Orlando, Florida, is racing to be one of the first cities to establish advanced air mobility (AAM) services in the 2027 timeframe, local officials and business aviation representatives said today at the NBAA regional forum at Orlando Executive Airport (KORL). And business aviation is a key enabler for AAM infrastructure, as well as a “technology incubator” for new electric aircraft propulsion systems, NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen said during the forum’s opening session.

Kevin Thibault, CEO of the Greater Orlando Airport Authority, noted that the airport has a “future-ready master plan” that includes provisions for eVTOL air service. He added that state and local officials and other stakeholders held a tabletop exercise for AAM last week with a focus on Orlando International Airport (KMCO). “We tackled things such as where vertiports can be located.”

“Our goal is to have policies and land-use regulations in place to allow the AAM industry to flourish,” said Jacques Coulon, mobility innovation manager for the city of Orlando. “No one will put a bunch of eVTOLs in front of City Hall and say, ‘Have at it.’ It takes planning, so these tabletop exercises get into the weeds. For example, what does the process of applying for a vertiport look like? We need to be ready—AAM is coming faster than many may expect.”

ExecuJet MRO Services South Africa has completed its first replacement of an engine accessory gearbox (AGB) on a Bombardier Challenger 604. The work was conducted to fulfill the requirements of a service bulletin issued by GE Aerospace, maker of the twinjet’s CF34-3B1 engines.

The facility in Johannesburg replaced the AGB on a Nigerian-registered Challenger while it was undergoing a 96-month scheduled aircraft maintenance check. Conducted on-wing to reduce downtime, the work started with a borescope procedure to confirm that the AGB needed to be replaced.

ExecuJet MRO Services South Africa is an authorized service center for the CF34-3B1 engine. Dassault Aviation wholly owns the company, which supports Falcon aircraft and various Gulfstream, Bombardier, Embraer, and Hawker models, with maintenance facilities in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, and the Middle East.

"Our ability to do both the airframe and engine MRO work at the same time and at the same facility reinforces our position as the ‘go-to’ maintenance organization for aircraft operators because we can streamline the maintenance process,” said Vince Goncalves, regional v-p for Africa at ExecuJet MRO Services.

Aerospace giants GE Aerospace, Honeywell, RTX, and TransDigm Group have all emerged as potential bidders for Jeppesen, according to analyst Jefferies. Reports began to surface late last year that Boeing was looking to sell the Centennial, Colorado-based navigation, flight planning, and operations information provider. The initial rounds of bids for Jeppesen were due at the end of January, Jefferies said, estimating that the company could fetch $7 billion. Boeing acquired Jeppesen in 2000 for $1.5 billion.

Jefferies noted that GE has earmarked $7 billion for mergers and acquisitions activity between 2024 and 2026 with plans for relatively low leverage and said Jeppesen could help fill out its market presence with flight-deck capabilities.

The acquisition fits with Honeywell Aerospace’s plans for a standalone company, particularly as it looks to forward its next-generation product lines, such as the Anthem flight deck. Further, its Primus Epic avionics offers Jeppesen data, Jefferies noted.

RTX is looking to accelerate Collins’ Beyond the Aircraft business, which is focused on connected flight deck, air traffic management, and predictive maintenance analytics. Jeppesen is a partner on its platforms. A Jeppesen acquisition further would help reinvigorate TransDigm, Jefferies said.

Duncan Aviation has introduced online aircraft parts exchange capabilities on its DuncanAviationParts e-commerce platform, enabling industry professionals to complete full exchange transactions through the website. The enhancement comes amid growing traffic and sales on the platform, which serves as a comprehensive resource for aviation parts procurement.

“With this latest enhancement, customers can now complete exchange transactions entirely online, including submitting core return details easily,” said Crystal Osmera, business development coordinator for parts and rotables sales/e-commerce.

Via the website, Duncan provides access to more than 723,000 inventory items, featuring high-resolution photos of popular parts, real-time stock availability, in-house repair service information, and instant quote requests.

Registered users receive immediate access to pricing, quantities, and essential documentation such as traceability papers and 8130 dual-release tags. Domestic customers can purchase parts outright using credit cards or net terms.

The company plans to further develop the platform with additional features including international sales capabilities and expanded inventory partnerships.

Users with existing myDuncan accounts can access the platform using their current credentials, while company profiles can be created for businesses with multiple buyers to streamline purchase management under one account.

The crew of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 performed a go-around yesterday at about 8:50 a.m. after a Flexjet Bombardier Challenger 300 crossed the active runway at Chicago Midway International Airport (KMDW) in front of the landing 737. According to ATC audio captured by LiveATC.net, the Challenger crew was instructed by ground control to hold short of Runway 31C. A camera at the airport captured video of the Challenger crossing the runway and the 737 initiating the go-around just before touchdown.

The incident occurred after the Midway ground controller cleared the Challenger to “turn left on Runway 4 Left, cross Runway 31 Left, and hold short of Runway 31 Center.” Then, the Challenger crew responded: “Right, left on two, 4 Left, cross two two, er, one three, uh, Center, Flexjet 560.” The controller gave the instruction again: “Flexjet 560, negative. Cross Runway 31 Left, hold short Runway 31 Center.” The Challenger crew responded: “Cross 31 Left, hold short 31 Center, Flexjet 560.”

After the Challenger allegedly crossed the active runway (31C) without clearance, the Southwest 737 crew called the tower and said, “Southwest 2504, going around.”

Next, the tower controller instructed the Southwest crew to climb to 3,000 feet followed by a heading of 220. The crew asked, “Tower, Southwest 2504, how’d that happen?” Not responding to the question, the controller gave the crew a handoff to Chicago Approach.

Universal Weather and Aviation has formed a strategic partnership with ForeFlight to develop a proprietary system-to-system integration that will enable Universal to deliver professionally-built flight plans directly to customers’ ForeFlight accounts. Expected to be available in the second half of 2025, the integration aims to streamline operations for flight departments by combining Universal’s expertise in international trip support with ForeFlight’s digital platform capabilities.

“Our customers rely on our flight planners for the expertise and precision they bring to every flight plan we deliver, and we deliver a lot,” said Universal executive v-p of digital product management Guido Groeschel. “Through this integration, we’ll soon be able to deliver our professionally-built flight plans directly within the ForeFlight platform, which many of our customers already use.”

As part of this initiative, Universal will begin endorsing ForeFlight as its preferred digital self-service flight planning solution and plans to phase out its own online flight-planning subscription service. The company will continue handling all aspects of flight-plan development, including aircraft performance data management and route optimization.

For operators currently using Universal’s online flight-planning subscription service, the companies will provide dedicated onboarding support, tailored training, and transition offers to facilitate migration to ForeFlight Dispatch. Tim Schuetze, CEO of ForeFlight, noted that the integration creates “a single workflow that enhances efficiency and reduces workload.”

Helicopter air medical transport and completions company Metro Aviation has selected Bluetail’s maintenance recordkeeping service for its more than 170 helicopters and airplanes. The Bluetail system provides cloud-based access to maintenance records, which are stored digitally, eliminating the need to keep track of paper-based documents.

Bluetail has added capabilities for helicopter operators with tailored features and artificial intelligence-powered search capabilities. Metro Aviation’s historical records will be digitized and indexed as part of the Bluetail service, which provides a centralized hub for maintenance team members to access and share information quickly across the company’s 40 programs in 25 states.

Scanning of paper records can be done at the customer's location to avoid having to ship records to a scanning location. Alternatively, Bluetail offers a scanning network with more than 120 locations in the U.S. that meet FAA AC120-78A recommendations and FAR 43.12 regulations and are SOC 2- and HIPAA-compliant.

“Metro Aviation has always been committed to using the best tools available to support our operations, and Bluetail’s solution is a perfect fit for our needs,” said COO Kenny Morrow. “The ability to quickly search and access records instead of sifting through boxes will save us countless hours while ensuring our documents remain secure and always accessible.”