Dassault Aviation’s global product support organization is kicking off its maintenance services for Falcon operators at 2019’s major business, cultural, and sporting events worldwide today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In addition to routine troubleshooting services provided by the 24/7 global Falcon Command Center, offerings include Technical Team assistance, offsite GoTeam dispatch, and its portfolio of AOG services that includes dedicated Falcon Response aircraft to transport spare parts, tools, and technicians to remote sites and provide alternative lift.
To serve Falcon crews attending the Davos event, Dassault has reinforced its support teams at Zurich International and St. Gallen–Altenrhein Airports, making available additional resources from Falcon-authorized service centers in the area and its global network of Falcon spares warehouses.
“Davos generates an exceptionally large influx of business aircraft into the Zurich region,” said Jean Kayanakis, senior v-p of the Worldwide Falcon Customer Service & Service Center Network. “We want to ensure that Falcon operators attending such global events have access to the fastest, most comprehensive and highest quality onsite support available.”
Last year, Dassault’s special event support included Davos, the FIFA World Cup in Russia, and the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Shutdown Shutters Many U.S. Aviation Safety Activities
With the partial U.S. government shutdown now in its fifth week, key safety activities such as the release of most Airworthiness Directives (ADs) remain on hold. In fact, the FAA has issued only one new AD this year, involving high-thrust settings of the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines on the Boeing 787-8. That was released on Friday as an interim action ahead of the comment period because the FAA determined that the risk justified the immediate action.
Under the DOT guidance plans for the government shutdown, safety workforce at the FAA would be “limited to safety critical staff whose job is to perform urgent continued operational activity to protect life and property.” As such, the agency is working operational safety issues to determine whether urgent safety action is necessary, such as the release of emergency ADs. All other ADs, however, have stopped. By this time last year, the agency had already issued some 25 ADs.
ADs are only one safety area on hold. The Aviation Safety Action Program—which provides a mechanism for voluntary reporting and mitigating safety issues in a non-threatening environment—has stalled from the agency’s furlough. Further, the NTSB has quieted for the most part. One CBS report suggested that nearly 75 ongoing investigations—crossing all modes—have been put on hold.
UK-based FBO operator Weston Aviation opened its newest location at Gloucestershire Airport earlier this month. Located in the Southwest corner of England, the airport is one of the country’s busiest general and business aviation gateways. The new FBO is situated in the main terminal building, adjacent to the main aircraft ramp area, and offers crew and passenger lounges with direct ramp access for passengers and vehicles.
“In just the first few weeks of operation, we have been delighted to welcome both new and existing customers to our FBO, which is encouraging and already confirms our vision for making Gloucestershire Airport a significant business aviation airport in the region,” said company founder and CEO Nick Weston.
In addition to ground handling, Weston Aviation, which was established in 1995, provides aircraft charter, leasing, and fuel services. Its other locations include Cornwall Airport Newquay, Humberside International Airport, and Ireland’s Cork Airport.
MemberJets Taps Prime Jet for Florida Route
Business aviation per-seat reseller MemberJets/Sky380 has selected Part 135 operator Prime Jet to provide flights between New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport and Miami-area Opa-Locka Airport in its recently refurbished Gulfstream IV-SP.
“We’re very excited to arm our current broker customers with another way to sell our aircraft,” noted Prime Jet COO Andrew Gulsrud. “This is just the tip of the iceberg of possible options, and [the] MembersJets platform ultimately facilitates a new revenue customer for our great industry.”
MemberJets describes itself as the only aviation marketplace that provides charter brokers, Part 135 operators, and jet card programs with a free platform to create, market, and share flights by the seat.
“The shared economy makes logical sense for a fragmented industry that has always been exclusively for the elite,” said MemberJets founder and CEO Ty Carter. “The marketplace allows industry players to work together, leveraging the advantages of private aviation while creating new flight options and prices, thus opening aviation to an entirely new demographic.”
Canada To Require Drone Registration, Pilot License
Transport Canada has issued new rules that require drone pilots to register their aircraft and obtain a pilot certificate by June 1. The requirements apply to drones weighing between 250 grams and 25 kilograms (8.8 ounces and 55 pounds) that are operated within the pilot’s visual line of sight, regardless of whether the drone is flown for fun, work, or research.
The new regulations also introduce two main categories of drone operation: basic and advanced. Categories are based on distance from bystanders and airspace rules.
Each category has its own set of rules that will require the pilot to mark the drone with its registration number; pass an online exam and get a pilot certificate for basic (minimum age 14) or advanced (minimum age 16) operations; and keep the drone below 400 ft agl and away from air traffic. Those who want to fly a drone outside the rules for basic or advanced operations will need to apply for a special flight operations certificate.
Transport Canada has also developed a website with information on the new regulations and tools for all drone pilots. Anyone who violates the regulations could be “subject to fines of up to $25,000 and/or prison,” Transport Canada said. “This applies to drones of any size used for any purpose.”
On Air Dining’s New Menu Features Locally Sourced Foods
London-based On Air Dining has launched a “farm to flight” initiative with a new menu featuring locally sourced meats, seafood, and vegetables, and is also now encouraging flight crews to visit farms and kitchens to meet the business aircraft caterer's suppliers. This builds on the broader farm-to-fork movement, which has been growing over the past few years and aims to get people interested in learning more about the source of their food.
“This is the next natural step for us, and we are happy to open our doors and invite our customers to join us on this journey,” said On Air Dining CEO Daniel Hulme. “We not only have a responsibility to our customers to provide the highest-quality cuisine, but an obligation to the planet to do what we can with regards to using local, organic, and sustainably sourced products, as well as doing what we can to reduce our carbon footprint.”
On Air’s local food sources for its new menu items include Trenchmore in Sussex for Wagyu beef, Dingley Dell pork from the east coast of Suffolk, and Cornish monkfish, Cromer crab, and line-caught seabass from the UK’s south coast, as well as micro cress and herbs from Nurtured in Norfolk.
Amstat Launches Salesforce-compatible App for Bizav
Business aircraft market information services provider Amstat has released a new application that works with the Salesforce CRM (customer relationship management) product, the New Jersey-based company announced today. The new app, Amstat for Salesforce, is aimed at increasing business aviation sales professionals’ productivity and effectiveness, according to Amstat general manager Andrew Young.
Some of the app’s key features include the ability to view Amstat’s contact and fleet data from within Salesforce; link current Amstat data to Salesforce accounts, contacts, and leads; and receive alerts for linked records from within Salesforce on changes discovered by Amstat research. The application is available as an upgrade for Amstat Premier subscribers and can be downloaded from the Salesforce AppExchange.
Amstat will demonstrate the new app in Booth 425 at the NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference, which opens next Tuesday in San Antonio, Texas.
Bell’s Singapore Center Gets Chinese Nod
Bell’s Singapore service center has received Civil Aviation Administration of China approval for the Bell 206, 407, and 429, allowing it to conduct maintenance, repair, and overhaul work on the helicopters’ components, engines, instruments, and radios.
About 150 Bell helicopters are based in China, consisting mainly of 40 Bell 206s, 78 Bell 407s, and 17 Bell 429s. That number is set to increase to around 360 with the order from Shaanxi Helicopter and Reignwood International Investment Group for 100 Bell 407GXPs and 110 Bell 505 Jet Ranger Xs, respectively.
“The CAAC certification is a key milestone for Bell as we expand our service and support offering for our growing fleet in the region,” said Bell Asia general manager Chris Schaefer. “Our focus in Asia-Pacific will be working with our authorized customer service facilities and customers to ensure Bell aircraft are maintained to the highest safety standards.”
The certification is expected to give Chinese operators additional MRO options on top of local authorized agents, and engineers from Singapore will travel to China when required. Bell added that the Singapore facility recently received non-restricted FAA Part 145 certification for Bell 205, 206, 212, 407, 412, 429, and 505 maintenance, repair, and overhaul work on all components, engines, accessories, instruments, and radios.
Count on AIN for Full Coverage of NBAA’s Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference
As ever, you can count on AIN for full coverage of the 2019 Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference from San Antonio, Texas. Our team will publish special editions of AINalerts from the show on January 28, 29, 30, and 31. If you are an exhibiting company that wants to share news ahead of the show, please contact senior editor Curt Epstein.
People in Aviation
Kim Stephenson joined Universal Avionics as regional sales manager for Canada. Stephenson brings more than 20 years of aviation experience to her new role, previously holding sales and business development positions at L-3 Aviation Products, Mooney International Corporation, and Team Aircraft.
Blackhawk Modifications promoted Lindsay Allmon to marketing manager. Most recently marketing coordinator, Allmon joined Blackhawk almost three years ago after serving with an avionics manufacturer.
Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group appointed Patrick Wood to the newly created position of chief technical officer and program management director. Wood previously was the director of international advanced programs and UK country executive for Lockheed Martin Space and also has held technical and program management roles at Airbus.
Des Miles was appointed group MRO sales director for the Luxaviation Group. Miles, who has 25 years' aviation experience, will also continue as MRO business development manager for the Middle East, reporting to ExecuJet Middle East maintenance director Nick Weber.
Cutter Aviation promoted David Clifton to director of technical and flight support services, responsible for its Part 145 repair stations, Part 135 charter operations, and the client relationship team. Clifton, who joined Cutter in 2005 as director of maintenance, has more than 30 years of A&P mechanic and management experience with Cutter and other operators, as well as experience as a mechanic/crew chief and air traffic controller for the U.S. Army.
Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI) appointed Francisco Zozaya to the new role of president of JSSI Latin America, as well as senior v-p of business development and strategy for JSSI corporate. Zozaya, who will lead all JSSI activities in Latin America, the global JSSI Alliance Program, and JSSI Marketplace, joins the company after spending more than a decade as preowned aircraft director for Aerolineas Ejecutivas.
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