Canada-based FBO chain Skyservice Business Aviation has completed its investment in Fontainebleau Aviation’s facility under development at Florida’s Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport (KFLL). Last October, Skyservice acquired a majority share in Fontainebleau, which operates one of the dominant FBOs at bustling private aviation hub Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (KOPF) and retained its iconic name as a joint venture.

Before that, Fontainebleau had purchased the former Jetscape FBO construction project at KFLL. As the first co-development between the two companies, this facility will be completed as the second Fontainebleau location.

“We are thrilled to partner with Skyservice to develop a one-of-a-kind luxury FBO grounded in 38 years of aviation through leadership and award-winning service and safety,” said Jeffrey Soffer, chairman and CEO of Fontainebleau Development, which specializes in real estate development and luxury hospitality. “This is a first in our expanding portfolio of premier destinations and best-in-class luxury experiences to bring to the aviation industry.”

The facility at KFLL is expected to be completed early next year and will feature a 25,000-sq-ft terminal including an executive suite with a 20-seat, A/V-equipped board room, along with an 80,000-sq-ft hangar. It will give the joint venture a presence at two of the busiest airports for business aviation in the state.

Even as new studies show no detectable lead in the air or the ground near one of Colorado’s busiest general aviation airports—Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, also known as "Jeffco"—the state legislature is advancing a bill (HB-1235) that would add a 50-cent-per-gallon “impact remediation fee” on the sale of leaded avgas. It would also cut off funding for airports proximate to high-density populations (defined as 3,000 people per sq m) that did not have plans in place to phase out leaded fuels by Jan. 1, 2026—a full four years before general aviation groups have voluntarily agreed to switch to unleaded fuel.

The “Reduce Aviation Impacts on Communities” bill contains other provisions viewed as hostile to general aviation, including the expansion of the state’s aeronautical board from seven to nine members, with the new seats designated for non-pilots who live “directly in the predominant flight path of a high-traffic” airport.

However, it does include various impact-mitigating incentives, such as a tax credit for aircraft operators paying the new fuel fee and the designation of airport grant money for new unleaded fuel tanks and other related infrastructure. The legislation comes after community groups in the area filed suit against the airport and hyperbolically proclaimed Jeffco “our Flint, Michigan,” a reference to the lead pipe contamination that shut down that city’s water supply in 2014.

By an affirmative vote of 96.3 percent, members of the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA) voted to authorize a rolling strike against helicopter provider Bristow Group’s UK operations. BALPA will conduct weekly two-day strikes beginning on March 3.

BALPA said it is taking the action due to a lack of progress in negotiating a new contract with the company. “Bristow’s management has failed to listen to employees and offer [a] decent pay deal. We have repeatedly opened the door for them to come forward with a revised offer, but it just hasn’t come,” said Amy Leversidge, BALPA general secretary. “We strongly urge Bristow to start listening to what their workers are telling them loud and clear—to get back to the bargaining table with BALPA with a fair and reasonable pay offer, to prevent further escalation in this dispute.”

Europe is Bristow’s largest offshore energy revenue region, accounting for $267 million through the first nine months of 2023. Bristow provides helicopters for oil and gas production operations in the North Sea from bases at Sumburgh, Norwich, and Aberdeen. It also is contracted to fly search-and-rescue (SAR) missions for His Majesty’s Coast Guard, using a fleet of Sikorsky S-92As and Leonardo AW189s, and employing 360 at 10 SAR bases across the UK.

Bristow said it “would not allow” the strikes, characterized as an “industrial action,” to impact its SAR operations.

Garmin’s GFC 600H helicopter flight control system (HFCS) has been enhanced with the addition of a stability augmentation system (SAS), which qualifies it for IFR configuration. The first helicopter to incorporate the IFR-configured GFC 600H is Leonardo’s AW109 Trekker, which has received EASA approval—to be followed by FAA certification.

The GFC 600H IFR configuration adds collective control, making it a four-axis HFCS and also the first time collective control has been available with that Garmin autopilot. The IFR GFC 600H includes GFS 83 smart servos in four axes and one GLA 85 smart linear actuator each for pitch, yaw, and roll. This eliminates the need for dual linear actuators in each axis and flight control computers, according to Garmin, “resulting in a digital system that is lightweight and cost-effective while still providing the redundancy required for IFR flight.”

Autopilot modes include altitude acquire and hold, approach auto-level, radar height hold, vertical speed, indicated airspeed, heading select, attitude hold, and level mode for return to straight-and-level flight during inadvertent entry into instrument meteorological conditions or to avoid disorientation in degraded visual environments.

The addition of collective control helps the pilot manage power and adds “functions that can enhance safety and reduce pilot workload,” according to Garmin. This includes flying hands-off the controls during cruise, transition to hover, and hovering.

Air tour and charter operator Maverick Helicopters has expanded to Southern California with daily flights from its terminals in Long Beach, adjacent to the Queen Mary, and Avalon on Catalina Island. Additional departure points across the greater Los Angeles area include LAX, Orange County, Burbank, San Pedro, Hawthorne, and Santa Monica, with tour packages and transfer flights ranging from $199 to $379 per passenger.

Tour routes will include flights that originate in Long Beach and overfly some of the Los Angeles area's most popular attractions, including the iconic Hollywood sign, Dodger Stadium, the Hollywood Bowl, and Sunset Boulevard. Another tour takes in the California coastline, including such landmarks as Huntington Beach Pier, Balboa Island, Laguna Beach, and the Pacific Coast Highway. A local tour that begins and terminates in Avalon on Catalina Island overflies Catalina Casino, Descanso Beach Club, Hamilton Cove, the Wrigley Memorial & Botanic Garden, the Catalina Island Golf Course, and Mount Orizaba. Transfers are also offered from the Queen Mary terminal in Long Beach to Catalina Island.

Maverick operates Airbus H130 series helicopters. It also offers air tours over Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and Hawaii. “Bringing our operations to Southern California and Catalina Island has been a wonderful opportunity, and we are so thankful to the welcoming community,” said Maverick president John Buch.