The FAA announced this morning that it is moving forward on a rulemaking to alter the definitions of “scheduled,” “on demand,” and “supplemental” as it seeks to tighten the requirements for operators flying under the Department of Transportation’s Part 380 public charter economic authority. In addition, the FAA plans to form a Safety Risk Management Panel (SRMP) to discuss the potential for a new operating authority for scheduled Part 135 operations in 10- to 30-seat aircraft.

Following up on a notice issued in August about the potential changes, the agency today said it plans to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking expeditiously and the rulemaking and panel are designed to address the rapid expansion and increased complexity of public charter flights in recent years. Noting its original request for comments on a potential for a rulemaking on the issue drew some 60,000 responses, the agency said the NPRM would solicit further input on an effective date that would enable the industry to adapt to any change.

As for the SRMP, the agency further said: “Because of our dedication to expanding air service to small and rural communities, we will explore opportunities to align aircraft size and certification standards with operational needs for small community and rural air service.” The SRMP will be tasked with digging into data to explore risks.

Wheels Up Experience has refreshed its private flight product portfolio with features that the company said will simplify options while also boosting benefits from its alliance with Delta Air Lines. The streamlined products were announced on Monday as part of the New York-based platform’s efforts to bolster flagging revenues with the support of its majority shareholder Delta.

The company today unveiled a new Wheels Up membership offering with an annual fee and prepaid flight hours giving access to aircraft in the U.S. and Europe. The package includes price protection, with capped member costs on high-demand days and reduced rates for non-peak travel times.

In return for an unspecified “qualified spend,” members can earn Diamond Medallion status under Delta’s frequent-flyer program. They can also use funds on deposit for scheduled Delta flights, and eligible members will receive a 20% discount on some of the carrier’s fares.

Pay-as-you-go travelers now have the option of using Wheels Up Charter to book ad-hoc trips, earning bonus flight credits and, in some cases, Diamond Medallion status in the process. For every $50,000 spent on Wheels Up flights, customers also receive a 2% flight credit with Delta.

The International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) recently held its first Industry Advisory Forum, electing Bruce Parry, senior advisory of industry affairs for Bombardier, as chair of the association's industry partner program.

Held in conjunction with EBACE 2024, the forum provided a venue for participants to discuss IBAC objectives, industry priorities at the global level, and the importance of business aviation at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Participants are already planning the next forum, anticipated to be held in conjunction with NBAA-BACE in October in Las Vegas.

IBAC formed the industry partner program to enhance the association's insight and expertise on safety and other key business aviation issues with industry stakeholders. During EBACE last month, IBAC announced the addition of four more partners to that group—JSSI, McKay Experts, Universal Weather and Aviation, and operator affiliate Joby Aviation.

“We are excited to launch this new forum where our growing number of industry partners, now standing at 17 organizations, can collaborate with the IBAC team and our member associations further to strengthen our work for the global business aviation sector at ICAO,” said IBAC director general Kurt Edwards. “It is gratifying to see such enthusiastic participation as we continue building the global community for business aviation.”

Forum partners span seven countries and four continents, IBAC said.

Airbus has tested the manufacturing of a composite panel for its H145 PioneerLab helicopter using bio-fibers made without fossil fuel-based chemicals. The bio-fiber uses materials made with acrylonitrile, which is derived from non-fossil feedstocks such as wood and food waste, recycled cooking oils, and algae, or even from carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from the atmosphere.

Although it would take huge resources to ramp up the production of composites made using this process, the savings in CO2 emissions would be significant, according to the European aerospace group.

“Full life-cycle analysis undertaken by Airbus suggests that producing sustainable acrylonitrile (and other bio-based chemicals and intermediates) generates significantly less CO2 than the crude oil alternative,” the aircraft manufacturer said. “However, their industrialization is in its infancy. Scaling up to the extent where corresponding CO2 reductions move the dial will require regulatory commitment and massive capital investment.”

The H145 nose panel is nonstructural and was flight-tested in May. The small size of the panel made it easier to manufacture, and its nonstructural nature made it a safe part of testing the new material.

“For now,” Airbus said, “the PioneerLab nose panel remains a proof of concept. The challenge for Airbus and other manufacturers is to work with supply chains to make bio-fiber production economically viable and to ensure it can be ramped up cost-effectively to meet accelerating aircraft production.”

Looking to improve its service business aviation capabilities in Australia, Textron Aviation will expand its facilities at two sites. The airframer also has rebranded Premiair Aviation Services—the Australian MRO chain it acquired in 2020—to Textron Aviation Australia to fully integrate its locations in Perth, Melbourne, and the Gold Coast into its global service network.

In Perth, Textron will relocate its Jandakot Airport operation to a larger facility on the field, providing increased space for servicing aircraft and improving scheduling to lessen customer aircraft downtime. The new service center is expected to be running at full capacity by the end of next month.

At Essendon Fields Airport in Melbourne, Textron is adding 5,000 sq ft of parts storage, quadrupling its spares inventory in the region. The company is also adding a customer support and warranty team there to handle all Cessna, Beechcraft, and Hawker parts requirements. It said the expanded facility should be fully operational by month's end.

“Increasing parts inventory and team members in Australia allows us to respond even faster to customers when they need support,” explained Brad White, the Wichita-based group’s senior v-p of global parts and distribution. “With more than 1,400 aircraft operating in the region, we’re making this investment in direct response to customer feedback and an increasing demand for parts availability globally.”

With the comprehensive FAA aviation reauthorization package completed, Congress is turning its attention to implementation of the nearly 1,200 directives that spanned the more than 1,000-page bill signed into law last month.

“With any piece of legislation, the devil's in the details,” House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Sam Graves (R-Missouri) told AIN. “We tried to write the majority of our issues as tight as we can. But you still have bureaucratic interpretation, and you want to make sure that the intent of the law is followed.”

This means the committees in both chambers will conduct “some pretty rigorous oversight” of the FAA and other affected parties. “That will take some time, and we’ll work through the process.”

Efforts to pass the bill in a bipartisan way meant numerous compromises on the front end. “It was bipartisan from the beginning.” He called his Democrat counterpart on the committee, Rick Larsen (Washington), “a very good partner in this process” and noted they are both old-school. “We believe in compromise…which means that you don’t get everything that you want but you get most of what you want.”

The final $106 billion FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 (H.R.3935) incorporates 12 titles, including the first-ever dedicated solely to general aviation—a key priority for Graves.

Fractional share and aircraft management company Corporate Eagle has established an employee-owned stock ownership plan (ESOP) and is now 100% employee-owned. Based at Oakland County International Airport in Pontiac, Michigan, Corporate Eagle was founded in 1982 and claims being the first company to operate under FAA Part 91K fractional share regulations.

Corporate Eagle’s more than 100 fractional and management customers have access to VIP facilities, housed in a campus with 57,000 sq ft of hangar space, 9,000 sq ft of office and VIP facilities, and 8,000 sq ft of space for support. The company has its own jet fuel storage of 40,000 gallons.

With a fleet of 17 Hawker 900XPs and Dassault Falcon 2000s, Corporate Eagle employs more than 100 people. The company’s leaders have been researching, planning, and executing the ESOP for the past three years. Each employee receives shares of stock within the ESOP every year.

Company founder Rick Nini does not plan to participate in the ESOP but will transition to retirement during the next four years. “After decades of success in the business aviation industry and forging meaningful relationships and business partners across Southeast Michigan, I am personally incredibly proud with this ownership transition to our long-term leadership team members and a very sophisticated group of employees for which the guardianship of our company will be especially important,” he said.

After modifying an Airbus H125 AStar with several upgrades, Metro Aviation recently delivered the new-production helicopter to the Texas Game Wardens, a division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In addition to an Oceana Aviation Cargo Swing, a frame that enables carriage of heavier external loads, Metro installed an L3Harris Wescam thermal imaging system with moving map, searchlight, and 17-inch touchscreen mission monitor, as well as SiriusXM radio.

The mission equipment includes a programmable video switch with push-button source switching, according to Metro, as well as a flip-down 10-inch monitor, data converter that cross-fills point data from the moving map to a Garmin GPS navigator, public address loud hailer, Flightcell DZM Iridium satellite and cellular communication unit, Garmin traffic advisory system, and Garmin GFC 600H autopilot.

Responsible for conservation law enforcement, search and rescue, aerial firefighting, and other activities, the Texas Game Wardens have used aviation assets since 1930. The organization has another AStar and a 2014 AS350B3e in its fleet, and has two unspecified Cessna airplanes on order.

"With the delivery of the 2023 Airbus H125 completed by Metro Aviation, along with our 2014 H125, we will have a strong fleet of AStar helicopters in the Texas Parks and Wildlife Aviation Unit," said Game Warden chief pilot Brandon Rose.

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