NBAA is rolling out a Small Operator Learning Series to provide guidance to lean flight departments on budgeting, effective communications, safe operations, and other key areas. Developed by the association’s Small Flight Department Subcommittee, the series of online courses are designed to address the unique challenges that smaller operators may face and include insights from flight department leaders and industry experts.
“The majority of NBAA’s membership is made up of small operators, those with one or two aircraft,” said Noah Yarborough, NBAA’s manager of operations. “Leading a small flight department can feel like a lonely space, but these learning sessions are incredibly valuable resources developed by small operators for small operators.”
Comprised of eight sessions, the courses are also eligible for credit towards NBAA's Certified Aviation Manager certification.
“There’s value in benchmarking other flight departments,” said Dylan Miller, Challenger 604 captain and co-chair of NBAA's Small Flight Department Subcommittee. “And even if we can’t address an operator’s exact scenario, the online sessions provide additional resources to get a specific answer.”
United Airlines has ordered 100 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, including an option for 100 more, and exercised options on forty-four 737 Maxs and ordered an additional 56 Maxs. The 787 order is Boeing’s largest ever, according to the manufacturer.
"With this investment in its future fleet, the 737 Max and 787 will help United accelerate its fleet modernization and global growth strategy,” said Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
The new orders are in addition to United’s current Boeing orders, which total more than 530 aircraft and include more than 430 737 Maxs. The 44 Max options are slated for delivery between 2024 and 2026, according to United Airlines, followed by delivery of the 56 Maxs between 2027 and 2028. Delivery of the 787s will take place from 2024 through 2032, and the airline will be able to choose between 787-8, -9, or -10 models.
Beginning in 2023, United Airlines expects to take delivery of two aircraft per week and three per week starting in 2024, with 700 deliveries by the end of 2032 of both narrow- and widebody jets.
The latest order is part of United Airlines’ fleet modernization program, which will see 100 of the Dreamliners replace older 767s and 777s. By 2030, United Airlines said it will retire its 767 fleet.
Pilatus Aircraft yesterday delivered the last PC-6 Porter, marking the end of a 63-year production run for the rugged, unpressurized turboprop single. The capstone aircraft—S/N 1019, registered as FB-FBE—was handed over to air charter operator Smart Aviation of Jakarta, Indonesia.
Stans, Switzerland-based Pilatus announced in 2017 that it planned to cease PC-6 production in 2019, but the pandemic and other delays stretched that to this year. At the time, the aircraft manufacturer said it was dropping the PC-6 line to focus more of its attention on the PC-24 twinjet.
According to Pilatus, 604 of the multi-role Pilatus Porters were produced since 1959, with more than 500 made at the manufacturer’s Stans headquarters and 100 manufactured in the U.S. under license. Support will be provided to existing PC-6 customers for “at least” 20 years, Pilatus said in 2017. Meanwhile, employees on the PC-6 production line were reassigned to the PC-12 or PC-24 assembly lines.
The PC-6 is known for its short takeoff and landing capabilities and general versatility. Among its achievements, the Pilatus Porter holds a world record for flying several cargo and passenger trips at maximum useful load to 18,700 feet (5,700 meters).
A set of taxes to promote the use of quieter and less polluting aircraft at Brussels National Airport has been adopted by the Belgian government. Scheduled to go into effect April 1, 2023, the taxes will be imposed on business jets and airliners making flights of less than 500 km (310 nm) to or from the airport.
Taxes will be based on criteria related to emissions from nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide greenhouse gases. The noise criterion, already included in the current calculation of charges for airliners, is amended to further discourage night flights and favor quieter aircraft. Aircraft using Brussels National Airport are required to pay a tax determined by the noise level generated at takeoff and landing. Until now, small airplanes such as business jets have been exempt.
“Charges are also increased for aircraft that currently do not have a noise quota, namely private or business jets, whose pollution per passenger is much higher than scheduled aviation,” said Georges Gilkinet, Belgium’s deputy prime minister and minister for mobility. The level of the fee will vary depending on aircraft performance and time of day.
"The noise pollution suffered by residents living near Brussels National Airport…cannot remain as it is,” Gilkinet said. “The status quo is no longer conceivable.”
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Asking values for used business jets, turboprops, and piston singles continued to climb in November even as inventories also marched higher, according to the latest report from Sandhills Global.
In the U.S. and Canada, used turboprop values increased by 36.65 percent. At the same time, turboprop inventories rose 14.6 percent between October and November, although they were 12.35 percent lower than a year earlier.
In the global used business jet market, inventories in the period were up 8.19 percent month-over-month and 86.89 percent year-over-year. Asking values also ascended, rising 4.09 percent from October and 24.71 percent year-to-date.
Aircraft with the least gains in asking values were piston singles, which were up just under 1 percent between October and November and 14.85 percent from November 2021. Piston single inventory rose 6.5 percent last month and 64.66 percent from November 2021.
Engine makers Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce are teaming with Virginia Tech in a four-year research program studying the impact of environmental contaminants on aircraft engine operation and testing. These contaminants can lead to accelerated aging and performance loss in turbine engines.
“At Virginia Tech, we are honored to be given the opportunity to build on the foundation of our existing academic alliances by partnering with Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce on this project,” said Changmin Son, the Rolls-Royce Commonwealth professor at Virginia Tech. “The multidisciplinary group teamed with mechanical engineering, aerospace and ocean engineering, and geosciences will work together to tackle the impact of the airborne particulate on aircraft engines.”
Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce have previously collaborated on several government-based research projects, including one on volcanic ash damage to aircraft engines. This partnership with Virginia Tech will enable more complicated engine testing to further develop mitigation strategies, starting with testing on a Rolls-Royce M250 turbine engine.
“This new joint research project will help further industry understanding of airborne particles—a key contributor to engine degradation—and their impact on operability,” said Lisa Teague, head of emerging technologies and innovation at Rolls-Royce LibertyWorks.
If you have ever wanted to own one of the jets formerly owned by the late Elvis Presley but missed out on the past several auctions, you will once again get your opportunity.
While two of the five aircraft Presley reportedly owned, a Convair 880 and a 1960 Lockheed JetStar, have been restored and are on display at his Graceland mansion and museum in Memphis, Tennesee, a second JetStar of 1962 vintage that the “King of Rock and Roll” purchased in 1976, just a year before his death, is once again on the auction block.
According to transportation specialist Mecum Auctions, which will feature the aircraft in its Kissimmee, Florida auction starting on January 4, the JetStar—which has lost its engines along with some of the cockpit instrumentation—has been parked in the New Mexico desert at the Roswell International Air Center for the past several decades. While none of the missing parts will be replaced, the auction does include documentation such as a copy of the aircraft security agreement document signed by Elvis Presley, a copy of the aircraft bill of sale showing its 1976 purchase price of $840,000, and official FAA Blue Ribbon documents.
The aircraft’s cabin is furnished with custom red velvet upholstery and gold-finished hardware and features the latest technology of the time, including a microwave oven, television, and a then-cutting-edge VCR player.
A Massachusetts man has been sentenced to eight months in prison after being convicted of several charges including unlawfully operating a helicopter without a license.
Antonio Santonastaso, 62, of East Brookfield received the sentence along with a year of supervised release by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Timothy Hillman following his conviction by a federal jury on one count of serving as an airman without an airman certificate, one count of making false statements to federal agents, and one count of attempted witness tampering.
Santonastaso’s pilot’s license was revoked by the FAA in 2000 after he participated in the theft of a helicopter from Norwood Memorial Airport. Despite that, Santonastaso was determined to have operated a Robinson R22 helicopter from his backyard more than 50 times over seven months in 2018.
When he was questioned by the FAA over the situation, Santonastaso made false statements regarding his eligibility to pilot the helicopter, claiming the events that led the agency to revoke his license were a fabrication. During his trial, evidence showed that Santonastaso also attempted to corruptly persuade an individual from reporting his illegal helicopter flights to law enforcement.
People in Aviation
Pro Star Aviation promoted Jeff Shaw to director of sales and marketing. With a career in aviation spanning over 25 years, Shaw previously held the position of director of business development at Pro Star for six years and before that held roles as an ops agent with the airlines and served as an avionics technician and chief inspector.
NBAA appointed Jennifer Alessio to the association’s board of directors, where she will serve until the October 2023 annual meeting of members, and then be eligible for election by the membership to a full, three-year term. Alessio is the director of aviation for the Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) global aviation department. Before joining HPE in April 2015, she spent 16 years at McKesson Corporation, where she was the director of finance and analytics for the aviation and corporate security department.
FBO operator APP Jet Center promoted Quinn Redden to director of business development. Redden has more than 25 years of experience in general aviation having previously worked at Titan Fuels as a bulk fuel sales area manager and fuel quality control specialist. He has held various positions with APP, including line technician and general manager of the FBO at Manassas Regional Airport in Virginia, where he will continue to serve after holding the position for 12 years.
The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) announced its 2023 inductees, including pilot and astronaut Fred Haise, SpaceX founder Elon Musk, and former director general of Airports Council International (ACI World) Angela Gittens. Posthumously inducted into the 2023 NAHF class are aviation pioneers Velta Benn and Cornelius Coffey and business and general aviation legend Ed Stimpson.
West Star Aviation has hired Nick Adcock as the Bombardier project manager at its East Alton, Illinois facility. Adcock has more than 22 years of aviation experience, previously working for Boeing, Jet Aviation, and the U.S. Army as a UH-60 Black Hawk crew chief.
Bristow Group appointed Elizabeth Matthews as senior v-p, general counsel, head of government affairs, and corporate secretary. Matthews has more than 25 years of legal experience providing counsel across several different industries, most recently working in the energy sector for the past 21 years. Her legal career includes six years in private practice, 11 years in various senior legal positions at Chevron in Houston, Texas, and as deputy managing director, executive v-p, and general counsel at TotalEnergies since 2013.
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