Fractional provider Flexjet revealed a $1.4 billion firm order this morning at NBAA-BACE for 64 Embraer Phenom 300Es and Praetor 500/600s, making it the fleet launch customer for the latter. Praetor 500 deliveries to Flexjet will start next month. Under the deal, the Cleveland, Ohio-based operator will also convert its Legacy 450 fleet into Praetor 500s under an FAA-approved modification.
Delivery of the Praetors will mark the fourth time that Flexjet has introduced new Embraer aircraft to the fractional market. Previous introductions were the Legacy 600 in 2003, Phenom 300 in 2010, and Legacy 450 in 2016. Its current Embraer contingent includes Phenom 300s and Legacy 450s.
“The Legacy 450 is the mainstay of Flexjet’s midsize fleet,” Embraer Executive Jets president and CEO Michael Amalfitano told AIN. “It sells out shares in these twinjets every year.
“The Praetors are the most technologically advanced and most disruptive aircraft, created to dominate the midsize and super-midsize business jet market,” added Amalfitano. “And we couldn’t be more delighted that Flexjet, our partner for more than a decade, is making the most modern aircraft available to its owners.”
In anticipation of this order, “Flexjet has been aggressive in recruiting pilots this year and recently met its 2019 goal of hiring 175 new pilots,” the fractional provider said.
Trade Tensions Dent U.S.-China Bizav Flying
The U.S.-China trade dispute has slowed business aviation traffic between China, Europe, and the U.S., with arrivals to China from Europe and the U.S. falling by 13.3 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively, from last July to this June, according to Asia Business Aviation Association (AsBAA) data. Meanwhile, it said, business aircraft flights within China are down by 19.5 percent. AsBAA expects this traffic to decline further as tensions escalate.
“The escalation of political and trade disputes has created a barrier for the introduction of U.S. products to China,” said AsBAA chairman Wu Zhendong. “This has certainly impacted multiple industries, including ours. There is a clear and direct correlation between U.S.-China trade tensions and the statistical impact on business and general aviation in Asia."
Since China has been the driver for growth in business and general aviation for some years, the impact is felt across the region, he added. “As a non-profit representing the interests of the industry and the positive economic impact its growth can bring to communities in Asia, AsBAA would like to see a swift resolution of the dispute. Our members would like to see less punitive tax regimes and for the global superpowers to reach a compromise.”
U.S. Bizjet Fatalities Still on Track for a New High
The 21 fatalities in U.S.-registered business jet accidents in the first nine months have already exceeded annual totals for all but two periods over the past 15 years. According to preliminary NTSB records, there were 30 fatalities in 2014 and 26 in 2012. To date, there have been no further fatal accidents involving business jets since the end of the third quarter.
Except for 13 people who perished in the crash of a charter jet, the remaining eight fatalities so far this year died in four Part 91 accidents. Between 2004 and 2018, there were five years in which the number of business jet fatalities were in the single digits—five in 2005, two in 2010, seven in 2011, eight in 2016, and three in 2017, according to NTSB data.
Fatalities involving U.S.-registered business turboprops are also climbing, albeit not as steeply as for jets. The five people killed in the October 3 TBM 700 fatal accident has brought the total number of turboprop fatalities to 41 so far this year—all but one person under Part 91 operations. The last year in which fatalities from turboprop crashes exceeded that level was in 2013, when 45 were killed. Over the past 15 years, turboprop fatalities peaked at 53 in 2005. Turboprops have no single-digit fatality years on record for at least 20 years.
F/List Onboard for First BBJ Max Cabin
VIP cabin specialist F/List is providing countertops, cabinets, and other interior components for the first BBJ Max 8 completion, currently underway at Comlux Completion in Indianapolis. The components include F/List’s ultra-thin and lightweight stone surfacings, used in the walls of two onboard showers and the real marble wash basins. The Austrian company handled the shower system integration and engineered and produced a bar unit for the aircraft with an illuminated stone front and top.
The Max was Inducted at the completion center in December, and its interior is “very close to complete,” Richard Gaona, founder and chairman of Switzerland’s Comlux Group, told AIN. “But we have to wait for clearance to fly [the now-grounded Boeing Max platform] to finish it.”
F/List and Comlux have collaborated on previous VIP completions, and this project has “further strengthened” their bond, said Franz Dieter, F/List’s director business development for OEM and completion. Comlux Completion CEO Daron Dryer proclaimed F/List “a partner who shares our corporate values of keeping our customers' wishes at heart and the technical performance in mind.”
The Comlux Completion facility is purpose-built for narrowbody VIP completions and has also signed four ACJ320neo completions, with the first already underway.
Massport Reducing Signature Logan Ramp Space by Half
As part of the Boston Logan Airport Terminal E Modernization Project, Massport plans to “reclaim” some 50 percent of Signature Flight Support’s ramp space for at least 12 months to excavate the surface for resurfacing multiple taxi-lanes and installing a new fuel pipeline. According to the Massachusetts Business Aviation Association (MBAA), which is monitoring the situation closely, “there is the potential for the ramp space seizure to continue beyond the anticipated length of the Terminal E modernization project."
MBAA has begun working with NBAA and other stakeholders in an effort to regain some territory. “It is our position that, while capacity and space are at significant premiums at Logan, any claims of the Signature ramp space at Logan beyond the 12 month period represent discriminatory treatment of business aviation operators and ultimately harm the Commonwealth’s economy,” contends the MBAA.
As of today a reservation will be required to use the ramp at Signature Flight Support. These reservations can be made up to 10 days in advance for four-hour slots, space permitting, but must be made no less than four hours before planned arrival. Contact Signature at (617) 561-2500 to reserve slots. BOS 10/320 notam applies.
Bell posted essentially flat revenues of $783 million for the third quarter, up from $770 million from the year-ago period. Segment profit for the third quarter was $110 million, down $3 million from the same period last year. For the first nine months of 2019, Bell revenues were down slightly, to $2.293 billion compared to $2.353 billion from the year-ago period.
Deliveries of civil helicopters decreased to 42, compared with 43 from the year-ago period. Deliveries of the model 407 single and 429 light twin were ahead of last year’s rate. Military revenues, roughly two-thirds of Bell’s business, declined during the third quarter. Bell maintained a backlog of $5.6 billion.
Milestones during the quarter included IFR certification of the Bell 407 GXi, a $620 million foreign military sale of eight UH-1Y utility and four Bell AH1-Z attack helicopters to the Czech Republic, and the unveiling of the Bell 360 Invictus, the company’s entry in the U.S. Army’s future attack reconnaissance aircraft (FARA) competition.
Scott Donnelly, chairman of Bell parent company Textron, said he is encouraged by a “significant uptick” in aftermarket support revenues for both the Bell-Boeing V-22 tiltrotor and the Bell H1 military aircraft and sees more opportunities for foreign military sales.
Following European Union customer requests, Duncan Aviation has appointed a specialist to address all international parts and rotables requests, the Lincoln, Nebraska-based MRO provider announced. Sandra Phelps, who previously worked on the company’s parts and rotables international sales team, will now serve as its international parts and rotables sales representative.
“Sandra is familiar with European business, culture, and aviation,” explained Chris Gress, Duncan’s parts and rotables sales business development manager. “Having lived in Europe for several years, she is a perfect fit to help these customers with their parts solutions.” Phelps has taken two leaves of absence from Duncan since joining the company in 1999 to move to Europe with her husband, who was stationed in Germany and Italy while serving with the U.S. Army.
In her new role, Phelps will focus on aircraft parts sales in the European market, managing work orders, parts exchange transactions, and international shipments, including hazardous materials.
Aviation Safety Question of the Week
Provided by
Which of the following statements best defines calibrated airspeed (CAS)?
A. CAS is the airspeed corrected by the inertial system and then displayed to the pilot.
B. CAS is the indicated airspeed corrected for instrument and installation errors.
C. CAS and indicated airspeed are the same. CAS is only relevant in a wind tunnel.
D. CAS is true airspeed corrected by Mach effects.
N.Y. Parts Dealer Sentenced on Fraud Charges
William Vanmanen, operator of Long Island, New York-based aircraft parts supplier Star Aero (previously Aero-Star), was sentenced earlier this month to 30 months in prison, two years supervised release, and a $300 special court assessment after he pled guilty to several criminal acts. According to the USDOT’s Office of the Inspector General, Vanmanen confessed in 2016 to counts of fraud involving aircraft parts in interstate commerce, attempting to violate the Arms Export Control Act, and submitting false export information.
The criminal investigation conducted jointly by the DOT, the Department of Defense’s Office of the Inspector General, and the FBI, found that in 2011 he created and used fake Airworthiness Approval tags that falsely reflected the quality of anti-ice controllers on aircraft. The following year he attempted to illegally export restricted defense parts to Hong Kong without first obtaining required State Department licenses. Vanmanen also neglected to file the required export information in the Department of Commerce’s Automated Export System, which was created to prevent shipments to unauthorized locations or customers.
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