Although ACI Jet’s new FBO at San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport (KSBP) in central California opened its doors in April 2021, it wasn’t until last night that the company held an official grand opening celebration, delayed due to the Covid pandemic. Hosting about 350 customers, local officials, vendor partners, and employees, the event included the announcement of a significant donation to help launch the Cuesta College aviation maintenance technician (AMT) program.
ACI Jet has grown from a single maintenance facility at KSBP into a multi-airport FBO, charter, aircraft management, and full-service maintenance provider. In addition to KSBP, it has FBOs in Paso Robles and Santa Ana, California.
Two 35,000-sq-ft hangars flank the new two-story FBO building, one for maintenance and one for aircraft storage, mostly for ACI Jet aircraft management clients. The second-floor mezzanine is fronted by a glass wall looking out over the ramp, and ACI Jet welcomes the public to visit and watch the action on the ramp and runway. In addition to a pilot lounge, snooze room, conference room, customer offices overlooking the maintenance hangar, and maintenance technician break room equipped with arcade video games, the facility has a large training room that is available to rent for local groups. ACI Jet manages 15 aircraft, 14 of which are on its charter certificate.
I’ve long believed that the airlines should raise the mandatory pilot retirement age past 65. After all, it would be a short-term solution for the current pilot hiring frenzy.
But at NBAA-BACE 2019, former FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson told me it wouldn't happen. Yet the idea is currently on the table. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) is sponsoring a bill to raise the mandatory airline pilot retirement age from 65 to 67.
“In the next two years, 5,000 pilots will [age out], not because they’re unsafe, just simply because they reach [age] 65,” Graham noted. “My legislation would allow pilots to continue to fly if they meet the qualifications.”
When I heard about the “Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act,” I thought it’d be a slam dunk. Yet after conducting due diligence these past few weeks, I now realize this isn't the case. But it’s a policy change that we should deeply consider.
XO reported on Thursday a 33 percent year-over-year (YoY) increase in membership, along with a 93 percent jump in shared charter flights, leading what the Part 135 access program called “record growth across core offerings” during the first half of 2022.
XO chief commercial officer Rajat Khurana attributed the increase in shared charter to a shift in consumer travel preferences over the past six months, while noting that they “save clients up to 10 times the cost by booking a seat versus a traditional charter.” These flights’ growing popularity may also reflect greater comfort with cabin mingling as concern about Covid recedes.
XO also cited a higher volume of flight requests from new-to-business aviation flyers as contributing to its YoY growth, while younger travelers (age 18 to 44) comprised 33 percent of all passengers during the first half of the year. (XO provided no underlying figures for its percentage comparisons.)
With South Florida reigning as the top aviation market in the U.S., according to XO, Florida is also the number one destination and departure point for the Fort Lauderdale-based company’s flights, accounting for one-third of all charters arranged in the first half of the year.
Khurana also credited XO’s mobile app for adding to the strong first half results by “delivering a seamless booking experience” and “elevating the overall travel experience with fewer touchpoints.”
Helicopter services company CHC Group announced a financial restructuring that could reduce its funded debt obligations by up to $500 million. As part of the restructuring, a substantial portion of CHC’s existing debt and equity holders agreed to provide more than $100 million in new money and liquidity-enhancing commitments.
The new funding consists of $60 million in initial investment, an additional $30 million of available commitments, and $10 million from adjustments to its aircraft financing facilities. The transaction comes following negotiations with CHC’s key financial stakeholders over the preceding months.
“Today marks a significant, positive step forward for CHC, providing a clear path to a significantly reduced debt burden for the company, which will benefit our customers, suppliers, and employees,” said CHC CEO David Balevic. “Our enhanced balance sheet will provide us greater operating flexibility to meet the rapidly changing rotary wing aviation market.”
CHC operates a mixed fleet of heavy, super-medium, intermediate, and medium twin-engine helicopters in support of the offshore energy industry worldwide. The company emerged from bankruptcy restructuring in 2017 when it received $300 million from existing creditors, restructured aircraft leases, and secured asset-based financing commitments of $150 million.
Minneapolis-area Lake Elmo Airport has inaugurated its 3,500-foot Runway 14/32. The nearly $24 million project, which was largely funded with federal and state grants, replaces the previous 2,850-foot Runway 14/32, which will be retained as a taxiway.
Construction began in 2019 as part of an airport modernization plan that also included the realignment of an adjacent roadway, upgrading the instrument approach, new lighting and signage, and other safety improvements.
Located between the St. Paul and St. Croix rivers, Lake Elmo is one of six general aviation airfields operated by the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) and is a reliever airport for Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Through the past several years of the Covid pandemic, MAC’s GA airports saw double-digit growth in the number of flights they supported. Lake Elmo Airport is served by Lake Elmo Aero, the only FBO on the field, and tallies 32,000 operations annually.
MAC has invested more than $50 million in improvements to its reliever airports over the past five years, including a runway extension at Crystal Airport in 2020.
“Our reliever airports play an important role in the Twin Cities region, especially as we saw a resurgence in private business travel, recreational flying, and flight training during the pandemic,” said MAC chair Rick King. “These infrastructure investments will help us better meet the needs of our strong and growing aviation community.”
Textron Aviation has delivered two Beechcraft King Air 260s to the U.S. Forest Service for missions to map wildfires.
The twin-turboprops were modified for the installation of the Overwatch Imaging TK-9 Earthwatch Airborne Sensor, an infrared (IR) sensing technology, in addition to legacy Forest Service sensors. The equipment can accurately map wildfires, including at night and through smoke. That information is used by firefighters to learn the exact extent of a fire regardless of darkness, smoke, or terrain. IR mapping also can spot new fires started by lightning.
More than 7,700 King Air turboprops have been delivered since 1964 and the worldwide fleet has recorded more than 62 million flight hours.
“We are honored the U.S. Forest Service has added the King Air 260 to its fleet,” said Textron Aviation v-p of special mission sales Bob Gibbs. “Whether for wildfire detection and mapping, resource management, aerial supervision module/lead plane, or air attack, the King Air continues to demonstrate its leadership in this mission. Customer faith in our legendary products and trust in our company and our team are at the core of our enduring relationship with U.S Forest Service.”
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) is pushing back on claims that U.S. airlines are experiencing a pilot shortage, citing FAA data showing 8,823 ATP-MEL pilots were newly certified in the last 12 months.
Calling pilot shortage claims “erroneous,” ALPA further contended that it has found that the seven largest passenger carriers in its membership have more pilots and conduct less flying than before the pandemic, “offering further evidence that pilot availability is strong and the debate about supply is really an attempt by some airlines to divert attention away from their operational mismanagement.”
Those carriers are operating 8.8 percent fewer block hours than they did before the pandemic but have 6.5 percent more pilots, ALPA said. “The data demonstrates that the United States is producing a record number of pilots,” added ALPA president Joe DePete.
DePete believes the pilot shortage discussion is instead an attempt by carriers to cover up bad business decisions. “Rather than focusing on trying to avoid proven aviation safety regulations, these airlines should instead follow ALPA’s lead and promote one level of safety across the industry.”
Pilot and workforce shortages overall have been a continual concern for the industry. Business aviation and Part 135 leaders, in particular, have expressed concerns about the potential for the larger airlines to pull from their staffs providing a cascading effect on qualified available pilots.
Universal Helicopters and Dodge City Community College (DC3) have agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act with regard to making false statements to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in connection with the helicopter flight instructor training program jointly run by Universal and DC3 in Dodge City, Kansas, and Chandler, Arizona, the U.S. Justice Department announced on Monday.
The VA provided financial assistance to veterans taking classes at the Universal-DC3 helicopter flight instructor program. The settlement resolves federal whistleblower allegations that from 2013 to 2018, Universal and DC3 falsely certified compliance with the VA’s “85/15 Rule,” which provides that schools must certify that classes are populated with at least 15 percent full-time students who are not receiving VA benefits in order to qualify for VA funding. The rule is intended to ensure that the VA is paying fair market value tuition. The government alleged that Universal and DC3 achieved the 15 percent threshold by counting part-time students enrolled in only one online class per semester as full-time students.
The whistleblower complaint was brought by William Rowe, a veteran and former student in the Universal-DC3 program. A private party can file an action on behalf of the U.S. and receive a portion of any recovery. Rowe will receive $1.125 million as his share of the settlement.
Golden Oldie. The golden hue of this restored 1974 Piper Archer caught the attention of aviation photographer Tom Pawlesh, who asked its owner, Barry Chapman, if he would snap a few shots of it at night. “An approaching thunderstorm added drama to Tom’s always remarkable images,” Barry noted. Remarkable indeed. Thanks for sharing Barry!
Keep them coming. If you’d like to submit an entry for Photo of the Week, email a high-resolution horizontal image (at least 2000 x 1200 pixels), along with your name, contact information, social media names, and info about it (including brief description, location, etc.) to photos@ainonline.com. Tail numbers can be removed upon request. Those submitting photos give AIN implied consent to publish them in its publications and social media channels.
AINalerts News Tips/Feedback: News tips may be sent anonymously, but feedback must include name and contact info (we will withhold name on request). We reserve the right to edit correspondence for length, clarity and grammar. Send feedback or news tips to AINalerts editor Chad Trautvetter.
AINalerts is a publication of AIN Media Group, 214 Franklin Avenue, Midland Park, New Jersey. Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited.
