For the first half of 2022, Business aviation activity was up by 22 percent over the same period last year, according to statistics released this morning by industry data tracker WingX Advance. During the first six months of this year, the Hamburg, Germany-based company noted that there were 2.7 million flights globally, with business jet activity in particular up 27 percent year-over-year and 21 percent above pre-pandemic 2019 totals. This is in comparison to commercial airline service, which is still down by nearly 30 percent versus 2019.
In North America, while the six-month total is up 20 percent for the year, June’s year-over-year totals showed a more modest 7 percent increase. During the Fourth of July holiday weekend, business jet activity was down 5 percent from last year’s record, but still 32 percent up over the same period in 2019. Europe saw nearly 300,000 business jet flights in the first half of the year, a 38 percent increase over the same period last year and 17 percent more than in 2019.
“The first half of the year set a new record for global business jet demand, and although the rebound is slowing, the gains on 2019 have held steady at around 20 percent,” said WingX managing director Richard Koe. “The European summer demand has meanwhile hit new heights as the summer holidays start in earnest.”
The Biden Administration yesterday announced its intent to nominate Denver International Airport CEO Phillip Washington to be the next FAA administrator. Billy Nolen, who had joined the agency at the beginning of the year as associate administrator for aviation safety, stepped in as acting FAA administrator following the departure of Steve Dickson at the end of March.
While steering one of the nation’s busiest airports for just a year, Washington brings a lengthy background in the management of large transportation organizations. He previously was CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, managing a budget of more than $8 billion and overseeing 11,000 employees. He also was CEO of the Denver Regional Transportation District and assistant manager for 10 years before that.
Spending 24 years in the U.S. Army, Washington retired from active duty as a disabled veteran with the rank of command sergeant major and was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal for exceptional service. He also served as the transportation team lead on the Biden Administration’s transition team.
Washington would step in following a time when the FAA had been under intense scrutiny in the aftermath of the Boeing Max crashes. It also has been a transition for the agency that has seen most of its top ranks turn over in the past 18 months.
Signature Aviation, the world’s largest FBO operator, has completed its purchase of the TAC Air FBO chain. First announced in May, the transaction brings Signature Flight Support to 227 wholly-owned and affiliate locations in its network.
TAC Air had 16 FBOs but at three of those sites—Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport, Eppley Airport in Omaha, Nebraska, and Raleigh-Durham International Airport—Signature was already the only other service provider, which required it to divest one facility at each. Signature in turn sold them to Atlantic Aviation.
At Denver Centennial Airport, Dallas Love Field, and Scottsdale Airport in Arizona, the acquisition further enhances Signature’s on-field presence with additional facilities. But the purchase also represents Signature's initial arrival at 11 other locations, including Salt Lake City, Utah; Lexington, Kentucky; Buffalo, New York; Amarillo, Texas; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Knoxville, Tennessee. Signature intends to retain the staff at those locations and expects to fully integrate the facilities into its network by the end of the year.
“TAC Air is an example of home-grown success, and we’re delighted to share in the storied heritage of TAC Air while retaining its over 600 employees within the Signature team,” said Signature Aviation CEO Tony Lefebvre. “We aim to build on the exceptional staff and impressive network of TAC Air, generating greater value and care for private aviation travelers in the most desired locations.”
Hourly jet card prices continue their upward trajectory, now up 28 percent since December 2020, according to Private Jet Card Comparisons (PJCC). The average hourly cost of fixed-rate or capped jet cards followed the 5 percent increase in the first quarter with a 6 percent hike in the second, the independent buyers' guide reported.
Private flyers with subscriptions to PJCC have indicated plans to fly 39.7 hours over the next year, close to the previous 12-month average of 41.7 and translating into an average spend of $427,569 per subscriber based on what is now an average hourly card price of $10,770.
Some 10.7 percent of subscribers anticipate flying 75 hours or more. This inched up slightly from the 10.3 percent in the first quarter, PJCC noted. “Prices keep going up, but so far, that hasn’t impacted future demand,” said PJCC founder and editor-in-chief Doug Gollan.
Light-jet cards are up 6 percent from the first quarter at $8,050 per hour; midsize jets increased 8 percent from the first quarter at $9,323 per hour; super-midsize cards are now $11,649 per hour, a 4 percent improvement; and pricing for large-cabin cards is at $15,449 per hour, up 9 percent. Ultra-long-haul jet cards have increased 7 percent from the first quarter at $19,096 per hour.
Airbus Corporate Jets has delivered an ACJ319neo from the final assembly line in Hamburg, Germany, to an undisclosed new private customer in Western Europe, the company announced yesterday. The aircraft will be managed by Jet Aviation and available for charter flights.
“This demonstrates the value of the ACJ319neo for the business aviation market,” said Airbus Corporate Jets president Benoit Defforge. “The aircraft’s latest-technology engines and Sharklet [winglets] enable even longer intercontinental flights in the widest single-aisle cabin while delivering at least 20 percent fuel savings” over the previous ACJ319ceo model.
The just-delivered ACJ319neo joins more than 2,200 A320neo and A321neo aircraft already in operation with airlines globally, as well as some 210 ACJs that are in service worldwide. Airbus also said it has established a worldwide network of field service, spares, and training centers, complemented by services tailored to the needs of private jet operators.
Garmin has received FAA supplemental type certification approval for the installation of its GI 275 electronic flight instrument to replace analog displays in Robinson R22 and R44 helicopters.
The GI 275 is a direct, 3.125-inch replacement for a variety of legacy primary flight instruments, including the primary attitude indicator, course deviation indicator (CDI), horizontal situation indicator (HSI), or the multi-function display (MFD). The design reduces installation time, preserves the existing instrument panel, and offers a high-resolution display and wide viewing angle for readability in the cockpit, a touchscreen interface, and a dual concentric knob that allows pilots to access a variety of key functions.
When installed as a primary attitude indicator, the GI 275 offers improved reliability, potential weight savings, and reduced maintenance compared to less reliable, vacuum-driven attitude indicators and can be optioned with helicopter synthetic vision technology. The GI 275 also includes a wireless functionality that allows for sharing of GPS position and backup attitude information to the Garmin Pilot mobile application.
As a CDI or HSI, the GI 275 doubles as a digital indicator and adds MFD-like capabilities such as a moving map, weather, traffic, obstacles, WireAware power lines, SafeTaxi airport diagrams, and five-color terrain shading. The system’s omnibearing resolver also allows the flight instrument to interface with a variety of legacy navigators without the need for an expensive adapter.
Transport Canada has announced $105 million in funding for three Nav Canada projects to help upgrade aviation safety and efficiency across the country. The first project will provide new ATC technology to improve the reliability, safety, and performance of Canada's air transportation system, especially in the event of extreme weather and in remote communities. A second project would implement traffic management services to monitor and control drone operations in Canadian airspace.
To respond to increased air traffic demand, the third proposed project is upgrading the technology and infrastructure at four major international airports in Canada: Montreal-Trudeau, Toronto Pearson, Calgary, and Vancouver. This project will assist in reducing flying time, decrease aircraft fuel consumption, increase the movement of cargo, and provide greater overall efficiencies.
"These three Nav Canada projects will improve the efficiency and flow of air cargo in Canada by reducing bottlenecks at the major hubs which cause delays across the entire aviation network,” said Canadian Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra. “A more efficient movement of goods is beneficial to Canada's economy and to Canadians from coast-to-coast."
Nav Canada president and CEO Raymond G. Bohn added, “These important investments will accelerate innovation and deliver significant safety, environmental, and economic benefits through a seamless, space-enabled, digitally enhanced air navigation system to address future growth in air travel and provide greater value to Canadians."
The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) appointed Robert Rufli to fill the newly created position of director of operations and announced several changes to its board of governors and Executive Committee.
Todd Weeber, COO and head of safety and service for Magellan Jets, will step into the role formerly held by Rufli on ACSF’s board of governors as chair, while Jessie Naor, president of GrandView Aviation, will succeed Weeber as vice-chair. Additionally, John Brogan, president of USAIG, will succeed Joe Salata as treasurer.
In his new role, Rufli will be responsible for maintaining the ACSF safety management system toolkit, which he was instrumental in helping develop and bring to market in 2021, according to the organization. He will also support the ACSF’s programs, including its Industry Audit Standard, the Aviation Safety Action Program as well as the organization’s flight data monitoring services.
ACSF president Bryan Burns said he is gratified that Rufli, who formerly was v-p of flight operations and director of operations for Pentastar Aviation, will head up such a critical set of the organization’s functions. “Bob’s commitment to safety speaks for itself,” Burns noted. “We’re extremely lucky to have an aviation leader of his caliber in such an important role on our team.” While at Pentastar, Rufli helped evolve the organization's safety management system.
AIN@50: Jean Rosanvallon Reflects on His Early Days
As part of the festivities for AIN's 50th anniversary, we asked some key industry players to reflect on their time in the business aviation industry. In this month’s video, Jean Rosanvallon looks back at meeting AIN's founders in the 1970s and raising his children as dual citizens.
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