AINalerts will not be published tomorrow or Monday in observance of the Christmas holiday weekend. Publication will resume on Tuesday, December 26.

Under an agreement inked with Aero Centers holding company SAR Trilogy Management, Pilatus Aircraft will acquire Aero Center Epps' Pilatus sales and maintenance operations at Atlanta DeKalb-Peachtree Airport (KPDK). The deal, expected to close in 2024, is limited to Aero Center Epps' Pilatus maintenance business and sales and maintenance personnel, the companies said today. Aero Centers Epps will continue to operate its FBO and other maintenance activities, SAR Trilogy noted.

“This transaction allows Aero Centers to better focus on its FBO, non-Pilatus maintenance, and aircraft management and charter business at KPDK,” said SAR Trilogy Management managing director Sanjay Aggarwal.

Pilatus Aircraft CEO Markus Bucher said the acquisition will “safeguard and further improve the continuity and quality” of the company’s services in the Southeast U.S. “I’m delighted that we will have the expertise and the employees on board with us.”

According to Pilatus, it will continue to provide MRO services on an independent basis to customers and pledges to provide product support over the entire life cycle of its aircraft. This will include maintenance and repair services, as well as avionics and spare parts sales, for the PC-12 turboprop single and PC-24 twinjet.

Aero Center Epps Atlanta has been a Pilatus sales and service center since 1996, with its sales territory covering Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Caribbean.

As the year draws to a close, it's a natural time for those of us in business aviation—or frankly for any industry—to reflect on our journeys and take stock of our accomplishments. This introspective exercise can be incredibly rewarding, offering a sense of closure and clarity as we prepare for the year ahead.

One of the most effective ways to do this is through a year in review. This is what I like to call a personal audit that documents our achievements and growth over the past 12 months. While the details will vary from person to person, several key questions can help guide this process.

Answering these questions can provide a clear picture of your progress and accomplishments over the past year. It's important to focus not just on the big wins but also acknowledge the smaller victories that contributed to your overall growth. This process allows you to celebrate your achievements and feel grateful for the experiences that have shaped you.

However, reflection isn't just about celebrating the past; it's also about preparing for the future. By reviewing your accomplishments, you can identify areas where you excelled and areas where you might want to focus your efforts in the coming year. This information can be invaluable when setting new goals and developing a plan for personal and professional growth.

The union that represents about 3,100 NetJets fractional-share pilots—NetJets Association of Shared Aircraft Pilots (NJASAP)—said a survey of its members indicates that 40 percent “expect to leave the company within a year due to the breakdown in negotiations to secure a fair and competitive contract.” 

For its part, NetJets said it has offered pilots a compound 52.5 percent wage increase through the current union collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that ends in 2029. “The percentage base wage increases included in the company’s latest proposal exceed those that were in the recently ratified CBAs at Delta, American, and United Airlines,” NetJets wrote in a fact sheet about this issue.

In a statement about the survey, NJASAP said that while airlines have raised pilot pay significantly, “NetJets has steadfastly refused to do so.” It added that NetJets pilots “will earn approximately 60 percent of what their peers at carriers like JetBlue, United, and Delta will earn during a 30-year career.”

The latter point is essentially the key issue facing NetJets pilots, according to Paulette Gilbert, a NetJets Challenger 350 captain and v-p of NJASAP. The new contracts that now cover U.S. airline pilots are “putting tremendous pressure on pilots who have airline transport pilot licenses because basically you can go anywhere and make a lot of money right now,” she told AIN.

Duncan Aviation’s Engineering & Certifications Service Team has completed the first-article supplemental type certificate (STC) for installation of Gogo Business Aviation’s 5G LX5 system on a Cessna Citation Excel. The LX5 also received FAA parts manufacturer approval.

Gogo said its 5G network will be ready for launch in the third quarter of 2024, pending availability of 5G chips. Once the chips become available, the LX5 LRU can be updated via a minor STC modification so customer installations can take place, according to Gogo. The air-to-ground 5G service will provide average speeds of 25 Mbps and peak speeds from 75 to 80 Mbps. 

While waiting for the 5G service launch, customers can have a Gogo Avance L5 system with MB13 multi-band antennas installed now, then have that swapped for the LX5 LRU later next year at no extra charge. The LX5 LRU is the same form factor with the same connections as the L5 LRU.

“Receiving formal approval from the FAA to produce and manufacture the Avance LX5 line replaceable unit reaffirms our commitment to Gogo 5G as we march toward our launch date,” said Gogo president Sergio Aguirre. “We built LX5 on the Avance platform as a smaller, single-box option to make the installation of Gogo 5G even easier for customers.”

FlightSafety prepares aviators to be capable and confident in every situation. Using cutting-edge technology and tailored curriculum, simulators and ever-improving training methods enable pilots to practice real-life scenarios safely and more consistently in ways not achievable before. 

Bombardier announced its first delivery of a Challenger 3500 in Turkey. Long-time customer Arkasair said the super-midsize jet will replace a Challenger 300 in its air taxi and charter fleet. Arkasair has also operated a Learjet 60 and Challenger 604 since it was founded in 1998.

Martine De Andria, the Izmir-based company’s deputy general manager, noted that the 3500 “perfectly complements the impeccable standards that our VIP air taxi clients have come to demand and expect,” adding that it is “truly an impressive aircraft with its luxurious, comfortable cabin and outstanding performance attributes.”

The 3500—the latest development in the airframer’s Challenger 300 series—integrates many design and technology features from its larger Global siblings, including the Nuage seats. It is also the first in the super-midsize category to have an environmental product declaration, documenting its life cycle environmental footprint.

“Arkasair and Bombardier share a like-minded vision,” explained Emmanuel Bornand, the OEM’s v-p of sales for Europe, Russia, CIS, Middle East, and Africa. “We strive for excellence and work tirelessly to offer an exceptional experience to our clients." He noted that Bombardier continues to look for new opportunities to expand its presence in Turkey, which he described as an “important country.”

EASA this week published updated guidance on flights in airspace that could be impacted by volcanic ash contamination in the wake of Monday night’s eruption of Iceland’s Grindavik volcano. The agency’s 2023-13 safety information bulletin takes account of progress made in dealing with the threat since the incident in April 2010 that caused widespread disruption to airspace.

As of Thursday morning, the Icelandic meteorological office reported that the power, seismicity, and deformation of the volcanic fissure eruption had decreased. However, officials warned that volcanic activity could continue in Iceland for months. The initial eruption saw lava and smoke spewing over 100 meters (328 feet) into the air.

The new bulletin advises aircraft operators to monitor the situation closely because the extent of ash cloud contamination is only likely to become clear after the eruption. EASA said the situation in Iceland is not currently considered to be a safety concern that would warrant a more serious directive, but urges operators to develop a volcanic ash safety risk assessment. Keflavik International Airport, which is less than 20 miles from Grindavik, is operating normally.

The bulletin tells operators to avoid flying into visible volcanic ash or when visibility of the ash is impaired (in instrument meteorological conditions or at night). Flight crewmembers should notify air traffic controllers immediately if they encounter an ash cloud.

As the weather turned cold in the Northeast, the cycle of stranded endangered sea turtles ramped up again this year. This spurred rescue flights by private aviation aircraft, arranged by Turtles Fly Too, a nonprofit organization founded in 2017.

Every fall as the temperatures drop in the waters off the Northern U.S. coast, many sea turtles cannot adapt, becoming cold and lethargic. Unable to swim, they get trapped in the hook of Cape Cod Bay, where they wash up on beaches. There, they are collected by rescuers and brought to institutions—such as the New England Aquarium—where they are carefully revived and stabilized.

With the ailing turtles averaging in the hundreds every year, the space available to accommodate them soon becomes overwhelmed. It is necessary to quickly transport them to other facilities further south for hospitalization and rehabilitation before they are released back into the ocean. For this, Turtles Fly Too coordinates with volunteer private aviation pilots and aircraft owners who have flights heading south from the Northeast.

This week, Chuck Yanke, a Pilatus PC-12 owner and pilot, along with copilot Matt Barnes, transported 70 rare Kemp's Ridley sea turtles from Boston-area Marshfield Municipal Airport (KGHG) to Mississippi’s Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport (KGPT), where they were then transferred to two local rehabilitation facilities. Earlier this month, another flight delivered 52 of the critically endangered turtles to Tampa, Florida.

EASA has issued an emergency airworthiness directive mandating inspection of the swashplate bearing on Airbus H160 helicopters before any cleaning of the bearing, every 15 flight hours, or every seven days, whichever comes first. The agency took the action following reports of “premature in-service degradation” of the bearing. Failure of the bearing could lead to reduced control of the helicopter, as swashplates are a key helicopter directional control component.

According to EASA, the use of the wrong grease or the mixing of incompatible greases might have initiated the degradation. The agency also pointed out that vibration health monitoring (VHM) aboard the helicopter has been as effective as other inspections in detecting early degradation of the bearing, but the reliability of VHM has not been sufficiently demonstrated “unless additional precautions are taken.”

Airbus Helicopters has provided operators with a related emergency alert service bulletin (Emergency ASB H160-B 62-32-0001) to provide inspection instructions and ensure VHM data is analyzed on a regular basis. If any functional discrepancy is detected, the entire main rotor mast assembly must be replaced per the ASB.