Atlantic Aviation this morning announced a blockbuster merger with Ross Aviation that will bring the latter’s 19 FBOs—including three airports where it has two separate FBOs—under the Atlantic brand. The transaction, the terms of which were undisclosed, will require regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first half of 2022.
“If you overlay the two footprints, they are extremely complementary,” Atlantic CEO Lou Pepper told AIN. “Places like Westchester County [New York], Scottsdale [Arizona], and Bedford [Massachusetts], places like that, [are] extremely valuable for our chain.” The only redundancy between the two companies is at Witham Field Airport in Stuart, Florida, where Atlantic already operates the other FBO on the field.
For Ross Aviation founder and chairman Jeffrey Ross, this is the third time he built up an FBO chain to have it become part of a larger organization. “I’ve done it a number of times,” Ross told AIN, “but this is the ultimate, this is what we were hoping for a long time—association with the ‘best other’ FBO chain in the world.”
Fractional ownership provider PlaneSense recently took delivery of its 75th Pilatus PC-12 turboprop single. Registered as N131AF, the aircraft comes some 26 years after the Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based operator acquired its first PC-12, S/N 120—the 20th one to come off the Pilatus assembly line. That aircraft launched PlaneSense’s fractional program and the company has since become the operator of the world’s largest PC-12 fleet.
“The Pilatus PC-12 has been the foundation of the PlaneSense program,” said PlaneSense president and CEO George Antoniadis. “Its reliability, comfort, safety record, and versatility provides PlaneSense share owners with the most intelligent solution for private travel at a responsible price point.”
PlaneSense manages the maintenance of the fleet through its facilities in Portsmouth and in Boulder City, Nevada. It sells off the aircraft after a period of time to keep the fleet younger, with the average age currently at 5.6 years. The company's PC-12 fleet will number 38 by the end of the year, with six more on order for delivery next year.
In 2018, PlaneSense added a second Pilatus type—the PC-24—to its product offering and now it has six of these light twinjets in its fleet. A seventh is expected this year, with three more on order for delivery next year.
Making five stops on the way to Dubai from Italy due to limitations on the range of the test aircraft, the AW609 recently arrived in the Middle East for display at Expo 2020 before taking a break from those duties this week to make its Dubai Airshow debut. The tiltrotor originally flew to Dubai for the opening ceremony of the Expo 2020 helicopter terminal built by Leonardo in partnership with Abu Dhabi-based oil and gas operator and charter provider Falcon Aviation Services.
AW609 test pilot Gianfranco Cito, one of only 10 pilots approved to fly the tiltrotor, said flight testing should be complete by August 2022. William Sunick, head of tiltrotor marketing at Leonardo, said FAA certification is a key goal for the AW609 program. Its hybrid nature led to a new approach from the FAA, which is conducting classification efforts on the basis that Part 23, 25, and 29 regulations all apply to the aircraft.
The nine-passenger AW609 can take off vertically in helicopter mode or from runways with rotors set in a more horizontal position. It can also reach speeds of more than 270 knots and has a 750-nm range that can be increased to almost 1,100 nm with auxiliary tanks.
Leonardo maintains strong ties to the UAE civil and defense sectors and hopes to use those relationships to create business for the tiltrotor.
With preowned business jet inventory tightened up and the year drawing to a close, brokers and other business aviation leaders speaking at the recent Corporate Jet Investor Miami forum warned that buyers must be prepared to move quickly but carefully on an available aircraft and advised that they may have to look for inventory in places such Russia or China.
“Time is really a constraint in terms of trying to conduct any sort of transaction,” said Par Avion founder and president Janine Iannarelli. She also agreed that one of the biggest challenges is to find available aircraft. Keri Dowling, president of Air Law Office, added that buyers must be “prepared to hit the ground running,” including ensuring that clients “frontload” everything as much as possible.
Amanda Applegate, a partner at Aerlex Law Group, advised that buyers put together teams that have expertise in cross-border transactions. “Certainly, in the last six months, I've seen far more cross-border transactions than I've seen in probably the last five years,” she said. “These are coming out of registries or countries that perhaps you wouldn't have looked at before.”
“We are looking around the world for aircraft all the time,” said Hamish Harding, chairman of Action Aviation. He noted that he is finding them in places such as China, Russia, and certain other countries.
Technology, Relationships Set Apart FlightSafety Maintenance Training
FlightSafety International continually advances its training through innovation and expert instruction. It has relationships with major manufacturers, companies and OEMs built over decades. Maintenance technicians training with FlightSafety enjoy relationships built over decades with manufacturers and companies. The result is the best trained technicians in the industry, keeping aircraft airworthy and safe, and reducing downtime.
Gogo Business Aviation recorded a milestone this week with its Avance L5 in-flight connectivity marking more than 500,000 flights since the broadband system's introduction in August 2017. According to Broomfield, Colorado-based Gogo, more than 1,500 aircraft are flying with Avance L5 and 273.7 terabytes of data have been consumed over the milestone half-a-million flights using its high-speed, air-to-ground (ATG) connectivity service.
“Demand for connectivity continues to be very high and the Avance L5 and Gogo Biz 4G network are delivering a great experience for customers who are doing data-heavy activities while in flight,” said Gogo president Sergio Aguirre.
Gogo noted the activity isn’t limited to just Avance L5. Flight counts on Gogo-equipped aircraft in the third quarter were up 24 percent from the same, pre-Covid three-month period in 2019. Daily megabytes consumed per day on its network were up 78 percent while megabytes per flight rose 44 percent in the same comparable period.
At the end of September, there were 2,237 business aircraft flying with Gogo's Avance L5 or L3 system installed, while 6,154 aircraft were flying with its legacy ATG systems and 4,542 aircraft were flying with its narrowband satellite connectivity system.
Helicopter Association International (HAI) and the European Helicopter Association (EHA) today announced that they would more closely collaborate on projects of mutual interest beginning in January. EHA represents the helicopter community in 11 European countries.
“This partnership strengthens the already close relationship between HAI and EHA and represents our commitment to work together to meet our aligned goals. We both want to see a VTOL industry with zero accidents that is able to continue its work on behalf of society while being economically vibrant, growing, diverse, and sustainable,” said HAI president and CEO James Viola.
EHA and HAI already have combined efforts on several projects including the Vertical Aviation Safety Team and HAI’s International Partnership Program. At the regional level, HAI supported EHA in marketing and operational support as it organized the first edition of the European Rotors VTOL show and safety conference being held this week in Cologne, Germany. EHA produced the show in collaboration with EASA.
“The European Helicopter Association and Helicopter Association International share common priorities, interests, and goals in promoting safety, professionalism, and innovative advancements within the industry, as well as driving to improve the economic viability of the VTOL sector,” said EHA chairman Peter Moeller.
California’s San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport has just completed major rehabilitation project on its main runway and taxiway connectors. The six-month-long, $13.5 million rehab of 6,100-foot Runway 11/29 was covered entirely by FAA AIP grants and completed on time and on budget. Much of the work was completed at night to cause minimal disruption to the airport community. The runway was milled down to four inches, repaved and grooved, along with 10 taxiway connectors.
According to the airport, the scope of the work also included the upgrading of the runway lighting system, including runway edge lights, lighted directional signs, and electrical conductors.
“The runway rehabilitation project required close coordination among many stakeholders, including the airport team, construction and design firms, and our tenants,” said Courtney Johnson, the county’s director of airports. “The entire team did an exceptional job carrying out the project safely, diligently, and with the lowest possible passenger impact.”
Bell has delivered its 400th Model 429, with the milestone light twin helicopter going to the Canadian Coast Guard as part of its $338 million fleet renewal program that began in 2014. The revised fleet consists of seven Bell 412EPI and 16 Bell 429 helicopters that support ships engaged in maritime work including aids to navigation, environmental response, icebreaking operations, and search and rescue. This delivery marked the 16th Bell 429 under that contract.
“With this procurement, our Canadian Coast Guard’s light helicopter fleet is fully renewed. This is so important because a strong, well-equipped coast guard is one of the best ways to save lives on the water and protect our marine environment,” said Joyce Murray, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard.
Annually, the Canadian Coast Guard’s Bell 429 fleet flies more than 5,500 hours. Globally, the Bell 429 has thus far achieved 523,000 operating hours. Bell, which manufactures the helicopter at its assembly plant in Mirabel, Quebec, delivered the first 429 in 2009.
AIN Events: Building a Sustainable Flight Department
AIN continues to host one-day, in-person regional conferences to help corporate flight departments become more sustainable, with the next set for December 8 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, followed by January 19 in Los Angeles. Attendees will learn about aviation’s contribution to carbon emissions, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), regulator/government roles in minimizing aviation emissions (including CORSIA and carbon-credit schemes), and making sense of carbon offsets, among other topics. You’ll also have an opportunity to network with other top-tier aircraft operators and presenters. Register today, as seating is limited.
People in Aviation
CPI Aerostructures named Andrew Davis CFO. Davis has more than 30 years of experience in finance and accounting, previously serving as CFO of Altice Technical Services and also holding several senior-level executive positions, including CFO, at Emerson Radio.
Ciara Ruane has joined Avolon as chief people officer. Ruane has more than 20 years of human resources experience, most recently as group director of people and culture at Primark.
The International Association of Aircraft Dealers (IADA) named David Monacell to a one-year term as chairman and Zipporah Marmor as vice-chair. Monacell succeeds outgoing chairman Joe Carfagna Jr., president and CEO of Leading Edge. Carfagna becomes chairman emeritus. Monacell is a partner in business aircraft broker CFSJets and has more than 20 years of private aviation sales experience. Marmor is v-p of aircraft transactions for Montreal-headquartered ACASS.
Jet Aviation appointed Jeremie Caillet as senior v-p of regional operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Caillet has 15 years of aerospace industry experience and has held a number of roles since joining Jet Aviation in 2008, including within engineering, account management, project management, operations, and most recently as v-p of VIP completions.
Stevens Aerospace and Defense Systems appointed Ricky Vongsiprasom as maintenance director of its AOG division. Vongsiprasom joined Stevens in early 2018 as a technician on the AOG team and was later promoted to AOG team coordinator.
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