Global business aircraft activity ticked up by 2 percent last month thanks to the extra leap day. The year-over-year improvement last month also stemmed the declines seen in the past few months.

In North America, activity was up 2.5 percent year-over-year (YOY) in February. But in Europe, activity slowed by 5.7 percent, though that was a slight improvement from the 7.9 percent YOY drop reported for January. However, Argus expects business aircraft activity to return to the negative this month in North America, forecasting a 2.7 percent dip, and further declining in Europe by 6.9 percent YOY.

Without the extra day in February, North American operations would have been down by 1.7 percent YOY. Fractional operations continued to surge, up 19.1 percent over February 2023, and Part 91 activity was up 2.2 percent. However, the slide in Part 135 operations persisted last month, falling 4 percent with turboprop, light jet, and large-cabin jet flights all down in this category.

In Europe last month, turboprop operations fell 15.9 percent YOY, followed by large-cabin jets, -6.1 percent; and light jets, -2.9 percent. A bright spot was a 5.1 percent improvement in midsize jet activity in the region.

Other regions of the world combined for a 9.1 percent improvement in February.

Anyone who makes their profession within the business aviation industry is well aware of what happened to seemingly everything we touch relative to business aircraft as a result of the pandemic. During that time of uncertainty, everything became scarce and expensive.

Now, nearly four years later, we all can likely agree that things have loosened up for a vast majority of us who work in and around business aircraft—to a certain degree. I cannot speak to all sectors of the industry, but I can speak to the aircraft resale market. Let’s look back and also forward to see where it puts us now.

Depending on the source of the data chosen, it will show in approximate terms that the supply of for-sale preowned business aircraft was at an all-time low in early 2022, at approximately 2 percent of the fleet. It hit a high of about 6 percent four months ago and, at present, it is just off that high. What we have defined as “normal” in years past is approximately 7 to 8 percent of the fleet for sale at any given time. But it makes me wonder: is 6 percent the “new normal”?

Here is where I think it gets more interesting: inventory of aircraft coming on the market versus those that have sold has been at a pretty consistent rate for approximately one year.

The sixth annual Women’s Aviation Career Symposium (WACS) held in Battle Creek, Michigan, earlier this month is celebrating record-breaking attendance.

“We are overwhelmed by the support, outreach, and continued success of the WACS event to highlight women in aviation and support our next generation of leaders in this industry,” said WACS co-founder Mary Poirier. “The interest from companies shows a growing desire to invest in women to fill talent pipelines, and our increased attendance showcases a continued passion for women to receive aviation training, mentorship, and job opportunities to support their career endeavors.”

The conference showcased more than 130 representatives from aviation companies, schools, and organizations from the Great Lakes region who connected with 140 attendees. In addition, $30,000 in scholarships were awarded at WACS to 12 women for aviation education, flight and maintenance training, and professional development. Workshops on career and professional development were also offered.

Fifty-two companies sponsored the symposium, including Gulfstream Aerospace, Western Michigan University, Duncan Aviation, the Michigan Business Aviation Association and Foundation (MBAA/MBAF), AvFlight, Dassault Falcon Jet, Dow Chemical, GrandAir Aviation, and Jackson National Life.

FBO operator Avflight has expanded its network with the addition of US Aviation Services, the lone service provider at Mississippi’s Hattiesburg/Laurel Regional Airport (KPIB). The facility includes a 4,000-sq-ft terminal with passenger and pilot lounges and 125,000 sq ft of hangar space that can accommodate aircraft up to a Gulfstream G550. Avflight will retain the location’s existing staff to ensure service continuity.

With its 6,500-foot runway, KPIB sees a mix of cargo, military, sports charters, business, and commercial traffic, and for Avflight—a sister company to Avfuel—this marks the 26th location in its mainly U.S. FBO network. In addition, this is its second in Mississippi, joining Golden Triangle Regional Airport (KGTR) in Columbus, where it also operates the sole FBO.

“This acquisition not only expands our geographic reach but also reinforces our dedication to serving general aviation operations at key locations across North America,” said company v-p of finance and treasurer Garrett Hain. “The Avflight team is proud to support the Hattiesburg community as its new gateway for visitors, contributing to the region’s economic growth.”

Passengers boarding aircraft at the London-area Farnborough Airport are being shuttled across the ramp in a fleet of BMW electric i7 cars. Starting on Tuesday, the carmaker deployed three of the vehicles and chauffeurs at the business aviation gateway as part of the privately-owned airport’s brand partnership program.

The i7s will be used to transport passengers from Farnborough’s terminal, complementing the airport’s existing fleet of electric vehicles. The airport has a strong commitment to reducing business aviation’s carbon footprint, having achieved carbon neutrality a few years ago.

BMW UK is also displaying an i7 car at the main entrance to Farnborough Airport. The model is the company’s first fully-electric member of the BMW 7 Series and features an ultra-wide “theater screen” for passengers.

“We are delighted to be partnering with BMW to elevate the travel experience at Farnborough Airport,” said airport CEO Simon Geere. “The collaboration with BMW and the showcase of the all-electric i7 not only reflects our dedication to providing a unique guest experience, but it also highlights our commitment to innovation.”

It’s been a busy and successful first year for the Women in Aviation International soFly Southern Tropics chapter. The leadership of the group—which represents the region of Southern Florida and the Caribbean—spoke yesterday and today at the WAI Conference in Orlando, Florida..

Last year, soFly launched a series of local Girls in Aviation days, which attracted more than 1,000 adolescents to events at FEAM Aero in Doral, Sheltair Aviation Services in Fort Lauderdale, and Fontainebleau Aviation in Miami. In honor of International Women’s Day earlier this month, the chapter established the soFly Girls in Aviation Tech Day. Held at the AAR Airframe MRO in Miami, it attracted more than 200 high school and college-aged women.

Finally, the group established a scholarship program of $30,000 for the Emil Buehler Aviation Institute at Broward College in partnership with the Florida Aviation Network and World Aerospace.

“The secret sauce to our chapter has been an effective combination of leadership and recruitment,” explained Monica Sarduy, chapter v-p and v-p of sales and marketing with FBO software provider X-1. “Without the contributions of our volunteers and board members combined with the support of our corporate sponsors, we wouldn’t be where we are today, and for that we are forever humbled and grateful.”

While Avidyne’s Vantage12 avionics upgrade for the thousands of earlier Cirrus SR20 and SR22 models that were equipped with its Entegra displays is taking longer than expected due to certification delays, FAA approval is expected shortly. Avidyne dealers need to start preparing for the volume of work that is coming because there are more than 4,000 Cirruses that qualify for the upgrade, Tom Harper, the company’s senior marketing director, told AIN at the AEA Convention this week.

The Vantage12 upgrade is designed to update those older Cirruses to a modern glass cockpit with dual 12-inch touchscreen displays, 3D synthetic vision, and dual attitude reference systems (ARS), each of which can drive the Avidyne DFC90 autopilot. The earlier Avidyne Entegra avionics in those airplanes had only one ARS and its failure would cause autopilot loss.

Shadin Avionics has updated its AIS-450 Synchro to facilitate the integration of legacy flight data recorders and autopilots/automatic flight control systems, the company announced this week at the Aircraft Electronics Association Convention. The enhanced AIS-450 converts signals from newer-technology avionics into legacy signal formats, the company explained, allowing retention of existing interfacing systems that are costly to replace.

“With many aircraft grappling with obsolescence issues in old gyro technology, the AIS-450 Synchro presents an alternative option for seamlessly transitioning these legacy gyros to modern attitude heading reference systems or air data and attitude heading reference systems,” according to Shadin.