APP Jet Center has acquired the former Atlantic Aviation FBO at Witham Field in Stuart, Florida, after the latter was required to divest it as part of the regulatory approval process for its merger with Ross Aviation.
In August, Ross acquired the long-standing Stuart Jet Center, and then in November it agreed to a merger with Atlantic. With the 25 Ross Aviation FBOs currently in the process of being rebranded as Atlantic locations, Atlantic was required to sell its facility on the Southwest side of the field, while retaining the Ross Aviation facility. The former Atlantic staff will remain in place.
"We are delighted to be integrating Stuart into APP's growing network of FBO locations,” said CEO Dan Harrow, adding the company has been operating along Florida's Treasure Coast for many years and has firsthand knowledge of the growth of general aviation in South Florida. “APP will continue to ensure that discerning customers at Stuart and our other FBO locations receive world-class service every day with a focus on safe, secure, and sustainable operations."
For APP, this represents its fifth location nationwide joining facilities at Fort Pierce, Florida; Manassas, Virginia; Hayward, California; and Denver. At KSUA it acquired 110,000 square feet of hangar capacity, and a recently renovated 8,000-sq-ft terminal, including a conference room, pilots lounge, flight planning center, and refreshment bar.
StandardAero will be increasing its support of business aviation customers in the UK and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa through the establishment of mobile response teams for onsite engine support. It is doing so following the MRO provider’s 2021 acquisition of Signature Aviation’s global engine services through a combination of H+S Aviation’s UK-based Regional Turbine Center and StandardAero’s existing local capabilities in the UK, France, and the Netherlands.
Specifically, the mobile teams will support business aviation customers operating Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A, PW300, PW500, and JT15D engines; Honeywell TFE731 and HTF7000 engines; and, Honeywell GTCP 36-100/150 auxiliary power units. The services they will provide include AOG and technical support, troubleshooting, borescope inspections, engine removal and reinstallation, and line maintenance.
“We are excited to bring together these well-respected teams to further bolster our support of operators across the region,” said StandardAero UK managing director Simon Jones. “Our service experts have remained in strong demand thanks to the robustness of the region’s business and general aviation market.”
Textron Aviation has certified all 20 of its service centers under the National Air Transportation Association’s (NATA) Sustainability Standard for Aviation Businesses, making it the first aircraft OEM to self-certify under the standard. NATA's standard promotes sustainability and encourages the use of environmentally friendly energy sources and reduction of waste.
“This recognition affirms that we are on the right path towards achieving our sustainability goals,” said Textron Aviation senior v-p of customer support Brian Rohloff. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to a more sustainable future for our employees, communities, and customers.”
The NATA certification follows the airframer’s 20-year contract with Kansas energy company Evergy to provide its Wichita and Independence, Kansas factories with electricity derived from wind energy. As well, Textron Aviation has transitioned its North American service centers to use LED lighting to reduce energy consumption. The company also has established a program to recycle or repurpose landing gear, avionics, and electronics. And Textron Aviation offers sustainable aviation fuel to customers using its Wichita service center.
ABS Jets—a Honeywell authorized channel partner based in Prague, Czech Republic, and Bratislava, Slovakia—has signed an agreement to retrofit its Embraer Legacy business jets with Honeywell’s IntuVue RDR-7000 weather radar. The system operates completely hands-free, requiring none of the tilt or gain adjustments on the flight deck needed by legacy weather radars.
“With innovative, automated technologies that provide a more comprehensive view of the weather on a given flightpath, the RDR-7000 will allow our pilots to focus on flying and at the same time increase passenger comfort and safety, while helping to reduce diversion and delays,” said Stefan Kukura, Legacy chief pilot with ABS Jets. “We are happy to not only be the first customer in Europe, but also the first MRO business to implement the RDR-7000 on its own fleet. Our implementation experience will benefit us as we look to offer this upgrade to our MRO customers.”
First certified in 2021, the RDR-7000 automatically scans the sky from the ground to 60,000 feet, and out to a range of 320 nm. The radar can also detect a second storm front that may lurk behind the initial one that would otherwise be masked in older systems. It also provides turbulence detection with more accuracy and at greater ranges.
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Dassault Aviation has introduced a new seating option for its business jets that provides more privacy and restful sleep on long flights. Known as the Falcon Privacy Suite, the new option is initially being offered on the Falcon 6X and 8X.
Private suites, comprising individual compartments with reclining lie-flat beds, had previously been unavailable in purpose-built business jets, having only been an option for adapted airliner types or in first-class accommodation in airliners. The patented Dassault concept—a mockup of which was shown last week at the company’s EBACE display—has been developed over two years by the in-house Falcon Design Studio in collaboration with the engineering department.
The Falcon Privacy Suite comprises a seat that reclines electrically to create an 80-inch-long flat bed. When restored to seat configuration, there is an extra seat that serves as an ottoman for a second occupant. An adjustable mid-height partition is installed to screen the occupant from other passengers. An overhead 24-inch 4K screen is connected to Dassault’s Innovative Cabin System.
Multiple Privacy Suites can be installed, depending on aircraft model and cabin configuration. In the 8X version, the Privacy Suite seat is 22 inches wide, while the 6X version measures 24 inches.
Embraer has advanced the schedule for one of its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals by a year with the announcement that it has signed a deal to acquire all the electricity it uses in its homeland of Brazil from renewable sources by 2024. In August, the airframer released a slate of its ESG targets that included net-zero carbon operations by 2040 and the use of 100 percent renewable energy in Brazil by 2025. Last year, Embraer consumed 170,000 MWh globally companywide, the majority of it in Brazil.
The purchase of the Renewable Energy Certificate for 2024 will allow the São José dos Campos-based manufacturer to zero its Scope 2 emissions in Brazil with electricity generated from solar and wind sources and contribute to the growth of the renewable energy market.
“This is a milestone for the company and reinforces Embraer’s commitment to ESG practices in its transition to a low-carbon business model,” explained Carlos Alberto Griner, its v-p of people, ESG, and communications. “ESG is one of the pillars of our strategic plan and we have a broad program with several fronts, and we are looking at every opportunity to accelerate the reduction of our carbon emissions.”
Minnesota-based Wipaire has named Australia’s Premiair Aviation as an authorized installation and service center for its floats and products. Under the agreement, Premiair can install and maintain Wipline 8750A and 8750S floats and certain Wipaire modifications for the Cessna Caravan including single-point refueling, extended baggage compartment, and Aurora interiors.
More than two years ago, Textron Aviation acquired MRO provider Premiair and its three Australian locations. “As we expand global support of our products, Premiair was our first choice in representation in Australia,” said Wipaire president and CEO Chuck Wiplinger. “There are dozens of operators and hundreds of aircraft that will be able to receive factory quality installation and maintenance of our products. I am very happy with Premiair’s commitment to quality.”
Wipaire said it may expand Premiair’s installation and maintenance authorizations once the MRO’s teams are trained on Wipaire’s line of products for the Cessna Caravan to include its products for other aircraft models that include the Piper Cub and Viking Twin Otter.
StackAero has developed a business operations system (BOS) designed to manage the entire air charter process from initial client contact through sourcing, quoting and contracting, trip management, and financial reconciliation. BOS is the latest-generation Salesforce-based platform that StackAero made for charter brokers and operators to streamline their operations.
Its features automate workflows, notifications, and task allocations, digitize documentation and booking processes, and enable higher revenues through increased efficiencies and sales conversions. The system also offers business intelligence and analytics, improved client knowledge through accessible, transparent information, easy scalability, data security, and full data ownership.
“BOS addresses the pain points felt by charter brokers,” said StackAero CEO Greg Jarrett. “By automating and digitizing previously manual tasks, we are boosting efficiency and freeing up time for other priorities, such as sales.”
Requires a records verification and replacement of certain left-hand (LH) direct current power center (DCPC) internal communication data buses. This AD follows a previous action mandating the use of revised electrical emergency and non-normal procedures in the airplane flight manual that directed crews not to turn off active generators in the event of an erroneous electrical system status indication. The ADs stem from multiple in-service reports of erratic electrical system status on the push button annunciators (PBA) and the engine instrument and crew alerting system (EICAS) while on-ground and during flight. Several of these incidents resulted in the airplane experiencing a momentary loss of electrical power and loss of flight displays following crew action. An investigation found that airplanes can experience misleading electrical system status indications (PBA and EICAS) as a result of contamination of electrical contacts in the LH DCPC internal communication data bus. Further corrective action is being developed.
Calls for removing certain IFR screens and prohibits their installation. EASA has found that the use of the specified screens could lead to reduced situational awareness of the pilot, possibly resulting in a mid-air collision.
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