French air-taxi company Wijet took delivery of its first HondaJet, registered as LX-WJA, earlier this week and has begun flying charter customers in Europe. The company’s second HondaJet (LX-WJB)—out of an order for 16 HA-420 HondaJets—should arrive next week, according to a Wijet spokesperson. Wijet and Honda Aircraft revealed that they had signed a memorandum of understanding for the purchase of 16 HondaJets at the 2018 Singapore Air Show.
The first Wijet HondaJet is operating from the company’s Paris Le Bourget headquarters. The aircraft operator certificate under which the HondaJets are flying is listed as Luxembourg-based Flying Group Lux.
Customers will be able to charter the Wijet HondaJets for flights within Europe, the spokesperson explained, “excluding a few [airports] in which we are not able to operate due to operational reasons—for example, Innsbruck.”
Wijet’s initial fleet consisted of 15 Cessna Citation Mustangs, and the company is the exclusive partner of Air France for “all business aviation requests.”
AINsight: Managing Fatigue in Aviation
Fatigue can defeat the best pilots, procedures, and training—and if not properly managed can become a killer. Unfortunately, all too often pilots and others performing safety-critical functions are impaired by fatigue stemming from insufficient or poor-quality sleep.
The only known preventive measure for fatigue is good rest. Managing fatigue requires a three-pronged approach involving strategic planning using science-based scheduling practices, tactical countermeasures when needed, and a pilot’s responsibility to show up to a trip well rested and properly manage rest periods.
Pilots flying at night or internationally operate in a perfect fatigue storm. Crews flying these challenging schedules might feel the effects of fatigue manifested in either, or both, chronic or acute sleep loss and circadian rhythm disorders (desynchronoses).
Strategic planning through science-based scheduling is the first line of defense against fatigue. Once in the cockpit, pilots can employ tactical countermeasures such as caffeine, conversation, or even water (to stay hydrated). Some regulators—but not the FAA—also endorse the use of controlled rest, where one member of a non-augmented crew follows specific guidelines to take a brief nap on the flight deck during periods of low workload.
Used Bizjet Prices Under Pressure Despite Low Inventory
The supply of used business jets for sale across all size categories remained low last month, but average pricing remains soft, according to a Bank of America Merrill Lynch report released yesterday. Business jet inventory as a percentage of the total fleet was 9 percent—or 2,079 aircraft—last month, above October 2018’s 10-year low of 8.8 percent.
Among size categories, light jets available for sale rose 20 basis points to 11.1 percent, compared with the 10-year low of 10.6 percent in July 2018. Midsize jet supply was 8.5 percent, which was down from the last high of 9.9 percent in February 2018 but up 35 basis points from the 10-year trough of 8.2 percent in January. And heavy jets edged up one basis point to 6.7 percent from the last decade-long low in January. “We view lower levels of inventory as an indication of recovery of the bizjet industry,” the report noted.
Despite lower levels of used inventory, pricing remains under pressure. According to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s February price indicator model, average business jet prices across all categories were lower year-over-year by 3.3 percent for light jets, 3.5 percent for medium jets, and 2.6 percent for heavy jets.
The European general aviation show Aero Friedrichshafen is hosting a special business aviation conference for the first time in collaboration with the German Business Aviation Association. It will be held on April 11, the second day of the airshow, and will highlight the diverse operations involving business aircraft and the segment's overall importance to the aviation industry, according to organizers.
“Business aviation is one of the main areas of general aviation, which is why it will also be a key topic at Aero Friedrichshafen,” organizers said, noting the worldwide business aircraft fleet comprises more than 22,000 jets and an additional 15,000 turboprop and piston aircraft. “Over the past 20 years, it has developed into an engine of innovation benefiting other aviation sectors,” they added, saying its important role to the industry and innovation will be reflected during the conference.
Scheduled topics include “the time machine business aircraft” (which will also encompass efficiency through digitization), ADS-B Out, fixed-wing air ambulance transport, social and economic benefits of decentralized aviation in Germany, and an open discussion and outlook.
Held annually in Friedrichshafen, Germany, Aero Friedrichshafen attracts 35,000 visitors from 60 countries and more than 700 exhibitors. The show, now in its 27th year, will be held April 10 to 13 this year.
Australia Orders Sigint Gulfstreams
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is to receive four Gulfstream G550s outfitted for signals intelligence (Sigint) gathering in an AUD2.46 billion ($1.75 billion) deal. Likely to be based on the special electronics mission aircraft airframe configuration that is in service with the Israel Defence Forces as the Shavit, Australia’s aircraft will be known as the MC-55A Peregrine in RAAF service.
The announcement was made jointly on March 18 by Australia’s Minister for Defence, Christopher Pyne, and Minister for Defence Industry, Senator Linda Reynolds. Minister Pyne commented, “The Peregrine is a new airborne electronic warfare capability that will be integrated into Defence's joint warfighting networks, providing a critical link between platforms, including the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, E-7A Wedgetail, EA-18G Growler, Navy’s surface combatants and amphibious assault ships, and ground assets to support the warfighter.”
He went on to state that the Peregrine would operate from the “super base” at RAAF Edinburgh in South Australia, where the RAAF has “a broader intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance precinct being developed.” The Gulfstreams are being procured under a Foreign Military Sales contract, with the U.S. Air Force’s Big Safari program office (645th Aeronautical Systems Group) as the contracting agency. Modification work will be performed by L3 at Greenville, Texas.
Bankrupt helicopter services company PHI posted a $141.5 million loss last year, according to the company’s annual 10-K filing this week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The loss included $109 million of impairment charges recorded in the fourth quarter related to goodwill and inventory.
Overall revenues for the year increased to $674 million, a gain of $81 million compared to 2017, thanks largely to PHI’s acquisition of former HNZ Offshore operations in select foreign markets and a slight uptick of activity in the legacy market of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The increased revenue helped PHI trim its oil-and-gas segment loss for the year to $10.2 million, down from $29 million from the year-ago period. The company’s technical services division recorded a profit of $6.8 million for the year, up from $5.6 million from 2017.
However, profit from PHI’s Air Medical division was off sharply from the $35.8 million in 2017 to $12.5 million. The company blamed the decline on market expansion and higher payroll costs. Air Medical operates 108 helicopters from 80 separate locations. Revenue for the segment was flat year-over-year at $257 million.
PHI filed for U.S. Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy protection on March 14, citing its inability to repay debts totaling $700 million.
QTA Now Offers Engine Inlet Substitute for G280
Quiet Technology Aerospace (QTA) has received a supplemental type certificate (STC) for a carbon fiber engine inlet replacement barrel for Gulfstream G280s with inner barrel corrosion on Honeywell HTF7250G engine inlets, the company announced yesterday. QTA’s lightweight carbon graphite composite barrel replaces the aluminum inner barrel on the G280’s Honeywell engine inlets that are susceptible to corrosion and acoustic screen degradation.
“This is not a repair that will fail again, potentially causing engine damage, but a permanent solution to the issue,” according to Hollywood, Florida-based QTA. Its composite barrel comes with a lifetime warranty that the company said remains with the aircraft’s serial number.
This is the sixth FAA-approved STC in QTA’s carbon fiber engine inlet replacement program that it launched four years ago. The five other STCs are for the Learjet 60, Gulfstream 200, Hawker 1000, Falcon 2000LX/EX, and Challenger 300/350. Since then, QTA has installed more than 100 carbon fiber intel barrels on 56 aircraft worldwide.
Turkey Receives Global 6000s for Jammer Conversion
Turkey’s Savunma Sanayii Baskanligi (SSB, Presidency of Defense Industries) said two green Bombardier Global 6000s were delivered last week to the facilities of Turkish Aerospace to undergo modification to the Hava air stand-off jammer (SOJ) configuration. Some early graphics had depicted the system hosted on a Gulfstream platform.
On arrival, the aircraft were inspected by the SSB’s chairman, Ismail Demir, along with officials from the Turkish air force, Bombardier, Turkish Aerospace, and Aselsan—the electronics company that is prime contractor for the program. Aselsan was awarded the contract for four Hava SOJ aircraft in August, with the first to be delivered to Turkish Air Forces Command in 2023. A joint venture was formed with Turkish Aerospace to undertake the conversion work.
In common with other Global 6000 modifications, such as the Saab GlobalEye and Project Dolphin aircraft for the UAE, the Hava SOJ conversion requires extensive airframe modifications to add large sensor fairings. The aircraft is intended to provide a remote electronic support/electronic attack capability and will be equipped with a comprehensive electronic support measures suite to detect and locate hostile radar transmissions and communications, and a powerful jamming suite to deceive and jam those emissions. In service, the aircraft is primarily intended to operate from stand-off range to suppress enemy air defenses and protect tactical aircraft during operations.
Airbus Helicopters is hoping to make significant inroads into the niche market for medium-twin emergency medical services (EMS) helicopters with its new H160, as it works toward certification in late 2019. The market for medium-sized HEMS twins is relatively skinny at present in the U.S., with only 60 operating today, and about four times that number worldwide. The current leader in this segment is the Leonardo AW139.
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