Bombardier’s Flagship Global 7500 Gets EASA Nod

Bombardier checked off another key approval for its flagship Global 7500 with European Aviation Safety Agency  (EASA) validation, the company announced today. This nod clears the way for the aircraft to be registered in a European Union country, opening a major market for the 7,700-nm, four-zone business jet. EASA approval followed Transport Canada type certification in September and U.S. FAA approval in November. 

The aircraft officially entered service with the first delivery on December 20, a little more than 24 months after the first flight of FTV1. The test program validated a 300-nm range extension, pushing it past rival Gulfstream’s 7,500-nm G650ER.

“We’ve transformed business aviation with the Global 7500,” said Bombardier Business Aircraft senior v-p of program management and engineering Michel Ouellette. “With the longest range in the industry, the aircraft can connect more international cities nonstop.”

The aircraft also exceeds original takeoff and landing performance commitments, Bombardier said, noting it can operate at challenging destinations such as Sion and St. Moritz, Switzerland. It also has the range to connect New York to Hong Kong and Singapore to San Francisco nonstop with eight passengers and standard NBAA IFR fuel reserves.

Bombardier, which said the Global 7500 now is selling into 2022, plans to deliver 15 to 20 Global 7500s this year, with the rate doubling to around 35 to 40 in 2020.

U.S. Bizav Flying Bounces Back in January

Business aviation activity in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean rebounded last month after posting a decrease in December, according to the latest TraqPak data from Argus International. Flying climbed 0.7 percent year-over-year in January, in line with Argus’s forecast for 0.6 percent growth. The company is a little more optimistic about February, estimating a 1.1 percent rise.

By operational category, Part 91K fractional flying once again took the lead, posting a solid 4.9 percent gain from a year ago, followed by a 1-percent increase in Part 91. But Part 135/charter activity—a stalwart frontrunner in recent years—declined for the eighth consecutive month, falling 0.9 percent from a year earlier.

Flight activity by aircraft category was bifurcated by size, with only midsize and large-cabin jets seeing year-on-year improvements—climbing 5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively. Turboprops fell 1.8 percent, while light jet flying dropped off by 0.9 percent compared with January 2018.

For the second month in a row, the only double-digit gain in individual categories was that for fractional midsize jets, which rose 13 percent year-over-year last month, after a similarly impressive 10 percent gain in December. Meanwhile, fractional large-cabin jet flying fell 19 percent from a year earlier, logging the only double-digit loss last month.

G1000NXi Now Available for Citation Mustang

Garmin’s G1000NXi upgrade is now STC'd for the Cessna Citation Mustang and available for installation by Textron Aviation service centers. The upgrade modernizes the flight deck with new LED-backlit displays with faster processors delivering improved startup time and faster panning and map rendering, as well as more brightness and clarity, lower power consumption, and better dimming performance, according to Garmin.

The Mustang’s upgraded PFD can now display the NXi’s HSI map. Among the overlays available for the HSI map are Sirius XM weather, ADS-B In (FIS-B) weather, weather radar, Garmin SafeTaxi airport diagrams, traffic, and terrain. The FIS-B weather requires optional ADS-B In equipment.

G1000NXi can display VFR and IFR charts. Pilots can also use split-screen features to optimize the PFD and MFD layouts. Garmin’s SurfaceWatch is included, adding runway monitoring technology so pilots receive visual and aural cues based on the flight plan, warning of takeoff or landing on a taxiway or a too-short or wrong runway, as well as distance remaining annunciations.

G1000NXi includes Connext cockpit connectivity, with Garmin’s Database Concierge making uploading database updates much easier via the Garmin Pilot mobile app and allowing synchronizing of flight plans between the app and the avionics. Connext also sends avionics information to Garmin Pilot, FltPlan Go, and ForeFlight Mobile including traffic, weather, GPS position, and back-up attitude.

ForeFlight App Shows Airport 3D Previews

The ForeFlight Mobile Integrated Flight App’s new version includes an Airport 3D View feature that allows users to examine any airport in the app’s database from a perspective above and near the airport environment. 3D View works on both the iPhone and iPad versions of ForeFlight and is available for subscribers to ForeFlight’s Performance Plus and Business Performance plans.

By combining aerial imagery and high-resolution terrain from Jeppesen, the 3D View feature creates “a realistic and interactive simulation of the airport environment,” according to ForeFlight.

To use 3D View, users simply click on the 3D View button in the airport information tab when viewing any airport in the app. The view opens with a perspective view of the airport, including the msl altitude, distance from the airport, and inclination angle for the runway end nearest to the viewpoint. A user can then manipulate the view from the simulated “camera” by touching the screen and panning or zooming around the airport to see the surrounding environment, terrain, and so on.

For flights without internet connectivity, users can preload airports in the planned route string by downloading current charts, data, weather, fuel prices, Notams, and 3D Views with the Pack feature.

Bombardier Completes Global 7500 Wing Program Purchase

Bombardier completed its acquisition of the Global 7500 wing program from Triumph Group under a deal announced two weeks ago involving a “nominal cash consideration.” Bombardier, which acquired both the assets and obligations for the program, has signed a lease agreement to continue production of the wing line at Triumph's Red Oak, Texas facility and is retaining the employees who have supported that program. In addition, the Canada-headquartered airframer will provide the necessary working capital for ramp-up of the wing production.

Triumph, meanwhile, will continue operations that support its other structures programs in a separate building at the Red Oak site, the supplier said.

Yesterday's announcement of the conclusion of the acquisition came just ahead of the release of Triumph’s Fiscal Year 2019 third-quarter results earlier today. Triumph reported $16.9 million operating loss (non-adjusted) for the quarter. That operating loss included $2.3 million of restructuring costs, along with forward loss charges of $40.5 million, $9.2 million, and $2.5 million related to its Global 7500, Embraer E2 Jet, and Gulfstream G280 programs, respectively, Triumph said.

“We continue to reshape our portfolio, reducing our contract manufacturing structures work,” said Triumph president and CEO Daniel Crowley, who added the company is making strides toward financial targets and strategic goals for 2019.

Aviation Orgs Unite in Call for Help on Worker Shortage

Forty aviation organizations representing a cross-section of industry this week jointly urged senior U.S. administration officials to seek full funding for new grant programs aimed at the recruitment of the next generation of aerospace workers. The organizations made that appeal in a February 5 letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney, underscoring the universal concerns of the aviation community surrounding workforce shortages.

The groups are seeking $10 million in the Fiscal Year 2020 budget for the new grant programs, which were established in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 that passed last fall. “Resources provided through these temporary initiatives will incentivize businesses, labor, and pilot organizations, schools, and governmental entities to work together to pursue innovative new strategies to develop technical talent and encourage our next generation of pilots to pursue careers in aviation,” the letter said. “This, in turn, will help ensure the continued global leadership of America’s aerospace sector.”

The organizations pointed to Boeing 2018 Pilot and Technical Outlook projections for a global need of 754,000 new maintenance technicians and 790,000 pilots over the next 20 years, inclusive of commercial aviation, business aviation, and the rotorcraft industry, and expressed concern that the industry faces a shortage that threatens its growth and competitiveness.

JetNet Beefs Up Market Report Features

Business aviation information provider JetNet will demonstrate new report software customization features next month at Heli-Expo, the Utica, N.Y.-based company announced this week. “Our new features will increase professionals’ productivity and improve their client decision-making,” said JetNet marketing director Mike Foye. “Nearly all of our improvements are based on client and industry input, so we are providing tools our users want and need.”

Additions to JetNet’s popular Market Reports will allow subscribers to customize their reports for clients and internal users by selecting which parameters to display while incorporating their logos and brands. The new features were designed for formal presentations, the company noted. Another new function lets users compare three aircraft makes and models on the same range map, as well as details key flight utilization information. It also includes a dashboard that shows the market absorption rate.

JetNet’s Market Report offers 20 pages of information, including model specifications, range maps, fleet composition, market characteristics and insight, buying habits, and sales trends. The company said its helicopter database has information on nearly 32,000 in-service airframes worldwide, transactions for more than 52,000 retail helicopter sales over the past two decades, in addition to 12 makes and 143 models of turbine and piston airplanes.

Air Culinaire Acquires Phoenix-area Caterer

Air Culinaire Worldwide has expanded its footprint with the addition of Arizona-based private aviation caterer Food4Jets. The Scottsdale facility marks Air Culinaire’s 23rd owned and operated catering kitchen, and its staff has been welcomed to the Air Culinaire team and trained on its standard operating procedures.

“We have supported the in-flight dining needs of Air Culinaire Worldwide clients in the Phoenix area for the past 14 years, and our staff understands their service culture,” said Food4Jets founder Debbie Evans. “We feel this transition is a good fit for both companies clients and employees.”

A Universal Weather and Aviation subsidiary, Air Culinaire was founded in 2000 and provides private aviation catering to hundreds of airport locations around the globe from its own facilities and hundreds of associate catering partners on six continents.

“Food4Jets has been a valued vendor partner in the Air Culinaire Worldwide network,” said Saverio Mongelli, the latter’s vice president of sales. “The acquisition is viewed as a natural next step for both of our companies.”

You Can Now Order Your Next Gulfstream Jet in NYC

Gulfstream Aerospace has opened a new sales and design center on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. The manufacturer uses the New York City center to host clients and as an event space, and it joins Gulfstream’s other design centers in London; Dallas; Savannah, Georgia; and Long Beach, California.