Bombardier Unveils Plans for Australian Service Center

Bombardier Aviation is continuing to build out its global service network with plans to develop a 50,000-sq-ft service center at Essendon Fields Airport in Melbourne, Australia, the Canadian airframer announced today. With construction of the new facility set to begin this year and become operational in 2022, the center will employ 50 people—including 40 technicians—and have a 4,000-sq-ft parts depot.

It will support Learjet, Challenger, and Global aircraft with scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, modifications, avionics installations, and AOG services. Bombardier accounts for more than half of the 168 business jets in the Australian fleet.

The new center also complements Bombardier’s maintenance capacity in the Asia-Pacific region that includes its Singapore service center, which is expanding by 330,000 sq ft.

“We are thrilled with the addition of the new Melbourne service center, which further builds on Bombardier’s commitment to Australia and the Asia-Pacific region,” said Jean-Christophe Gallagher, Bombardier Aviation executive v-p of services, support, and corporate strategy. “By adding more specialized know-how and greater capacity to support more aircraft in this key location, we are providing our customers even more reasons to bring their jets home.”

Leading the Melbourne center will be Corey Trudgen, a former Royal Australian Navy maintenance technician who most recently was general manager of Bombardier’s London Biggin Hill service center, which is being replaced by a larger, 250,000-sq-ft facility.

ASG: Genav Growth in China Continues To Slow

While life has returned to a certain level of normalcy in China, the general aviation (GA) market there is still slowing, according to Asian Sky Group (ASG) CEO Jeffrey Lowe. Detailing ASG’s China GA report for 2020, Lowe said that decline is not all Covid-19 related, but a continuation of a trend that began in 2017.

The GA fleet in China had reached 2,930 aircraft as of August. This number has expanded consistently over the past seven years, but the rate of growth has been slowing since 2017 with just a 6 percent increase, or 156 aircraft, this year—marking the lowest number of additions since 2016. Turboprops and pistons make up half the general aviation fleet there.

In tandem, GA operator growth also has been on the decline, with the drop off more significant each year. In 2018, a net 100 operators entered the market in China. A year later, that number was just 56, and this year has been further cut to 37. Meanwhile, 53 operators have gone out of business since the beginning of 2019, matching the cumulative numbers in the seven years prior.

More resilient, however, has been GA flight hours, which have dipped only 3 percent year-to-date in China as a result of the pandemic. Hours over the summer rebounded to surpass 2019 levels, ASG said.

Gulfstream To Consolidate Long Beach Operations

Gulfstream Aerospace will close its Long Beach, California maintenance and modification location as part of what it calls “facility optimization.” Under the airframer’s plan, the Long Beach facility will be closed in phases, with maintenance work moving to Gulfstream’s nearby Van Nuys service center and completions to its centers in Appleton, Wisconsin, and Savannah, Georgia. Plans call for all three of those facilities to have long-term workforce expansions.

Noting the recent construction of Van Nuys and expansion at Appleton and Savannah, Gulfstream said the Long Beach closure was the next step in its long-range facility modernization investments plan.

Gulfstream is encouraging Long Beach employees to apply for open positions in the company with an emphasis on Van Nuys, Appleton, and Savannah. The Van Nuys facility is 45 miles away from Long Beach.

In August 2019, Gulfstream completed a $40 million expansion in Appleton, followed a month later by a $55 million MRO expansion at its Savannah headquarters. That December, it opened a new MRO at Van Nuys, where it is co-located with sister company Jet Aviation, which operates a 52,000-sq-ft FBO and parking hangar.

Long Beach was last expanded in 2015 when Gulfstream added a 19,000-sq-ft maintenance hangar and 10,000 more sq ft of support and office space.

FlightSafety Selects Training Sites for King Air 360

FlightSafety Textron Aviation Training is offering Beechcraft King Air 360 pilot training at its Tampa, Florida learning center and maintenance courses for the turboprop twin at its Wichita maintenance learning center. Flight training in Textron Aviation’s newest King Air—announced in August and certified by the FAA earlier this month—is provided in an FAA level-D simulator.

Equipped with an Innovative Solutions & Support ThrustSense autothrottle with VMCa mitigation, the simulator will allow pilots to safely practice engine-failure operations and learn how the autothrottle will help them under such a scenario. Also new on the King Air 360 is digital pressurization, which schedules cabin pressure in climb and descent and decreases pilot workload. A Collins Aerospace Fusion avionics update also includes integration of flap and pressurization system indications into a multifunction display.

“We are pleased to serve as the exclusive training provider for the new King Air 360,” said FlightSafety Textron Aviation Training CEO Rich High. “Pilots and maintenance technicians who operate and support the aircraft benefit from our comprehensive training programs developed in conjunction with Textron Aviation.”

Tamarack Logs First European Atlas Winglet Installs

Tamarack Aerospace has performed the first Atlas active winglet installations at its new European service facility, the company announced today. The London-Oxford Airport-based Tamarack European Installation Centre has fitted winglets on two Cessna Citation CJs. This marks the beginning of the Sandpoint, Idaho-based company’s expansion outside of the U.S., where it already has several service centers.

One set of the active winglets was installed by the new center on a CJ1, while a second set was outfitted on a CJ2 owned by Sovereign Business Jets (SBJ). SBJ has additionally purchased Tamarack winglets for a CJ1 in its fleet, with installation to also take place at the UK facility.

“SBJ is excited to undertake the first European installation of Tamarack’s active winglets on our recently purchased CJ2,” said SBJ managing director Garry Chalmers. “The installation has gone smoothly and has been surprisingly speedy—just seven days from start to finish. The performance benefits and the stylish looks of the winglets made this an easy decision for us. We now have a second aircraft lined up for installation.”

The Tamarack European Installation Centre operates independently out of the Oxford Jet Maintenance International facility.

Nav Canada Reports Another Year-end Net Loss

Nav Canada, the private company that operates the country’s ATC system, reported a net loss of $584 million in Fiscal Year 2020 versus a $100 million net loss in FY2019. “This is reflective of the material decrease in revenue due to significantly lower air traffic,” according to the company’s financial results for the year ending August 31.

“The Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting economic contraction has had, and is expected to continue to have, a significant negative impact on global air traffic and on the aviation industry,” Nav Canada said. Until air travel fully returns to pre-Covid-19 levels, reduced air traffic activity will continue to have a “negative impact on the company’s operations and revenues.”

Nav Canada has thus taken several actions to adjust to the pandemic, including the elimination of 720 jobs—14 percent of the company’s workforce—and increasing customer service charges. The new service charges have been in effect since September 1, but WestJet, the second-largest Canadian air carrier, has filed a rate appeal. Nav Canada and the airline are in the process of considering mediation.

Meanwhile, Neil Wilson, who has served four years as Nav Canada’s president and CEO, plans to leave the company on January 30. A specific reason for his departure was not disclosed.

NBAA Joins Relay in the Sky Health Care Tribute

NBAA participated in the Spirit of Liberty Foundation’s “America’s Operation Thank You: Relay in the Sky” tribute to health care professionals and first responders this past weekend, flying a symbolic torch from Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, Ohio, to Niagara International Airport in Buffalo, New York, and participating in ceremonies at both cities.

The Relay in the Sky, which kicked off on September 24 in San Diego, California, involves flights and ceremonies throughout the country and will conclude with a closing ceremony on Friday at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., where more than 100 health care workers and first responders will carry the Spirit of Liberty Torch, Love Healthcare Heroes Flag, and America’s Flag—combining all 50 state flags sewn together—from the U.S. Capitol to the White House. Along with NBAA, supporters of the effort have included AOPA, Commemorative Air Force, EAA, GAMA, and NATA, along with major FBO chains such as Signature Flight Support and Atlantic Aviation.

The relay, NBAA said, was designed as a way for the general aviation community to recognize health care workers, who are facing risk to care for others during the pandemic. Alex Gertsen, NBAA director of airports and ground infrastructure, represented the association in the relay.

Long-time Gulfstream Exec Joe Anckner Flies West

Joe Anckner, a long-time Gulfstream executive who helped design early models and led the company’s international sales expansion, died on October 18 in Savannah, Georgia. He was 88. Anckner spent 44 years with Gulfstream, selling more than 200 GII, GIII, GIV, and GV twinjets in more than 50 countries.

Born Jan. 30, 1932, and raised on Long Island, Anckner first joined Gulfstream predecessor Grumman when he was 17. However, he left to serve in the U.S. Navy as a navigator for the first carrier aircraft purposefully built for anti-submarine warfare operations, the AF-2S Guardian.

Following his service, Anckner returned to Grumman, where he worked on the Apollo Lunar Lander and was involved in early Gulfstream designs. He moved to Savannah in 1973, taking on responsibility for the OEM’s international growth. The only international salesman for Gulfstream at the time, he helped develop the Middle East market. He also led the annual NBAA Gulfstream golf tournament.

Anckner retired from Gulfstream in 1994 as senior v-p of international sales and marketing. A year later, however, he joined Harrod’s Aviation at Heathrow in London, helping to grow the FBO and opening locations in Luton and Stansted. In retirement, he continued to provide aircraft acquisition and sales for private customers.

He is survived by his wife Vicki and five children. His youngest child, Michael, is a v-p of sales at Bombardier.

Webinar: Using Data To Improve Pilot Performance, Safety

With fast-changing technology, safety mandates, and continued flight training, there is no doubt the aviation industry has become safer. Even so, flight safety continues to be a top priority and safety programs that advocate pilot performance evaluation are becoming a necessity for aircraft owners/operators. Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) is one of those programs. No longer limited to the commercial and military aviation sector, the business aviation community can now take advantage of FOQA flight data and analysis to improve pilot performance and safety. Join us on November 10th as AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber moderates this discussion with David Miner, Avidyne's general manager for business aviation, and Charlie Precourt, USAF Colonel (Ret.) and NBAA and EAA board member.