Daher today celebrated its acquisition of the now-former Triumph metallic and composite aerostructures assembly facility in Stuart, Florida. The move marks a major expansion of Daher’s U.S. industrial presence and reinforces the company’s position as a Tier 1 aerospace supplier. Daher is retaining all 400 employees and management at the Florida division.
“With the Stuart facility, Daher has reached a critical size that is essential in the aerostructures business, while also marking an important expansion of our overall industrial footprint in North America,” said Daher CEO Didier Kayat. “This represents a crucial element in Daher’s long-term strategic plan, and further strengthens our ability to meet supply chain demands as the aviation sector continues its rebound.”
At a media event today in Stuart, Kayat said the Stuart facility will be key to doubling the company’s U.S. revenues to about $1 billion annually, matching that of its European operations. Because the Stuart facility manufactures large aerostructures for the Boeing 767 and 777, the move also helps to balance Daher’s work between Boeing and Airbus. In addition, the acquisition brings more Gulfstream work to Daher, adding G650 flap manufacturing at the Florida plant to its existing G700 winglet work in Europe.
While the political fallout from Russia’s attack on Ukraine has had a deleterious effect on private aviation, with flights in the region down by 60 to 70 percent from pre-pandemic levels, it is not just aircraft operators that are being affected but service providers as well, Jet Aviation president David Paddock told AIN. He noted that “less than 20” Russian-owned business jets were on its properties undergoing maintenance when the sanctions resulting from Russia’s February invasion were imposed.
“We had to immediately stop work on those airplanes,” he said, adding that a completions project for a sanctioned Russian individual was also halted. “The impact on us is a mix of sanctioned customers, as well as Russian persons, and we’re restricted obviously from doing business with both of those groups. We have a few hundred Russian customers that we are not touching at all right now.”
Due to U.S. export control restrictions, the company cannot even obtain new parts for those impacted aircraft. “For example, our sister company Gulfstream will not supply parts for Russian airplanes, either sanctioned or Russian-person controlled,” explained Paddock.
Those aircraft that were in Jet Aviation’s hangars at the time the sanctions were imposed have been removed and parked on the apron. Under instructions from Switzerland's Federal Office of Civil Aviation, the service provider is prohibited from performing even preventative maintenance on the aircraft at any Swiss location.
Recently renamed FBO chain Revv Aviation has expanded to seven locations with the addition of the sole FBO at South Dakota’s Huron Regional Airport (KHON). The city had acquired the FBO assets at KHON from the previous operator Fly Jet Center and then asked Revv, which is growing its footprint throughout the Midwest, to manage the facility.
“What Revv is doing in the Midwest is unique in that the company wants to revitalize small-town airports and encourage people to visit and utilize their local air transportation centers,” noted airport manager Larry Cooper.
The Avfuel-branded facility includes a terminal with a passenger lobby, pilot lounge, and 10-seat A/V-equipped conference room. As well, its 11,000-sq-ft heated hangar can shelter jets up to a Falcon 900.
“Huron can handle any size aircraft,” said Revv president and CEO Guy Lieser. “It’s got a 7,200-foot by 110-foot wide runway, with a 5,000-foot crosswind runway.” He added the company intends to bring its full suite of services to KHON including maintenance, avionics, a flight school, and charter. An engine service team specializing in the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 will care for more than 30 agricultural aircraft based on the field.
Revv also operates FBOs in Council Bluffs, Davenport, and Muscatine, Iowa; Aurora and Schaumburg, Illinois; and Janesville, Wisconsin. The Illinois-based company also provides flight training in Sioux City, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska.
Aviation Maintenance Professionals (AMP) has received certification from the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) to provide maintenance, repair, and upgrades to Saudi-registered Gulfstream, Bombardier/Learjet, Hawker, and Dassault jets. Brian Allen, president of the Arlington, Texas-based MRO provider, said a customer recommended his company seek the certification.
“Initially we were approached by an operator in-country to handle a few maintenance items while they completed a significant avionics upgrade,” Allen explained. “The client was pleased with our performance and suggested we apply for GACA approval in order to both oversee the remaining upgrades across their fleet and their ongoing maintenance requirements.”
It’s the second foreign repair certification AMP has secured, with the first in 2013 from the Mexican Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil. “We approach the expansion of our size, product offerings, and market reach steadily and cautiously to ensure we maintain the high levels of service,” added AMP COO and accountable manager Jim Balzer. “With hangar space and labor availability shortages worldwide, this is an excellent time to expand our reach.”
On-demand charter operator Verijet is expanding its service area in the Northeast U.S. to include airports in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts; Montauk, New York; and Newport, Rhode Island. The additional Northeast airports will be served within a 600 nm radius from Westchester County Airport near New York City. With the additional airports, Verijet will now cover most of the East and West Coast, as well as select Caribbean locations.
Founded in Opa-Locka, Florida, in October 2020, Verijet operates a floating fleet of Cirrus SF50 Vision Jets. Verijet’s focus is on providing sustainable travel and as such uses the single-engine Vision Jet to save more than one ton of CO2 per hour of operation compared with other light jets. The charter company has also partnered with carbon offset credit provider 4Air to reduce its carbon footprint further.
To date, the company has completed more than 3,500 flights.
The Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA) has listed AviationManuals as an authorized vendor for overseas territories aviation requirements (OTAR)-compliant minimum equipment lists (MELs), the Maryland-based provider of manual development services and safety management system software announced.
The listing followed BCAA’s assessment of AviationManuals, including the evaluation of a sample manual and a quality check. Operators using AviationManuals will benefit from the BCAA listing by reducing processing time by 30 percent, according to the company.
“AviationManuals has been a preferred trusted vendor of the BCAA for its international operations and procedures manuals for several years and expanding approvals to include MELs is another testament to how dedicated our team is to aviation safety,” said CEO Mark Baier. “Our ability to produce OTAR-compliant MELs will help to ensure operators are following the correct procedures, which is one of the main goals for all of our clients and subscribers.”
Bell has signed agreements to sell seven more 505 light singles into Europe. The deals include the sale of two of the helicopters to JB Investments, the longest-operating distributor of light aircraft in Poland.
“The Bell 505 has become a popular aircraft for European operators within the corporate and VIP markets due to its advanced avionics, customizable cabin, and versatility, which make it easy for a weekend getaway or quick business trip,” said Duncan Van De Velde, Bell managing director for Europe.
The five-seat 505 features Garmin G1000H NXi avionics and the Safran Arrius 2R, 505 shp (takeoff) engine with dual-channel fadec. There are more than 360 Bell 505s operating worldwide, 65 of them operating in Europe.
Certified by the FAA in 2017, the 505 is gaining popularity as both a civil and military trainer. The 505 is used to train government forces in Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Montenegro, and the UAE and Bell recently signed a deal to sell 40 for use as trainers to the Republic of Korea Army and Republic of Korea Navy. It can now be equipped with the optional Garmin GFC 600H autopilot with features including altitude hold with speed stability and a hover assist mode.
Bristow Group has reached “the most favorable terms possible” on new, long-term maintenance agreements with Leonardo Helicopters and Pratt & Whitney for the operator’s fleet of AW139 helicopters.
The new agreements follow the 2020 merger between Era and Bristow. Previously, Era’s AW139 fleet was covered by a limited power-by-the-hour maintenance agreement on the airframe while engines were covered on a time and cost of materials basis. But Bristow’s fleet of intermediate twins was subject to multiple and disparate power-by-the-hour airframe agreements with Leonardo. The engines were covered by a power-by-the-hour agreement with Pratt & Whitney.
The new agreements between Bristow and the OEMs bring both fleets together under “consistent, global maintenance support.” They also are expected to result in maintenance costs that are more directly correlated with flight hours and more predictable cash flow for Bristow. “These long-term agreements provide greater certainty and better economics for our global AW139 fleet,” added Bristow president and CEO Chris Bradshaw.
Additionally, Bristow has signed long-term maintenance support agreements with Leonardo for the AW189 airframe and with Honeywell for the AW139 avionics. Another long-term maintenance agreement was signed with GE for the AW189 and S-92 engines.
Supersedes an earlier AD that requires inspection of the main gearbox (MGB) bracket installation bolts and adds a required modification for an improved MGB suspension bar-fitting assembly. In addition, this AD also calls for shims installation for the left-hand rear-suspension bar fitting on certain helicopters. The inspection requirements stemmed from a finding the head of one affected bolt missing from one of the suspension-bar fittings. This condition could lead to separation of the suspension-bar fitting and the MGB suspension bar, possibly resulting in loss of the main rotor assembly and, consequently, loss of power transmission of the helicopter. Since that time, investigations were concluded and showed that the bolt head was not parallel to the washer, causing increased stress in the screw head leading to crack initiation and separation of the bolt head.
Revises an earlier AD and incorporates the manufacturer's service bulletin information providing a methodology to establish or (re)calculate the already recorded torque cycles (TC) of certain parts, as applicable, and the determined service life limits. The actions stem from the discovery that different methods were used to determine TC of various affected helicopters that could lead to the exceedance of life cycles.
Requires a one-time detailed visual inspection (DVI) of the main rotor hub (MRH) sleeves and, depending on findings, the accomplishment of applicable follow-on repetitive inspections and corrective actions. The AD stems from a report of finding a cracked affected part. The investigation determined that this was a fatigue crack that had initiated from a significant corrosion pit, located in an area of the MRH sleeve with chipped paint. The surface protection had not been touched up. This condition could lead to structural failure of the affected part, possibly resulting in the loss of a helicopter.
Prohibits the installation of any overheat detection sensing element that may have insufficient salt fill and requires prevention of aircraft dispatch with an active bleed air leak. The AD follows a report that Bombardier had received letters from a supplier disclosing a manufacturing quality escape causing some overheat detection sensing elements to be produced with insufficient salt fill. As these sensing elements are used by the bleed air leak detection system for temperature detection in the event of a hot bleed air leak, this insufficient salt fill can result in an inability to detect hot bleed air leaks, which can cause damage to surrounding structures and systems that can prevent continued safe flight and landing.
Supersedes a previous AD to add a new maintenance task for eddy current inspections of the flap tracks 2 and 5. The original AD stemmed from additional maintenance instructions and airworthiness limitations that Dassault had released.
Supersedes a previous AD to add a new maintenance task for eddy current inspections of the flap tracks 2 and 5. The previous AD included additional maintenance tasks and airworthiness limitations.
Requires removing the high-pressure turbine (HPT) disk, part number (P/N) 67093, from service before reaching defined cycle limits and replacing it with a part eligible for installation. This AD was prompted by a report of cracks in the HPT disk posts and failure of an HPT disk post, resulting in the contained fracture of an HPT disk post and blade.
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