Dassault Reports Strong 2019, Preps Future Falcon

Dassault Aviation chairman and CEO Eric Trappier today reported solid performance for last year, attributing much of it to the delivery of 26 Rafale fighters to export customers. It also handed over 40 Falcon business jets (compared to 41 in 2018) and took orders for a further 40 last year (compared to 42 in 2018). He noted possible challenges for 2020 such as coronavirus, Brexit, continuing trade tensions, “and of course the rise of environmental concerns.”

The Falcon 2019 order intake represents €2.308 billion (around $2.5 billion) compared with €2.314 billion in 2018. Falcon net sales for 2019 stood at €2.193 billion compared with €2.599 billion in 2018, “due to a decrease in the number of new and preowned aircraft delivered.” The book-to-bill ratio was 0.78 for 2019.

Trappier said 2020 would see 13 further Rafale deliveries plus 40 Falcon jets (and thus lower net sales overall), while its backlogs amounted to 53 and 47 aircraft, respectively, at year-end 2019, with further Rafale orders possible from France, Switzerland, and Finland. 

According to Trappier, the Falcon 6X is on schedule for first flight early next year, with certification and service entry to follow in 2022. Meanwhile, Dassault is continuing research and development on its under-study, but yet-to-be-launched “future Falcon.” Trappier added, “We’re going to announce future Falcon this year, but not today.”

Aviation Insurance Premiums Continue Ascent

As the pendulum continues to swing further toward a hard aviation insurance market, business aircraft operators should plan on at least a 10 percent to 30 percent increase in premiums this year at renewal, according to Aviation Specialty Insurance president Matt Drummelsmith. “There are a lot of factors that go into this, but the point is to not expect a reduction or even flat renewal.”

But rate increases are only part of the equation, as restrictions on single-pilot capability and limited capacity are also prominent underwriting considerations, he added. “In certain cases, price isn’t even discussed because there might only be one solution to fill a need. With such scarcity of options, premium simply becomes a byproduct of the underwriting process. If there’s a specific way or mandated requirement of a flight department, it becomes a ‘take it or leave it’ type of thing.”

He stressed that aircraft operators need to be proactive when coming up on their renewal window by not waiting until the last minute and providing as much detail as possible. “We are long past the days of quick flat renewal,” Drummelsmith said. “Now, almost everything is being looked at and if current information isn’t provided, it could mean certain pilots are excluded and limits are reduced.”

COVID-19 Prompts BBD Aircraft Cleaning Advisory

With the continuing spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), Bombardier yesterday issued an advisory to owners and operators providing information on disinfecting their Learjet, Challenger, and Global aircraft. The advisory is in response to “several inquiries on procedures to manage aircraft” that have traveled or will travel to affected regions.

“Given that COVID-19 is new, no one can yet test their aviation disinfectant products specifically against this strain of the virus,” the advisory states. “However, coronaviruses are part of the ‘enveloped viruses’ family, which includes other well-known and identified diseases such as influenza. Because of their proven effectiveness against other viruses in the same family, there is confidence that existing aircraft disinfection sprays will work on this new strain.” Bombardier further recommends using disinfectants that conform to Aerospace Material Specifications (AMS).

Guidelines—based on information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and International Air Transport Association—are also offered for cabin crew managing a suspected case of a communicable disease on board, as well as for maintenance crews and cargo and baggage handlers. 

Lawmakers Seek Comprehensive Overview of Green Efforts

Three U.S. House members are striving to take a more comprehensive overview of the myriad sustainability initiatives in the aviation sector, introducing a bill yesterday that calls for a database to track such efforts and a report on the overall efforts. The National Evaluation of Aviation and Aerospace Solutions to Climate Change Act, H.R.5977, would direct the Department of Transportation and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to study climate change mitigation efforts within civil aviation and aerospace, develop an assessment of the effectiveness of those efforts, identify barriers, and develop recommendations.

Introduced by House aviation subcommittee chair Rick Larsen (D-Washington), along with vice-chair Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) and Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Washington), H.R.5977 would require the agencies to submit a report on the findings.

“Airlines are working to develop greener technologies and reach net-zero emissions, but there is much more work to be done,” Larsen said.” This bill will help catalog those efforts, identify barriers to the adoption of mitigation efforts, and serve as a roadmap for the steps the aviation and aerospace sector must take to achieve a 100 percent clean economy by 2050.”

“While the aerospace industry has undergone efforts to increase efficiency and address the impacts of climate change, it’s important Congress has a clear understanding of those efforts and their effectiveness,” added Davids.

First Executive Mi-38 Helicopter Delivered

Russian Helicopters has delivered the first serial-produced Mi-38 helicopter with a new, 10-passenger “highly comfortable” executive cabin configuration. The delivery to Gazprombank Leasing took place earlier this week at the Kazan Helicopters facility.

“The delivery of the first serial Mi-38 is an important step, confirming that Kazan Helicopters is ready for serial delivery of this type of machine to both commercial operators and governments. The demand forecast of potential buyers for Mi-38 by 2030 is more than 100 aircraft,” said Russian Helicopters director-general Andrei Boginsky. 

The multipurpose, super-medium Mi-38 twin is designed to fill the niche between Russian Helicopters’ Mi-8 and heavy Mi-26 models. It is suitable for missions such as cargo, passenger transport, search-and-rescue, air ambulance, and offshore support. The Mi-38 features twin Klimov TV7-117V engines, Transas Aviation glass cockpit avionics, a six-blade main rotor, and rotor anti-ice. Range with auxiliary tanks is 648 nm. Maximum takeoff weight is 15.6 tonnes and maximum payload—internal and external—is five tonnes.

Skyportz, Arup Advance Plans for eVTOL Infrastructure

Australia-based urban air mobility (UAM) ground infrastructure specialist Skyportz and planning group Arup are jointly developing specifications to support property developers wanting to prepare their buildings to be used for eVTOL aircraft operations. Ahead of these aircraft being approved for commercial use, Skyportz is encouraging clients to develop rooftop landing facilities that, in the meantime, could be used for other functions such as roof gardens, cafes, lounges, or sporting facilities.

This year, Skyportz is working on the approval process developing the facilities and building political support for trial operations of both unmanned cargo drones and passenger-carrying eVTOL aircraft in a non-urban environment. The company sees its home city of Melbourne as a potential early adopter of urban air mobility taxi services and is trying to encourage an eVTOL developer to establish a presence in Australia.

According to Skyportz, it is in discussions with several eVTOL aircraft developers who are not among the eight manufacturers so far selected by Uber for its planned network. It expects the facilities it helps to develop to be available for use by a variety of different aircraft and air taxi booking platforms.

This story comes from AIN's FutureFlight.aero resource.

Southern Sky Aviation Opens West Coast Charter Base

Southern Sky Aviation has opened a fourth location and added another jet to its Part 135 certificate, the Birmingham, Alabama-based business aviation services company announced this week. The seven-seat 2000 IAI Astra SPX will be based at Scottsdale Airport (SDL) in Arizona, where Southern Sky has opened a new office inside the Signature Flight Support FBO there.

“Opening an Arizona-based charter operation and having a plane consistently based in Scottsdale allows us the much-needed opportunity to better serve our West Coast customers,” said Southern Sky CEO Bo Andrews. “We have been looking for the right opportunity to help our travelers more frequently reach the West Coast and are so pleased to expand charter, one of our company's most well-known services, to that market.”

The Scottsdale expansion follows Southern Sky's opening last year of a charter office at Peachtree DeKalb Airport (PDK) near Atlanta. It also operates offices and a maintenance facility at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International (BHM), which was recently appointed as a Garmin-authorized dealership.

In addition to charter and maintenance, Southern Sky provides aircraft management and brokerage.

Michigan Airport Exec Sentenced on Fraud Conviction

James Warner, the former department manager for utilities and infrastructure at Michigan’s Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA), has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and multimillion-dollar restitution for his role in a multi-year fraud scheme.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan noted that Warner and contractor William Pritula created and submitted fraudulent invoices stating that Pritula’s company performed work at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, which receives FAA infrastructure grants. Warner received kickbacks from the contracts and last June was found guilty on all 10 counts against him, including conspiracy, federal program bribery, federal program theft, money-laundering, and obstruction of justice.

From September 2010 through October 2014, Pritula received more than $18 million from the WCAA, $5 million of which was funneled to Warner. Earlier, Pritula was sentenced to two years of probation, including six months of home confinement, and was jointly assessed $11 million in restitution with Warner and several other co-conspirators. A forfeiture judgment for $5,474,132.48, previously entered against Pritula and Warner will be applied to the total restitution amount.

The investigation was conducted by the DOT-OIG with assistance from the FBI.

Is COVID-19 Affecting Your Flight Operation?

Please tell us how the COVID-19 virus outbreak is impacting your business aircraft operation. What restrictions are you seeing on flights? Are you flying more or less due to the virus? Have you had any difficulty getting aircraft parts due to supply chain problems related to COVID-19? Are you cleaning/disinfecting your aircraft cabin more frequently as a result of the virus?