NetJets Adopts Advanced Qualification Training Program
NetJets’ fractional-share operation has become the first Part 91K and 135 business aviation operation to receive FAA support to launch an advanced qualification program (AQP) for pilot training. The company has been working on this effort since 2018, but this process began 10 years earlier when NetJets transitioned to training to Part 121 standards.
The first NetJets fleets to transition to the AQP are the Citation Sovereign and Latitude, with the Citation XLS next on the schedule. This will be followed by the Bombardier Global, Embraer Phenom 300, and Bombardier Challenger 350 fleets later this year. Next year will see the Challenger 650 and the Citation Longitude added to AQP. Its Gulfstream fleet will be the last to follow, which will be done at the FlightSafety learning center in Savannah, Georgia. Training on the other fleets will be done at the FlightSafety center next door to NetJets’ headquarters in Columbus, Ohio.
NetJets had already implemented a higher standard of training—under a program where the FAA recommends that charter operators train pilots to Part 121 standards—from 2008 to 2018. This included implementing an aviation safety action program (ASAP) and flight operations quality assurance (FOQA) program. NetJets also more recently added an air carrier designated examiner program where FAA inspectors oversee all training and checking and are dedicated to the NetJets operation.
Bombardier’s Martel Lays Out Plan To Buoy Business
Recognizing that Bombardier’s financial performance has “disappointed,” recently named Bombardier president and CEO Eric Martel outlined a six-point plan to boost the company’s business. The plan includes the alignment of its business aircraft production with demand and increased outreach in the aftermarket segment.
Addressing the Bombardier annual meeting of shareholders late last week, Martel stressed that while progress has been made to streamline and focus the business, “We have not met our financial targets and your expectations…this is unacceptable. I have given the clear message inside the company that we must again become predictable in our performance and we must move with urgency to restore our reputation and culture around operational excellence.”
Martel said the company has had daily leadership calls, an “intense focus” on cost and cash flow, and regular communications with customers and key suppliers on order confirmation and delivery schedules. “There is still uncertainty as to how long the pandemic will last or how quickly our market will recover. However, it is clear the short term will be challenging."
The objective of aligning Bombardier’s aviation production with market demand, including the recent layoff of 10 percent of the workforce, is designed to manage through the crisis and position the group to be more profitable, he added. Another objective is “vigorously pursuing business aviation aftermarket growth opportunities.”
Airbus Helicopters’ new, foldable five-blade H145D3 twin has received a nod from EASA. FAA approval is expected by year-end and a military variant is anticipated to win certification in 2021. Customer deliveries will begin later this summer.
The European certification covers single-pilot IFR operations (SPIFR), single-engine Cat. A/VTOL, and night vision capability. Airbus Helicopters CEO Bruno Even called the helicopter “an excellent example of our quest for continuous improvement and providing incremental innovation that responds to our customers' requirements."
Announced in 2019, the D3 features the new bearingless main rotor design that provides a smoother ride, requires less maintenance, and increases useful load by 330 pounds. Compared to the four-bladed H145D2, it has a slightly smaller main rotor disk, from 36 feet to 35.4 feet.
The D3’s twin Safran Arriel 2E engines now incorporate Fadec and its digital Helionix avionics suite incorporates a four-axis autopilot and an integrated wireless airborne communications system (wACS) that provides Wi-Fi to the cockpit, imports navigation and mission databases from tablets, establishes automatic connections via Wi-Fi or cell, automatically exports data from previous flights, generates flight reports, launches automatic downloads, and exports a previous flight’s data. Existing D2 operators will be able to upgrade to the D3 configuration via an upgrade kit.
HAI Members Pledge ‘Covid Clean’
The Helicopter Association International (HAI) is urging its members to “take the pledge to be Covid Clean.” Launched on Friday, participating members in HAI's “Covid Clean” program agree to abide by a list of cleaning standards and best practices, including aircraft disinfection between flights and daily deep cleaning, facilities cleaning, and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by personnel. Compliant companies will receive HAI-provided emblems, logos, certificates, and text that can be integrated into marketing materials to reassure customers.
“We believe that most of our members are already taking these steps to protect themselves and their customers,” said HAI president James Viola. “We want to assist them in publicizing these efforts so that anyone taking a flight is aware that the company takes their health seriously. Taking the Covid Clean Pledge provides these companies with tools to publicize and demonstrate their commitment to the health and safety of their passengers and crew in a visible and reassuring way.” Viola said the program will help build the level of customer confidence required to eventually return the industry to normal.
In addition to sanitation best practices, pledge takers promise not to transport anyone who is visibly ill, recommend the use of PPE by passengers, and make PPE available to passengers who need it.
Signature Buys Remaining Shares in Italian Subsidiary
Signature Flight Support has consolidated its position in Italy with the purchase of the 40 percent minority stake in Signature Flight Support (SFS) Italy held by SEA Prime. The global FBO chain entered the Italian market in 2016 in partnership with SEA Prime, which manages the business and general aviation infrastructure at Milan Linate and Malpensa Airports under the brand Milano Prime. With this transaction, Signature now owns 100 percent of SFS Italy.
“We are glad to announce this deal with Signature Flight Support, which we see as the natural development of a successful four-year partnership,” said SEA Prime CEO Chiara Dorigotti. “SFS Italy will continue to operate at Milano Prime’s premises, offering top quality services for customers and operators.”
In addition to FBO operations in Milan and at Rome-Ciampino Airport, Signature Italy also provides trip support arrangements at Bergamo, Catania, Florence, Naples, Palermo, and Pisa. The service provider also maintains a partnership through its Signature Select FBO affiliate program at Venice Marco Polo Airport.
“This acquisition continues to show our commitment to growing our business in Italy and other key markets around the world,” said Signature Aviation CEO Mark Johnstone. “We are proud to fully incorporate the Italian business into the Signature family and offer our customers premier choices for flight support services throughout the country.”
Covid Cabin Cleaning Choices Confusing
With aircraft disinfection on the minds of most in the aviation industry, operators are being presented with myriad alternatives, some more suitable to the current situation than others. “We are getting smarter,” said Frances Gristead, CEO of decontamination system provider Curis and founder and CEO of Pathogend Bio-Decontamination Services.
Speaking last week at NBAA’s continuing webinar series on aircraft disinfection practices, she noted, “It used to be people had no idea of the difference between bleach and quaternary ammonium, and now we are seeing a much more educated buyer and user out there.” Gristead further explained that the difference between cleaning, sanitizing, and sterilizing is one of how many live pathogens are left on a surface after treatment, in a scientific tally known as log reduction—the higher the number-log, the fewer pathogens left behind. Operators must decide what level of disinfection (log reduction) they are looking to achieve.
It is a complicated topic to be sure, and before methods are chosen she said research is vital and should involve a good degree of skepticism. She suggested customers should demand to see peer-reviewed data for each product or system to ensure that the science is sound and that the product or system does what it purports to do against the pathogens they wish to combat.
Regarding aircraft powerplants, what is “engine flat rating?”
A. Setting the aircraft gas turbine engine, so it can develop thrust corresponding to a safe internal engine pressure.
B. It is the loss of power experienced by turbocharged engines during sudden engine accelerations.
C. Some engines need enough clearance from the ground when mounted underwing, so they look “flat” at the bottom when viewed from the front.
D. None of the above.
Ergo 360 App Adds Flight Plan Integration
The Ergo 360 iOS app developed by Aeronautical Data Systems (ADS) is now available in Version 6.2 and one of its key changes is populating flight plan data automatically to make it easier to incorporate equal time point (ETP) information. “These updates…decrease the likelihood of user entry errors while providing an even more comprehensive and timely display of emergency landing options for quickest possible rescue,” said ADS CEO Jim Stabile.
Ergo 360 is designed to help pilots deal with emergency situations in remote areas, especially on long overwater flights, with oxygen contingencies an area of primary focus, according to the company. What makes Ergo 360 unique is that it displays positions of shipping traffic—including speed, direction, and type information about each ship—to aid flight crew and passengers in case it becomes necessary to ditch the aircraft in the ocean.
The app’s flight plan data population feature is available for most flight plans that include ETP information. Some flight plans that work with the Ergo 360 feature include ArincDirect, International Trip Planning Services, Jeppesen, Universal Aviation, and World Fuel Services. Other new features include standardized ETP analysis from the ETP to the diversion airport with fuel/oxygen reserves calculations every 15 minutes; flight route waypoint overlay display; split-screen capability; and time of latest vessel position update.
Hawaii’s two U.S. senators, Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, have introduced legislation that would mandate all air tour and skydiving flights be conducted under FAR Part 135 and that all aircraft used for such purposes be equipped with crash-resistant flight recorders capable of supporting flight operations quality assurance programs.
The Air Tour and Skydiving Safety Improvement Act would also require establishing and implementing a performance-based standard for remote flight data monitoring, flight data monitoring programs for tour operators, and controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) training, as well as a requirement for tour and skydiving aircraft to have TAWS. Schatz said the legislation is necessary in the wake of several high-profile skydiving and air tour accidents in Hawaii over the last 18 months.
He added, “The tragic number of air tour accidents we’ve seen in Hawaii has made it clear that we need to do more to protect passengers and pilots. Our new bill will apply essential safety standards recommended by the NTSB, protecting passengers and improving the safety of air tours for everyone.”
The bill from the Aloha State senators comes just days after several of their Senate colleagues introduced legislation that would mandate installation of helicopter TAWS (HTAWS) and crash-resistant flight data and cockpit recorders on all transport-category (Part 29) turbine helicopters that can carry six or more passengers.
Flying the New Embraer 300E
AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber flies the new Phenom 300E to sample the jet’s faster top speed, upgraded avionics, and improved cabin. The $9.65 million 300E combines the Bossa Nova interior aesthetic, inspired by the larger Praetor models, with a much quieter cabin and Gogo’s high-speed Avance L5 airborne connectivity system.
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