Gulfstream Beefs Up European and Asia Support

Gulfstream Aerospace has further boosted its customer support resources in Europe and Asia, adding maintenance hangar space at Paris Le Bourget Airport and more capabilities at Gulfstream Beijing. It also named two regional managing directors of customer support: Ernest Tai for Asia; and Clarke Mouncher for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

At Le Bourget, Gulfstream has established access to 16,500-sq-ft Hangar H2, supplementing the company’s Field and Airborne Support Teams (FAST) unit added in 2017. “Our ability to work in a hangar at Le Bourget will protect a customer’s aircraft from the elements and create an efficient working environment with room for tooling and equipment,” said Gulfstream Customer Support president Derek Zimmerman. Gulfstream currently has three EASA-certified FAST technicians at Le Bourget who are managed by its company-owned service center at London Luton Airport.

Meanwhile, its technicians at Gulfstream Beijing recently earned Civil Aviation Administration of China approval for 96-month inspections on the G450, 72-month inspections on the G280, and 144-month inspections on the G200.

In other news, Gulfstream has opened a new aircraft sales office in Vienna, Austria’s Goldenes Quartier historic district. Heading up the new office are Matt Sandidge, Gulfstream’s regional vice president of sales for Central and Eastern Europe, Greece, Turkey, and Israel, and Michael Rusetski, the regional vice president of sales for Russia and the CIS.

AINsight: Medications and Flying, Part Two

Let’s build on the ground rules I covered previously about medications, reporting their usage, and how the FAA provides some guidance. There is no formal document that can provide absolute guidance pertaining to every medication and usage, so it’s important to ask an AME to clarify whether a new medication is acceptable and if there will be any required documentation. Besides the name of the medication, always tell the AME why the medication is being prescribed.

In the FAA’s Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners, there is a discussion on medication usage that precludes issuance of a medical certificate by the AME. This basic guidance also puts some responsibility on the pilot to self-ground per FAR 61.53 for situations that come up between FAA medical exams.

Importantly, the AME guide states that controlled substances—and marijuana where legal on a state-by-state basis—are not permitted at any time. And while narcotic pain medications and muscle relaxants are not illegal, a pilot cannot fly while taking them.

Some of the most typical conditions requiring medications that a pilot needs to report include hypertension, thyroid, asthma, erectile dysfunction, gastroesophageal reflux, and sleep issues. Rest assured that many medical conditions requiring medications are approvable without opening excessively complicated cans of worms. Check with your AME for advice before going to your first FAA exam after a medication has been prescribed.

Key Lawmakers Unveil Bill To Protect FAA from Shutdowns

U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) and aviation subcommittee head Rick Larsen (D-Washington) introduced legislation today to shield FAA programs and personnel from future government shutdowns. The legislation, which comes in the wake of the historic 35-day shutdown and as the government faces the possibility of another funding lapse next week, would enable the FAA to continue to receive funding from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) and continue operating at current funding levels in the event of another government shutdown.

Backed by 15 aviation groups, including business and general aviation organizations, the bill would ensure FAA programs continue uninterrupted and that FAA employees are paid. Funded through the aviation excise taxes—including the passenger ticket tax, fuel taxes, and cargo taxes—the AATF generates enough revenue to cover the FAA’s activities even if the general government funding should temporarily lapse.

“The U.S. aviation system is the safest, busiest, most complex aviation system in the world—a system that was seriously jeopardized by the absurd 35-day government shutdown,” DeFazio said. “This must not happen again. The users of the National Airspace System pay for the system and deserve for it to function without interruption.”

Large-cabin Bizjet Flying Dips in Europe

Business aviation departures in Europe dipped 0.8 percent year-over-year in January, while business jet sectors saw a 2.1 percent drop in the region, according to WingX. Its latest Business Aviation Monitor tracked 54,481 business aviation departures in Europe last month. However, activity is up 1.4 percent on a 12-month rolling basis and 10 percent above the low point in 2016, but still lags the 2008 peak by 11 percent.

Last month's results were mixed regionally, with activity in France and the UK up narrowly and Spain showing “robust growth,” WingX reported. Meanwhile, flights from Germany and Switzerland declined and were down as much a 9 percent in Italy. Turkey also saw a significant decline.

Large-cabin jet flying “took the brunt of the decline in Europe,” WingX said, down by 6 percent year-over-year. Light and midsize jet activity remained flat, while the number of prop-plane flights grew. The charter market grew slightly overall but was flat for business jets, with many jet categories seeing declines. Private flights slid 2.5 percent.

“The decline in this month's flight activity reflects anecdotal feedback from the charter operator market that customer demand is down, which fits with the wider deterioration in the macroeconomic situation in Europe,” said WingX managing director Richard Koe. “This month's drop was concentrated in the large-cabin segments, which may reflect pull back from corporate flight departments.”

VNY Finishes 2018 with Spotless Incursion Record

Despite its status as one of the busiest business and general aviation airports in the world, California’s Van Nuys Airport (VNY) is also one of the safest, as the Los Angeles-area gateway finished 2018 with no runway or taxiway incursions. That statistic was highlighted in a report this week from the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners. The FAA has identified such incursions by vehicle and pedestrian deviation as a critical safety and security issue at airports across the country.

The airport credited its incursion safety record to voluntary and mandatory measures put in place starting in 2015, such as administrative citations and revocation of airport driving privileges for violators and the restricting or closing of 38 percent of the original airside access gates. Since then, VNY has seen a steadily declining incursion trend, from four in 2015, three in 2016, to one in 2017. Major airport tenants also contributed via best safety practices.

“With more than 260,000 takeoffs and landings in 2018, Van Nuys Airport attracts a high level of aircraft operations and diverse business activities on a daily basis,” noted Deborah Flint, CEO of Los Angeles World Airports, which oversees VNY and Los Angeles International Airports. “VNY’s tremendous success is the result of close collaboration among airport management, tenants, users, and operators to implement ambitious and industry-leading safety and security programs.”

Curtiss-Wright, Honeywell Partner on Next-gen CVR/FDRs

Curtiss-Wright is partnering with Honeywell Aerospace to develop next-generation cockpit voice recorders (CVR) and flight data recorders (FDR) that will incorporate the use of real-time connectivity. The agreement announced this week also makes Curtiss-Wright the exclusive supplier to Honeywell of next-generation recorders for business aviation and air transport.

The hardware for the recorders will be developed by both companies, blending Curtiss-Wright’s Fortress technology with Honeywell’s software expertise in connectivity. Fortress, a 25-hour CVR/FDR, serves as the foundation of the Honeywell Connected Recorder-25 (HCR-25).

Owners and operators of business, commercial, and cargo aircraft will have access to real-time data from the recorders that can be streamed or saved in the cloud, which is expected to decrease aircraft downtime through improved predictive maintenance. “Working together, we will take flight data recorder connectivity and performance to new heights, with extended operation and greater survivability,” said Curtiss-Wright CEO David Adams.

The new recorders will surpass the requirements of the upcoming 2021 EASA minimum 25-hour cockpit voice recording mandate, the companies said. “With the new regulatory requirement, we saw an opportunity to evolve our recorder technology to not only meet the conditions of governing agencies but also make this product more powerful and better connected, providing aircraft operators with another source of data collection,” said Ben Driggs, Honeywell’s president of services and connectivity.

Duncan Steps Up Hiring with Recruitment Events

Duncan Aviation is making strides in the recruitment of the next generation of workers with a successful A&P Open House at its growing Provo, Utah location. The open house, held on February 1, is one of at least eight recruitment events Duncan has planned over the next couple of months.

About 215 students from three Utah A&P schools attended the three-hour event, which included lunch, tours, and discussions with current team members and former interns. Those nearing graduation received on-the-spot interviews, and Duncan extended offers to 10 students for full-time employment and another six for summer internships.

With the tour, students were able to watch facility operations. “In addition to seeing maintenance events in process, we had an AOG aircraft come in with foreign object damage. So the students got to see Duncan Aviation technicians interact with the pilots and work to get the aircraft back in the air as quickly as possible,” said Jennifer Monroe, Duncan Aviation recruiter. “That gave them a great idea of what the job entails and several of them stated how much they enjoyed being able to see that.”

Harrods Aviation Boosts Hangarage at London Luton

Based on increasing demand from its customers, Harrod’s Aviation has boosted the winter aircraft shelter capacity at its London Luton facility, through a temporary lease on Hangar 60, which formerly housed the now-defunct Monarch Engineering. The 33,000-sq-ft heated structure with direct access to the apron can house aircraft up to an Airbus ACJ and will bring the facility up to nearly 100,000 sq ft of hangar space. According to the company, the addition will allow it to handle more aircraft by freeing up operational ramp space.

“We have a short-term hangar parking solution for our customers who wish to park their aircraft at one of London’s busiest and most convenient business airports,” said Kerry Besgrove, Harrod’s operation director. “We are wholly committed to meeting our customers’ needs, and with the UK winter well on its way, the timing of this new hangar space couldn’t be better.”

The initial contract on the hangar is for six months, which will run through the busy spring and summer months. Depending on circumstances, the lease could be extended.

FBO Survey Deadline Is Today: Make Your Voice Heard  

AIN’s FBO survey is open for year-round feedback, but the deadline to vote in the 2019 survey is February 8. The results will be published in the April issue. The survey takes only a minute, and you can do it while waiting for passengers, on the shuttle bus to/from the hotel or any other time that is convenient for you. Participants will be entered to win a $500 Amazon gift card. Log on to www.ainonline.com/fbosurvey to rate your experiences at the FBOs you visit.