After Record 2019, Pilatus Ponders Covid-19 Future

While 2019 was a very successful year for Swiss airframer Pilatus, the company is preparing for any Covid-19-related downturn, it said in an annual report released today. The OEM set a new production record last year, delivering 83 PC-12NG turboprops, 40 PC-24 light jets, and 11 PC-21 military trainers, with an operating income of CHF153 million ($157 million).

Pilatus noted that the market rollout and ramp-up of production for the PC-24 are now complete, as it reopened the order book for the versatile twinjet for the first time since its launch in 2014. Last year, Pilatus also launched the PC-12NGX, the latest version of its turboprop single, with an improved engine and redesigned cabin, the first of which were recently delivered.

While the manufacturer began 2020 with an order book worth more than CHF2 billion, it was quick to respond to the threat of the virus, introducing short-time work for many of its staff members, a measure that now remains in place for less than 20 percent of its 2,289 full-time workers. The company also noted continuing disruptions to its supply chain.

While expressing satisfaction at the company’s performance in 2019, chairman Oscar Schwenk said “the pandemic has pitched us—and many others—into a period of severe turbulence requiring constant fact-based adjustment of our chosen heading."

AINsight: How To Shield Bizjet Owners from Virus Claims

The pandemic has already changed so much in our lives that, for now, no one can envision what a “new normal” will look like for business aviation. Regardless of what happens, today, as governments ease shelter-at-home restrictions, business aircraft owners and lessees, along with their managers and Part 135 operators (together, owners), face an imperative to protect anyone from Covid-19 who might come in physical contact with, or travel on, the operator’s business aircraft.

These people include owners and their families, other passengers, crew, independent contractors, employees, and ground support personnel (together, affected individuals). The imperative applies both to Part 91 and 135 operations. If owners do not meet this obligation head-on, it seems inevitable that affected individuals will make negligence claims against owners for exposure to, and illness or death from, Covid-19.

Owners should take the following three actions to limit affected individuals from contracting Covid-19 and later making damage claims against owners for their alleged negligence: develop comprehensive business aircraft protocols for each business aircraft to create a healthy and safe environment inside of, and close to, the aircraft; request Covid-19 waivers and indemnities from affected individuals; and confirm whether the owner carries, or can buy, liability insurance coverage that will respond to such liability claims.

Dassault Adapting in Crisis, Forging Ahead on 6X

Dassault Aviation has focused on ramping back up its production lines after a short suspension to accommodate new health and safety measures and, despite the ongoing uncertainties surrounding Covid-19, it is working to keep its Falcon 6X program on track, according to executive v-p of civil aircraft Carlos Brana. He said the restart of production has gone smoothly and the company’s priority is to “emerge from this crisis in a strong position.”

This includes sustaining the company’s research and development of new programs. “We have a lot of development activity going on,” said Brana. Dassault is focused on moving ahead with work on Falcon 6X pre-production aircraft, he added. “We have commitments to customers that we intend to honor. As previously announced, first flight will happen early next year.” 

Research and development activity is pushing forward for programs beyond the 5,500-nm 6X twinjet, Brana added. “We have some interesting things in the pipeline, too, including an all-new Falcon model and new safety, comfort, and health features.” Dassault has not yet revealed plans for its “future Falcon,” but those details are anticipated later this year.

Near term, though, Dassault Falcon is taking measures to get its customer aircraft delivered. “We have adapted our delivery process to this new environment and, in parallel, have maintained our support to customer operations,” he said.

Pandemic Prompts Big Changes for Business Aviation

The aviation world has changed considerably as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing business aircraft operators and flight departments to question common practices and what were, until just a few months ago, considered certainties in the industry.

Decreasing passenger loads and varying regulatory demands have contributed to a worldwide decline in flights in all aviation sectors, but for those business aviation operators still flying or about to resume operations, “there is no such thing as a routine trip anymore,” said Adam Hartley, manager of global regulatory services with Universal Weather and Aviation. “If you are an operation that would normally require a permit, those requirements have certainly changed, with a lot more information requested about travel history and health declarations, and I don’t think those things are going to be going away anytime soon.”

Flight operations have begun instituting various safety measures, including requiring temperature screenings before passengers and crew are allowed to board the aircraft. It is also a good idea to equip each aircraft with a sanitization kit, provide personal protective equipment to passengers, limit the seating capacity on the aircraft to provide personal separation, and pair crewmembers and maintenance teams to minimize contact and possible transmission.

JetNet Sees Used Business Aircraft Inventories Rise

Preowned business aircraft inventories have begun to creep back up, according to the latest information from JetNet. The Utica, New York-based company noted the percentage of the worldwide private jet fleet for sale in March was up more than a half point year-over-year, to 9.9 percent. It marked the first time since 2016 that the month of March saw a year-over-year increase in the fleet percentage for sale. Business jet sale transactions slowed by 5.8 percent from March 2019, with aircraft on average taking 13 days longer to sell.

An inventory of above 10 percent is generally considered a buyer’s market, but JetNet cautioned that while the number of jets currently for sale increased by 162, or 7.9 percent, to 2,215 in March 2020, it pales in comparison to 2009 when available business jets jumped by 1,095 units, a 62 percent increase, during the height of the Great Recession.

While the turboprop market saw a moderate 0.2 percent rise in inventory, it had a 13.8 percent decrease in the number of transactions and 51 fewer days on market. Sales transactions in the turbine helicopter sector saw a nearly 35 percent decline in first-quarter 2019 and 2020 comparisons, but those that did sell earlier this year spent one month less on market. Available turbine helicopter inventory rose by half a percentage point, to 5.6 percent, year-over-year.

FAA Amends Oxygen Mask Rule for Airline Crews

The U.S. FAA has amended a Part 121 rule requiring an increase in the flight level threshold at which the remaining pilot at the aircraft controls must don an oxygen mask when the other pilot leaves his or her seat. The amendment, which went into effect on March 23, increases the required flight level threshold from FL250 to FL410.

The FAA has long mandated certificate holders to furnish, and flight crewmembers to use, oxygen masks during domestic, flag, or supplemental operations involving turbine-engine powered airplanes with pressurized cabins. The FAA established the requirements to mitigate the risk of an event of an in-flight cabin pressurization failure.

Petitioners backing the amendment have asserted that the more limited use of oxygen masks below FL410 would not adversely affect safety because of the extremely low risk for depressurization at altitudes above FL250. However, there remains some concern among some in the pilot community that the change would result in crews losing the benefit of repetitive interaction with a vital piece of safety equipment.

Meanwhile, the FAA said certificate holders will incur “minimal” costs associated with updating manuals and flight crewmember training programs to include the new flight level standard. The amendment essentially harmonizes the FAA rules with those of the International Civil Aviation Organization and comes after ALPA lobbied for its inclusion in the 2018 FAA reauthorization act.

Erickson Looks To Improve Firefighting Through R&D Unit

Erickson is known as an operator and manufacturer of the S-64 Air Crane heavy-lift helicopter along with providing the air power to fight wildfires globally. But the Portland, Oregon-based company that also offers commercial lift services with its fleet of rotary and fixed-wing aircraft and MRO services is adding research and development to its credentials.

And leading that charge is senior director of R&D Jeff Baxter, who joined the company a little more than a year ago and whose team is currently developing software that is aimed at helping firefighters determine the most effective location to drop water on a wildland fire that will more efficiently and effectively extinguish it.

The software that Baxter’s team is developing will use infrared images collected from sensors mounted on an aircraft that flies over a fire and transmits that information in real-time to the ground. Using GPS and computer algorithms, the software will map images of the fire and highlight the areas within it to drop water. 

“So the intent here is to do two things: it’s to select water drop locations and then to select water drop flow rates,” Baxter explained. “If we can optimize those automatically, then that kind of…[gives] pilots a more robust recommendation of how to use their assets.”

EASA Readies Rollout of Covid Health Safety Protocol

The EASA will recommend that passengers and crew wear medical face masks for the duration of a flight—except during security checks or border control—and replace those masks after four hours of wear with a safe disposal process in place, according to the draft EASA “Covid-19 Aviation Health Safety Protocol” obtained by AIN. It is expected to be formally released in the coming weeks.

The protocol recommends that airlines and airport operators cooperate to maintain physical distancing—a minimum of 1.5 meters and ideally 2 meters—as much as possible during check-in, security check, pre-boarding, and boarding. Where boarding is performed using a boarding bridge, boarding by rows should be considered, starting with the furthest row from the aircraft doors used in the embarkation process. No more than one piece of hand luggage for each person should be allowed, and operators should promote the checking of luggage by offering incentives.

To reduce the residual risk of an infected passenger transmitting the virus to other passengers, airlines should minimize onboard service and put measures into place to prevent passengers from standing in aisles or galleys to use a lavatory. 

Aircraft operators using recirculated cabin air are encouraged to use HEPA filters. When HEPA filters are installed, recirculation fans should not be stopped but increased fresh air flow should be used by selecting high-pack flow whenever possible.

Photo of the Week

Sightings of Gulfstream G650s have been fairly routine at New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport (TEB). The airport, typically the busiest business aviation facility in the U.S., is known for its bustling activity and scores of aircraft consuming much of the available ramp space. But now those sightings have become rarer as the Covid-19 pandemic has grounded numerous business jets. This dramatic turn is evidenced by a photo submitted by Jon Sorli, who took this panoramic outside the Jet Aviation FBO at TEB on April 23. His company’s Gulfstream G650 was the lone jet on the ramp. “I never thought I would see it like this. I hope I don’t see it this way ever again. We are the only airplane on the ramp,” Sorli said. While the aircraft still is a graceful beauty, it is in stark contrast of the vast emptiness. Thanks for sharing, Jon.

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