The Citation Jet Pilots Association (CJP) will hold its annual convention in California for the first time in the event’s 12-year history. Starting on October 20, the three-day conference will be held at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa in Indian Wells and hosted by the Desert Jet FBO, one of two aircraft service providers at Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport (KTRM) in Thermal. It is expected to attract an estimated 120 Cessna Citations and their owners/operators.
“Our members who fly to the Palm Springs region continually praise Desert Jet Center’s reliable service, luxurious facilities, and commitment to a fantastic customer experience,” said CJP chairman Randy Broiles. “As our association once again gathers in person to celebrate CJP’s annual convention, I’m incredibly pleased to have such a fantastic host FBO.”
Founded to promote the interests of owners and pilots of all Citation jets, the conference will feature guest speakers, seminars, training sessions, a safety standdown, and vendor displays, as well as social activities.
“We are excited to welcome one of the most influential and respected associations of aircraft owner-operators in the world to our desert oasis,” said Desert Jet CEO Jared Fox.
Bizjet Ops Continue To Rebound Past 2019 Levels: WingX
Business jet operations continue to demonstrate sustained growth, with flights in North America and Europe up 12 percent over the last 10 days compared with the same period in 2019, according to WingX’s newest Global Market Tracker, released today. Through the first nine months of this year, business jets have flown 2.5 million flights—2.2 percent above this same period in 2019.
“Regionally, business jet flight trends in North America are up by a couple of points, Europe back on a level, traffic in Asia up by 9 percent, with much stronger trends but smaller volumes in Africa, South America,” WingX added.
Business jet connections are showing a bounce in regions that are softening restrictions, particularly for international traffic, WingX said. Notably, outbound business jet flights from the UK to Europe over the last 10 days have jumped 80 percent from the same period last year and 7 percent compared with the same period in 2019, according to WingX. EU countries have seen a 24 percent jump in business jet flights in the last 10 days, it added.
Business jet traffic in the U.S. is accelerating as it continues into what is typically the busiest month of the year, WingX said. Charter operations there are up 26 percent over pre-pandemic levels and domestic charters alone are up 33 percent, it noted.
First Wing Jet Center, the lone FBO at Indianapolis Executive Airport (KTYQ), has started construction of a $3.6 million “executive hangar” complex. Scheduled to open by the end of the year, the new complex will add a dozen 3,900-sq-ft heated, single-tenant hangars with 18-foot-high doors that can shelter light jets and turboprops. Each will come supplied with gas, electricity, and bathrooms, and can be customized by tenants with options such as office space and storage lofts.
Serving the state’s busiest non-commercial airport, the FBO is at full capacity with more than 100 based aircraft ranging from a Gulfstream G550 to Cessna 172. First Wing currently has 50,000 sq ft of community storage that can accommodate large-cabin business jets.
"The hangars we are building are unique in this part of the state,” said company v-p and general manager Sean White, explaining that most of the area's currently available private hangars are smaller T-hangars or larger shared hangars. The new hangars, he said, will provide an "option for customers who own large or multiple airplanes that previously wasn't available in central Indiana.”
In addition to a second FBO at Frankfort/Clinton County Regional Airport (FKR), the company operates an FAA Part 145 repair center, a flight school, and an aircraft rental operation.
Florida-based VIP Completions Takes on Biggest Project
Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based VIP Completions is taking on what it said is its biggest project yet: a comprehensive interior and exterior refurbishment of a Boeing 767 bizliner. Delivery of the refurbished aircraft is scheduled before year-end.
The cabin has been divided into six spaces, the cornerstone of which is the main lounge. It is equipped with an 80-inch video monitor, a DJ station with an “audiophile-caliber” sound system, and a full dining table. Other spaces include a master bedroom with a queen-size bed and en suite bathroom and two lounge areas that can be converted to bedrooms.
With seating for 33 passengers, the cabin sleeps 16. Two galleys, a conference room with seating for eight, and four lavatories—two of which include showers—round out the new cabin. A custom cabin management system controls high-speed internet, high-definition audio, and LED lighting.
The aircraft’s exterior features a paint scheme of black, white, and pearl colors accented by a carbon fiber effect on the cowlings.
“While we have successfully completed VIP widebody projects in the past—including multiple BBJs, 757s, and others—this project is the biggest in our company’s history,” said VIP Completions president Ben Shirazi. “Beyond its size and the potential that offers, the 767 stands out from other VIP widebody platforms because of its range, altitude, and speed capabilities.”
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Ambulance Company Orders Another 21 Airbus Helicopters
Global Medical Response (GMR) has ordered 21 more new Airbus helicopters with options for 23 more. This order from the Greenwood Village, Colorado-based air and ground ambulance operator will be distributed across Airbus H125 and H130 singles and the H135 light twin.
This latest order will add to GMR’s current Airbus fleet of nearly 133 helicopters. As part of an ongoing fleet expansion, in the past 18 months, GMR has taken delivery of 15 Airbus helicopters.
“The H135 has stood out in the twin-engine segment thanks to its consistent reliable performance in this mission,” said Romain Trapp, president of Airbus Helicopters and head of the North America region. “The fact that GMR’s entire twin-engine fleet is made up of the H135 speaks volumes to its success in the air medical market.” Airbus provides 55 percent of the 2,600 EMS helicopters flying in the world today, and the company produced more than half of all new air medical helicopters sold in the U.S. in the last decade.
Privately-held GMR operates under the Air Evac Lifeteam, Guardian Flight, Med-Trans Corp., and REACH Air Medical Services brands and transported more than 125,000 patients by air in 2020. The ground and air ambulance company was formed via the 2018 merger of Air Medical Group Holdings and American Medical Response and employs 38,000 people. In 2020, GMR performed 4.9 million patient transports utilizing 7,000 ground vehicles, 111 fire vehicles, 306 rotor-wing aircraft, and 106 fixed-wing aircraft.
Argus Provides ClearView with Global Picture
Argus International is bringing to market a new service, Argus ClearView, that aggregates mass amounts of “big data” to enable the user to select and benchmark information that is most helpful to plan their operations and business decisions.
Drawing upon operational information globally, ClearView is designed to support the gamut of aviation businesses, from charter companies to MROs and International support organizations, among others. An interactive data service, ClearView enables specific benchmarking, filtering, dynamic flight mapping, and data-integrity monitoring. Customers can use the information to analyze the market to determine aircraft utilization, market share, and new growth opportunities. The service slices information into “digestible chunks,” allowing users to narrow data down to a specific aircraft type, category, global region, time period, operational category, airport, or fleet.
Argus developed ClearView after surveying its customers, as well as its capabilities, said Mike McCready, senior v-p of Argus International. “We surveyed a number of customers to understand what they are looking for to help find greater efficiency, ways to grow their business, and essentially find ways to become more efficient as an operation."
A key feature is the customer’s ability to benchmark their own operations to a different scale, such as an entire fleet, location, or even globally.
Gogo Business Aviation has unveiled SmartShield, a warranty service program that also provides protection for Avance or classic air-to-ground in-flight connectivity users with annual overage forgiveness and the ability to roll over monthly unused megabytes of data.
“The value of SmartShield is significant and demonstrates our commitment to customers,” said Gogo senior v-p of customer operations Dave Glenn. “Our customers told us they wanted to protect their in-flight connectivity investment and with SmartShield they receive warranty protection for their equipment for as long as they are in the program.”
The cost of the program is $5,000 a year with a three-year commitment. Also included in the coverage is fixed-service pricing, a 50 percent discount on services from field service engineers, free annual training, and a discount on Gogo Vision 360, an on-demand entertainment streaming service.
SmartShield provides an upgrade path to Gogo customers who are not Avance users, allowing them to receive a $10,000 installation rebate and a $15,000 service credit toward a Gogo Biz 4G data plan. The service credit can be combined with existing promotions.
AEA Critical of Proposed AC from New Zealand
The Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) has taken issue with the new Advisory Circular 66-1 proposed by the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand. The draft AC describes an acceptable means of compliance to enable issuing aircraft maintenance licenses, certificates, and ratings, but in comments to the CAA, the AEA said it disagrees with the way it is written and wants it withdrawn.
In a letter submitted to the CAA, the AEA said that the AC establishes “regulatory limitations not intended in the regulation.” For example, “The broad-based definition of avionics used is far beyond the intent to support a classification of complex avionics. The AC randomly combines all types of Electrical, Instrument, and Radio (EIR) [components] into a broad definition of avionics.” Leveraging this definition to define complex avionics as any integration of EIR systems as viewed in the eye of the CAA at the time of type acceptance is “not a regulatory basis for type training.”
The aviation electronics industry and the CAA have always relied upon the existing “qualifications” requirements to assure that the technician responsible for maintenance and return to service was properly trained, qualified, and authorized to perform the specific task, AEA said. “Unfortunately, without the benefit of close coordination with the current industry, many of the apparent assumptions used in the development of this advisory circular are based on false logic,” and it “is simply not acceptable.”
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