APS Breaks Ground on New Mesa HQ Complex

Upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT) provider Aviation Performance Solutions (APS) on Tuesday broke ground on a 25,000-sq-ft headquarters and 40,000-sq-ft support facility at the north end of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (IWA). Set to open later this year, the Arizona complex will allow APS to streamline operations and house aircraft and simulators needed for its UPRT programs.

In addition to the expansive hangar additions, the facilities will include dedicated operational training areas with expanded classrooms, briefing rooms, flight simulation, integrated multimedia technologies, and indoor/outdoor lounge and deck areas for customers. It will also have expanded centralized business areas for APS employees.

“Our new world headquarters facilities in Arizona expand our teams’ ability to accomplish our company vision to help pilots bring everyone home safely,” said APS CEO Paul Ransbury. “As demand for UPRT continues to rise, APS leads the industry with programs, facilities, training platforms, and instructional expertise to assure leading-edge, quality-assured and standardized upset training that comprehensively reduces every pilot’s risk of loss of control in-flight [LOC-I], aviation’s number-one cause of fatalities.”

New Study Shows General Aviation’s Economic Might

The general aviation industry provided a total of 1,179,200 jobs and contributed a total of $248.8 billion in total economic output in 2018, according to a new report on its contribution to the U.S. economy. A similar study conducted in 2013 found the industry supported 1,101,800 jobs with an economic output of $218.6 billion.

Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers was commissioned to do the report by NBAA, GAMA, NATA, HAI, AOPA, EAA, and AEA, with support from industry data providers JetNet and Conklin & de Decker.

“If you look at jobs supported by general aviation that is a significant number and an increase. That is pretty good news,” said GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce yesterday in Washington, D.C., at the organization’s annual state-of-the-industry presentation. He stressed the importance of sharing that news with influencers both at the national level and local communities. “It’s a giant contribution and we should all be very proud of it.

“This is a big deal because the best is yet to come,” he added, pointing to a multitude of new traditional aircraft in the offing, as well as many more new entrants with novel approaches to flying. The industry is also working on a compendium to go along with the study to highlight the many different ways the industry contributes to the economy, from the homebuilder to the most sophisticated operations.

Gulfstream Charts New Service Center in Fort Worth

Gulfstream Aerospace is investing $35 million in a new 160,000-sq-ft MRO at Fort Worth Alliance Airport in Texas, marking the latest in the company’s major expansion plans for its customer support efforts, the company announced today. Subject to approval from the board of directors of Gulfstream parent General Dynamics, plans call for groundbreaking in the third quarter on a center that will house hangar space, back shops, and employee and customer offices.

Once opened in the fall of 2021, the facility would complement Gulfstream’s existing site about 35 miles away at Dallas Love Field. Gulfstream expects to shift about 150 to 200 of the staff at Dallas Love Field to the new site. In addition, the Fort Worth center is anticipated to result in the creation of 50 more jobs.

Meanwhile, between 30 to 80 employees would remain at Love Field to provide on-site and transient operators with maintenance and service. Further, Gulfstream’s midcabin aircraft completions business in Dallas, encompassing 350 employees and five hangars, will remain at Love Field.

“Alliance Airport is a great location,” said Gulfstream Customer Support president Derek Zimmerman. “It is an established airport for business aviation operators, has an outstanding infrastructure, and is appropriately sized for our operations. It is also the home of a growing aviation school, which will help us continue to develop both new and existing employees.”

AIM Revisions Clarify Pilot Options on Approaches

The FAA recently published revisions to the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM), including clarifications of “approach category” and its application in determining the appropriate straight-in or circling minimums on an instrument approach. Previous AIM language required pilots to use the next higher approach category if it was necessary to maneuver at a speed above the upper limits of the aircraft’s defined approach category, but the revised language removes this requirement.

“The AIM revisions clarify an aircraft is certified to one approach category,” said Richard Boll, a member of NBAA’s Access Committee and chair of its airspace, ATC, and flight technologies working group. “The important thing is to remain within protected airspace, whether in a circling or straight-in approach.” To remain in protected airspace, it is still recommended—but no longer required—that pilots use the next higher approach category if possible, Boll explained.

Revised AIM language also provides guidance for pilots regarding responsibilities and recommended actions in flying these approaches, using either the minimums corresponding to the category determined by certification or minimums associated with a higher category. Another important revision, NBAA noted, is a reminder that operations below the MDA or DA/DH require the runway environment be in sight and the aircraft be continuously positioned so that a landing on the intended runway can be made using a normal rate of descent and normal maneuvers.

Partnership Offers Boost to Flightdocs’ Offerings

Flight department management and maintenance software provider Flightdocs has entered into a partnership with Portside, a provider of owner portal and billing technology used by aircraft operators and owners in more than 20 countries. Under the partnership, integration of Portside’s services allows Flightdocs Enterprise customers access to billing, reporting and analytics, and fleet-wide planning tools.

According to Flightdocs, that enables its customers to improve efficiency, optimize aircraft ownership costs, and preserve the value of aircraft. “By partnering with Portside, we are able to push additional information directly from Flightdocs Enterprise to the Portside platform, allowing for improved representation of the aircraft's utilization and financial performance and thus enabling the transition of key critical information into one centralized location,” said Flightdocs founder and president Greg Heine.

Portside co-founder and CEO Alek Vernitsky said integrating his company’s software with Flightdocs “is the most natural next step to expanding our value to customers. Flightdocs’ approach and commitment to technology development, data security, and customer service made the decision to establish a deeper relationship and tighter integration for maintenance tracking easy.”

Nav Canada Rate Increase Upheld by National Arbitrator

Higher fees that recently went into effect for users of ATC services in Canada have been upheld by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), the country’s independent organization that is responsible for resolving complaints about transportation services, fares, rates, and charges. Nav Canada, the private, not-for-profit company that operates the nation’s ATC system, implemented increased domestic and international user fees on September 1 and January 1, respectively.

The CTA’s decision relates to an appeal by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), filed just days after the fees went into effect. Nav Canada and IATA agreed to mediation, which commenced in October and ended with the arbitrator’s decision in late January. During mediation, the revised rates remained in effect.

On September 1, Nav Canada raised the cost of domestic ATC by an average of 0.8 percent on overall rate levels. On January 1, the North Atlantic en route charge increased to a flat rate of $155.03 per flight. Nav Canada said the increases are necessary to recover the cost of providing ADS-B surveillance. Until the rates increased, ADS-B services had been available since last March at no cost during a trial period. Nav Canada also pointed out that its service charges had not increased since 2004.

VFS, CAMI Hold Urban Air Mobility Infrastructure Workshops

The Vertical Flight Society (VFS) will hold its second workshop on infrastructure needs for urban air mobility (UAM) on March 17-18 at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. The event is being held in tandem with the Community Air Mobility Initiative’s UAM 101 workshop at the same location on March 16, which is intended to support state and local officials trying to incorporate urban air mobility into their transportation planning.

The agenda for the VFS workshop includes sessions on topics such as UAM-related building, fire and electrical code, as well as weather, acoustics, design criteria for ground infrastructure, municipal planning and land use, and contingency planning. There will be strong participation from FAA leaders work on UAM infrastructure policy, including experts from the nearby FAA Technical Center, which delegates will be able to visit on March 18.

Speakers and moderators will include the following: NASA’s UAM strategic advisor Starr Ginn, Uber’s head of aviation policy Danielle Rinsler, Darshan Divakaran from the North Carolina Department of Transportation, and CAMI co-executive director Anna Dietrich and Yolanka Wulff. The conference will also hear from experts from several leading planning, engineering and architecture firms.

Garmin Pilot Flight Planning Gains New Capabilities

Gamin has completed a major update to its Garmin Pilot electronic flight bag app for Apple iOS devices, with new flight planning features that more closely match the way pilots interact with installed Garmin avionics.

One change that makes the app better interface with installed avionics is loading and activating instrument procedures and arrivals/departures. The app makes this even easier with a new visual procedure selector, which lets the user view the procedures on the map, including all arrival or departure procedures simultaneously to see which one is optimal. For approaches, the user can see which transition is optimal. Approaches with radius-to-fix legs are also included, and pilots can activate these in Garmin Pilot.

Pilots can now also use the app to create custom holding patterns at waypoints (including user-defined ones), airports, and navaids. Also available now are along-track offsets, which allow users to create an offset waypoint by direction and distance from an existing waypoint. Another new Garmin Pilot feature is wireless Database Concierge transfer to Garmin’s GI 275 electronic instruments.

Count on AIN for Full Coverage of NBAA’s Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference

NBAA’s Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference (SDC2020) will be held from Tuesday, March 10 through Friday, March 13 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Exhibitors with news to share ahead of the show should contact AIN senior editor Curt Epstein.