While Los Angeles celebrated a Super Bowl victory by the hometown Rams, local FBOs in the area that also served as host for the February 13 game at SoFi Stadium also had reason to cheer as private aviation flights returned to their usual heights after the Covid-stunted totals of last year.
With no stadium capacity limitations for this year’s game, it attracted more than 1,400 business aviation flights to area airports in the days preceding it, according to FlightAware, which has been tracking Super Bowl flight activity for years. That is more than double last year’s tally, but still less than the 1,600 flights to Miami for Super Bowl LVI in 2020, before Covid became firmly entrenched in the U.S.
Industry data provider WingX noted that arrivals at area airports peaked at 501 flights last Friday, with the day after the event seeing 548 business aircraft departures, a 65 percent increase over typical activity in the area.
While most of the FBOs praised the prior permission required system and other processes instituted to ease the traffic flow, some noted that traffic levels were slightly lower than what they were anticipating. One possibility is the participation of the hometown Rams in the game, which may have negated much of the travel needs for its fan base.
I attended the NBAA Leadership Conference in Dallas last week, and the experience was fantastic. NBAA president Ed Bolen also kicked off the association’s 75th anniversary at the conference.
So I found myself contemplating how far we’ve come in the past 75 years and how much we’ve evolved. Back then, it was exclusively white males in the room. But at the recent conference, I found myself among a much more diverse group.
Business aviation has grown up a lot in 75 years, but it also still has a long way to go. That’s especially true when it comes to being inclusive and welcoming of people of color, women, LGBTQ+, caregivers, and anyone who feels they are “other.” As we so pointedly learned last week, there’s always more to do in this regard.
One of the challenges we face is changing this statistic from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: 93 percent of U.S. pilots are white men. New organizations in our industry, such as the RedTail Flight Academy in Windsor, New York, are aiming to do precisely that.
As we embark on the next 75 years of business aviation, I ask you to join me on a mission to, as Anne Palmer from the RedTail Academy said, “leave an indelible mark in our lifetime” on this industry. Let’s work on attracting and retaining a more diverse and inclusive workforce.
Worldwide business and general aviation avionics sales last year climbed 6.5 percent, to nearly $2.37 billion, according to the Aircraft Electronics Association’s 2021 Avionics Market Report. This puts last year’s sales on par with those from 2017 but below the $3 billion peak recorded in 2019. During the fourth quarter, sales rose 7.4 percent from a year earlier.
Of the 2021 avionics sales, 54.6 percent were from the retrofit market, with forward-fit sales accounting for the remainder. By world region, 75.2 percent of these sales were from the U.S. and Canada, while 24.8 percent took place in other international markets.
“Industry sales have been steadily climbing for six straight quarters after bottoming out in the second quarter of 2020,” said AEA President and CEO Mike Adamson. “As the industry continues to recover from the initial jolt of the pandemic, avionics manufacturers are now dealing with supply chain issues that may impact sales through 2022. As a result, many OEMs are engaged in ongoing and proactive communications with their dealers and navigating through increasing lead times for some products.”
According to AEA, the sales amounts include all components and accessories in cockpit/cabin/software upgrades/portables/certified and noncertified aircraft electronics; all hardware; batteries; and chargeable product upgrades. They do not include repairs and overhauls, extended warranty, or subscription services.
East Hampton’s move to close its public airport, East Hampton Airport (KHTO), at the end of this month and reopen it days later as a private-use facility—officially in the name of noise abatement—has been delayed until May 17. This extra time will allow the town and FAA to attempt working together to resolve approval issues with airspace, tower staffing, procedures, and IFR approaches.
Yesterday, town supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc acknowledged that recertifying KHTO's instrument approaches could take until late this year, making the field VFR-only until then. The FAA had previously warned the town that converting to private use would require a variety of approvals that could take up to two years and would disable all FAA-operated navigational, weather, and communications aids and that Class D airspace will not be applicable.
Converting the airport also has drawn widespread criticism from aviation interests. Kenneth Grimes, the v-p of air ambulance conglomerate Global Medical Response, warned that the move would eliminate the airport’s “essential utility it provides the community” by making it, essentially, a VFR-only airport. Jeff Smith, v-p of operations and government affairs for the Eastern Region Helicopter Council (ERHC), maintained that hastily converting the airport to private use would simply move the local noise problem to other area communities and create “chaos in the skies and more traffic on our roads.”
NBAA has kicked off its 75th-anniversary celebration with plans for multiple events and recognitions throughout the year, culminating at the 2022 BACE scheduled for October 18 to 20 in Orlando, Florida. The organization was founded on Feb. 13, 1947, as the Corporation Aircraft Owners Association, with the goal of fostering an environment in which business aviation can thrive. Today, NBAA represents more than 11,000 companies and promotes policies and safety, security, and sustainability initiatives that support business aviation in the U.S. and around the world.
“This anniversary year offers an opportunity for everyone to take part in telling our industry’s story of innovation and achievement so that business aviation is even stronger seven decades from today,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. “Everything we do will be focused on engaging our community to be a part of this exciting story.”
The celebration will involve a series of initiatives that are designed to not only recognize the association’s milestone year but inspire the next generation of the business aviation community, according to NBAA. For starters, the association has launched a “throwback Thursday” series on its social media platforms to showcase the trailblazers and legends that have shaped the industry. It created a #NBAA75 hashtag to enable others to join the conversation and follow the initiatives that are to come.
Jet Linx CEO Jamie Walker cautioned about the importance of operators managing growth in an overheated market, stressing “quality is paramount” to maintaining a brand. Speaking Wednesday during an NBAA News Hour webinar, Walker agreed that the growth in the market has provided opportunity, but that it must be measured.
“It’s difficult in a market where we’ve been so aggressive to get the customers and never say no, to be on the other side of the table, to worry about quality, to worry about long-term relationships with our customers,” Walker said. “It really is an unusual and different time.”
He pointed to the company’s decision to suspend jet card sales in October as an effort “to get control of demand.” That move relieved pressure on the company’s crews and other operational teams. “It's a balancing act,” he stressed.
Walker spoke of the constraints about building up the fleet to have the additional capacity. Operating managed aircraft, Jet Linx did see “a little bit of an exodus” as owners took advantage of astronomical offers and sold their aircraft, but now that tide is turning. In December, Jet Linx had more than two dozen airplanes go through conformity, though Walker said, “We could easily have had another 25 to 30 going through conformity right now if there was availability on the supply side.”
The planned March 31 departure of FAA Administrator Steve Dickson comes as much of the agency’s leadership team has turned over in the past year. But for business and general aviation, Dickson is leaving an “enduring legacy” in steering the agency through a difficult time.
“Our country has been extremely fortunate to have Steve Dickson as FAA administrator during one of the most challenging periods in the history of the agency,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen, adding “his leadership, integrity, experience, and expertise…made a profound difference.”
GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce further called Dickson a “strong and effective leader” and said his work “has advanced the agency’s resiliency and credibility.”
Speaking to the Administrator’s collaborative approach, AOPA president and CEO Mark Baker noted Dickson's efforts with the association on important safety initiatives. NATA president and CEO Timothy Obitts agreed, saying his “commitment to continuous safety improvement, dedication to industry collaboration, and ability to instill confidence among consumers and the community will serve the agency well for years to come.”
Dickson's departure from the FAA is just one of a handful. Since last year, the agency has received a new deputy administrator (Bradley Mims), associate administrator for airports (Shannetta Griffin), associate administrator for aviation safety (Billy Nolen), and chief counsel (Marc Nichols). FAA COO Teri Bristol is also retiring at the end of this month.
Textron Aviation Special Missions this week announced the delivery of four Cessna Skyhawk 172 piston singles to the Philippine Navy and an order for two Beechcraft King Air 360s from a German flight inspection system provider on behalf of the Indian government. Acquired through a foreign military sale managed by the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, the new Skyhawks will be used by the Philippine Navy for flight training and join an existing fleet of 172s based at the Naval Air Wing at Sangley Point, Philippines.
At the Singapore Airshow this week, Brunswick, Germany-based company Aerodata placed an order for two of the flagship King Air twin turboprops that it will outfit with the AeroFIS flight inspection system for the Airport Authority of India, which will own and operate the airplanes. AeroFIS is Aerodata’s proprietary system for the inspection of all navigation aids and flight procedures that need calibration or validation.
“With the purchase of these additional two King Airs, we further our long-term, fruitful relationship with the Airport Authority of India,” said Aerodata president and CEO Hans Stahl.
Photo of the Week
The shows must go on. Despite pandemic travel restrictions, daily Covid testing, and strict mask-wearing requirements, the hall floors this week at the Singapore Airshow were still packed with attendees. There were also plenty of aircraft orders and other news coming out of the show, further proving that in-person industry get-togethers like this are just as important as ever. Thanks to AIN contributing photographer David McIntosh for taking this image at the airshow. For more news and images from the Singapore confab, go to our airshow landing page.
If you’d like to submit an entry for Photo of the Week, email a high-resolution horizontal image (at least 2000 x 1200 pixels), along with your name, contact information, social media names, and info about it (including brief description, location, etc.) to photos@ainonline.com. Tail numbers can be removed upon request. Those submitting photos give AIN implied consent to publish them in its publications and social media channels.
AINalerts News Tips/Feedback: News tips may be sent anonymously, but feedback must include name and contact info (we will withhold name on request). We reserve the right to edit correspondence for length, clarity and grammar. Send feedback or news tips to AINalerts editor Chad Trautvetter.
AINalerts is a publication of AIN Media Group, 214 Franklin Avenue, Midland Park, New Jersey. Copyright 2022. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited.
