Bombardier marked the delivery of its 150th Global 7500 ultra-long-range business jet at the recent NBAA-BACE show. The aircraft was actually delivered to an undisclosed customer last month.

In addition, the Global 7500 fleet has amassed 100,000 hours since service entry in December 2018. The aircraft type also set 20 speed/distance records to date, including an 8,225-nm October 2019 flight from Sydney, Australia, to Detroit, Michigan. Bombardier claims the Global 7500 has a dispatch reliability rate of 99.8 percent.

Meanwhile, a revised version of the aircraft announced in 2022, the Global 8000, remains under development and “on track,” according to Bombardier, with plans for it to enter service in the second half of 2025. The program’s lone test vehicle has flown 150 hours to date backed by 1,000 hours of ground rigging tests. The Global 8000’s top speed is Mach 0.94 thanks to a software change to its GE Passport engines.

During flight testing in 2021, the aircraft exceeded Mach 1 in a shallow dive. The aircraft's range increases by 300 nm, to 8,000 nm, thanks to fuel storage optimization. Overall aircraft dimensions are unchanged from the Global 7500, and 7500 operators will be able to upgrade their aircraft to Global 8000 configuration via service bulletin for a modification and calibration process that will take approximately one week, Bombardier said.

Draughon-Miller Central Texas Regional Airport (KTPL) will hold the grand opening of its $7.4 million FBO on Wednesday. Constructed over the past 14 months, the new 6,400-sq-ft terminal with adjoining 1,600-sq-ft airport rescue and firefighting (ARFF) bay will replace the former 1950s-era Elmer Reed General Aviation Terminal and ARFF station, which was last renovated in 2002.

According to FBO manager Andrew Hill, the city of Temple is currently conducting an analysis to see what potential life the former terminal has left. Options range from converting it into an on-field restaurant, using it for tenant offices, or leveling it to provide more hangar space.

The Avfuel-branded FBO is open daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., with after-hours callout available. Its new terminal has large passenger lounges, a refreshment bar, a fireplace, and dining areas. Additionally, the facility houses a minimarket and a pilot lounge with flight-planning area, kitchenette, snooze rooms, and ensuite bathroom and showers. Amenities include crew cars and concierge service.

The focal point of the facility is the nearly 20,200-sq-ft arrivals canopy that can accommodate aircraft up to a Bombardier Global and protects passengers from the searing Texas heat or drenching rain.

The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) is launching a Member Assistance Program (MAP), a new aviation safety, coaching, mentoring, and training offering.

“An ACSF MAP coach will walk each member through key milestones and include the facilitation of a just culture,” said ACSF president Bryan Burns. ACSF will assist participating members in building an effective safety management system, reporting safety events via the Aviation Safety Action Program, participating in an aviation safety audit such as the ACSF’s Industry Audit Standard, and implementing a flight data management program.

“We not only want everyone to achieve common safety standards—but also to push beyond minimums,” Burns said.

Programs will be custom-tailored to each operator and ACSF MAP coaches will meet virtually with ACSF safety leaders to evaluate organizations being coached; customize a safety program with deadlines and deliverables; create a member’s plan in the ACSF’s MAP tool and train the team to use the tool effectively; train members in other ACSF tools they choose to use; prepare members for the upcoming FAA SMS regulation; hold the team accountable to achieve the plan; guide the team on how best to implement the plan; answer safety-related questions as they arise; and monitor the team’s progress and ensure they stay on the correct path.

Canada-based aviation services provider Skyservice announced it has purchased a majority interest in Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (KOPF) FBO Fontainebleau Aviation. It follows the company’s recent expansion into the U.S. and will bring the Skyservice brand to 13 locations in North America once the deal is approved by regulators.

According to Skyservice president and CEO Benjamin Murray, South Florida is the top destination for Skyservice’s managed fleet. This acquisition, which is expected to close in the next 30 days, will represent the Toronto-based company’s first foothold in the Southeast U.S.

Murray told AIN there will be little outward change at KOPF because he wishes to preserve the Fontainebleau name, and all 112 employees at the facility—which offers 350,000 sq ft of hangar space and a modern multi-story terminal—will be retained as well.

The deal will also include Fontainebleau’s planned expansion into Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (KFLL). Fontainebleau acquired the former Jetscape FBO facility that is currently under development. Including 80,000 sq ft of aircraft storage and a 35,000-sq-ft terminal/office complex, it is expected to be completed in the second half of 2024.

Delta Air Lines has halved precursor airplane upset conditions following the implementation of its upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT) program, according to Aviation Performance Solutions (APS). Because loss of control in-flight (LOC-I) is a leading cause of fatal aviation accidents worldwide, UPRT programs have been required at all U.S. airlines since March 2019.

During the recent 2023 UPRT Safety Summit for Professional Pilots Worldwide event hosted by APS, Delta Air Lines lead UPRT subject matter expert (SME) Brian Sims presented data showing that an active UPRT program can effectively reduce the number of precursor airplane upset flight conditions. Sims, a Boeing 757/767 pilot and instructor, said the 50 percent reduction came from a study using FOQA data analyzing five million flights over a five-year period. Delta collaborated with APS on its UPRT program.

As part of its LOC-I risk management strategy, Delta takes into account industry incidents and accidents, as well as FOQA and ASAP analysis and trends, and relies on UPRT and other company SMEs to provide guidance to enhance its UPRT program. Delta then conveys this information to its pilots through its training programs.

Some of the precursor upset events identified were very specific to an aircraft type or phase of flight. In each case, these issues were identified and corrective actions were applied. Then, the issues were correlated to line operations through training.

Gulfstream Aerospace is the principal sponsor of the second edition of the Irish Business and General Aviation Association conference, to be held at Adare Manor in County Limerick on November 1. Ireland’s transport, environment climate, and communications minister Jack Chambers will deliver the keynote address.

Sustainability is at the forefront of topics to be discussed, and Gulfstream is moderating a panel that comprises Kennedy Ricci, president of 4Air; Stewart D’Leon, NBAA’s director of environmental and technical operations; Alexander Kuper, v-p of EMEA for Neste; and Nicola-Jane Sellers, group sustainability manager at Luxaviation.

"As an industry, business aviation is committed to reducing carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050,” said Charles Etter, technical fellow at Gulfstream. “Sharing the undisputable progress we have made so far is vastly important as we continue to tackle this complex issue.”

Oxygen systems manufacturer Aerox has received FAA parts manufacturer approval (PMA) for a replacement kevlar oxygen cylinder for Eclipse 500/550 twinjets. Those aircraft were manufactured more than a decade ago, and their composite oxygen cylinders are coming due for their 15-year Department of Transportation replacement deadline.

“These are hard to come by,” said Aerox president and CEO Scott Ashton. “The PMA allows us to increase availability and reduce cost.” Its new cylinders include overhauled regulators, and the expiration date is extended another 15 years.

“We saw that bow wave coming,” he said. “The lead times [for manufacturing cylinders] are so long—to prevent AOGs we preordered them in advance so we would be ready.”

Aerox did the same process with Piper’s Matrix piston single. “We knew there was a slug of aircraft coming due,” Ashton said, “so we prepositioned inventory." The Matrix has a carbon-fiber oxygen cylinder that also has a 15-year lifetime. “We’re trying to be proactive to make sure customers are not impacted by the supply-chain problem.”

In other news, Aerox parent company O2 Aero Acquisitions recently purchased Fluid Power, a manufacturer of military aircraft components. Aerox itself was acquired in 2020, and in 2022 O2 Aero bought Sky-Ox.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued regulations that set phased-in compliance deadlines restricting the use of certain hydrofluorocarbon sprays and their transportation in 40 specific sectors or subsectors of industry. This potentially includes some airframe and aircraft parts manufacturing processes, aircraft maintenance, and use of the sprays for cargo or air conditioning components in aircraft.

In addition to limiting the use of the agent, the rulemaking also provides a process for submitting technology transition petitions; establishes recordkeeping and reporting requirements; and addresses certain other elements related to the effective implementation of the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020.

The final rule prohibits the sale, distribution, and export of factory-completed products that do not comply with the relevant restrictions. However, the EPA says it is “not regulating at this time actions with respect to components needed to service or repair existing systems.”

According to the EPA, the final rule incorporates some of the issues brought up in comments filed to the proposed rule issued on Dec. 15, 2022. The 15 comments submitted represented various industrial users and providers of hydrofluorocarbon products. Depending on the subsector affected, compliance dates range from Jan. 1, 2025, to Jan. 1, 2028.