MecanAir Adds Full Mx Credentials for Daher Aircraft
Switzerland’s MecanAir, already an authorized Kodiak service center, has been awarded similar credentials for the TBM series turboprops by TBM manufacturer Daher. Tarbes, France-based Daher, which also owns Kodiak, said the addition of the TBM to MecanAir’s factory maintenance authorizations underscores its integration of the two turboprop product lines.
“This is another important step in enhancing our global network after Daher’s acquisition of Kodiak in 2019,” explained Daher aircraft division senior v-p and Kodiak Aircraft CEO Nicolas Chabbert. “With MecanAir’s dual Kodiak and TBM authorization today—to be followed by other service centers in the future—customers will benefit from more comprehensive coverage...of our network worldwide.”
MecanAir is based at Ecuvillens Airport near Fribourg, with maintenance workshops at the Swiss airports of Yverdon-les-Bains and Grenchenand. The EASA Part 145 MRO provider specializes in maintenance and repair of aircraft weighing less than 12,500 pounds, as well as overhaul of turboprop engines and accessories. Through the expanded service agreement with Daher, MecanAir can now perform scheduled and nonscheduled maintenance on Kodiak and TBM airplanes and airworthiness-related control and management under its CAMO authorization.
“As a key member of services for the Kodiak aircraft family for 10 years, MecanAir distinguished itself as an extremely capable support partner,” said Daher aircraft division customer support v-p Raphaël Maître. “The next step was extending MecanAir’s capability to the TBM.”
Senate Confirms Pete Buttigieg as Transportation Secretary
By a vote of 86-13, the U.S. Senate today confirmed the nomination of Peter “Pete” Buttigieg to become the next DOT secretary. The Senate vote followed the January 27 approval by the Senate Commerce Committee, where he received strong bipartisan support from the leadership. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) said she enthusiastically endorsed the nomination, while Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) called Buttigieg impressive.
NBAA welcomed the confirmation. “We thank the Senate for moving quickly to consider his nomination and confirm him as secretary,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. “Business aviation is important to the economy, including in small and rural towns, and we look forward to working with the secretary on our shared goals of economic recovery and prosperity, infrastructure and investments for all of aviation, including emerging technologies, access to airports, and airspace and sustainability.”
Cantwell had expressed an urgency for his confirmation, given the challenges the transportation sector has faced during the Covid-19 pandemic. During his confirmation hearing in January, Buttigieg had stressed the need to move forward on infrastructure investment, calling it “part and parcel” with economic recovery.
Buttigieg takes on the presidential cabinet position after serving two terms as mayor of South Bend, Indiana. A Harvard University graduate and Rhodes Scholar while at Oxford University, he also served seven months in the war in Afghanistan in the Navy Reserve.
CDC Mask Requirement Includes Charter Operators, FBOs
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) latest order requiring masks while traveling extends to airports, FBOs, and commercial aircraft operations, including Part 135 charter operators, business aviation advocates are advising. The order—which took effect today and applies to those traveling into, within, or out of the U.S.—calls on applicable facility or aircraft operators to do their best to ensure passengers are wearing masks before they enter a facility or board an aircraft and monitor to ensure masks remain worn, NATA said.
Further, operators must provide notification of federal requirements regarding masks and should disembark passengers who refuse. The notification can be via digital, print, audio, or other means, NATA added.
Exemptions for the requirement include brief periods for eating, drinking, or taking medications; communications involving a person who is hearing impaired; times where oxygen masks may be needed on board; travelers who are unconscious or incapacitated; children under the age of two; times of traveler identification; and cases involving people who cannot safely wear masks.
Part 91 operations are exempt, as are crewmembers, when wearing a mask would create a risk to workplace health, safety, or job duty, NBAA said. “The FAA interprets this to include pilots or crewmembers seated at their duty station,” it added.
Airbus Helos Help in Covid-19 Vaccine Delivery Effort
Airbus helicopters are being used in more than 30 countries around the world to distribute Covid-19 vaccines to isolated areas, with the Franco-German rotorcraft manufacturer highlighting such operations in Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, and France.
Chilean authorities have deployed a BK117 from the Prefectura Aérea de Carabineros and a navy AS365 Panther, while a Suma Air H125 transported 85 vaccine doses from Santiago to Quillota Hospital. In Minas Gerais, Brazil, the local fire brigade’s two H125 helicopters and one airplane have been tasked with distributing 560,000 vaccine doses in the state. Public-security H125s also were in charge of transporting much of the 70,000 doses in the state of Alagoas, while in the state of Ceará a CIOPAer H145 flew vaccines to remote areas.
The Mexican government has established eight air routes for the distribution of vaccines using eight aircraft, including a Sedena National Defense H225M and three airplanes to distribute 440,000 doses in less than 24 hours. Its navy also used a Panther AS565 to transport 200 doses from Hermosillo to Puerto Peñasco.
In Spain, armed forces flew vaccines from Getafe to the Canary and Balearic Islands, while an army H215M Cougar delivered the vaccine to Ceuta and Melilla on Africa’s north coast. And France’s Securité Civile Airbus helicopter fleet began transporting vaccines last week to the Brittany Islands off the coast of western France.
AEG Fuels has signed an agreement with Boeing that will enable the Miami-based jet fuel marketer to provide a full range of trip support services by leveraging flight planning capabilities from Boeing's Jeppesen subsidiary. As a result, AEG can now offer a one-source flight experience for its clients, including ground handling reservations, routing, and weather planning.
Through the partnership, AEG is now prepared to serve all segments of the aviation industry, from major fractional operators, corporate flight departments, and charter providers to airlines, OEMs, and government flight operations. “AEG is now positioned to offer a comprehensive solution to operators for their fuel and trip needs with a leading technology platform and emphasis on personalized service,” said AEG COO Chris Clementi.
“Providing our 24/7/365 trip planning capabilities for AEG customers is [a] perfect example of form, fit, and function,” added Mike Bishop, director of Boeing’s Jeppesen Flight Support Services. “Moving into 2021 with continued optimism related to recovery across aviation, we believe this partnership creates opportunity and allows both companies to focus on core expertise while also delivering new and competitive services to customers worldwide.”
FAA Employee Arrested for Capitol Attack
FAA employee Kevin Strong is among those arrested in connection with the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Strong, an airway transportation systems specialist in San Bernardino, California, was arrested on January 22 and charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, knowingly engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct in any restricted building or grounds, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
According to the Department of Transportation, Strong was recorded and photographed in the Capitol rotunda and admitted to being in the building. Court documents state that the FBI initiated an investigation into Strong on December 30 based on reports the agency received that he had shown signs of behavioral changes, stockpiled items, and allegedly told others to get ready for martial law, rioting, and protesting. This allegedly included sending messages that World War III would occur on January 6.
On January 7, an employee in the FAA’s Investigations Branch reported to the FBI that Strong was spotted in the Capitol building on a newscast. Upon questioning, Strong confessed to being in the Capitol and shared photos and videos online. He appeared in the U.S. District Court, where bail was set at $50,000. His legal representative did not respond to AIN's request for comment.
Airports Authority of India (AAI), which controls the third-largest airspace area in the world, is the first in South Asia to successfully deploy Aireon’s satellite-based ADS-B air traffic surveillance system. During trials completed over the past 18 months, the government-backed group successfully tested Aireon’s ADS-B Out service across the Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata oceanic airspace.
Before deployment of the Aireon system, controllers typically kept aircraft at inefficient flight levels because of the high traffic levels and lack of radar coverage, increasing fuel burn and thus operator costs.
Aireon’s ADS-B is an air traffic surveillance technology that relies on aircraft broadcasting their identity, position, and other information derived from onboard systemst to receivers on satellites instead of ground-based receivers. Iridium is hosting the Aireon ADS-B payload on each of its 66 satellites (and nine spares) in low-earth orbit.
AAI has faced surveillance challenges across the vast nine million square meters of airspace that it covers, including six million square meters of oceanic area. With surveillance available over AAI’s entire airspace, Aireon’s service can reduce infrastructure costs by eliminating the need to build new radars or ADS-B ground stations. Pilots will receive preferred routing, speeds, and altitudes from controllers, who can help their aircraft avoid bad weather and turbulence. Preferred routing also adds environmental benefits by allowing flight at more efficient altitudes, saving time and fuel.
The Biden Administration has selected A. Bradley Mims, who had been president of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO), to serve as the FAA’s deputy administrator. Mims steps into the role that Dan Elwell vacated late last year.
Mims has a 40-year background in transportation in multiple roles within the government, as well as the private sector. At COMTO, he steered an organization that promotes opportunities for minorities in the transportation industry.
During the Clinton Administration, Mims served at the FAA and the Department of Transportation. He also sat on the boards of the Airport Consultants Council, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, and the Maryland Transportation Authority. Additionally, he has been a congressional liaison for the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum and the National African American Museum and held roles with the Mid-Atlantic Laborers’ Employers Cooperation and Education Trust, Parsons Brinckerhoff, and Booz/Allen/Hamilton.
COMTO chairman Freddie Fuller called Mims “an experienced industry expert who is well versed in all modes of transportation.”
BJT Webinar: Basics of Flying Privately
AIN sister publication Business Jet Traveler is holding a free webinar on March 3 about how to get started with flying privately. Hosted by AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber and veteran business aviation journalist Charles Alcock, the webinar will feature EBAA COO Robert Baltus and NATA senior v-p Ryan Waguespack in an unbiased and invaluable conversation through the basics—from charter, jet cards, and flight clubs to fractional aircraft shares and full ownership. Register now
Bizav Industry Honored with Top Flight 'Hero' Award
The business aviation industry won the AIN 2020 Top Flight Award for Innovator, Designer, or Charitable Hero due to its humanitarian response to the Covid pandemic. Business aviation has been at the forefront of delivering Covid-19 supplies, medical equipment and personnel, fuel, food, and vaccines to fight the pandemic. A number of companies and organizations have donated material and services and deserve recognition, including Universal Weather and Aviation, NBAA and the American Hospital Association via the HERO database, EBAA, NetJets, New England Patriots' aviation department, Dassault Aviation, VistaJet/XO, Honeywell, Textron Aviation, Embraer, Piper Aircraft, CAE, Universal Avionics, Cirrus Aircraft, Gulfstream Aerospace, Wheels Up, Air BP, Husky Corp., and numerous others.
People in Aviation
Laura Heltebran joined Wheels Up as chief legal officer, responsible for legal, corporate governance, privacy, IP, compliance, and risk. Heltebran previously was senior v-p and deputy general counsel at Hilton Worldwide and before that held senior v-p roles at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Xerox.
The Registry of Aruba named Alexandria Colindres CEO. She succeeds the company founder and her father, Jorge Colindres, who remains executive chairman and CEO of the Aruba Registry’s parent company, Aviation Registry Group of Companies. Alexandria Colindres has served with the registry for eight years, beginning in public relations and moving up to her most recent role of COO.
The Air Charter Association added two board members: Derek Thomson and Emily Williams. Thomson is commercial director and accountable manager for Air Charter Scotland Europe and has held aircraft operations and sales and FBO handling and operations roles. Williams spenr 10 years with NetJets Europe before co-founding the private aviation consultancy IW Aviation.
Eagle Creek Aviation promoted Randy Morelock to v-p of maintenance. Morelock joined Eagle Creek in 1998, holding the positions of director of avionics, project manager, and avionics technician. He also served as an avionics technician for the U.S. Marine Corps Light Attack Helicopter Squadron.
Deutsche Aircraft appointed Nico Neumann v-p of operations and programs, overseeing a number of aspects of the E328eco. Neumann had previously held a range of operational positions with 328 Support Services, most recently as director of maintenance and production.
Gustavo Botura was promoted to the newly created position of director of client services for Elite Jet Charters. Botura was part of the Elite Jets launch team in 2015 and previously served as executive charter consultant.
The Air Charter Safety Foundation added Richard Morris of CAE and Michael Wootton of Advanced Air to its board of governors. Morris, who has served as director of global safety, quality assurance, and compliance for CAE, previously spent six years with Etihad Airways, where he oversaw the regulatory affairs for flight operations and operations training. Wootton is director of operations for Advanced Air and has previously served with companies including NetJets, Basin Aviation, and Sierra West Airlines.
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