also that we help our customers reach carbon neutrality with their own flight operations as well.”
Lincoln, Nebraska-based Duncan Aviation also recently had its operations certified under the NATA standard. “Sustainability is a core value that Duncan Aviation team members identified years ago as something the company should focus on and improve,” said president Jeff Lake. “As a society, we need to look for better ways to do things—ways that leave less of a footprint on the earth and that make a positive impact on the environment we will leave our children, grandchildren, and future generations.”
UK-based Reaction Engines is moving in additional ground support equipment and making modifications to its high-temperature airflow test facility (TF2) in Colorado to pave the way for the next phase of high-Mach/temperature testing of its propulsion technologies. Reaction Engines began construction on TF2 at Front Range Airport in Colorado in 2019 to validate the performance of its precooler heat exchanger technology.
“We began construction of TF2 understanding that timing was of the essence, breaking ground and becoming fully operational in less than 500 days,” Reaction Engines U.S. president Adam Dissel said. “Since that time, and in collaboration with our U.S. and UK government and industry partners, Reaction Engines has exceeded expectations and has successfully tested our engine precooler technology at temperatures up to those that would be experienced during hypersonic flight at five times the speed of sound.”
Ground tests validated the ability to develop and operate the heat exchanger and thermal management system on a flight-representative engine at “full threat” hypersonic flight conditions and temperatures of 1,800 degrees F, Reaction Engines said.
The technologies are helping in the development of Reaction’s Sabre rocket engine. But the advanced propulsion specialist said it plans to leverage its scalable heat exchanger technologies for high-Mach and hypersonic fields, as well as for a wider spectrum of government and commercial applications across multiple industries. “We are growing,” Dissel said.
Charter and business jet management company Sino Jet has established an operating base in Hainan, China, with a company-owned Dassault Falcon 7X following the establishment of the Hainan free trade port.
In addition to the basing of the large-cabin trijet there, the Beijing and Hong Kong dual-headquartered company will further invest in business jet ground service operations, aircraft maintenance, and technical training in the free trade port through a cooperation agreement with the Haikou Jiangdong New Area Administration.
Sino Jet operates from bases in 20 cities with a fleet of nearly 50 aircraft and operational and maintenance licenses from Bermuda, Aruba, Isle of Man, Guernsey, San Marino, and the Greater China region. The company also plans to base a second Falcon 7X in Hainan. It is the first business aviation services provider in the Hainan region.
Photo of the Week
Calm before the storm. Corporate pilot Brian Sloan snapped this photo on March 18 during a calm evening over Tampa Bay, Florida. But off in the distance—actually, all the way across the Sunshine State—was a thunderstorm passing over the Melbourne area. Thanks for sharing, Brian!
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