Used business aircraft inventories continued to climb last month while asking values are declining, according to Sandhills Global’s latest marketplace report. Even so, aircraft values remain higher than a year ago, the company added.
Specifically, preowned business turboprop inventories in the U.S. and Canada increased 3.18 percent month-over-month and 10.19 percent year-over-year. At the same time, values dropped between November and December by 3.58 percent but asking prices were 18.72 percent higher than a year earlier.
Global preowned business jet inventories increased for the 11th consecutive month, rising 2 percent month-over-month in December and 148.29 percent year-over-year. And while asking prices dropped 3.58 percent between November and this month, they rose 16.97 percent from a year ago.
“Asking values for used aircraft still remain elevated, but as used inventory levels continue to trend upwards from the historical lows of early 2022, sellers need to carefully monitor aircraft value trends in the near future,” said Brant Washburn, department manager of Controller, Sandhills’ aircraft marketplace.
The FAA’s analysis of 5G cellphone network C-band transmitter effects on aircraft radio altimeters has shown that the impact on aviation operations is in specific areas. At the same time, the agency has determined how the C-band signals affect aircraft radio altimeters and how these avionics units can be upgraded to tolerate the interference. In light of this new information, the FAA is proposing to revise AD 2021-23-12 to reflect new operational requirements.
In discussing the impact of 5G networks, the FAA said it received more than “420 reports of radio altimeter anomalies within a known location of a 5G C-band deployment.” However, the agency added, “Approximately 315 of these reports were determined to not be related to 5G C-band interference and were resolved through normal continued operational safety procedures.”
About 100 reports within the areas covered by FAA 5G notams could not be ruled out, according to the FAA. “These…incidents included various flight deck effects such as erroneous terrain awareness and warning system warnings, erroneous traffic collision avoidance system warnings, erroneous landing gear warnings, and the erroneous display of radio altimeter data.”
Because 5G networks are expanding and the frequencies they use are close to those of radio altimeters, the revised AC will add “interference tolerance requirements for radio altimeters that can be used across the affected fleet.” Non-radio altimeter-tolerant aircraft will continue to face operational restrictions and retrofits would have to be done by Feb. 1, 2024.
Bohlke International Aviation, the lone FBO at St. Croix’s Henry E. Rohlsen Airport, received a special VVIP group over the holidays—President Joe Biden and his family, who arrived on Air Force One. While the island has long been a favorite vacation destination for the Bidens, this trip—which spanned the period between Christmas and New Year’s day—was the first visit to the U.S. Virgin Islands by a sitting president since Bill Clinton in 1997.
The Bohlke customer service, maintenance, and ground crew teams worked closely with the U.S. Air Force, Coast Guard, and other government officials for several weeks ahead of the visit to ensure a safe trip for the Biden family. The facility and all its services underwent and passed a thorough audit prior to the visit.
“It’s an honor to serve the president and the U.S. military in this capacity,” said William “Billy” Bohlke, president of Bohlke International Aviation, third-generation professional pilot, and a current lt. colonel in the Puerto Rico Air National Guard. “Not every small FBO gets an opportunity like this, and our team has handled every aspect with professionalism and pride.”
The visit came as Bohlke is moving into its newly-built $5 million, 4,400-sq-ft permanent facility that replaces the one destroyed in 2017 by Hurricane Maria.
Public charter operator JSX has equipped half of its fleet of Embraer regional jets with SpaceX’s Starlink airborne connectivity system and expects to have the remainder of the fleet equipped by the second quarter. The global launch customer for Starlink, JSX will offer the service free to passengers on its 30-seat Embraer ERJ aircraft. JSX began equipping its fleet with Starlink in early December following FAA supplemental type certificate approval.
“Starlink’s in-flight Wi-Fi service has been met by our customers with amazement and delight. It’s simply that good and incredibly easy to use,” said JSX CEO Alex Wilcox. “As we continue to outfit our fleet with this industry-leading product, offered to our customers totally free of charge, the gap between the JSX experience and the rest of the industry will continue to widen.”
The company provides scheduled air charter service on 43 routes from 22 cities, including international service to Cabo San Lucas. JSX said it is continuing to grow, adding one to two aircraft each month “for the foreseeable future.”
SmartSky is Live Nationwide and Everyone’s Talking
Inflight connectivity providers have long overpromised high performance, only to create frustration for passengers, crews, ground operations, and even those at the other end of the connection. Finally, there is a new network that provides a connected experience in the air that’s like on the ground—and people are talking.
The FAA has issued its new and long-awaited heliport planning, design, and construction Advisory Circular 150/5390-2D that provides largely voluntary guidance to the rotorcraft community. This AC supersedes previously issued guidance from 2012.
Principal changes contained in the AC include an updated organizational structure of the material contained therein covering general aviation, transport, and hospital heliports; heliport gradients and pavement design; taxiways, taxi routes, and parking; markings and lighting; site safety elements; pre-designated emergency landing areas; and perimeter lighting for VFR operations. New dimensional, layout, and offset requirements also are included, as is a “heliport evaluation process flow chart.”
Provisions of the AC are only mandatory if certain federally-funded programs are used to fund the heliports. Those programs include federal grant assistance programs, including but not limited to the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (Cares) Act Airport Grants programs or projects funded by Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) fees.
The AC has no applicability under FAR Part 139 airport certification due to an exemption for heliport operators. But the FAA added, “Other federal agencies, states, or other authorities having jurisdiction over the construction of heliports not funded with AIP, Cares Act, or PFC funds have discretion in establishing the extent to which these standards apply.”
With the end of the NFL regular season this past weekend, the business aviation community’s eyes now turn to the Super Bowl, which will be played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on February 12. The championship contest traditionally attracts scores of business jets but will be compounded by a major professional golf tournament—the Waste Management Phoenix Open—held in the area that same week. This will add further business aircraft volume, according to NBAA’s air traffic services.
To help expedite the expected traffic to both events, a ramp reservation system is operational and reservations will be required from February 7 to 14 for all arrivals and departures, including drop-and-goes, at eight airports in the metropolitan Phoenix area. Each FBO has been allocated a number of available slot times and reservations must be made through either the service provider or the airport authority as necessary. Scheduled air carriers and air-taxi operations are exempt from the reservation requirement. Due to limited parking availability, drop-and-go operations are encouraged.
With Las Vegas expected to attract its own crowd of private aircraft during the weekend of the big game, as well as its close proximity to the game venue for use as a staging area, Harry Reid International, Henderson Executive, and North Las Vegas airports will also require reservations during that time.
Aircraft owners and other aviation advocates recently established the Savannah Area Aviation Association (SAAA) after an airport master plan at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (KSAV) in Georgia left some operators scrambling for hangar space, NBAA reported.
The master plan included a Southeast Quadrant Redevelopment Project that affected tenants of shadeports, T-hangars, and community hangars. When the plans moved forward last year, NBAA said a lack of communication led several aircraft owners to need to find new space with little notice.
SAAA interim councilmember Ted Meyer, who is a business aircraft pilot and aircraft owner, said the organization wants to work with the airport commission so it understands the value of the spectrum of general aviation. “Savannah [airport] is doing a great job of helping FBOs develop excellent transient services in recent years,” Meyer said. “We’re hoping to work the problem locally to help alleviate some of the pressure that this has caused here in the past several years.”
NBAA Southeast regional director Greg Voos said organizations such as SAAA help the industry as a whole. “Although this group focuses on local issues, it’s important that NBAA and its membership work with organizations like SAAA because, in a lot of ways, our goals and our challenges are similar all over the country,” said Voos. “Strong local and regional organizations lead to a strong global industry.”
The Helicopter Association International (HAI) today announced the recipients of its 2023 Salute to Excellence Award recipients for communications and maintenance. Rainbow Helicopters v-p of maintenance Mike Iven will be given this year's maintenance award and Vertical magazine photographer and writer Lawrence “Skip” Robinson will posthumously receive the award for communications.
HAI's maintenance award “recognizes an individual for long-standing excellence in rotorcraft maintenance, maintenance instruction or supervision, or a single significant contribution to rotorcraft maintenance.” After immigrating to the U.S. from Germany in 1998, Iven became a shop hand and then a full-time maintenance technician at Concord, California-based Helicopter Adventures. He later became director of maintenance and a tour pilot at Hawaii's Rainbow Pacific Helicopters; opened his own general aviation maintenance shop; joined Makani Kai Helicopter Tours as director of maintenance; and then held roles with Safran and Schweizer. When not working in the hangar, Iven helps mentor the next generation of aviation maintenance techs.
The communications award recognizes Robinson for “creative distinction in disseminating information about the helicopter industry.” Robinson was an aviation photographer with a passion for helicopters. Before he died in March 2022, he was a regular contributor to Vertical and Valor magazines.
These awards will be presented on March 6 during a ceremony at HAI Heli-Expo in Atlanta; a family member of Robinson will accept the award on his behalf.
People in Aviation
Duncan Aviation promoted Tracy Bohaboj to sales representative for government programs at the company’s facility in Lincoln, Nebraska. Bohaboj has been with Duncan for nearly 16 years, working with the structural and interior engineering teams and most recently as team leader and certification coordinator for engineering. Before joining Duncan, she worked as a mechanical engineer for New Mexico State University, supporting NASA’s balloon program Office, and as an aerospace engineer at Raven Aerostar.
Suresh Narayanan was appointed COO at JSX. Narayanan, an aerospace entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience, served as president and on the board of Aerospace Quality Research & Development since its inception. As an entrepreneur, he has been focused on investing in multiple Part 145 and 135 aviation businesses. In his role at JSX, he will help support the operator’s future growth plans and expansion.
Air charter specialist Chapman Freeborn appointed Alex Rincker senior v-p of aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance (ACMI) for the Americas. Rincker previously was a senior account executive for Air Planning in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the manager of business development for Omni Air International, where he managed ACMI programs for airline customers.
JetNet appointed Derek Swaim CEO. Swaim has served as president and a member of the board of directors at JetNet since joining the company five months ago. He previously served as an executive-in-residence at Silversmith Capital Partners; executive v-p of corporate development at Validity; managing director at Aeris Partners; and investment banking roles at Harris Williams and Goldman Sachs.
Elite Jets of Naples, Florida, hired Eric Cooter as first officer for the Phenom 300, as well as four operations team members: Mary Hosey, director of finance, and flight operations specialists Andre Labadie, Rawan Pornbowornkiat, and P. Blake Stephens.
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