NetJets has confirmed reports that it has reduced the workforces of its NetJets Europe (NJE) and Executive Jet Management (EJM) subsidiaries by 25 percent. The private aviation group also has reduced planned new aircraft deliveries for 2020, and these are expected to be down from around 60 to 25.
Portugal-based NJE provides fractional ownership programs, while Cincinnati, Ohio-based EJM is engaged in aircraft management and charter services. The group has not yet implemented any furloughs or workforce reductions in any other U.S.-based operations, including U.S. fractional arm NetJets Aviation (NJA). In a written statement, the company said the cuts at NJE and EJM were made last week “to align with the current market and ensure sustainability for the future success of those businesses.”
In a letter obtained by AIN and sent to aircraft shareowners last week, NetJets chairman and CEO Adam Johnson reported that, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, demand for trips had been “down significantly since mid-March.” While adding that the group is still conducting “hundreds of flights” each week, he said EJM has seen a dip in demand for its aircraft to provide subcontract support for the NJA fleet during busy periods.
NetJets also told owners it has restructured, deferred, or canceled planned new jet deliveries for this year. It did not specify which aircraft types will be affected.
Bell might be entering the home stretch on its 525 super-medium twin program. The helicopter OEM recently announced that it had completed noise testing to satisfy FAA Part 36 certification standards during a series of sorties conducted over Bakersfield, California.
The test aircraft flew 16 hours over the course of five days for both company noise testing and to satisfy certification requirements. Flights included Level 4 flight flyover test points, approaches, and takeoffs and were supported by 14 members of Bell’s flight test team. Significantly, a Bell spokesman told AIN that the company “is heavily involved with the FAA in the certification of the 525, with no additional plans for off-site activities at this time.”
Announced in 2012, the Bell 525 Relentless is powered by two 1,714-shp GE Aviation CT7-2F1 turboshafts, has a 160-knot maximum cruise speed, a range of 580 nm (no reserves), a maximum gross weight of 20,500 pounds, and seating for up to 16 passengers. Originally envisioned primarily to serve the once-lucrative offshore energy market, Bell more recently has been promoting the fly-by-wire 525 for a variety of executive, parapublic, and military missions.
APS Aims To Keep Pilots Sharp During Covid Downtime
Upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT) provider Aviation Performance Solutions (APS) today launched a lineup of free and paid online UPRT course options in response to Covid-19’s impact on pilot training and safety. These courses allow pilots to study academic portions of upset training remotely at their own pace and schedule. Costs of the paid course options can be credited toward a future on-site UPRT program.
“APS’s new online training options help to meet the needs of pilots who are currently unable to fly regularly during this unprecedented global Covid-19 pandemic,” said APS CEO Paul Ransbury.
The company is offering both online courses and webinars under these new options. Online courses include concepts related to airplane aerodynamics and upsets, loss of control in-flight (LOC-I), and recovery concepts and techniques. APS is offering 50 percent off every program in its “online courses” section until July 31.
Meanwhile, its free live and pre-recorded webinars provide an option for flight department pilots to take the academics portion of their UPRT course remotely. The one to three-hour webinars feature presentations from APS UPRT experts.
In addition, APS customers who have trained with APS at any of its worldwide locations after Jan. 1, 2018 will receive a 100 percent discount until July 31 on the APS All-Access Pass to all published courses available in its online academy.
GAMA Highlights Myriad Industry Relief Efforts
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association lauded the dozens of members who have stepped up in the Covid-19 relief efforts over the past month, ranging from the production and donation of personal protective equipment (PPE) to transporting medical personnel and supplies. GAMA listed nearly three-dozen examples of members who are participating in various efforts from most of the major OEMs and a number of suppliers to many other service entities and training and fuel providers.
“It is inspiring to see the support that our members are providing to their communities and neighbors during this pandemic,” said GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce. “The general aviation industry has a rich history of helping others in times of need and they are stepping up to pitch in during these uncertain times.”
He added GAMA members all over the world are adapting operations to produce masks, shields, gowns, and ventilator parts and providing flights, manufacturing space, and financial assistance to aid in the medical response. “It is moments like these that bring a sense of pride for what our industry does to help one another,” he said.
Former Cascade Helicopters Owner Bill Wells Flies West
William H. “Bill” Wells Jr., 86, the president and owner of Cashmere, Washington-based Cascade Helicopters and past chairman of the Helicopter Association International, died on April 15. Wells, who joined Cascade Helicopters in 1962 as a pilot trainee and mechanic, amassed 11,500 hours and remained active in the helicopter community during his career over five decades.
Born on Feb. 25, 1934, in Seattle, Wells became an Alaska communications system specialist with the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1953, according to HAI. Five years later, he returned to Washingon, attending Perry Technical Institute. He received his A&P license in 1960 and a year later became a private fixed-wing pilot. After joining Cascade Helicopters, he earned his FAA commercial rotorcraft license in 1963 and his CFI license in 1964.
During his career, he was involved in agricultural spraying, search and rescue, fire suppression, government contracting, and transmission-line repair, among many other missions. He’d become owner and president by 1988.
Wells was deeply involved in HAI, serving as chairman from 1994 to 1995, and chaired its Government Safety Committee and sat on the Government Contracting Committee. HAI honored Wells in 2001 with its Salute to Excellence Pilot of the Year Award. He retired in 2002 and closed Cascade Helicopters.
Air Service Hawaii and Castle & Cooke Aviation, which both have flagship FBOs at Honolulu Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, noted that while they continue to field inquiries from operators on Hawaii's 14-day quarantine period for all arriving passengers, their private aviation traffic is much lower than normal due to the Covid-19 crisis, and all local aerial tour providers remain grounded.
“It is not enhanced screening that has brought our business to a halt, but the quarantine and entire Covid-19 issue...pretty much like the rest of the world,” said Tony Marlow, president of aviation operations and business development with Castle & Cooke Aviation. He said his facility remains fully staffed to handle any arrivals. “It is very important to note however, that for tech stops and crew changes, the [health] procedures are actually minimally invasive. It is not as bad as it may seem, but advance coordination is important."
Shaen Tarter, president of Hawaii-based FBO chain Air Service Hawaii, noted some flight schools in the state are still operating, his Honolulu location still provides fueling for some commercial airlines, and its hangars there still have many aircraft, but “if it weren’t for our commitment to our employees and clients, it would be difficult to make a business case to stay open at our neighbor island locations.”
Due to a current and projected decline in the revenues stemming from the Covid-19 crisis, a $3.6 million expansion project at Arkansas’ North Little Rock Municipal Airport (ORK) has been put on indefinite hold. According to airport manager Clay Rogers, the project, which had already been pared back from $5.5 million over the past year, is still intended to include a new 4,500-sq-ft general aviation center that will house the North Little Rock Jet Center, one of two FBOs on the field that caters to business jet traffic. Clay told AIN that the airport has approximately 15 based business jets and turboprops currently and, as a reliever to Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, it would like to further develop this business.
With a waiting list of business aircraft operators looking for hangar space, the now-delayed project also included the construction of a new 15,000-sq-ft community hangar capable of sheltering midsize business jets, along with ramp connections to the taxiway system, and a vehicle parking lot.
Rogers said the state Department of Aeronautics, citing an anticipated plunge in fuel sales revenue in the second quarter and possibly beyond, opted to withhold its portion of the funding and instead concentrate its support on essential runway and taxiway safety improvements during this time. Rogers still hopes the project at ORK will launch later this year.
Huey Crash Kills Former L.A. Newscopter Pilot
A well-known television helicopter pilot was killed Friday afternoon when a 1969 Bell UH-1H crashed into a Mesa, Arizona park. Chip Paige, 55, was the sole passenger and one of two aboard the aircraft, N3276T, owned by Bell Asset Management of Higley, Arizona. The pilot, identified by law enforcement as Albert Hayden, survived with serious injuries.
Witness video of the accident shows the helicopter in a descending spin before impacting terrain. Numerous post-accident media reports said the helicopter’s tail rotor was recovered 1.12 miles from the impact site.
The flight originated at Los Angeles Whiteman Airport with an intermediate fuel stop in Blythe, California, and was en route to Falcon Field in Mesa. Paige, who held ATP and helicopter certificates, was a pilot-reporter for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles between 2002 and 2009. He currently served as president of Pacific Aviation Holdings in Scottsdale, an aircraft management firm that specialized in late-model Gulfstreams. The accident helicopter, S/N 69-15911, was originally built for the U.S. Army. It was rebuilt after a serious long-lining accident following an engine failure in 2008. At that time, records indicated it had accumulated 11,702 hours of airframe time.
Has Bizav Reached Its Low Point in the Covid-19 Crisis?
It's no secret that business aviation is being hit hard by the fall out from the Covid-19 pandemic, with travel bans having a paralyzing effect on normal business and personal life. What’s harder to grasp is the full and still fluctuating extent to which traffic has been affected and what it all means to the future of this industry. In an interview with AIN, Richard Koe, managing director of specialist data analyst WingX Advance, helps us make sense of it all.
People in Aviation
The FAI executive board has formally named Markus Haggeney secretary-general of Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the World Air Sports Federation, effective immediately. Haggeney, who had been acting secretary-general since December, had previously served as FAI sports and events director and has competed, organized, and officiated ballooning championships.
The Ritchie Group appointed Rodger Renaud v-p of aircraft sales. Renaud's aviation career spans 40 years, beginning with installing flight controls and wings on Sabre 65 aircraft at Rockwell International and later serving with Midcoast Aviation/Jet Aviation and West Star Aviation.
Dave Helderop joined Avmats Jet Support in addition to continuing his work as director of business development at Georgian Aerospace. Helderop, who will pursue joint projects for the companies, brings 35 years of aerospace industry experience to Avmats, previously holding roles in business development, program management, and engineering.
Duncan Aviation named Mark White Gulfstream sales representative at its service facility in Provo, Utah. White, who has more than 20 years of Gulfstream sales experience, has sold both parts (brakes, landing gear, auxiliary power units) and maintenance/service (airframe, avionics, refurbishments, cabin management).
C&L Aviation hired Brian Sprecher to serve as regional sales manager for corporate MRO for the U.S. Southeast. Sprecher previously was a regional sales manager for the Southeast U.S. for Constant Aviation.
Kirby Harrison, who spent 18 years as a journalist with AIN, has died. He was 78. Born June 1, 1942, Harrison had joined a Syracuse University advanced photojournalism program through the U.S. Navy and then served as an associate editor at Naval Aviation News. After retiring from the service in 1987, he earned his bachelor’s of science degree in photojournalism and journalism from Syracuse in 1991. He joined the staff of AIN in 1995, serving as senior editor, writing about numerous topics related to aviation. He retired from the company in 2013 but kept his hand in freelance journalism.
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