Bombardier delivered one fewer business jet overall in the third quarter for a total of 30 but still posted a 12% increase in revenues as its Global shipments edged up, pricing remained strong, and its services business continued to expand.

Announcing the company's third-quarter results this morning, Bombardier president and CEO Éric Martel cited the supply chain as the reason for the slight decrease. But he emphasized that the company remains on track to meet its guidance of 150 to 155 deliveries this year and has a line of sight on materials necessary to meet that goal.

In the quarter, Bombardier shipped 13 super-midsize Challengers versus 16 in the same period a year ago. However, it also handed over 17 ultra-long-range Globals, up from 15 in third-quarter 2023. In the first nine months, Bombardier delivered 99 jets (45 Challengers and 44 Globals) versus 82 (39 Challengers and 43 Globals) in the same period last year.

Revenues in the quarter reached $2.073 billion, up from $1.856 billion a year ago. This helped drive a profit of $117 million in the quarter, a marked turnaround from the $37 million loss in third-quarter 2023. Helping bolster those results was its $528 million in services revenue, topping the half-billion mark for the second consecutive quarter.

January is poised to bring changes to aviation policy in Washington, with former President Donald Trump returning to the White House after a four-year absence. However, how far those changes may go—whether it involves tariffs, sustainability funding and/or mandates, or even business aircraft use—remains to be seen.

The most immediate change will be in personnel running key agencies. Unless he chooses to leave, FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker will remain in place essentially for the duration of the incoming Trump Administration, confirmed to the post for a five-year term just last year. However, other key agency and department officials are more likely to be replaced, beginning with the Secretary of Transportation, a post currently held by Pete Buttigieg.

It is not unheard of for a President to appoint or retain a member of the opposing party to a cabinet position—President Bush’s Transportation Secretary was long-time California Democrat Norman Mineta. However, it is unlikely that Trump would retain Buttigieg, a former presidential candidate.

Changes could go further downstream as Trump seeks to shore up his support within the administration. Shortly before leaving office in his first term, the former president issued a “Schedule F” executive order that essentially stripped policy officials within the federal government of certain civil service protections, meaning they could be fired over different policy views or actions.

PrivateSky Aviation, the lone FBO at Southwest Florida International Airport (KRSW), has initiated a lawsuit against Signature Aviation; its CEO, Tony Lefebvre; and others, claiming breach of contract and fraud.

According to the suit filed this week in the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Florida, Signature approached PrivateSky in 2022 under the pretext of submitting an offer to purchase it and requested to review the service provider’s financial information.

With KRSW issuing an RFP for a second service provider on the field, PrivateSky was wary of disclosing sensitive information to a potential rival, but the lawsuit states that Signature made many representations that it sought the data only for considering a potential purchase and would use it for no other purposes. As evidence, the legal document cited an email from a Signature executive stating, “As I mentioned, we have no intention of starting an FBO in Lee County.”

The legal action claims Signature violated the agreement's confidentiality clause when it issued a proposal to the airport for a new FBO by leveraging PrivateSky’s information. “Signature never made an offer to PrivateSky,” the lawsuit states; “it made an offer to RSW instead.”

Signature responded to AIN: “We believe the lawsuit is without merit and are confident the facts will demonstrate this as the matter proceeds through the appropriate legal channels.”

Business aircraft flight activity rose 2.3% year over year (YOY) last month, thanks in part to the North American market eking out a 0.5% increase—versus a forecasted 2.7% decline—after charter activity turned positive, according to the latest TraqPak data from Argus International. The European market finished down 4.3% for the month, while the rest of the world saw a 20.8% YOY rise in aircraft utilization. Argus is predicting a 1.1% YOY decrease in North American business aircraft flying this month and a 1.8% increase in Europe.

Fractional flying in North America soared by 8.4% from a year ago, while Part 135 charter saw a marginal 0.2% gain and Part 91 declined by 2.3%, with gains in smaller aircraft and declines in larger aircraft. Large-cabin jet flying fell 8.4% from a year ago. Light jets climbed by 2.5% from October 2023, followed by midsize jets and turboprops with 2% and 1.8% increases, respectively.

In Europe, only midsize jets saw a rise in activity last month, up a mere 0.4% from a year ago. Turboprop flying suffered the most erosion in the region, falling 11.3% YOY, while light and large-cabin jets were down 2% and 4.1%, respectively.

Activity in South America, Asia-Pacific, and Africa was boosted by 24% to 29% YOY gains in turboprop, light jet, and midsize jet flight activity, offset by a 39.6% decrease in large-cabin jet flying.

Effective international trip planning is a specialized art and to ensure a seamless experience for passengers and crews, business aviation organizations should leverage a trip support provider. Learn about the most common challenges with planning an international flight and how ForeFlight Trip Support sets the standard for comprehensive, region-specific trip planning.

Wheels Up continued to rebuild its balance sheet in the third quarter, announcing today a further reduction in net losses to $58 million that represented a 40% improvement from the second quarter. The private flight provider said revenues of $194 million for the three-month period ending September 30 had remained stable compared to the previous two quarters, indicating a positive direction of travel after seven consecutive quarters of revenue contraction leading into 2024.

According to CEO George Mattson, the company’s decision last month to modernize and streamline its fleet around two jet models—the Embraer Phenom 300 and Bombardier Challenger 300/350—will support further improvements in financial and operational performance as Wheels Up strives to get its numbers in the black. In the short-term, the fleet investment seems likely to work against efforts to completely eliminate losses in the fourth quarter, because the company told investors that it will take until 2025 to achieve positive EBITDA performance en route to “future profitability.”

The group’s third-quarter EBITDA loss stood at $20 million. Net cash outflow during the third quarter was $15 million, compared with $250 million in the same period last year. "Stabilizing margins while growing revenues isn't easy, but we are poised for revenue growth in 2025," Mattson told AIN.

To meet legally binding mandates, Europe’s aviation industry has no more than two years to get the first production plans for electro-fueled sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF) up and running, according to a report published by Project SkyPower on Monday. Project SkyPower, which is backed by senior air transport sector leaders, has released economic modeling showing that the industry will need to raise between €15 billion and €20 billion (up to $21.8 billion) capital investment by 2030 and a further €3 billion to €5 billion each year to achieve the scale required to meet SAF blending mandates.

According to the report, eSAF produces at least 90% less greenhouse gas emissions over its life cycle than jet-A fossil fuel. Unlike most current SAF, it is produced using renewable electricity, water, and carbon dioxide captured directly from the air or via point-source capture and thus is less restricted by feedstock options.

However, the group warned that these benefits could prove elusive to the global air transport industry because of delays in providing the infrastructure needed. Two-thirds of the planned global eSAF pipeline is in Europe, but no actual plants have had their required investments confirmed.

During 2023, the 65 certificate-holding operators that reported helicopter air ambulance (HAA) operations to the FAA flew 528,313 hours, including 8,198 under instrument flight rules (2%) and 226,218 (42%) at night.

Six accidents were reported by five HAA operators. Two of the accidents resulted in fatalities and three had injuries. According to the FAA, “The overall accident rate for HAA during [calendar year] 2023 was 1.14 per 100,000 flight hours. The fatal accident rate for HAA during 2023 was .57 accidents per 100,000 flight hours.”

There were 1,315 helicopters operated for HAA services in 2023 from 1,021 base locations. Of the 65 operators, 51 operated one to nine helicopters; seven from 10 to 99; and five more than 100. Two did not have helicopters available for HAA during 2023, the FAA noted.

During 2023, 385,366 patients were transported via HAA. Of the 272,867 scene requests received, the majority (143,281) were declined while 129,586 were accepted. Inter-facility requests had a higher rate of acceptance with 287,906 versus 170,961 declined. Organ transport requests saw the highest acceptance rate at 92% (1,177) versus 8% declined (97).

“The 65 reporting operators cited zero incidents in which a helicopter was not directly dispatched and arrived to transport patients but was not utilized for patient transport,” according to the FAA.

Business aviation tech platform Stack Aero has begun integrating elements of Tuvoli’s FlyEasy software into its digital Business Operations System (BOS). The company said the integration will allow customers to “seamlessly receive trip requests and inquirer details from the FlyEasy digital booking widget embedded in customer websites.” The data will be pushed into the BOS in real time, allowing users to respond quickly with relevant offers.

“We’re excited to add Stack Aero and its robust Salesforce-backed CRM to the list of systems integrated with Tuvoli’s FlyEasy marketing suite,” said Greg Johnson, president and CEO of Tuvoli. “This is just the first phase of our integration with Stack Aero, and we look forward to introducing further capabilities, like our marketplace feature, in the near future,” he added.

“Many of our clients regularly use and value the FlyEasy offering, which reflects the full spectrum of industry demand. The integration with FlyEasy is a game-changer for our clients because it gives them a single interface where they can view and interact with all their charter trip requests without the need to manage multiple systems,” said Stack Aero CEO Greg Jarrett.

The FlyEasy platform generates more than 200,000 charter requests each month from customers seeking information about aircraft options and charter pricing.

AIN’s FBO survey is open for year-round feedback, but the deadline to vote in the 2025 survey (to be published in April) is January 17. The survey takes only a minute, and you can do it while waiting for passengers, on the shuttle bus to/from the hotel, or any other time that is convenient for you. Participants will be entered to win one of five $50 Amazon gift cards (winner must reside in the U.S.). Log in to rate your experiences at the FBOs you visit.