Pilatus 2018 Annual Revenues Top $1 Billion

Swiss airframer Pilatus turned in a solid annual result for 2018, posting revenues of $1.074 billion and net income of $154.5 million on deliveries of 128 aircraft: 18 PC-24s, 80 PC-12 NGs, 27 PC-21s, and three PC-6s. It was the first time annual revenues had topped the $1 billion mark since 2015. Order intake for the year was $980 million, boosting the company’s backlog to $2.07 billion. 

Milestones for 2018 included delivering the first customer PC-24 to U.S. customer PlaneSense in February, opening a new aircraft completion center in Broomfield, Colorado in October, beginning construction on a new Australia facility, and selling 20 PC-12 NG turboprops to China. Pilatus said it expects the new Broomfield center could deliver up to 30 new PC-24s per year and it plans to add employment there over the next three years. Pilatus also plans to reopen the PC-24 order book and will open a new aircraft assembly building in Switzerland later this year, said chairman Oscar Schwenk. 

Schwenk said Pilatus will continue to focus on product and service improvements in 2019. The PC-24 is involved in post-certification testing, including steep approaches at London City and Lugano Agno, Switzerland as well as certification approvals for off-pavement landing. Pilatus also upgraded the control software for the PC-12 NG and developed a new maintenance plan for all PC-12 models that cuts maintenance costs by 20 to 40 percent. 

Jet Aviation, Gulfstream To Break Ground on PBI Complex

Jet Aviation will break ground next week on an expansion of its FBO at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida. The addition, on the northwest side of the airfield, consists of a new 40,000-sq-ft hangar and 10,000 sq ft of tenant office space, plus a new 30,000-gallon-capacity fuel farm.

The construction is part of a joint project with sister company Gulfstream, which is adding a new service center at the location, including a 115,000-sq-ft hangar. At the new facility, the two companies will also share an additional 21,000 sq ft of office space and a customer lounge.

The FBO’s primary services will remain at its existing location on the southeast side of the airport, which consists of 160,000 sq ft of hangar space and a 6,000-sq-ft terminal.

“The hangar and office space to be built in conjunction with Gulfstream’s service center will deliver new levels of service to our customers and new jobs for the community in an important market for Jet Aviation,” said David Paddock, senior v-p and general manager for U.S. regional operations, who will take over as Jet Aviation group president next month. “This expansion demonstrates our commitment to the entire region and to the continued growth of the Palm Beach community.”

Both facilities are expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2020.

XTI TriFan Prototype Makes First Flight

XTI Aircraft Company (XTI) successfully completed the first flight of a 65 percent scale prototype of its TriFan 600 VTOL last week in Placerville, California. The unmanned, tethered flight occurred on May 2 and included multiple takeoffs, hover, and landings, which validated the electric motors, battery power system, ducted fan propulsion, flight controls, other electrical systems, and instrumentation. 

XTI said future flights at a certified UAV test facility will be untethered and will test hover, forward, and wing-borne flight as well as the transition phase between vertical and forward-flight modes.

“In one year, we have progressed from conceptual design to a flying prototype,” said XTI CEO Robert LaBelle. “The aircraft proved to be stable in hover and had no problems throughout several runs.”

Once produced in full scale, the TriFan 600 will seat six, have a top speed of 300 knots, a maximum range of 1,200 nm, and a service ceiling of 29,000 feet. XTI previously reported it had booked reservations for 77 aircraft from customers worldwide. Total value of the orders is $500 million. 

Senate Vote Restores Full Ex-Im Financing Capacity

The Senate’s approval of three nominees to the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) came as welcome news to aerospace industry leaders, who have long been concerned that the U.S. remained at a competitive disadvantage without a quorum on the bank’s board.

The Senate Wednesday confirmed Kimberley Reed as president and Spencer Bachus and Judith DelZoppo Pryor as members of the bank’s board of directors, filling key vacancies. The five-member board had four vacant slots and has lacked the requisite three members for a quorum since 2015. A quorum is required for financing approval of sales over $10 million.

Aerospace Industries Association president and CEO Eric Fanning called Wednesday’s vote “a long-awaited step towards putting the bank back in the business of supporting American exporters of all sizes.” The Ex-Im bank can now begin to work through a backlog of $40 billion in deals that have been awaiting approval, Fanning added. “This begins to put American exporters on a level playing field with international competition.”

Wednesday’s vote followed a round of votes to cut off debate—thereby avoiding filibusters—on each of the nominees. That cleared the path to approval for each nomination. The confirmation has faced opposition by some lawmakers who have viewed the bank as providing corporate welfare for major companies.

European Mx Providers Form Partnership

German MRO provider airplus Maintenance has formed a partnership with EASA-approved design organization Q.C.M. Design that will enable the engineering teams from the two companies to support each other on large projects. Both companies have developed supplemental type certificates (STCs) on airplanes and rotorcraft, and their capabilities range from interior refurbishment to avionics upgrades to structural work.

“Q.C.M. is well known in our industry for very reliable and high-quality services,” said airplus COO Florian Kindzorra. “Besides helping airplus and Q.C.M. by using the broad knowledge base, list of existing approvals, and number of experts in our teams, our customers will benefit from game-changing STC solutions and optimized turnaround times.”

Based at Friedrichshafen Airport, airplus, which is part of the European Air Service Group, has a maintenance hangar for midsize aircraft and a larger structure for aircraft up to a Boeing 737/Airbus A320. It holds Part 145, Part 21J, ADOA, and CAMO approval. Q.C.M., which has an in-house burn-test laboratory for flammability testing, is based in Berne, Switzerland, with an office in Vienna.

Business Aviation’s Hook for Recruiting New Workers

At the first joint session of NBAA’s Maintenance Conference and Flight Attendants/Flight Technicians Conference yesterday in Fort Worth, Texas, president and CEO Ed Bolen said it’s an exciting time in the aerospace and business aviation industries. He cited the development of private commercial spaceflight by companies such as SpaceX and supersonic flight by others such as Aerion Corp. And those developments, Bolen said, can be used to business aviation’s advantage as it looks to recruit its next generation of workers. “We’re going to be part of things that can give us a hook as we try to bring in new talent,” he explained.

Business aviation workforce recruitment and development has been a consistent theme of Bolen’s speeches at NBAA events in recent months. But this time, Bolen pointed to the industry's many qualities that could appeal to younger generations: technology, such as working with avionics and cabin connectivity; experiences, such as travel; a career that offers purpose, by way of using airplanes to assist people affected by disasters and through programs such as the Corporate Angel Network; professional growth opportunities; and the feeling of belonging to a community that Bolen said is unique to the industry. “We’ve got good talking points because we’ve got a great industry,” he said. “The message is there, but we need to tell it at a grassroots level.” 

Gainesville, Florida Airport Breaks Ground on FBO

Florida’s Keystone Heights Airport has broken ground on a new terminal for its municipally owned FBO. Funded entirely by the state department of transportation, the $1.2 million project at the Gainesville-area airfield will include a 3,684-sq-ft building with a pilot lounge, flight planning area, snooze room, shower facilities, and 30-seat conference room, along with 767 sq ft of covered porches.

Upon its completion in spring 2020, it will replace the existing 1970s-era, 1,500-sq-ft terminal, which was last renovated nearly two decades ago. That building will be retained for aeronautical business use.

A former World War II U.S. Army airfield, Keystone features a 5,050-foot main runway and sees approximately 100 operations a day.

"Our new facility will increase the size of current airport administrative offices as well as provide an updated pilot planning area, pilot lounge and showers, and a break room,” said airport manager Maria Hitt. “Our new FBO will be a welcomed site for local and transient pilots."

FAA To Airports: File Paperwork Before Defeating Drones

Defeating drones that threaten airports will be allowed only once the paperwork is done. The FAA’s Office of Airports Safety and Standards issued new guidance this week with regard to the deployment of counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) at airports.

The FAA said it could not “confirm the legality of any UAS detection system” and urged installing airports to seek “site-specific guidance” from private legal counsel and law enforcement. The agency went on to advise airports of their legal obligations under federal transportation law and airport certification standards with regard to the installation of C-UAS. Specifically, the FAA reminded airports of their notification requirements regarding the construction and alteration of existing structures, the need to comply with airport operating certificates including the need to update airport certification manuals, the obligation to comply with applicable grant assurance obligations, and the mandate to maintain an up-to-date airport layout plan.

While the FAA said it is “working to develop a federal response to a persistent UAS disruption at a major airport” at a future, unspecified date, in the short term it counseled airport operators to embrace “coordination” with the FAA before installing any C-UAS and warned that “the operational use of UAS detection systems may provoke response actions that disrupt air traffic operations at your airport or otherwise introduce undesirable safety and efficiency impacts.” 

Dassault Falcon 8X Takeoff from 3,500-ft SMO Runway Sets SMO to TEB Record

The 8X needed a balanced field length of just 3,200 feet for the flight to Teterboro, carrying four passengers, 13,640 pounds of fuel, 200 pounds of payload, and two pilots.

Shortly after takeoff pilots Franco Nese and Ryan Duveneck briefly reduce power and lower the nose to abate the aircraft’s noise over the city of Santa Monica before climbing to cruise altitude.

Full video coming soon.