Fourth-quarter sales soared 54 percent year-over-year at Gulfstream Aerospace, resulting in the second-best quarter ever and the highest one in 10 years, parent company General Dynamics reported this morning. Book-to-bill was 1.7:1 in the final quarter and 1.2:1 for the whole year, according to General Dynamics chairman and CEO Phebe Novakovic. Gulfstream demand was healthy across all of its product lines and by world regions, she said, pointing out that order activity rose in “Asia, the Middle East, and, particularly, Europe.”
Last year, Gulfstream delivered 147 aircraft (114 large-cabin and 33 midsize jets)—two more than forecast and 26 more than the 121 (92 large-cabin and 29 midsize jets) shipped in 2018. Novakovic said Gulfstream is expected to deliver 150 aircraft this year.
A favorable delivery mix also resulted in higher revenues and earnings at General Dynamics’ aerospace unit, which includes both Gulfstream and Jet Aviation. Full-year revenue for the division climbed 15.9 percent year-over-year, to $9.8 billion, while earnings jumped 2.8 percent, to $1.5 billion for the year. Backlog grew $2 billion during the fourth quarter, to $13.3 billion.
Meanwhile, Novakovic said all five flight-test G700s are assembled, with the fifth aircraft now being outfitted with an interior. First flight of the G700 is planned for the first half of this year, with service entry slated for 2022.
Textron Sees Mixed Deliveries, Lower Profit in Q4
Textron Aviation’s deliveries, revenue, and profit were mixed in the fourth quarter of 2019, affected in part by waning demand for its legacy Citation jets and price inflation, parent company Textron Inc. announced today. For the period, 71 jets—including 13 Longitudes—and 59 turboprops were delivered by the Beechcraft and Cessna airframer.
That compares with deliveries of 63 jets and 67 turboprops in the same period last year. Meanwhile, deliveries of its new super-midsize Longitude certified in September 2019 lifted revenue 11 percent from the year-ago quarter to $1.7 billion, while profit fell to $134 million from $170 million, partly from lower profit on the first Longitude deliveries.
Textron CEO Scott Donnelly reiterated that a December 27 explosion at Textron Aviation’s Plant 3 in east Wichita did not affect the new SkyCourier twin-turboprop development program. But the explosion will delay deliveries of legacy aircraft—at least 10 to 15 units—this year. “The plant did incur significant damage affecting our composite manufacturing operations and we are working to recover the entire facility.”
During the quarter, the company also announced a restructuring at Textron Aviation and its industrial business segment that resulted in the layoff of 875 workers, the bulk of which affected aviation and resulted in a fourth-quarter special charge of $72 million.
Wheels Up Closes on Delta Private Jets Combination
Wheels Up and Delta Air Lines have closed on their transaction and partnership agreement and will begin unveiling cross-platform benefits for current and prospective Wheels Up and Delta Private Jets members. The deal combines the two private aviation membership programs totaling nearly 200 turboprops and jets, and more than 8,000 members and customers for Wheels Up.
“Together, Wheels Up and Delta will democratize the industry to make private flying and the private flying lifestyle accessible to significantly more individuals and businesses around the world,” said Wheels Up founder and CEO Kenny Dichter. “By adding Delta Private Jets and partnering with Delta, our membership platform has evolved to one that can fulfill a vast range of flight needs on a very large scale.”
Partnership benefits and other program features that are expected to come from the tie-up first announced in December include eligibility for Wheels Up Members to earn Delta Medallion Status, accrue miles in Delta's SkyMiles loyalty program, and use their Wheels Up Fund program balances to pay for Delta commercial flights. Delta Private Jets customers will also have access to exclusive Wheels Up membership offerings, experiences, and use of the Wheels Up fleet of Beechcraft King Air 350i, Citation Excel/XLS, and Citation X aircraft.
XOJet Aviation Relocating Most Of Its HQ to Florida
Charter operator XOJet Aviation plans to move two-thirds of its headquarters operations from Sacramento McClellan Airport (MCC) in California to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE) in Florida, the company announced yesterday. At FXE, XOJet will set up temporary space for 250 employees on the north side of the airport while it awaits construction of a 40,000-sq-ft building at a permanent site at the airport, the exact location of which is to be determined.
“Moving our headquarters will allow teams to work more efficiently with our key partners and will increase key departments’ responsiveness and improve efficiencies for clients as well as provide a location that will allow us to attract world-class talent,” XOJet Aviation president and chief operating officer Kevin Thomas told AIN. The regional sales office and the operations of its corporate air shuttle team will remain at MCC.
“There will be a significant number of the existing employees relocating to South Florida in the coming weeks,” added chief human resources officer Michelle Bauman. “We’ll be hiring an additional 150 positions, which are currently open and we’ve begun accepting applications.”
XOJet Aviation is the operating air carrier for XOJet, an on-demand charter company acquired in the fourth quarter of 2018 by Vista Global Holding. XOJet Aviation has 116 owned aircraft, while XOJet has access to another 1,500 aircraft under management.
Bombardier Donates Global 7500 FTV To Local College
Bombardier donated a Global 7500 flight test vehicle (FTV) to Centennial College in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which has renamed its Centre for Aerospace and Aviation at Downsview Park to The Bombardier Centre for Aerospace and Aviation. The donation and name change were marked at an event yesterday by the two organizations, which have collaborated on aerospace education, skills training, and research and development for a decade.
"Bombardier is proud to continue supporting Centennial College in its mission to prepare the next generation of aerospace professionals,” Bombardier president and CEO Alain Bellemare said. “With this Global 7500 aircraft donation, students will receive incomparable hands-on training using the industry's latest advanced technology.” The 7500 that Bombardier donated was its fourth FTV and known internally as “The Architect.” It made its maiden flight on September 28, 2017, and accumulated 731 flight hours. It will be permanently located outside of Centennial's Downsview Park hangar and facility that opened in January 2019.
Last February, Bombardier donated a CRJ200 to Centennial for training. It is also donating $150,000 for the completion of the college’s landing gear research project. Centennial’s aviation program is expected to train a minimum of 50 individuals for each of the next two years.
A Canadian-registered Embraer Legacy 450 twinjet flying from Lexington, Kentucky, to Calgary earlier this month experienced a cascading avionics failure that led the crew to declare “Pan-Pan” and make an expedited descent to their destination, according to a Transportation Safety Board of Canada preliminary report. The 2016-model aircraft (C-GASL) operated by fractional provider Air Sprint experienced AVNX LH DU FAULT and AP FAULT crew alerting system warnings approximately 75 minutes before landing at Calgary International Airport (YYC) on January 19.
"All navigation sources were lost on the captain's side along with multiple flags on the PFD and multiple failures associated with the multifunction keyboard pad,” the prelim reads. “The #1 FMS failed, and the autothrottles disengaged...Control of the pressurization was lost."
The captain transferred control to the first officer, and the crew consulted the QRH. The aircraft entered a shallow descent and made a normal landing at YYC, with the crew referencing the first officer's instruments. The report noted “all systems resumed normal operation” following an avionics reboot by maintenance, and online flight tracking sources indicate the jet returned to service four days later. The Legacy 450 is equipped with the Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics suite.
Bell 525 Flight Test Program In Final Stages
Bell's production-conforming super-medium 525 Relentless is making its Heli-Expo debut this week in Anaheim, California. Registered as N525TY, the helicopter made its way from Bell’s Fort Worth, Texas headquarters in about seven hours and with four stops—a longer distance than usual because of the restrictions on experimental aircraft flying over densely populated areas.
Bell isn’t providing a predicted timeline for FAA certification, but “we’re firmly in the certification phase,” said Josh O’Neil, Bell's manager of technology and evaluation and chief engineer for the 525 program. Bell is targeting FAA production certification shortly after type certification, said program director Byron Ward. EASA certification is also planned fairly soon after the FAA nod, he added.
When the 525 is certified, 37 kits will also be approved, including items such as air-conditioning, floats, weather radar, dual radar altimeters, and other features needed for oil-and-gas industry customers, said Bell.
The 525 Relentless, which is powered by two 1,714-shp GE CT7-2F1 turboshafts, has a 160-knot cruise speed and no-reserve range of 580 nm. Hover ceiling IGE is 10,700 feet and OGE is 8,100 feet. Max gross weight is 20,500 pounds, and in the oil-and-gas configuration shown on N525TY, there are 16 passenger seats with close access to emergency exits.
An FAA and industry working group including NBAA and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) recently issued a final report to the agency and recommendations to streamline and expedite the process of issuing letters of authorization (LOA) to Part 91 operators for communications, navigation, and surveillance, NBAA announced in an update. “Many members have expressed frustration after taking ownership of a brand new, technologically advanced aircraft and the delay until they are able to fully utilize that aircraft due to the wait for required LOAs,” said NBAA director of flight operations and regulations Brian Koester.
The recommendations call for GAMA to develop an Aircraft Statement of Capability (ACOS) template online that is free of charge to aircraft OEMs, who in turn should develop their own ACOS documents using the template. OEMs that provide an ACOS should also establish procedures to maintain and update the document.
Also called for in the recommendations is that the FAA should consider the aircraft make, model and series, serial number, or operator name rather than an aircraft’s registration number when reviewing a Part 91 operator’s application as well as create/update a new LOA Training Statement of Compliance form for international operations training providers. Last, the FAA should develop an additional process to provide a statement of compliance for vendors that sell International Operating Manuals to Part 91 operators.
“We hope these recommendations will help reduce those delays,” Koester added.
Supersedes but maintains requirements of CF-2019-33, which mandates inspection of main landing gear trailing arm assemblies for compromised paint finish and/or corrosion on the axle bore inner diameters and any necessary repairs. Updated AD revises compliance time and clarifies that a review of airplane maintenance records can be used to confirm if an affected main landing gear trailing arm assembly is installed.
Supersedes and partially retains the requirements of EASA AD 2019-0174, which required the removal of the main gearbox and replacement of main gearbox bearing lock nut P/N 3G6320A09151. Updated AD amends the compliance times and requires replacement of these affected main gearbox bearing lock nuts with new P/N 3G63209A152 lock nuts.
Requires a one-time check of the uploaded avionics system SW version and of the CD-ROM on board and, depending on findings, corrective actions. This AD stems from a report that, during maintenance, incorrect EASy "Top-Level System" operational SW version was found to have been loaded into a Falcon 8X. This loading was made possible because of an improper CD-ROM that was found on board the airplane. This condition, if not detected and corrected, could lead to misleading information and erroneous behavior of the guidance/airplane, possibly affecting functional capabilities and resulting in the reduction of the safety margins.
Calls for replacement of roll-over valves. AD stems from the discovery of a manufacturing non-conformity, affecting a certain batch of roll-over valves P/N 510397-4. This may lead to fuel leakage from the valve in case of aircraft roll-over during an emergency or unusually hard landing. This condition, if not corrected, could lead to a post-impact fire, possibly resulting in injury to occupants.
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