Honda Aircraft has launched a flexible phased maintenance program for operators of the company's light twinjet. Applicable to all HondaJet HA-420 models—including the legacy HondaJet, Elite, Elite S, and Elite II—the program breaks up the 600-hour and 1,200-hour major inspection event tasks as defined in the Airworthiness Limitation and Inspection Manual (ALIM) into four phases at 150-hour intervals while still covering all the service tasks in the OEM’s regularly scheduled maintenance program.
The FAA-approved program will debut in April at all the company’s authorized U.S. service centers. Compared with traditional maintenance schedules, the new offering aims to reduce downtime for aircraft per service event as well as provide customers with a “more efficient cadence of maintenance events.”
“High-utilization customers require a higher degree of flexibility in maintenance planning,” said Amod Kelkar, head of Honda Aircraft’s commercial business unit and v-p of customer service. "This evolution of HondaJet’s scheduled maintenance program demonstrates our commitment to continually enhancing the HondaJet ownership experience.”
Miami-based Iris Jets is launching a custom fractional leasing service, CustomShare, to enable clients to provide tailored programs with shared lease options. Iris Jets’ first CustomerShare customer is the Miami Jet Club, which will launch operations in the upcoming months and offer shorter-term one-eighth-share fractional leases on low-time midsize business jets.
Under the Miami Jet Club program, customers will have 30 access days per year with unlimited hours on a first-come basis. There are no repositioning fees for flights in South Florida, Iris Jets said. Additionally, participating aircraft will be offered for charter when not in fractional use, bringing down the all-in hourly rate for members. The first aircraft offered through the Miami Jet Club is a Hawker 750.
“While there are many great programs available to fliers in the market, client feedback revealed an opportunity that we are positioned to address,” said Iris Jets founder and CEO Jeffrey Reis. “Combined with the hassle and rising costs of traveling via airlines, we decided to create a fractional program that is customized to meet the unique needs of our customers while providing true value.”
Expressing concern that pilots may be withholding key healthcare information, NBAA has appealed to its pilot members to participate in a University of North Dakota (UND) study researching airmen's knowledge of healthcare services. The research into what NBAA called a “groundbreaking study” is also exploring how that knowledge could affect aviation safety.
A previous UND study discovered pilots may be withholding information during medical screenings to preserve flight status, NBAA noted, saying 56 percent of U.S. pilots reported “some form of healthcare avoidance to protect their ability to operate aircraft.” Based on that result, UND is moving forward with a follow-on study to determine whether a lack of knowledge of healthcare practices is impacting that behavior.
“Through studies like UND’s review of health systems literacy, we will be better able to define practices and that will improve our culture and the health of everyone in business aviation,” said NBAA director of safety and flight operations Mark Larsen. “We recommend that every pilot member take part in this study to further our community’s understanding and appreciation of how mental and physical health impact aviation operations.”
NBAA estimated that the survey takes between five and 10 minutes to complete and does not ask for identifying information. All responses are confidential, the association added.
Some potentially good news for offshore helicopter operators: the offshore drilling market is poised for a rebound, according to a report from the consultancy Future Market Insights (FMI). The firm made the conclusion after evaluating increasing demand in the offshore drilling riser market, concluding that it will increase more than 20 percent, to $4.9 billion, over the next 10 years. A riser is a large pipe that acts as a conduit between an offshore platform/rig and a well.
FMI said the overall market has grown over the last five years due to an increasing number of offshore projects, the rising production of shale gas, an uptick in North Sea activity, and stabilizing oil prices. The result: “a significant surge in the investments for multiple offshore projects has been prominent for the last five years.” Those projects include Shell PLC’s deepwater discovery in a region near the Gulf of Mexico in December 2021; new deepwater wells offshore near Brunei in March 2021; and recent large oil and gas discoveries off Namibia, Nigeria, and in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
The CEO of helicopter services company Bristow Group views these developments as net positives. Late last year, Christopher Bradshaw told stock analysts, “The strengthening fundamentals in the offshore oil and gas market support our view that we are in the early innings of a multiyear growth cycle.” He added that third-party analysts support “the outlook for a significant increase in upstream oil and gas spending over the next few years and a tightening market for offshore equipment, including helicopters.”
Now you own an aircraft. But do you know what to expect from your service provider?
Maintenance, upgrade, and refurbishment decisions can get overwhelming. Knowing what to expect can help you make the right decisions for your aircraft and your mission. In this series, we’ll walk through everything you should expect from a reputable MRO. From initial needs to your aircraft in the hangar. Ready for some insights?
Dubai-based Dynamic Advanced Training has partnered with VisionSafe to use its Emergency Vision Assurance System (EVAS) in training for a potential blinding smoke emergency. VisionSafe’s EVAS enables a pilot to view instruments and flight paths when smoke in the cockpit compromises visibility.
“EVAS is critical to cockpit safety and its importance is best seen during a true situational and real-life flying simulation,” said Chris Skurat, v-p of sales and strategic partnerships at VisionSafe. “Dynamic Advanced Training has developed a game-changing training experience that entertains while you learn and offers this in a [modern] facility.”
Dynamic Advanced Training provides reality‐based training to prepare pilots for worst-case scenarios. “By creating and facilitating realistic scenarios, including all sensory inputs, aircrew are motivated to mesh knowledge and motor skills and be able to confidently apply this when a situation calls for it,” said Mark Kammer, operations director for Dynamic Advanced Training. “The conventional attention and focus on cockpit fire/smoke training is fairly modest. Therefore, we have equipped our full-motion cabin simulator with EVAS for pilots to experience blinding cockpit smoke and learn how easily and effectively installed units can mitigate what may otherwise be a catastrophic event.”
More than 8,000 EVAS units are installed in aircraft worldwide, according to VisionSafe.
Aircraft spend management provider MySky has introduced an auto-quoting feature developed specifically for charter customers based in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. According to the company, MySky Quote integrates real-time flight data to offer almost instantaneous visibility of every cost associated with a flight, providing financial clarity and confidence for the operator or owner in the management of their aircraft. The addition of auto-quote removes the need for human interaction while automatically delivering quotes.
“Having full visibility in seconds allows for proactive revenue management, optimizing margins, income, and profitability,” said MySky co-founder and global strategy director Chris Marich. “Business aviation charter operators can have access to intelligence and technology that has typically been the preserve of larger corporations.”
Marta Bravo Guerra, charter director at Madrid-based Gestair Aviation, noted, “MySky Quote ensures we can supply reliable data to our customers. We have seen first-hand how Quote can save us time and help us stay ahead of the competition. We are able to use this tool to achieve fast, efficient quoting for our clients and execute a high level of service. The auto-quote feature's power enables us to book trips with Quote and turn requests into profit.”
A bill that would provide for official fines and allow private citizens to sue aircraft operators for noise pollution advanced in the Hawaii legislature earlier this month, but a key amendment to the measure makes it little better than political theater aimed at mollifying anti-helicopter advocates.
HB1201, which passed second reading in the Hawaii House, almost entirely mimics a bill recently vetoed in New York by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on the grounds of federal preemption. If passed into law, the Hawaii bill would no doubt face a similar fate or wilt under litigation. It “establishes noise generated by helicopters in excess of a certain decibel level as a public nuisance and a source of noise pollution in violation of the state’s noise pollution law” and “establishes fines and a private right of action for individuals to sue helicopter owners and operators for creating a public nuisance.”
During related hearings, the state's House Committee on Health & Homelessness heard testimony from long-time Hawaii operator Jack Harter Helicopters and the Helicopter Association International in opposition. Following the hearing, the committee amended the bill’s effective date to June 30, 3000, “to encourage further discussion.”
During the hearings, various committee members alleged that helicopter noise was responsible for a plethora of ailments, including high blood pressure, speech interference, hearing loss, sleep disruption, and lost productivity.
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California-based Clay Lacy Aviation has increased its scholarship commitment, pledging more than $280,000 in funding over the next four years. That is in addition to the $225,000 the full-service aircraft charter, management, maintenance provider, and FBO operator has granted since 2015.
The company, which operates facilities at Van Nuys (KVNY) and Orange County (KSNA) airports, is also developing its first East Coast FBO at Connecticut’s Waterbury-Oxford Airport (KOXC).
Its philanthropy creates opportunities in the areas the company serves, with the committed programs including maintenance scholarships at the Los Angeles Unified School District’s North Valley Occupational Aviation Center at KVNY and the Connecticut Aerotech School in Hartford, Connecticut; a pilot scholarship fund for students at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California; scholarships in support of the International Aviation Women’s Association program at Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in New York City; and support for Gold Stars to Blue Skies, a program that helps the children of fallen U.S. Marines earn their pilot licenses. It also provides mentoring opportunities at its locations.
“We are committed to helping talented individuals discover and thrive in this vital industry,” explained Scott Cutshall, the company’s senior v-p for development and sustainability. “Aviation professionals build rewarding lives for themselves and their families and it's crucial that leaders in the industry are able to support them in realizing their professional goals and career dreams.”
People in Aviation
Wayne Johnson is the recipient of the 2023 Daniel Guggenheim Medal for his contributions to vertical flight aeronautics and resulting computational codes enabling the design of the first tiltrotor aircraft and eVTOL, as well as the Mars Helicopter. Johnson will receive the award during the Vertical Flight Society’s 79th Annual Forum in mid-May.
West Star promoted Ryan Law to project manager at its Grand Junction, Colorado facility. Law was hired as an AMT at West Star in 2014, starting in the Hawker department and later moving to team lead for Citation in 2020.
Nicolas Potier was appointed v-p of support and services at Safran Aircraft Engines replacing François Planaud, who is retiring. Potier will also serve as a member of the company’s executive committee. He has held various leadership positions with Safran since joining the company in 2012, most recently as executive v-p of the wheels and brakes division at Safran Landing Systems.
Citadel Completions appointed Neil J. Boyle senior v-p of operations and GM. Boyle has four decades of experience in aircraft maintenance, business aviation, and completions centers. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a T-38A mechanic and retired 20 years later as an F-15E Fighter Squadrons production superintendent. From there, he went to work for Gulfstream Aerospace in production and operations, and he recently retired from Jet Aviation after serving as senior v-p and GM.
NATA promoted Ken Thompson to managing director of regulatory affairs and hired Paige Kroner as senior advisor for industry relations. Thompson, who previously served as NATA’s senior advisor of regulatory affairs for maintenance, is an A&P mechanic and served as an aircraft mechanic/inspector, quality control inspector, quality assurance manager, chief inspector, designated manufacturing inspection representative, and senior manager in manufacturing and maintenance facilities. Kroner previously worked for aviation companies Piedmont-Hawthorne Aviation, Chantilly Air, and Signature Flight Support, as well as trade associations American Association of Airport Executives and NBAA.
Spirit Aeronautics hired Mark Hall as site manager for its Ohio location. Hall has more than 30 years of experience in the aviation industry with a background that includes avionics installer, supervisor, planner, and project manager.
Aviation Specialties Unlimited hired Vicque Ebentheuer as marketing manager. She most recently worked in healthcare marketing for more than 25 years. Ebentheuer comes from a family of pilots and her marketing background includes management of customer relations management systems, marketing research, data analysis, and strategic planning.
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