Dornier’s Next-gen Seastar Makes First Flight

The prototype (SN1003) of Dornier's New Generation Seastar CD2 turboprop amphibious aircraft achieved its first flight on March 28 at the company’s headquarters at Oberpfaffenhofen Airport, Germany. The aircraft received approval to start test flights on March 19 from EASA and Germany’s LBA, almost a year behind its original schedule. First flight was performed by a Dornier Seawings test crew and took 31 minutes, the company reported. 

According to Dornier, the Seastar is being targeted at operators who wish to “enhance short to medium-haul trips with lower cost and flight time but higher safety and capacity, efficiently connecting land and sea through the sky.” Certification is targeted by year-end, followed by service entry in 2021.

The company noted that the New Generation Seastar is “significantly improved from the original Seastar, which was designed and developed by Claudius Dornier Jr. in the 1980s.” The new Seastar has a Honeywell Primus Epic 2.0 glass cockpit with four 10-inch LCD displays, two in-line PT6A-135A engines, a maximum cruise speed of 180 ktas, and 900-nm range. 

With the one pilot that is required, the cabin can be arranged in a nine-seat corporate configuration that is upgradeable to 12 seats; a seven-seat VIP configuration is also available. In addition, the Seastar is being aimed at multi-mission markets, including search and rescue, drug interdiction, and disaster relief.

Lack of Flying Leads To Jet-A Oversupply

There is a growing glut of jet-A as air traffic markedly declines globally due to the Covid-19 crisis. In fact, the fuel market is seeing its lowest demand for jet-A since the aftermath of 9/11.

Airline fuel consumption in the U.S. before the pandemic was running “about 1.7 million barrels per day (b/d),” said Ben Brockwell, co-founder and executive director of strategic content at Oil Price Information Service (OPIS). “That is now down to 1.3 million b/d, and even that number is high because it reflects barrels being produced and going into storage, not into aircraft for consumption.”

According to the Department of Energy, jet fuel consumption is down 16.4 percent month-over-month and nearly 8 percent year-over-year. As the epidemic grows, those numbers are expected to fall.

“IHS Markit, our parent company, estimates that U.S. jet fuel demand in April will fall to 607,000 b/d compared to 1.75 million b/d the same time last year,” Brockwell told AIN. “That is a huge drop, and the country is running out of space to store fuel.”

For those still flying, the situation has resulted in a glimmer of good news. “Airline fuel demand is down and supply is up,” said Brockwell, “a basic equation for prices being as cheap as they have been in two decades.”

CAE To Produce Ventilators, Offer Healthcare Training

CAE has jumped into the fight against Covid-19, preparing to begin production of ventilators and launching complimentary training seminars for healthcare personnel. The Canadian training specialist said its healthcare engineers and scientists designed a “simple, maintainable, easy-to-manufacture” ventilator prototype in just 11 days. That prototype is undergoing approval by Health Canada and CAE is sourcing components to begin production in the meantime. CAE is hoping to have the first ventilators produced in three to four weeks and to manufacture as many as 10,000 over the next three months, a company spokesperson said.

In addition, the training seminars involve both web and hardware-based simulator training on safe practices of ventilation and intubation. “This is even more critical right now when ventilation and intubation are being done by healthcare professionals who are not trained for these complex procedures,” CAE said.

“CAE has employees around the world, and we are all proud of the impact we can have by putting our expertise to work to create a ventilator that can help save lives in the fight against Covid-19,” said CAE president and CEO Marc Parent. “Once this prototype is approved by public health authorities, we are looking at manufacturing thousands of units in our Montreal plant and in other sites over the next few months.”

Argus: With Sharp Ops Drop, Key Market Rebound Critical

As the globe enters unprecedented times during the Covid-19 crisis, the rapid plunge of aircraft operations has been “swift and dramatic,” aviation data provider Argus said. Recovery in business aviation operations will be predicated on how swiftly top business aviation markets such as Texas, Florida, and Georgia can rebound following the peak of the crisis, Argus added.

The aviation data and research specialist pointed to its data showing that U.S. business aviation activity was down 30 percent in March, saying this is an even more precipitous drop, given activity was down just 5 percent in the first 10 days of the month. From March 11 to 17, Argus recorded 56,154 business aviation flights. That dropped to 28,899 a week later, or some 46.8 percent down.

Looking ahead, Argus said the longer the stay-at-home orders remain in place, the more difficult restart will be. Argus predicts April activity to be down 43.8 percent year-over-year but could reach 60 percent. Hard-hit areas such as New York, Washington, and California are unlikely to be part of the initial recovery for the industry, even though they are key business aviation markets. Argus suggested that the industry will need to focus on other top regions, such as Texas, Florida, and Georgia, which combined for 21 percent of all business aviation activity in 2019. 

FAA Proposes Another Enforcement for Illegal Charter

The U.S. FAA has proposed another enforcement action for illegal charter activity, this time a $1.5 million proposed civil penalty against B E L Aviation in Odessa, Texas. According to the agency, B E L Aviation allegedly conducted 114 unauthorized flights for hire in a Piaggio P-180 Avanti II between September 2016 and July 2108 throughout the U.S. and Mexico. B E L Aviation did not have an air carrier or air operator certificate when it conducted those flights, the agency added.

Calling the operations “careless or reckless,” the FAA additionally alleged that the pilot conducting the flights did not meet the training required for the flights in question. B E L Aviation, which was unavailable for comment, has 30 days to respond to the proposed enforcement action.

The proposed enforcement action is the latest in a series of actions the agency is taking as it steps up its efforts to clamp down on illegal charter. These include outreach to the aviation community along with the traveling public on what constitutes legal and illegal activity, as well as increasing enforcement. Just last month, the FAA issued an emergency revocation of the operating certificate of Paradigm Air Operators for allegedly conducting dozens of unauthorized charter flights, including for major sports teams.

Atlantic Expands in Connecticut with Volo Buy

Atlantic Aviation has expanded its presence at Bridgeport, Connecticut’s Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Airport (BDR) with the acquisition of the Volo Aviation FBO.

The purchase, which reduces the number of service providers there to two, adds an approximately 30,000-sq-ft modern heated hangar to Atlantic’s existing more than 100,000 sq ft of WWII-vintage aircraft storage space and gives it an additional nearly four acres of ramp. In addition, a 1,500-sq-ft terminal adjoins the 10-year-old hangar with passenger lounge, pilot lounge, flight planning area, kitchen, conference room, and shower facilities, along with 4,000 sq ft of tenant offices. Atlantic is expected to invest in the redesign and upgrade the common areas of the facility. The purchase also included the FBO’s fuel farm.

“We are happy to add these facilities to our network in the Connecticut and wider New York market,” said Kurt Schmidt, Atlantic's senior regional vice president.

Patriots Owner Taps Universal for Delivery of 1M Masks

Yet again, Universal Weather & Aviation found itself handling the logistics for another mission to transport one million masks from China to the U.S.—this time using the New England Patriots football team’s Boeing 767, according to a blog post. Universal was contacted by Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s company, the Kraft Group, for help with the overseas mission that was initiated by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker after striking a deal with Chinese manufacturer Tencent to acquire the masks for the state’s healthcare workers on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Its assistance included consulting the Kraft Group and Tencent on a plan and guidelines to get permission from the U.S. and Chinese embassies, as well as leveraging Universal's contacts within the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Universal also advised the Kraft Group on the technical side, which had to equip the 767 with new avionics to make the overseas flight.

Lastly, Universal sent team member Eric Tang from Beijing to Shenzen to source and arrange a 25-member crew to load the masks aboard the Boeing widebody. Tang also coordinated delivery of the masks, which were scattered among several warehouses in Shenzen, to the airport.

In a separate announcement, Universal said it would waive certain fees—trip feasibility assessments, research, consultation services, and ground handling setup charges—for any mission classified as a humanitarian medical supply flight.

FAA Providing Resources, Leniency during Crisis

The FAA is continuing to push out more exemptions, deviations, and legal opinions to enable the aviation industry to continue to operate during the Covid-19 crisis. These come as the agency has received numerous requests from most corners of the industry facing deadlines in the next several months pertaining to their certifications, but unable to meet them. “The FAA is proactively taking steps to help address the widespread economic and health effects that the Covid-19 pandemic is having on the aviation industry,” the agency reassured, adding it is continuing to evaluate the broad array of requests.

Some of these efforts are consolidated into a web page that lists as many as 16 temporary relief measures—with more anticipated—covering training requirements, medical mandates, training schools and centers, and repair stations. Much of the leniency listed surrounds training operations—there are exemptions related to required use for emergency equipment—such as oxygen masks—in Part 135 and 121 training, extensions for currency requirements for Part 135 and 121, and deviations surrounding Part 142 training centers and aviation maintenance technician and dispatcher training, among others.

In addition, a deviation provides extends certification of Part 145 repair stations in international locations and a legal opinion informs that FAA will not enforce medicals expiring through June 30.

Former CAN Exec Director Peter Fleiss Flies West

Peter Fleiss, the executive director of the Corporate Angel Network (CAN) from 2004 to 2016 and a highly regarded executive in the business aviation industry, passed away on April 4 after fighting various illnesses for the last two years. He was 76.

Under Fleiss’s guidance, CAN recorded its 50,000th flight in 2016 and expanded its membership companies—the corporations that fly CAN’s cancer patients to and from their treatment centers at no charge—to more than 500 lift providers. Since CAN’s first flight in 1981, the nonprofit organization has provided free air transportation to people whose best treatment options are often thousands of miles from home.

During his tenure with CAN, Fleiss was instrumental in working with NBAA for the annual fundraising benefit at NBAA-BACE on behalf of CAN. In late 2016, Fleiss retired from CAN and current executive director Gina Russo took over.