Wheels Up Buys Mountain Aviation, Quadrupling CX Fleet

Wheels Up is continuing its buying spree, this time scooping up Denver-based air charter and MRO provider Mountain Aviation following the acquisitions of Travel Management Co. (TMC) in mid-2019 and Delta Private Jets and Gama Aviation Signature early last year. Specific financial terms of the deal announced this morning were not disclosed.

The addition of Mountain Aviation will provide Wheels Up with West Coast bases (in Denver and Thermal, California) and heavy maintenance capability for its Beechcraft King Airs and Cessna Citations. It also quadruples the size of the company's Citation X fleet to about 40. Mountain Aviation also has bases in Teterboro, New Jersey, and Anchorage, Alaska.

According to Wheels Up founder and CEO Kenny Dichter, this acquisition is similar to its TMC buy, meaning Mountain Aviation will continue to operate under its own brand name and serve existing customers while integrating Wheels Up’s technologies and best practices. “Mountain Aviation’s wholesale charter operations and super-mid fleet are a perfect complement to Wheels Up’s previous acquisition of [TMC], which operates the industry’s largest wholesale floating fleet of light jets,” he added.

The acquisition adds 59 aircraft, most of which are Citation Xs, to Wheels Up's fleet, bringing the total to about 335 King Airs and Citations flown by more than 1,000 pilots. Wheels Up also plans to further expand its Citation X fleet this year.

CDC Plans To Require Negative Covid Tests for Intl Pax

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to expand pre-departure Covid-19 testing requirements to all passengers arriving in the U.S. from international destinations, NBAA is advising. NBAA, which recently met with FAA and CDC officials, expects the policy to be released shortly, building on requirements that apply to UK commercial passengers. Under those requirements, passengers from the UK must present negative results from a Covid test taken within three days of departure.

NBAA expects the CDC will require all aircraft operators, including those operating general aviation flights, to confirm documentation of negative qualified tests of passengers two years or older; ensure that name and date of birth on qualifying tests match passengers' documentation; confirm that tests were performed within three calendar days of the flight; and retain verification documentation for two years.

Operators are expected to be prohibited from boarding any passenger without confirmation of a negative test. However, the association added that liability for falsified documents will reside with passengers. NBAA anticipates that in addition to children under age two, exemptions will be provided for crewmembers, emergency air ambulance flights, and military flights.

The association advises operators to review the CDC order once released for details such as what constitutes a valid test. Further, NBAA said, since the situation is continuously evolving, the requirements could change before they are published.

Pilatus Aircraft Delivers 100th PC-24 Jet

European fractional-share provider Jetfly Aviation has taken delivery of the 100th Pilatus PC-24 light jet produced since the first PC-24 entered service in February 2018. Jetfly operates a fleet of 51 PC-12 turboprops and PC-24s. So far, the worldwide PC-24 fleet has logged more than 33,500 hours.

“All our customers without exception have been impressed by the quality of the PC-24 and the incredible performance of this aircraft,” said Jetfly CEO Cédric Lescop. “After two years of operation, our customers are still enthusiastic about their acquisition, which is a sign to us of the success of this new aircraft program, which is well on the way to becoming another market bestseller, just like the PC-12.”

“We hit the bullseye with the PC-24,” said Pilatus chairman Oscar Schwenk. “I’m very encouraged by such high demand. We’re already sold out for 2021, but the order book is open for deliveries from 2022 onward. Investment in the PC-24 helps us to secure jobs at our Swiss site on a long-term basis. We are also working on further optimizations.”

NASA’s X-59 Takes Shape

While NASA revised its timeline for the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) demonstrator to reflect anticipated first flight in 2022, the agency remains encouraged that construction of the X-plane had reached the halfway point by late last year despite the complexities associated with the pandemic.

In a recent update, the agency said assembly of the Mach 1.4 aircraft “made great strides” in 2020 as work progressed on the flight deck, wings, and other hardware. In addition, GE Aviation delivered the F414-GE-100 engine that will power the X-59 QueSST in the third quarter. Program partner Lockheed Martin is assembling the aircraft at its Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, under a $247.5 million NASA contract.

One significant recent milestone was the closing of the wing section, which NASA termed as the “structural backbone of the aircraft.” Completed in November, the milestone marked the first major assembly to be closed and clears the way for the joining of other key components, including the fuselage and tail.

NASA in September had updated the schedule, anticipating completion of final assembly this year and first flight in 2022. The X-59 QueSST will be used to test the effects on supersonic sound of new advanced technologies over various population centers. NASA  expects that community testing will start in 2024.

Atlantic Expands Colorado FBO

Atlantic Aviation has added a new 30,000-sq-ft heated hangar to its FBO at Colorado’s Montrose Regional Airport (MTJ), where it is the lone service provider. The move more than doubles the location’s existing hangar space.

“With customers spending more time in the Rockies, and the size of business aircraft increasing, the additional hangar space enhances our ability to service the growing needs of the general aviation community at MTJ,” said Jay Hamby, the chain’s senior v-p for the mountain region. “In addition to its existing amenities, Atlantic Aviation MTJ now features a total of 57,000 sq ft of hangar space.”

The company is also in the process of upgrading its fuel farm at the airport, with the addition of 52,000 gallons of storage capacity to its current amount of 56,000 gallons of fuel. It expects to complete that improvement by year-end.

“We are pleased to be working closely with the Montrose County airport administration to complete these projects and to continue to support the growth of the greater Montrose community,” added Hamby.

Thorne Adds Chairman Title at Gogo

Gogo president and CEO Oakleigh Thorne has added a third title—chairman—with the retirement of chairman Ronald LeMay while the board also named current director Hugh Jones as lead independent director. Both appointments were effective December 31.

The changes come a month after the air-to-ground connectivity provider completed the sale of its commercial aviation business to Intelsat, which yielded Gogo $400 million in cash and a singular focus on the business aviation market. “As we embark on this new chapter for Gogo, we're pleased to appoint Oak[leigh] to the additional role of chairman,” said Jones. “We believe his strategic vision, proven leadership capabilities, and ability to execute through market challenges make him the right person to lead the Gogo board going forward.”

Thorne noted LeMay’s more than 14-year tenure included guiding the Colorado-based company through some of its “most pivotal and challenging times.”

“I am honored to serve as chairman as we execute our strategy to capitalize on the opportunities in the business aviation market and drive value for our customers, employees, and shareholders,” added Thorne.

L2 To Release New Cabin Air Monitoring System

L2 Aviation expects to receive an STC in the first quarter for its new Halo Cabin Air Monitoring System. The company is looking to integrate air sampling technology that has been in use in buildings such as schools to measure potentially toxic chemicals in the air—or even detect illicit vaping—for aviation purposes. As such L2 has entered into a joint venture with the product developer IP Video on the Halo system.

While airlines have had to deal with cabin air quality virtually since the start of commercial aviation, Halo project manager with L2 Mike McConnell said there has been no way to quantitively measure it until now. “One of the big areas in aircraft that the airlines are very interested in is the chemical detections, so, ammonia, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and ozone, we’re integrating into the sensor suite,” he told AIN. “If you have any reduced respiratory function, ozone can trigger an asthma attack, so the ability to detect ozone is important for those people in the cabin.

“We’re initially targeting the Boeing and Airbus airframes due to the large numbers and the airlines' immediate challenge of recapturing trust in their customers,” he said. “But our roadmap absolutely has the large-cabin business jets from Gulfstream, Dassault, and Bombardier.”

Former NATA Chief Larry Burian Dies

Lawrence L. “Larry” Burian, who led the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) for nearly two decades, died on December 23.

Burian, who soloed at the age of 14 in his Missouri hometown, joined NATA in 1974 initially as a v-p of industry affairs and became its president two years later. At the time, the organization had just three employees, 160 members, and a $135,000 budget, Burian was quoted as saying during his retirement. By the time he left NATA in 1994, the association had grown to some 2,000 members and had a $2.5 million budget and 16 employees.

NATA noted that Burian stepped in when the association’s members were fragmented and needed focus and worked to attract leaders who understood the general aviation business. As he took over, the association changed its name to the National Air Transportation Association and it has flourished since. Under his stewardship, NATA fought major conflicts such as fuel price and allocation controls—a battle that ultimately resulted in an estimated $70 million being returned to the FBO industry, according to the association.

NATA added that Burian, a strong advocate of communication, left a legacy of “community-building, providing strong advocacy, and serving as the voice of aviation business.”

Global 5500/6500 Lands Top Flight Award

AIN editors chose the Bombardier Global 5500/6500 as the winner of the 2020 Top Flight Awards Jet Category. These new Globals mate time-tested fuselages to more efficient wings and engines, as well as modern avionics and a redesigned cabin, to deliver superior performance and comfort. Their cabins feature the proprietary Nuage seat that Bombardier originally designed for the Global 7500, in addition to the “Nuage Chaise” in the conference/dining areas. The new Globals are powered by Rolls-Royce Pearl 15 engines and also feature a reprofiled wing, among other aerodynamic improvements. Safety gets a boost thanks to the Collins combined vision system, which merges infrared enhanced vision and synthetic vision system imagery into a single conformal view, allowing the pilots to take off and land in just about any visibility.

See this year’s award winners.