Airbus Plays Long Game To Bring UAM Market to Fruition

By around the end of 2020, Airbus expects to have a clear picture of its long-term plans to develop new aircraft to serve what it views as growing needs for more efficient urban air mobility. The European airframer is very well aware that smaller and much younger startup companies are pursuing more urgent timelines that could see new eVTOL aircraft enter commercial service as early as 2023, but said it prefers to take more time to ensure it delivers the right product.

Airbus has now completed flight testing of its two-seat Vahana eVTOL concept, which has flown more than 100 hours since 2016. Over the next 12 months or so, the company will conclude evaluation of its four-seat CityAirbus model. What it learns from these programs will inform the company’s next steps in this sector, according to Eduardo Dominguez-Puerta, Airbus’s senior v-p for urban mobility.

The Vahana program has been led by A3 by Airbus, the group’s Silicon Valley-based technology hub, while CityAirbus is in the hands of Airbus Helicopters. It is still to be determined which part of the Airbus empire will take the lead in taking a series production eVTOL aircraft to market. For now, it has created a division called Urban Air Mobility and this includes its Voom helicopter charter partnership.

Alaska’s Medallion Program To Shutter

The Medallion Foundation, which was established in 2001 to foster aviation safety in Alaska, is closing its doors, citing funding shortfalls and concerns that its programs are poised to create potential liability issues for participants. Funded largely through government grants originally thanks to the late Alaskan Sen. Ted Stevens, the Medallion Foundation hosts a range of safety programs for Alaska fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft operators and cruise ships. It also offered a range of training programs with simulators and trainers stationed throughout Alaska.

Executive director Jerry Rock confirmed plans to cease operations and sell or dispose of the simulators by September 15, saying, “The FAA continues to make reductions to our budget and use Medallion as more of an enforcement tool. The BOD [board of directors] made a hard decision in choosing not to allow that to happen.” Rock specifically said it received $300,000 less than was originally committed to funding. The cruise ship industry, which uses Medallion for safety audits and passenger video safety briefings, isn’t “happy” with the decision and said is looking at potential funding. But, he added, “We don’t have much time.” 

The decision to close down comes in advance of the NTSB's planned roundtable discussion on September 6 addressing Part 135 safety issues in Alaska. “With accidents at a 10-year high, it’s not good Medallion is closing down,” Rock added.

Environmentalists: No Way To Advance Supersonic Ops

Environmental groups weighing in on the FAA’s supersonic special flight authorization proposal are expressing everything from concern to outright opposition, warning of permanent harm to a global environment already in a crisis.

In response to a proposal that would facilitate special flight authorizations primarily for supersonic aircraft testing, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed comments with 27 other public health and environmentalist groups saying, “With existing technology, there is no way to advance ‘safe and efficient operation of supersonic aircraft.’ Supersonic aircraft would fuel the global climate crisis and threaten Americans with lasting damages from extreme air and noise pollution.” 

The groups expressed concern supersonic operations will burn five to seven times the amount of fuel as subsonic designs and international carbon dioxide emissions limits. “We are in a climate emergency. Given our limited carbon budget, limited time to act, and urgent need to slash greenhouse pollution from the aviation sector overall, allowing a new class of super-polluting aircraft to enter the sky would be madness."

Separately, CBD filed comments contending that each application for a special flight authorization would necessitate an environmental assessment and environmental impact statement. “Because sonic boom, no matter how ‘quiet’ or insignificant, trails an aircraft in supersonic flight along its entire route, impacts are not limited to land surrounding airports,” the center said.

Broker Sees Double-digit Gains in Charter Activity

New Flight Charters saw year-over-year business jet charter activity increases of 16.1 percent in July and 11.5 percent in the May-to-July period, the charter broker announced last week. That compares with a 1.7 percent year-over-year increase in Part 135 activity for the industry in July, according to Argus International’s TraqPak data.

Among New Flight's aircraft categories, demand for super-midsize and large-cabin business jets grew 34 percent in the first half of the year. Light jet demand grew 33 percent in the period “at the expense of midsize jets,” while turboprop demand was nearly flat, according to New Flight.

It attributed the increase in part to better charter pricing with the growth of its floating fleet of 435 aircraft from 39 operators. “Floating fleet aircraft are quoted point-to-point without having to revolve around a certain base and incur that additional cost, thus are typically better than traditional charter quotes, jet cards, and memberships for one-way flights or round-trips over many days,” New Flight explained.

New Flight comprises Jackson Hole Private Jet Charter, Colorado Jet Charters, and Jet Charter Denver.

Life Flight Completes HAI Safety Program

Air ambulance operator Life Flight Network of Aurora, Oregon, has completed the Helicopter Association International’s (HAI) Accreditation Program of Safety (HAI-APS). The HAI-APS was developed to help participating businesses fly to a higher standard of safety and professionalism, improve safety cultures, and reduce losses that result from avoidable accidents and incidents.

“In completing the HAI-APS accreditation, Life Flight Network demonstrates the commitment to safety that HAI hopes every company embraces,” said HAI president and CEO Matt Zuccaro. Life Flight Network is a not-for-profit air medical transport service with 25 bases throughout Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana.  

Life Flight earned helicopter mission-specific accreditation for helicopter air ambulance while also elevating its IS-BAO registration to Stage III. That is currently the highest level of IS-BAO certification and “verifies that safety management activities are fully integrated into an operator’s business and that a positive safety culture is being sustained.” 

To become HAI-APS accredited, participating companies must first demonstrate their operations follow internationally accepted standards of safety and professionalism for helicopter operations. The HAI-APS is a voluntary nonprofit program offered as a service to HAI regular operator members. “We are uncompromising in our adherence to the highest safety standards and committed to maintaining a culture of safety. Our accreditation by HAI is an illustration of this commitment,” said Life Flight CEO Michael Griffiths.

Nav Canada Increases ATC User Fees

Nav Canada, the private, not-for-profit company that operates the country’s ATC system, is increasing its user fees to recover the costs of providing ADS-B surveillance data services in terminal areas and both domestic en route and North Atlantic oceanic airspace. These services have been provided on a no-cost trial basis since March. The company said this is the first time in 15 years that customer service charges have increased.

The rate change will be implemented in two phases. The first phase, now in effect, will recover the cost of domestic ADS-B services and represents an average increase of 0.8 percent on overall rate levels.

Phase two relates to recovering the cost of providing ADS-B surveillance within North Atlantic oceanic airspace. The flat-charge-per-flight fee structure, which reflects stakeholder input received in response to an earlier notice of proposed fee structure changes, will be retained, and the rate will be set, beginning Jan. 1, 2020, to C$155.03 (US$116.55) per flight based on aircraft weight and by distance flown.

Nav Canada’s customer service charges “remain among the lowest…compared to [those of] other air navigation service providers,” the company said. “The proposed rate changes would bring service charges on Jan. 1, 2020 to less than 1 percent higher than they were more than two decades ago—nearly 50 percentage points less than the cumulative growth in inflation.”

Helo Fueling Error Could Cost Flight Crew $1 Million

Germany’s Federal Police are seeking more than $1 million in damages from three helicopter crewmembers who refueled their Airbus EC135 light twin turbine helicopter with avgas instead of jet-A—twice, according to reports by German media outlets including Spiegel and Heute. The fueling error occurred during a night search drill in March from the pumps at Saxony-Anhalt’s Stendal Airport.  

While the helicopter somehow managed to fly with the wrong fuel added to its tanks, the crew noted extensive engine damage immediately after the training mission and the engines had to be replaced. 

German law allows employers to recover financial damages from employees who perform negligently. Two of the three crew were union members at the time of the incident and the union does provide limited financial liability assistance in such situations for its members, but with a hard cap of $110,000. However, the crew may find relief in past rulings by German courts, which have ruled in the past that damage awards may not impose undue hardships on defendants.

Zunum’s Electric Airliner Prospects Appear More Remote

Prospects for Zunum Aero achieving a planned first flight for its ZA10 hybrid-electric airliner by year-end now appear very remote. The U.S. startup has spent the past 10 months trying to find new investors after early backers Boeing and JetBlue withdrew support last year.

Zunum Aero recently told AIN that it had no update on the status of the program and efforts to attract fresh investment. Given the uncertainty, it appears unlikely the company will manage to stick to its goal of starting deliveries of the new aircraft in 2022.

In September 2018, Logan Jones, vice-president of Boeing’s HorizonX “innovation cell,” quietly stepped down as the airframer’s representative on the Zunum Aero board—signaling the end of Boeing’s backing. Late last month, JetBlue Technology Ventures acknowledged that the U.S. airline group no longer has a representative on the Zunum board.

Safran Helicopter Engines, which Zunum Aero selected in October 2018 to provide a new 3Z version of its Ardiden turboshaft engine to power the ZA10’s electrical generator, has not abandoned the program. Zunum introduced U.S. private charter operator JetSuite as the launch customer for the 12-seat ZA10 in May 2018, with an announcement calling for it to add up to 100 of the aircraft to its fleet. A spokesman for JetSuite told AIN that it had no comment to make about the status of that order.

Help AIN Gather Data on In-cockpit PED Use

AIN would like to know more about your operation’s policy and your own personal opinions regarding personal device use by pilots in the flight deck while on duty. The survey takes about two minutes to complete and all respondents will remain anonymous. Data will be used to help shape a future story on this topic. Take the survey.