Business aviation flight activity rose by nearly 8 percent worldwide between April and May, indicating stabilization heading into the third quarter, but declined 1.6 percent from a year ago, according to the latest Argus TraqPak aircraft activity report. Looking ahead, the company predicts June will witness a less than 1 percent decline year-over-year in North America, while European activity is forecast to drop by nearly 10 percent.
In North America, last month saw a 3.5 percent decrease in flights compared with May 2022, but activity remained nearly 12 percent above pre-Covid 2019 levels. Year-over-year, all aircraft segments posted declines in usage, with midsize-cabin jets seeing the largest erosion at 6.4 percent, while large-cabin aircraft were the least affected, falling 1.7 percent. Fractional activity was up by 4.3 percent over May 2022, while Part 135 flying dropped 9.5 percent. Part 91 activity saw a slight decrease from a year ago.
In Europe, though the market showed an overall 8.3 percent decline in activity year-over-year, all aircraft segments evidenced improvement over April’s totals, with large-cabin jets producing the largest gain—28 percent—followed by midsize and small-cabin jets at 24.7 and 21.2 percent, respectively.
Outside these two regions, business aviation usage surged, with the 58,000 flights last month representing a 17.8 percent year-over-year increase.
The FAA will publish proposed rules on training requirements for pilots of powered-lift aircraft via the Federal Register on June 14 and allow 60 days for industry comment. This initiative will address a significant aspect of the uncertainty surrounding how eVTOL operations will be regulated.
With an approval path for fully autonomous flight yet to be determined, many industry observers question how advanced air mobility operators will recruit large numbers of pilots at a time when the existing air transport sector is struggling with shortages.
In a June 7 statement, the FAA said the planned powered-lift rules are “designed to provide certainty to pilots and the industry on what the requirements and expectations will be to operate these aircraft once it is finalized.” Ahead of publishing the proposals, the FAA said powered-lift aircraft in the U.S. will follow the same set of operating rules as existing aircraft used for private and commercial flights, as well as air tours.
“To safely accelerate pilot certification, alternate eligibility criteria would enable certain pilots to meet flight-time experience requirements faster,” the FAA said. “This would apply to pilots who already hold a commercial pilot certificate and are instrument rated.”
While pilot certificates are increasing, the aviation industry is still estimated to be 5,000 pilots short, according to a recent analysis from Jefferies Research Services.
Jefferies noted that student certificates increased 54 percent year-over-year in May and were 32 percent above 2019 levels. Meanwhile, private certificates jumped by 54 percent year-over-year in May and similarly are up by 57 percent from the same month in 2019. Commercial certificates were up 47 percent from May 2022 and 32 percent from 2019, while air transport certificates increased 6 percent year-over-year and by 62 percent from 2019.
Through May, the FAA issued 49,500 certificates this year. This is 19 percent more than a year ago and 23 percent higher than 2020 levels. ATP certificates are 57 percent higher than in 2020, which Jefferies said implies a “relative near-term pilot supply coming to the market after two years of depressed certs.”
But according to the analyst’s pilot supply and demand model, the industry is still undersupplied by 4 percent. Further, it forecasts this shortage will jump to 8 percent, or 12,000 pilots, in 2025 and by 9 percent, or 14,000 pilots, by 2030. This accounts for the fact that 16 percent of today’s pilots are between the ages of 60 to 64 and another 17 percent are between 55 and 59. Jefferies further is considering fleet expansion.
While millions of Northeastern U.S. residents sought shelter from the historically bad air quality resulting from smoke drifting south from Canada’s wildfires, flight operations at area airports were also affected due to low visibility.
The FAA issued ground stops for flights destined for Philadelphia International and New York LaGuardia airports on Wednesday and on Thursday issued ground delay advisories for aircraft bound for LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International Airport until this evening due to limited visibility. A spokesperson from the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey told AIN that business aviation hub Teterboro Airport has only experienced minor delays in operations due to volume.
According to some forecasts, smoky conditions could persist through the weekend, and the plume could move further south and impact areas such as Washington, D.C.
The FAA noted that the smoke is causing widespread delays of flights—on average of more than 30 minutes—throughout the U.S. air traffic control system and warned it “will likely need to take steps to manage the flow of traffic safely into New York City, D.C., Philadelphia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, due to reduced visibility from wildfire smoke."
Your Dream Plane’s Maintenance Journey: What’s Next?
Now that you’ve got your wings, you might be wondering, “What’s next?”
A well-informed and "engaged" facility should be reaching out to you several weeks prior to input to discuss and verify several things - and here are just a few..."
Hong Kong MRO Metrojet recently completed its first 8C “heavy maintenance” inspection on a Gulfstream G650. The company has also booked a second 8C inspection for another operator’s G650.
According to the company, the 8C inspection required Metrojet HK’s team of technicians to conduct more than a hundred different maintenance tasks from nose to tail on the managed G650. These inspections require significant investment in maintenance facilities, tools, and maintenance skills, Metrojet said.
“This check is a milestone event for the Metrojet HK MRO. Our [maintenance] team always strives to enhance their capabilities, provides a quality product, and aims to deliver extensive and on-schedule inspection services to our customers at a competitive price,” said Metrojet managing director for MRO Dave Yip. “Building upon our successful first G650 8C inspection, we are delighted to have received a second 8C inspection event from a third-party operator.”
Metrojet is the first business aviation MRO in Hong Kong and has been in operation since 2001. It has additional service locations in the Philippines, Vietnam, and China.
Helicopter services company Bristow Group has released its second-annual sustainability report, “demonstrating the company's commitment to responsible growth and environmental stewardship,” it said.
Highlights for 2022 include implementing an incident response management solution to enhance its safety culture, helping to achieve a 50 percent reduction in the lost-time incident severity rate, and a 56 percent reduction in lost workdays, as well as donating more than $500,000 to community engagement programs through its global Bristow Uplift program. Additionally, Bristow implemented an employee platform to improve tracking of volunteer hours and tied the company's sustainability programs to broader-impact objectives through alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The report also outlines use of a 10 percent sustainable aviation fuel blend for Bristow flights to BP’s North Sea offshore operations, improvements in environmental management, and growing partnerships with companies developing eVTOL and eSTOL aircraft.
"Sustainability means striking the right balance between our economic, social, and environmental responsibilities,” said Bristow president and CEO Chris Bradshaw. “We must strive to have as limited an impact on our local environments as possible. We must also ensure our operations remain robust through the contributions of a diverse and engaged workforce, providing the safe and exemplary service customers have come to expect from us over the past 75 years.”
Aircraft advisor network Jetcraft has partnered with Bluetail to include the latter's cloud-based business aircraft records platform and services as part of each preowned aircraft sale Jetcraft completes. The companies said this service helps protect aircraft value by digitally scanning and storing logbooks and records.
“As we’ve all seen in the past 18 months, there’s been unprecedented activity in the business jet market,” said Bluetail COO Stuart Illian. “That demand and the narrowing availability of quality preowned aircraft has pushed selling prices to their highest levels. By offering Bluetail, Jetcraft is taking a proactive step in helping its customers protect the value of their aircraft.
“Many of these buyers are new to business jet ownership and they don’t want the added hassles of having to securely store logs in fireproof vaults,” Illian added. “Having their aircraft’s valuable records stored in the cloud will eliminate any worries about the possibility of losing logbooks and devaluing the aircraft.”
Capabilities such as Bluetail’s Mach search for aircraft records review bring FAA form recognition and machine-learning capabilities to business aviation, according to the company.
“In today’s highly active and complex business jet market, the accuracy and completeness of logbooks and records have become more important than ever,” explained Jetcraft director of maintenance Joe Fesi.
Solairus Aviation plans to hire 100 flight crew and maintenance supervisors, the San Francisco-headquartered private aviation management services provider revealed today. It has begun recruiting dedicated crewmembers on behalf of aircraft owners to operate super-midsize, large-cabin, and ultra-long-range aircraft based in more than 30 U.S. cities. Most of the positions will fulfill manpower needs for accounts that recently tasked Solairus to establish their flight departments and manage their aircraft.
The company seeks to hire captains, maintenance supervisors, and client aviation managers to lead flight departments on Dassault Falcon, Bombardier Global Express, and Gulfstream aircraft. Examples of open positions include Global 6000 captains in the New York metropolitan area and Washington, D.C., as well as Gulfstream G600 client managers in Scottsdale, Arizona, and San Jose, California.
“We are in the people business, not the airplane business,” said Solairus CEO Dan Drohan. “Helping owners recruit world-class pilots and maintenance personnel to help keep them safe and get the most out of their aircraft is critical to our mission. We are excited to identify and welcome some of the best and brightest men and women in aviation to Solairus to support and serve our clients.”
Solairus plans to exhibit at the 2023 NBAA White Plains Regional Forum on Wednesday with a focus on meeting qualified captains and maintenance supervisors.
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Last Chance To Vote in AIN 2023 Product Support Survey!
The 2023 AIN Product Support Survey closes tomorrow (June 9) at midnight ET.So if you haven't already, please take a few minutes to rate the product support you receive from business aviation OEMs on aircraft, engines, and avionics. AIN subscribers selected to participate in this year’s Product Support Survey should have received their password and link to the online survey by e-mail. Those that need assistance in accessing the survey can contact AIN marketing and client services director Lisa Valladares.
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