Global business aircraft flight activity was flat last month, falling by just 0.3% from November 2023, with North America seeing a stronger decline than initially expected, slowing 3.8% year over year (YOY), according to Argus International’s latest TraqPak data. The European market was mostly flat, ebbing 0.8% last month, while flying in the rest of the world climbed by 18.3% from a year ago.

“November activity in North America was expected to decline but it did slow a bit more than planned,” said Argus v-p of software Travis Kuhn. “Looking ahead, we expect the first half of December to be up slightly from last year, with an overall expected gain of 1.6%” in North America. He is also predicting Europe will see a 1% increase this month.

In North America, fractional activity produced the only gain among the operating categories last month, rising 5.1% YOY. Part 135 flying slumped 3.5% while Part 91 declined 7.5%. All aircraft categories in this region were negative last month, with large-cabin jets lagging the most, falling 12.4% from November 2023. Midsize jets followed with a decline of 3.5%, light jets dropped 1.7%, and turboprops trailed off by 1.2%.

Europe fared better in November, with all three jet categories trending positive versus a year ago, but these gains were more than offset by decreases in turboprop flying last month.

While purchase interest remains steady and business aircraft utilization is still increasing, optimism ebbed in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and North Africa in the third quarter from 79.7% to 77.2%, according to Asian Sky Group’s (ASG) third-quarter market briefing.

However, within that, optimism is on the upswing in Greater China, increasing from 63.2% to 68.8%, and in Oceania, which went up from 63.6% to 75%, according to survey respondents. Additionally, respondents from Southeast and Northeast Asia still logged the highest optimism level among all subregions at 86.5%.

Business aircraft use increased for 48.8% of the respondents in ASG’s survey while decreasing for 26.2% and remaining unchanged in the remaining 25%. Of those reporting an increase, 19% reported flying at least 20% more. However, business aircraft departures from the Asia-Pacific region in the third quarter fell by about 100 movements quarter over quarter, to 28,351.

Meanwhile, more than half of the respondents—56.6%—indicated an interest in buying an aircraft in the coming year. ASG said this was consistent with its second-quarter report.

Of those, 34% planned to turn to the preowned market, and 22.6% preferred new. Those looking at new have declined from 29.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023—a decrease that ASG said may be attributed to increased costs of new purchases and economic uncertainty.

Gogo completed the acquisition of Satcom Direct yesterday for $375 million in cash and issuance of five million shares of Gogo stock to SD ownership. The sellers could further realize an additional $225 million “tied to realizing performance thresholds over the next four years,” according to Gogo, which funded the deal with $250 million in debt and $150 million in cash.

The acquisition expands Gogo’s airborne connectivity offerings, making the Broomfield, Colorado company “the only multi-orbit, multi-band, in-flight connectivity provider serving the needs of every segment of the global business aviation and military/government mobility markets.” These offerings include Gogo’s air-to-ground network, covering the continental U.S. and parts of Canada and Alaska; Satcom Direct’s FlexExec Intelsat Ku-band and PlaneSimple Ku- and Ka-band geostationary orbit (GEO) satcom antennas and terminal hardware and global broadband customers plus other satellite-related and cybersecurity services; and Gogo’s upcoming Galileo low-earth-orbit (LEO) satcom on Eutelsat’s OneWeb satellite network.

Gogo expects the acquisition to help it sell Galileo to Satcom Direct’s 1,300 broadband customers and to owners of about 12,000 medium and smaller business aircraft outside North America without connectivity, thanks to Galileo’s compact HDX electronically steered antenna. Gogo also sees strong demand in the military and government markets, which Satcom Direct had served with its GEO connectivity and will now be candidates for Galileo.

Nicholas Sabatini, a long-time FAA official whose career culminated as associate administrator for aviation safety, died on November 27. He was 88. In his roles with the agency, Sabatini became an influential leader, serving as a mentor to those within the FAA as well as in the industry, NBAA said in marking his loss. NBAA credited Sabatini with helping to pioneer the concept of a “just culture” approach to safety during his time with the FAA.

“Nick Sabatini was passionate about aviation safety, with a tireless focus on understanding the root causes of accidents, so that meaningful steps can be taken to avoid similar future tragedies,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen.

Born in Vasto, Italy, in 1936, Sabatini emigrated to the U.S. in 1938, living in the Bronx, New York, according to his Legacy obituary information. As a young man, he served in the U.S. Army before joining the New York Police Department in August 1958, initially as a patrol officer. He later joined the mounted division and in 1966 went to the NYPD's aviation unit.

Passionate about flying, Sabatini then moved on to the U.S. Customs Drug Interdiction Air Unit in Brooklyn before embarking upon a 30-year career with the FAA in 1978. Initially serving as an operations inspector in Charleston, West Virginia, Sabatini would move into multiple roles, including director of flight standards in Washington, D.C.

Ensuring your aircraft is ready to fly when you are begins with an adept team of maintenance professionals. How do you know if those servicing your aircraft have the skills necessary to keep your plane airworthy? Learn how FlightSafety International training provides that essential expertise.

Aviation career search site JSfirm has announced a partnership with Aircraft Maintenance Technician Interactive Learning (AMTIL), an emerging aviation maintenance training platform. The collaboration is an effort to address the growing shortage of aviation maintenance professionals by providing AMTIL’s users direct access to JSfirm’s job listings.

AMTIL, which has not yet launched its training curriculum, promises to offer interactive and gamified training using machine learning and virtual reality. “Currently, AMTIL does not issue certificates upon course completion,” according to the site’s FAQ section. “Our platform serves as a supplemental learning tool to be used alongside an approved Part 147 curriculum.”

Through this new partnership, AMTIL will integrate JSfirm’s job postings directly into its platform, giving users easy access to career opportunities in the aviation industry.

“AMTIL is bringing the latest technology to the field of aviation maintenance education. It is so exciting for JSfirm.com to be part of this endeavor,” JSfirm partnership manager Laurie Elliott said. “We are honored to partner with AMTIL as they continue to grow.”

Stellar, a Magellan Jets portfolio company, has acquired Fly Louie’s charter sourcing business division. “We are excited to welcome Fly Louie’s Platinum Charter division to the Stellar team,” said Stellar chief technology officer Terry Truta.

“As we continue to execute our strategic roadmap and grow our operator-centric marketplace, this combined entity will provide unparalleled expertise, technology, and retail demand,” he added. “Going forward, we will continue to evaluate and add additional products and services such as group purchasing, pilot benefits, and new AI tools that will provide greater value for operators.”

Stellar said it hopes the acquisition will allow Fly Louie’s customers to benefit from Stellar’s sales and quoting technology, noting that both aircraft operators and retail buyers of charter lift can leverage “Stellar’s marketplace and AI-driven tools to increase efficiency and revenue.”

“Stellar’s commitment to operators’ success is second to none in this industry,” said Fly Louie CEO Julia Takeda. “We have been working with Stellar for several years now and we see this as a natural evolution to couple Fly Louie’s proven track record of driving operator revenue with Stellar’s broader suite of tools, technology, and retail demand.”

Magellan Jets acquired Stellar in October 2023.

Duncan Aviation is partnering with Extant Aerospace to provide “critical support” for legacy aircraft components. The move was propelled by Extant's acquisition of an older JET/L3 product line that includes critical components for emergency power supplies, emergency lighting, stick pushers, static inverters, static converters, and line-replaceable units on aircraft made by Embraer, Gulfstream, Beechcraft, and Sikorsky, among others.

“We sought a partnership with Duncan Aviation to support the established customer base for the JET/L3 stick pusher and emergency power supply products we acquired in 2022,” said Extant Aerospace business unit manager Madison Blake. “This came with the need to serve dozens of new customers across hundreds of unique part numbers. Duncan Aviation has provided valuable insight into customer needs and solutions to ensure the best service to the end users. The partnership has been successful in serving the market and providing more support to meet customer needs all over the world.”

“These units are manufactured on demand, with lead times ranging from six to 12 months,” said Chris Gress, a business development manager at Duncan Aviation. “We are proactively conducting research and forecasting demand to maintain an inventory level that will reduce the waiting time for operators.”

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