Aviation Industry Rallies To Urge End of Shutdown

The aviation industry gathered on Capitol Hill today to protest the prolonged partial U.S. government shutdown, highlight the harmful effects it is having on businesses and workers, and urge lawmakers to do what is necessary to reopen the affected agencies. Today is the 20th day of the shutdown that began December 22 for numerous agencies, including the Departments of Transportation, Commerce, and Homeland Security.

About 800,000 workers government-wide are either furloughed or working without pay, according to the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). And at the FAA alone, nearly 18,000 workers are furloughed.

Rally speakers included lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and a cross-section of the industry and came as nearly three-dozen industry associations wrote the House and Senate leadership today citing numerous areas where the shutdown is harming the agencies and industry. “The human and economic consequences are increasing and doing greater harm,” the groups said.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association spearheaded the event, continuing to voice its concerns about the disruptions to training and the longer ramifications to the overall workforce, as well as to the disruptions to implementing key NextGen programs.

Also on the schedule was GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce. GAMA has further outlined disrupted activities. “We appreciate that Congress acted to keep the FAA Oklahoma City Aircraft Registry Office functioning...but we are very concerned about the potential effects of a prolonged shutdown on other elements of FAA operations, including certification,” it said.

U.S. Bizav Flying Ends 2018 on Weaker Footing

Business aviation activity in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean ended 2018 on a down note, with December's activity falling 0.5 percent year-over-year, according to the latest TraqPak data from Argus International. This fell short of its forecast for a 0.8 percent increase last month and broke a five-year streak of gains for the month of December. Argus is predicting a 0.6 percent rise in activity this month.

Results by operational category were mixed, with fractional flying once again posting the largest year-over-year gain, climbing 3.5 percent, followed by Part 91 with a 1.4 percent rise. However, Part 135/charter activity declined for the seventh consecutive month, falling 4.1 percent from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, flight activity was mostly negative by aircraft category, with only midsize jets posting a year-over-year increase, up 2.8 percent. Turboprops recorded the largest loss at -2.8 percent, while light and large-cabin jet flying fell 1.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively, versus December 2017.

The only double-digit gain in individual categories was that for fractional midsize jets, which rose 10 percent year-over-year. Conversely, fractional large-cabin jet flying fell 20.3 percent from a year earlier, logging the only double-digit loss.

By region, the U.S. Southeast continued to dominate, with 55,838 departures last month, followed by the Western-Pacific (32,020) and Southwest (30,993).

Europe’s Bizav Flight Activity Mixed in December

European business aircraft departures saw a slight year-over-year increase in December departures, but that wasn’t helped by business jets or charters, which were down by 3 percent and 4 percent, respectively, according to the latest data from WingX Advance. Instead, it said, the 53,546 departures last month in Europe were driven by “exceptional growth” in piston aircraft activity.

“Overall flight activity trends in December were flattered by a big increase in business piston traffic,” said WingX managing director Richard Koe. “Clearly business jet demand slumped in France and especially Paris due to the widespread protests. Elsewhere, we’re seeing slackening activity in Italy, the UK, and Switzerland.”

Growth in France and Germany in December was helped by propeller activity, WingX said, as was flight activity within, from, and to Spain. Flight activity from North America to Europe was higher last month, as were business jet flights from China, which increased by 11 percent last year.

Nearly 60 percent of flights in December were charter, but this segment remained flat year-over-year. Business jet charter flights, in particular, posted solid declines last month, WingX said. 

“The outlook for 2019 will depend significantly on the genuine demand for replacement and upgrade of older aircraft as new business jets now come off the production line in larger numbers,” Koe noted.

Singapore, Malaysia Strike Deal over Airspace Spat

The Singapore and Malaysia governments have agreed to take reciprocal actions to ease the airspace dispute around Singapore Seletar Airport and the neighboring Pasir Gudang in Johore, Malaysia. Following a bilateral meeting that took place in Singapore on January 8, Singapore will suspend ILS procedures for Seletar and Malaysia agreed to simultaneously suspend its Notam permanently restricting airspace over Pasir Gudang. The initial arrangement will be valid for a month, with immediate effect.

On December 25, Malaysia issued a Notam that marked out restricted airspace over Pasir Gudang reserved for military use. As the restriction is limited at between 2,000 feet and 5,000 feet, aircraft departing from Seletar were observed carrying out a spiral climb over Singapore island before leveling at 6,000 feet.

The Notam for Pasir Gudang remained active at press time.

Tradewind Increases Charter, Shuttle Lift to Caribbean

Tradewind Aviation will offer increased charter and scheduled flights to the Caribbean as destinations there shake off the effects of hurricane damage that depressed the region’s business beginning in 2017. The Connecticut-based Part 135 operator said it has increased its aircraft availability serving the region with scheduled shuttle service from six Pilatus PC-12 turboprops to 10 this season. 

“We are pleased to see renewed excitement for travel in the Caribbean following the 2017 hurricane season,” noted Tradewind co-founder and v-p David Zipkin. The company also said demand is up for its private charter business in the region, which it offers using both PC-12s and Cessna Citations.

Tradewind recently announced the return of scheduled shuttle service to Anguilla (AXA) and Nevis (NEV) from San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU), one of three hubs from which it serves the Caribbean with shuttle service. The other two are St. Thomas (STT), U.S. Virgin Islands, and Antigua (ANU).

In addition, Tradewind signed interline agreements with British Airways and United Airlines in 2017 that allow passengers on those airlines to travel on a single reservation to St. Barths, Anguilla, Antigua, and Nevis.

Checklist Creep Adds Complexity

According to Flight Paramedic Dave Weber of Intermountain Life Flight in Salt Lake City, Utah, the aviation and medical communities have reached a “critical threshold” with checklists. During the 2018 Air Medical Transportation Conference (AMTC), Weber discussed checklist use in both professions, focusing on problems such as detail saturation, problem mismatch, and skill deterioration due to checklist dependency.

“We’ve reached the point that we have checklists for checklists,” Weber said, adding that checklists have crossed the line from ensuring the most important routine tasks are done correctly to becoming “the solution” for nearly every problem. “We have become this reactionary work culture where we need fail-safe solutions immediately. We have committees and meetings, and ultimately there’s another checklist instead of taking the time to find out how prevalent the problem really is, and what is the root cause of the problem.”

When the solution for every problem is another checklist, cognitive skills begin to diminish as critical thinking becomes unnecessary. Weber cited a 2013 study issued by the FAA’s Commercial Aviation Safety Team that indicated “an insufficient depth of system knowledge and/or over-reliance of automated checklist systems could lead to problems when managing unspecified failures.”

Weber’s solution for “checklist absurdity” is to streamline checklists to include only the highest-risk procedures, and then edit those checklists to consist of five to nine bullet points.

Reduced Spacing Trial Coming to NAT This Spring

An upcoming trial of reduced separation standards for ADS-B-equipped aircraft in the Shanwick, Gander, and Santa Maria Oceanic Control areas of the North Atlantic Track (NAT) is scheduled to begin on or soon after March 28. According to NATS Bulletin 2018-06, the trial—Advanced Surveillance-Enhanced Procedural Separation (ASEPS)—will initially apply to “17 nm longitudinal separation of aircraft operating on the same track or intersecting tracks provided, that the relative angle between the tracks is less than 90 degrees and 14 nm provided the relative angle between the tracks is less than 45 degrees.”

Opposite-direction aircraft on reciprocal tracks might be cleared to “climb or descend to or through the levels occupied by another aircraft provided that the aircraft have reported by ADS-B having passed each other by 5 nm.” The bulletin said a trial implementation of lateral ASEPS will start no earlier than six months after the beginning of the longitudinal separation operational trial.

To be eligible to participate in the trial, aircraft must be RVSM/HLA approved, ADS-B equipped with dedicated 1090-Mhz Out capability, and meet RNP 4, RCP 240, and RSP 180 specifications. Starting simultaneously with the ASEPS trial will also be changed to contingency and weather and weather deviation procedures for NAT operators.

Moscow Domodedovo Airport Buys Armored Vehicle

Moscow Domodedovo Airport is the first in Russia, and possibly the world, to acquire a former military tank for use in aircraft emergencies. Developed from the chassis of the T-72 main battle tank, long a stalwart of the Russian army, the BREM-1 was originally designed to recover disabled armored vehicles from the battlefield, and with a towing capacity of 125 tons it will now be tasked with evacuating any size aircraft in an emergency, including unplanned runway departures.

With its treads, the 41-ton vehicle can move on any surface and it comes equipped with a circle swing crane that can lift up to 12 tons, as well as metal cutting equipment. The demilitarized vehicle is produced by the Uralvagonzavod Corp., a subsidiary of Russian state-owned Rostec. According to the company, the armored vehicle will soon be a common sight in Russia as it noted the Transport Ministry has mandated its use at all of the country’s airports.

Count on AIN for Full Coverage of Heli-Expo

As ever, you can count on AIN for full coverage of the 2019 Heli-Expo Convention. Our team will publish three of our award-winning daily HAI Convention News editions at the show on March 5, 6, and 7. We will also have comprehensive real-time reporting of all the top news at AINonline.com and in our daily e-newsletters. If you are an exhibiting company that wants to share news or propose pre-show interviews and briefings please contact show editor Kerry Lynch.