Bombardier, continuing to meet financial objectives in its turnaround plan, has upped its goals for 2025, now targeting more than $9 billion in revenues by 2025 as it plans to deliver 150 aircraft annually by that time frame. The $9 billion marks an improvement from the $7.5 billion goal laid out in 2021, when Bombardier became a pure-play business aviation company, and revenues of $6.9 billion in 2022.
Increased deliveries would be a ramp-up from 120 in 2022 and the anticipated 138 this year. Along with revenues, Bombardier has set more aggressive profitability targets and is anticipating an adjusted EBITDA of more than $1.625 billion, compared with the original goal of $1.5 billion.
Contributing to the improved results are returns on its long-term plans to expand its aftermarket revenues, and Bombardier executives said during today's Investor Day that they are well on their way to achieving a $2 billion annual contribution from that business by 2025, a 50 percent jump from 2020 and up from $1.5 billion in 2022.
Another key target that Bombardier has upped is free cash flow, anticipating it to reach $900 million by 2025. This would provide “capital allocation optionality,” according to executive v-p and CFO Bart Demosky, including options for a new aircraft, mergers, and acquisition activity—further easing of its debt burden or returns to the shareholder.
NTSB member Michael Graham stressed his belief that there should be no exceptions for size from the FAA’s safety management system (SMS) rulemaking. But he did say the final regulation must be scalable for small operators.
During the Air Charter Safety Foundation’s Safety Symposium on Wednesday in Daytona Beach, Florida, Graham noted that the NTSB has been pushing for the FAA to mandate SMS for Part 135 since 2016, following the Hawker 700A crash in Akron, Ohio.
“The voluntary days are over with. We didn't hit enough people,” he said, adding that about 10 to 12 percent of Part 135 operators have voluntarily adopted SMS. “We’re talking out of 2,000 operators. You can do the math and that's not many. The time is over. The safety benefits are there. We all need to get there.”
He said the NTSB was pleased that FAA had released the notice of proposed rulemaking to extend SMS requirements to Part 135 and air-tour operators. While some have asked about alternatives for the smallest operators, Graham said the answer should be: “Nope. You don’t have an SMS if you don’t have all four components [safety policy, risk management, assurance, and promotion].”
However, he added that he has been pushing for guidance and scalability. “It has to be scalable. If it’s not, it’s never going to work.”
Fractional HondaJet provider Volato achieved more than $103 million in sales in 2022, its first full year of operations, exceeding the goal of $100 million. The company, which launched in 2021, also increased its workforce from 22 to 176 employees.
Atlanta-based Volato operates 17 HondaJets and ordered an additional 25 at the end of last year. In September, it announced it would move up to larger aircraft with an order for four super-midsize Gulfstream G280s, the first of which it expects to receive early next year.
The company credits its success to its fractional program, which offers revenue sharing; jet-card offerings; aircraft management division; and newly launched charter programs.
“We are pleased to share these results, which reflect the strong, positive reception our programs and solutions have received in the market,” said Volato CEO and co-founder Matt Liotta. “We look forward to continued growth, driven by fleet growth and utilization, increased market awareness, and the continued rollout of an exciting roadmap.”
Several recent near-collisions of aircraft operating in the airport environment prompted the FAA to issue Safety Alerts for Operators (SAFO) 23002. According to the bulletin, several highly visible and notable incidents demonstrate the need for “continued vigilance and attention to mitigation of safety risks.”
“While the overall numbers do not reflect an increase in incidents and occurrences, the potential severity of these events is concerning,” says the SAFO. “Six serious runway incursions have occurred since January, including an incident at John F. Kennedy International Airport…involving a taxiing aircraft narrowly avoiding a departing aircraft, and a landing aircraft coming within 100 feet of a departing aircraft at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.”
The SAFO does not specifically mention the February 28 close call at Boston Logan International Airport when an airliner on approach had to make a sudden go-around while a Learjet 60 was taking off allegedly without clearance.
Last month, the FAA acting administrator issued a “call to action” comprised of a series of events and initiatives to ensure focus and attention on risks in aviation. Senior leaders from the FAA, other agencies, and commercial and general aviation operators, attended a Safety Summit on March 15. Attendees discussed these incidents, as well as ways to enhance aviation safety. This SAFO is one result of the discussions and includes a list of nine recommended actions.
Access to parts, rental engines and competitive pricing: more reasons why EAP says you should have your engines on an hourly maintenance program
Maintaining your engines helps you maintain the value of your aircraft, but Engine Assurance Program (EAP) knows hourly engine programs offer even more power to operators. With aircraft utilization at close to record levels, there’s increased competition for the already limited resources needed to keep engines in peak condition. That’s where enrolling on a program can save the day.
The Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday approved by voice vote the Notam Improvement Act of 2023, a companion bill to one that passed the House in late January and calls for a task force to recommend improvements to the notam system. While similar to the House measure, Senate Bill S.66 was approved with amendments that Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) said set deadlines and add a little more teeth to the requirements.
One such change, offered by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), would require the FAA to complete its implementation of the new, modernized Federal Notam System and have a backup system in place by Sept. 30, 2024. The amendment would further call on the FAA to brief Congress on a plan to improve the ability of the system to offer machine-readable and filterable information that is in the format used by the International Civil Aviation Organization. FAA Acting Administrator Billy Nolen has said he believed most of the modernization effort should be in place by mid-2025 but that he hoped to expedite these efforts.
As for the task force, it would comprise a cross-section of industry leaders and would develop recommendations on how to organize, prioritize, and present notams in a way that highlights the most relevant information to optimize pilot review. The task force—which would also look at the stability, resiliency, and cybersecurity of the system—would have a year to complete its recommendations.
Atlantic Aviation, which operates more than 100 FBOs in the U.S. and Caribbean, has completed an expansion project at its facility at Scottdale Airport (KSDL) in Arizona. The addition consists of a 56,000-sq-ft hangar capable of sheltering top-of-the-line business jets.
It brings the FBO, the largest of the three service providers on the field, to 143,000 sq ft of hangar space. The project also added covered parking for 40 vehicles, as well as a pair of 3,000-sq-ft office buildings, which along with the new hangar are fully occupied.
KSDL is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the country, with more than 300 based aircraft—140 of which are business jets. Atlantic plans to add more hangars and a new terminal at the Arizona airport in the coming years.
“Our location at KSDL in Scottsdale continues to be one of our most popular network-wide,” said Kyle Schultz, senior v-p of operations for Atlantic's mountain region. “It's why we maintain an ongoing commitment to improving and expanding our infrastructure here, as it allows us to consistently enhance the services we provide our customers.”
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council achieved what it called a major milestone this week in the global standardization and rollout of new dual-frequency multi-constellation (DFMC) capabilities for international aviation’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). DFMC GNSS allows for the combination of dual-frequency signals from up to four GNSS constellations simultaneously, including GPS (U.S.), Galileo (EU), Glonass (Russia), and BeiDou (China).
Advances in aircraft-, satellite-, and ground-based augmentation systems have allowed for the capability, which will become more prevalent as aircraft become increasingly equipped with DMFC-capable avionics.
Global aviation GNSS capabilities rely mainly on just one constellation and one frequency via GPS L1, meaning that the new multi-constellation capability will assure greater system accuracy and redundancy, delivering air network capacity and safety benefits.
“This is an important development toward improving the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of international air transport through more precise airspace management and more efficient routes and procedures,” said ICAO Council president Salvatore Sciacchitano. “Eventually, these new standards will provide international aviation with access to an extensive global infrastructure and over 50 new GNSS satellites.”
The NBAA Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) Roundtable, which recently met and celebrated its two-year anniversary, is working with the bipartisan congressional AAM Caucus and others in Congress to advance pro-AAM policies in the FAA reauthorization bill. Current FAA authorization is scheduled to expire on Sept. 30, 2023.
“Electric aviation and AAM represent the next generation of air transportation in this country with the first commercial AAM flight scheduled to occur in 2025,” said NBAA senior v-p of government affairs Kristie Greco Johnson. “To achieve this deadline, the FAA must keep pace with aircraft type certifications and the promised regulatory schedule,” including the anticipated issuance of the FAA’s upcoming Special FAR. To do this, the FAA must hire and retain a workforce with the right technical expertise and Congress must make the necessary infrastructure investments, NBAA noted.
In 2022, the NBAA AAM Roundtable advocated for two measures that became law, including S.516, the Advanced Air Mobility Coordination and Leadership Act, which requires the Secretary of Transportation to establish an interagency working group to review and examine factors that will allow the maturation of the AAM ecosystem within the U.S. and develop an AAM national strategy. It also supported the Advanced Aviation Infrastructure Modernization Act establishing U.S. Department of Transportation grants to assist state, local, and tribal governments and other entities in planning infrastructure to support AAM operations.
True or false: implementing a sustainability program in the flight department could help improve the overall organization’s ESG efforts.
A. True
B. False
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