Boeing Inks Last VIP 747 Sale

Boeing inked the last sale of a VIP 747-8i, marking the end of an era of opulence in private aviation. The airframer confirmed to AIN that the sale of the jumbo jet last month represented the last available executive variant of the iconic widebody, as production heads toward its scheduled end next year. According to Boeing, the green aircraft was not newly built but the company declined to disclose when it was produced or the delivery date. It also did not disclose the customer and origin, nor plans for the completion.

Three companies have the past experience and current capabilities to outfit a 747-8i—AMAC Aerospace, Jet Aviation, and Lufthansa Technik (LHT). AMAC and Jet Aviation declined to comment on whether they know of or are part of the completion plans for the jumbo jet. LHT told AIN it is “aware of this project and familiar with the aircraft,” adding it is “certainly very interested in offering our services to the owner of the aircraft.”

The announced BBJ777X notwithstanding, supersonic jets that could define the leading edge of global business aviation’s next evolution will be smaller and require substantially less time onboard, obviating the space and need for grand homes in the sky.

With a production rate of six per year, thirteen 747-8is remain undelivered; the last four will be freighters ordered by Atlas Air.

Analyst Aboulafia Sees Quick Recovery for Bizav

The business jet industry is poised for a quick recovery, Teal Group v-p of analysis Richard Aboulafia said this morning in a virtual presentation to the Wichita Aero Club. That prediction comes despite a number of contradictory business aviation indicators, including lower corporate profits but strong performance in the equities markets. “I’m also concerned about oil prices,” he said. 

Further, business jet deliveries and utilization were down in 2020, while airframers laid off staff—all likely a function of the pandemic, Aboulafia said. But, he explained, utilization has recovered faster than that of commercial aviation and gathered steam last year primarily from charter and fractional operators.

Additionally, the number of available aircraft for sale remained fairly low. “Going back to that visit I paid [Wichita] in 2008, that was a heart attack moment—21 percent of the fleet was available for sale,” Aboulafia said. “That was a catastrophic number. Today, it’s less than 10 [percent] and no real upward pressure.”

Despite the mixed indicators, Aboulafia is optimistic that a rebound is coming soon for the industry. “If I had to summarize all of this information and all of these contradictory indicators, I would just say, ‘Hey, it’s so much better than 2008,’” he said. “There’s so much more hope that we…start seeing a recovery even in the back half of this year.”

Kopter Restarts SH09 Helicopter Flight-test Program

Kopter has restarted the flight-test program for its SH09 light single turbine helicopter. Having struggled with technical issues and multi-year delays since its first flight in 2014, the Leonardo group company resumed flying in January. Its sole flying P3 prototype has been refitted with a new main rotor head design, a new main gearbox with an extended mast, new flight controls configuration, and Garmin G3000H avionics.

Kopter plans to add minor aerodynamic improvements to the cowling before test aircraft PS4 (pre-series) joins the program in the third quarter, followed by PS5 “some months later.” However, the program still has a variety of commercial and distribution issues to work through, as well as the industrialization of components. The retrofitted P3 aircraft flew 25 hours between mid-January and early March, with the test pilots reporting handling much improved.

The full test program is expected to require another 500 flight hours and will use aircraft PS4 and PS5 for the majority of those activities. For now, flight testing is focusing on expanding the flight and c.g. load envelopes.

At present, Kopter does not expect any changes to previously-announced performance targets for the eight-passenger helicopter, including 140-knot maximum cruise speed and 430-nm range. 

NATA Urges Treasury’s Yellen To Promptly Disburse PSP

Concerned that Part 135 operators are still having a hard time obtaining payroll support program (PSP) aid from the December Covid-19 relief bill, NATA has urged U.S. Treasury secretary Janet Yellen to ensure that the remaining funds get distributed promptly. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 passed in December had renewed the PSP through March 31, providing an additional $15 billion for air carriers and $1 billion for contractors.

“While almost all NATA member applicants filed by the January 14 early consideration deadline for PSP2, many of them, particularly the contractors to the airlines, have not yet been funded,” NATA president and CEO Timothy Obitts said in a March 12 letter.

Obitts noted a third round of PSP is set to be disbursed under the recently-passed American Rescue Plan even though the second round has not been completed. “Those who have not yet received the previous round of PSP2 funding are concerned that implementation of the third round" of PSP created by this bill may further delay receipt of the PSP2 funding and may complicate the re-application process for this most recent round, he said.

He added that some NATA members have retained employees on the promise of the second round of PSP funding. “Delays in processing the applications has created a real hardship for these companies, many of which are small businesses,” Obitts concluded.

Waltzing Matilda Aviation Plans Part 121 Service

Part 135 operator Waltzing Matilda Aviation (WMA) is preparing to launch scheduled passenger service in October using Q400 regional turboprops. The Bedford, Massachusetts company will initially operate service to Billy Bishop airport in Toronto.

As a result of the new service, WMA has assembled an advisory board consisting of former JetBlue president and CEO Russell Chew; Icelandair board member and Plane View Partners senior advisor Nina Jonsson; former Virgin Australia Airlines chief marketing officer Inese Kingsmill; former United Airlines senior v-p of network, pricing, and revenue management Doug Leo; former Greenbriar Equity Group managing partner Ray Benvenuti; and Samsonite chief financial officer Reza Taleghani.

“Having been in the global airline industry for more than 40 years, I have been very fortunate in working with many incredibly talented and dedicated professionals who share my passion for a stable and financially successful airline industry,” said WMA co-founder and CEO John Thomas. “This board, along with our experienced management team, brings together the best of this talent.”

As a result of its scheduled service plans, WMA will seek to add FAA Part 121 scheduled and nonscheduled services to its air operator certificate. The move comes after 80 percent revenue growth between 2019 and 2020, WMA said.

Bombardier’s Demo Team Earns IS-BAO 3 Renewal

Demonstrating a strong commitment to safety in addition to the company’s business jets, Bombardier’s aircraft operations demonstration team has renewed its Stage 3 registration under IBAC’s International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO). The Hartford, Connecticut-based unit first attained Stage 3, the highest level of recognition in the voluntary code of industry best practices, in 2018. It is reviewed every three years.

In addition to the implementation of stringent safety measures required to maintain Stage 3 status, the crew also vets charter operators for crew hours, holds monthly safety meetings, and implements Covid-19 procedures for crew and passengers.

The airframer has played a role in the drafting of ICAO’s Annex 19 on safety management systems in its support of international air safety and offers numerous workshops and seminars on the subject. Its renowned annual Safety Standdown celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

“Bombardier is committed to ensuring all levels of its operations meet the highest safety standards, and this recognition from IBAC aptly reflects the high safety standards displayed by our demonstration aircraft operations team,” explained vice president for customer support Andy Nureddin. “Our goal is to meet and exceed safety protocols and professionalism throughout all of our operations, and we will continue to ensure our SMS program exceeds all industry safety standards.”

Rotortrade Posts ‘Resilient’ 2020 Results

International helicopter reseller Rotortrade said it completed 27 transactions last year, just three less than in 2019. The Singapore-based company trades in rotorcraft from all major manufacturers and is the exclusive international distributor of Leonardo’s preowned helicopters. “While slightly below our targets set pre-Covid, we are very satisfied with our results, which show our resilience,” said Rotortrade president Philippe Lubrano.

The company’s managing partner, Aurélien Blanc, added, “In 2020, despite the steep contraction on the heavier end of the market, we were able to deliver a few heavies and reached new record levels of medium-twin helicopter sales. Deliveries continued to be well spread out around the world with a notable net-gain from countries in which we are physically located. We have also seen our certified preowned helicopters more popular than ever, which we attribute to the growing need for quality and safety within uncertain times.”

Rotortrade offers AgustaWestland Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) helicopters from Leonardo and has jointly developed a CPO program with Pratt & Whitney and a light CPO with Safran Helicopter Engines. The company said it is working closely with other major OEMs to follow suit.

U.S. and EU Declare Truce over Boeing, Airbus Subsidies

Following a recent call between President Joe Biden and EU President Ursula von der Leyen, U.S. and European Union (EU) trade representatives have been given four months to make a fresh start in resolving the long-running dispute over alleged illegal subsidies for their respective aerospace industries. The two sides agreed to temporarily suspend more than $11 billion worth of tariffs.

In 2019, the World Trade Organization (WTO) approved the U.S. to impose around $7.5 billion in tariffs in retaliation for improper government subsidies to Airbus. These included a 15 percent tariff on Airbus aircraft, but also to non-aviation-related products such as wine, cheese, and whiskey.

Then in October 2020, the WTO gave the EU approval to impose retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. for subsidies to Boeing that also breached trade rules. In November, the EU started imposing some $4 billion in tariffs on tractors, orange juice, and tomato ketchup, as well as a 15 percent tariff on U.S. aircraft.

Statements from Biden and von der Leyen did not explain how the new talks will proceed and how any agreement might then be ratified with the WTO, perhaps as some sort of out-of-court settlement. The tariffs truce is for an initial four-month period, implying either that more time could be made available or that tariffs would be reimposed if talks fail.