The reestablished Enstrom has received its FAA production certificate (PC), authorizing it to manufacture parts for all its helicopter models. Enstrom filed Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy in January and shuttered operations. Its assets were acquired in May by Indiana-based Surack Enterprises.
Since May, Enstrom had been building parts under its type certificate holder authorization. Building parts under the PC will expedite the process and enable the company to begin new build helicopter deliveries early next year. “To go from where we started to receiving a PC in only six months is just incredible. We are on pace to start delivering helicopters this spring, and in fact, the first new Enstroms are already coming down the line,” said company owner Chuck Surack.
Prior to bankruptcy, Menominee, Michigan-based Enstrom was in near-continuous operation for 64 years, manufacturing more than 1,300 light turbine and piston-powered helicopters for police, military, commercial, and private missions. It had most recently been owned by China’s Chongqing General Aviation Industry Group (CGAG).
Global business aviation operations softened by 2 percent from 2021 in the first 12 days of December but are still up by 5 percent from the same period in 2019, according to WingX’s latest Global Market Tracker. Year-to-date, business jet and turboprop flights are up 11 percent from last year and by 14 percent from 2019.
“Business jet activity is steadily slipping off post-Covid highs, although it’s likely 2022 will still conclude with a low double-digit gain on 2019,” said WingX managing director Richard Koe. “That said, there is now a marked decline in charter activity, suggesting first-time customers may be exiting the market.”
In North America, business jet activity inched down by 3 percent from December 2021 while remaining 5 percent up from 2019. Branded charter has plunged in the first half of December, down by 23 percent and by 5 percent from 2019. However, private activity is 10 percent busier than this time last year.
In Europe, demand has continued to slide with 8 percent fewer sectors flown this month than in December 2021 and 4 percent fewer than in 2019. Most of the rest of the world is experiencing an uptick, aided in part by the FIFA Men’s World Cup. Key airports associated with the matches have logged a 291 percent jump in arrivals.
The clock is running to thwart a potential law that could economically hamstring helicopter operators flying over New York. If enacted, the bill would allow the state attorney general and anyone else to sue a pilot, flight department, line service worker, or company employee for creating an “unreasonable level” of rotorcraft noise anywhere in the state—even if the flight operation complied with federal law and regulations.
While the initial impetus for the bill appeared to be an effort to limit the noise from air-tour flights, the rules would apply to all helicopter operations. “It is our hope that the threat of a lawsuit will stem the plague of sightseeing flights coming from New Jersey that hover over Central Park and ruin the park for thousands of residents and tourists for the enjoyment of a select few,” said assembly member Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan).
New York Senate Bill S7493A has passed both houses of the state legislature and now sits on the desk of Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who must sign it by December 23 for the bill to become law. HAI and NBAA are urgently asking members to contact Hochul and urge her to veto the “stop the chop” bill. HAI has provided a template letter for its members to do so.
FlightSafety Helicopter Training Saves Lives of Crew
Sergeant David Sizemore’s experience reinforces that even highly skilled officers who have been trained to respond quickly and appropriately in times of extreme stress benefit from FlightSafety rotorcraft training. It doesn’t just take you to proficiency, but to preparedness. For any situation.
Canadian business aviation services provider Skyservice has received Transport Canada, FAA, and EASA supplemental type certificate (STC) approval for Satcom Direct’s Plane Simple Ku-band tail-mounted antenna systems on Bombardier Challenger 604/605/650 and Global Express XRS/5000/6000 series business jets.
Skyservice manages one of the largest fleets of Bombardier aircraft in Canada and is an authorized service center and warranty dealer for the airframer, according to company president and CEO Benjamin Murray. “We are thrilled to be able to provide innovative, best-in-class avionics solutions to our clients and customers from around the world,” he said.
Plane Simple uses the Intelsat FlexExec satellite constellation. The terminal includes two line replaceable units, the antenna and SD modem, providing high-speed data access. “This is a whole new class of antenna hardware, and we’re delighted customers will have access to it through Skyservice STCs,” said Satcom Direct chief commercial officer Michael Skou Christensen.
In addition to MRO services, Skyservice operates 10 FBOs in the U.S. and Canada, manages a fleet of 75 business aircraft, and provides aircraft sales and acquisitions.
AEG Fuels will provide sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) produced by OMV to charter provider VistaJet at Vienna International Airport in Austria under an agreement announced by the companies last week. The agreement builds on VistaJet’s April 2021 commitment to be carbon neutral by 2025.
That commitment calls for VistaJet to replace more than 200,000 U.S. gallons of conventional jet fuel consumption with a blended SAF, which is expected to generate more than 165,000 kilograms of CO2 reduction. Other carbon reduction activities by VistaJet have included using artificial intelligence to maximize fleet optimization and working to increase the adoption of carbon offsetting among the provider’s members by more than 85 percent.
“Together as an industry we can reshape the way we conduct business,” said VistaJet founder and chairman Thomas Flohr. “At VistaJet, we are very proud of the progress we have made and we hope that others will adopt our recommendations. Businesses are rightfully being held accountable for their environmental impact and our agreement with AEG Fuels not only helps in reducing [greenhouse gas] emissions but goes hand in hand with our ongoing efforts to practice higher sustainability to protect the local communities in the countries we operate, spanning 96 percent of the world.”
Palm Beach County in Florida has finally ended its battle with the FAA over a ban on private jets at Palm Beach County Park Airport (KLNA), formerly known as Lantana Airport.
The county’s department of airports had attempted to maintain the ban on aircraft over 12,500 pounds, which was originally imposed nearly five decades ago but was tested in a 2016 situation where a private jet pilot landed at KLNA in a Cessna Citation and was threatened with fines and jail time. The pilot petitioned the FAA to investigate the legality of the ban from a federal airport improvement program funding perspective.
The FAA ruled that the ban was “unreasonable and unjustly discriminatory," but the county continued to spend thousands of dollars in legal fees in challenging the agency.
The case was eventually referred to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with the FAA, noting in its November 18 ruling that Subsection (a) of Grant Assurance 22 requires sponsors to “make the airport available as an airport for public use on reasonable terms and without unjust discrimination to all types, kinds, and classes of aeronautical activities.”
The court added that the Airport Noise and Capacity Act, which the county cited in its defense, generally prohibits “airport noise and access restrictions on the operation of... Stage 3 aircraft.” The Citation in question fell under that latter category.
Los Angeles-based aerospace startup Skyryse put 70-year-old U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley (D-California) in the left seat of a Robinson R44 recently. Brownley—who is a member of the House aviation subcommittee but not a pilot—flew the helicopter with the assistance of Skyryse’s touchpad FlightOS system. Monitored by a safety pilot in the right seat, Brownley flew the helicopter after just a few minutes of training. “Having a computer that knows exactly how to fly just completely enhances aviation to a level that we’ve never seen before,” she said.
FlightOS leverages fly-by-wire hardware and software that automates most actions, increases interoperability across aircraft, and automatically keeps pilots within a safe flight envelope. It also is designed to safely manage the aircraft through emergencies and almost all weather conditions, according to the company.
Skyryse has raised more than $260 million to develop FlightOS from investors including Fidelity Management & Research, Monashee Investment Management, ArrowMark Partners, Venrock, Eclipse Ventures, Cantos, Stanford University, and Ford Motor executive chair Bill Ford.
Tailwinds Foundation is hosting an event on February 2 to mark the establishment of its organization as a non-profit dedicated to the development of the business aviation workforce. To be held at the Palm Springs Air Museum in California, the Takeoff '23 event will gather industry leaders seeking to address workforce challenges. Dassault Falcon Jet is the title sponsor for the event, joined by organizations such as Monterey Jet Center, Solairus Aviation, and Icon Aircraft.
Noting that the aviation workforce will need to add more than 600,000 mechanics over the next 20 years to stem a shortage, Tailwinds Foundation said its goal is to support organizations and programs that will help bring talent to the industry.
“Most anyone invested in business aviation today is aware of the across-the-board talent shortage,” said Tailwinds Foundation chairman Craig Bowers. “The Tailwinds Foundation was created to ultimately serve as a positive influence in addressing the problem—either through financial support to organizations and individuals or to serve as a catalyst in showcasing industry best practices and information sharing.”
The inaugural event will feature a workforce development executive roundtable to foster discussion and will also serve as a fundraiser to help the organization move forward with its mission. Tickets for the event, which is open to the public, cost $55 each and can be purchased on the Tailwinds Foundation site.
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