After a week of heroic efforts by the business and general aviation sectors staging and flying vital initial relief missions to the parts of the Bahamas shattered by Hurricane Dorian, governmental and international aid organizations have mobilized to the point that those coordinating general aviation activities there have begun to stand down. Business aviation emergency response organization AERObridge noted that it will cease its Dorian disaster response airlift at the end of today.
“Our purpose in creating a supply chain to include donations, transportation, and distribution has been fulfilled,” said Marianne Stevenson, the group’s founder and president. “Government agencies are now shipping supplies and providing aid on a large scale.”
The Bahamas Relief Air Coordination group on Facebook, organized by Opsgroup founder Mark Zee to serve as a clearinghouse of information to pilots, announced yesterday morning that it will also stop posting situational updates after helping hundreds of flights navigate the uncertain and potentially dangerous airways.
Many of those flights ended up at the Odyssey Aviation FBO on Nassau, which was designated as a base of operations by the Bahamian government and its National Emergency Management Agency, complete with a makeshift triage center to assist with evacuees arriving needing immediate medical attention, food, or water. It has thus far processed more than 2,000 individuals displaced by the storm.
Able Aerospace Services has opened a $9 million building expansion at its headquarters facility at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (IWA) in Arizona, the unit of Textron Aviation announced this week. The 60,000-sq-ft expansion allows Able to add new technology to its aircraft component repair and overhaul, as well as add new products and services such as aftermarket support for large rotorcraft and commercial fixed-wing parts.
“Able has earned a reputation for identifying where our customers need support and responding to that need with world-class aftermarket services,” said Able general manager Michael Vercio. “This expansion is the latest example of that ability. It is an outward sign of the internal employee talent that drives our success.”
It expects to add up to 100 new jobs over the next two years with the expansion, including airframe and powerplant mechanics, machinists, and plating and paint specialists, in addition to positions in engineering, sales, and supply chain. With 200,000 existing sq ft of facilities at IWA and 450 employees, Able offers component repair, overhaul, parts, and aircraft completions for civil and military fixed- and rotor-wing aircraft.
U.S. Bizav Flying Takes a Breather in August
Business aircraft activity decreased 0.6 percent year-over-year in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean last month, marking the first August since 2014 not to see an uptick, according to TraqPak data released yesterday by Argus International. This was largely in line with Argus’s expectation of a 0.3 percent drop in August; the company is predicting a 4.9 percent increase in flying this month.
Only fractional operations saw an increase last month, with the category climbing by 5.5 percent year-over-year. Part 91 flying was off by 1.8 percent from a year ago, while Part 135/charter activity dropped 1.1 percent.
Aircraft categories saw erosion at the bottom and the top ends, with growth in the middle. On the lower side, turboprop flying slid 3.8 percent year-over-year; on the upper tier, large-cabin jet activity was down by 2 percent. Meanwhile, light- and midsize-jet flying rose 1.9 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively.
In individual categories, Argus reported that fractional light- and midsize-jet activity experienced double-digit year-on-year increases, rising 12.5 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively. Conversely, fractional turboprop and large-cabin jet activity saw double-digit losses from August 2018, falling 10.9 percent and 18.7 percent, respectively.
Weekday flights rose by 0.7 percent, while weekend traffic fell 0.8 percent, according to Argus. The U.S. Southeast once again led all departures, at 51,939, followed by the Great Lakes region at 37,003.
StandardAero has acquired Safe Aviation Solutions, including its Safe Fuel, Accel, and B&E Aircraft Component Repair businesses, from B&E Group for an undisclosed amount. The move allows StandardAero to continue expansion of its components, helicopters, and accessories (CH&A) division and portfolio of MRO and component repair services, the company said.
Safe Aviation Solutions provides testing, repair, overhaul, and modification of engine fuel system components; pneumatic, hydraulic, and actuation systems; and aircraft power generation systems for aircraft operators, OEMs, and MRO providers. It operates from two South Florida locations with a total of 56,000 sq ft of shop space and some 120 employees.
“Like StandardAero, Safe Aviation Solutions has a strong growth trajectory and is focused on serving…aerospace programs and operators around the world,” said Russell Ford, chairman and CEO of StandardAero. “The company is a very strategic fit for StandardAero and is well positioned to capture additional new programs and also expand its scope of services on current programs.”
With the new addition, StandardAero now has 39 primary repair facilities and more than 6,100 employees worldwide.
Airbus Promises Outfitters ‘Different Story’ on ACJ350
Airbus Corporate Jets has established “an outfitters advisory board” to work more closely with five OEM-approved completion centers “to ensure total quality” while allowing the selected partners “to sell many fancy things” to their customers. “This is a good area to work in the coming years” especially in relation to the next-generation airplanes with airframes made of composite materials, ACJ president Benoit Defforge said today at the Russian Business Aviation Exhibition at Moscow-Vnukovo Airport.
The board began functioning three months ago in a wake of allegedly negative experience that completions outfitters have had with the Boeing 787. “They sold 14 aircraft, and only four are flying. Their outfitters are in the middle of the difficult situation they had not anticipated. We shall be a wiser team…with the ACJ350.”
Airbus has put together the EasyFit package developed to optimize installing a custom interior for the ACJ350. “It was a good solution, and it is working,” Defforge said. “It is not good enough to just sell a green aircraft. We are working with the five outfitters to be sure that the way they are working with the customers is in line with the philosophy and the vision we have of quality.”
After a nearly-three-year marketing campaign, the ACJ350 won its first orders earlier this year. One came from a private customer and three were from the German government.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands (CAA) has greenlighted Nomad Technics as an Approved Maintenance Organization, allowing the Switzerland-based MRO provider to perform maintenance inspection and non-routine repair work on Cayman Islands-registered Bombardier Challenger 300, 600, and 850 series, Global Express XRS, Global 5000, and Global 6000 airplanes, as well as Embraer Legacy 600s and 650s.
“We are excited that we can now offer line and base maintenance as well as AOG services to customers who fly a Cayman Islands-registered aircraft,” Nomad Technics v-p and general manager Roman Hug said.
The maintenance division of Nomad Aviation is an EASA Part 145 certified MRO that operates from a 79,600-sq-ft hangar and 75,300 sq ft of ramp space at EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg. Nomad Aviation offers aircraft management and charter services with a fleet that includes Cessna Citation CJ1+ and CJ2+; Embraer Legacy 650; Bombardier Challenger 604, CRJ100, and Global 5000; Gulfstream G450; and Airbus ACJ319 models.
Western Aircraft Named LifePort Authorized Mx Center
Western Aircraft has been named an authorized customer support center for LifePort, a designer and manufacturer of air medical equipment and cabins for air ambulances. Under the authorization, Boise, Idaho-based Western can provide maintenance, repair, overhaul, modification, and parts for LifePort’s cabinetry, flooring, operator consoles, powered loading systems, seating, stacking litters, and advanced life support equipment.
“This unique equipment is critical to air medical operators completing their missions,” said Western Aircraft director of aircraft services Jody Harris. “We are excited that we can provide the support required to help keep both patient and crews comfortable.”
Western has supported a variety of aircraft converted to air ambulances, including Pilatus PC-12s, Hawkers, Falcons, Cessna Caravans, and Beechcraft King Airs. “We recently refurbished equipment from South Africa,” explained Harris. “The capability to accomplish work on this equipment without the airplane coming into the facility is vital to the air ambulance operator.”
A unit of Wichita-based Greenwich AeroGroup, Western Aircraft is a full-service FBO and FAA-certified repair station and authorized service center for a range of general and business aviation OEMs.
Runway Work Snarls Traffic at SFO
With its 11,381-foot Runway 10R/28L out of commission for reconstruction, lighting, and drainage work through September 26, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is experiencing traffic woes, with airlines tallying hundreds of delayed and canceled flights since the September 7 start of the project as a result.
Runway 10L/28R remains in operation with a target rate of 27 departures per hour, and air traffic control is continually monitoring the arrivals, departure queues, and other factors to raise or lower that total depending on demand, according to NBAA’s Air Traffic Services. The organization noted that operators throughout the U.S. and Canada should expect ground delays for aircraft heading to SFO. Alternative airports for business aviation in the area include Metropolitan Oakland International, Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International, Hayward Executive, and Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa.
The plan for business aviation operators who are unable to avoid using SFO during that period is to try and use 8,650-foot Runway 1R or 7,650-foot Runway 1L for departures as much as possible, said NBAA. Noise-abatement procedures will be suspended at 6 a.m. daily for departures from both SFO and nearby OAK through September 26 or the end of the project, whichever is sooner.
Count on AIN for Full Coverage of NBAA-BACE
As ever, you can count on AIN for full coverage of NBAA-BACE 2019. Our team will publish three of our award-winning daily NBAA Convention News editions at the show on October 22, 23, and 24. We will also have comprehensive real-time reporting of all the top news at AINonline.com and in our daily e-newsletters. If you are an exhibiting company that wants to share news or propose pre-show interviews and briefings please contact show editor Chad Trautvetter
Requires inspecting certain part-numbered actuators for corrosion and removing them from service as necessary, as well as reporting information back to Airbus Helicopters. Prompted by a hard landing of a helicopter and discovery of a ruptured and displaced tie bar inside the piston of the longitudinal single-axis actuator of the main rotor actuator.
Applies to affected helicopters with a certain part-numbered Pall Aerospace Corporation Inlet Barrier Filter (IBF) element installed. Retains the requirements of AD 2018-18-12, which required revising the rotorcraft flight manual supplement (RFMS) to prohibit operating a helicopter with an IBF element in wet weather and drying or replacing the IBF element if wet. Updated AD no longer allows reinstallation of a filter after it has been removed and also expands the applicability, provides an optional terminating action for the RFMS revision, and prohibits installing the affected IBFs on any helicopter.
Requires replacing the seals, filler wedges, and handles of each emergency exit window. Prompted by a report that a high level of pushing force was required to jettison some windows.
Applies to AS305B2 helicopters with Safran Arriel 2D engines, as well as all EC135T2s, that have accumulated less than 300 hours since first flight. Requires a one-time visual inspection of main gearbox drive shafts, including relevant fittings at flexible couplings on both ends (input and engine sides). Any deficiencies must be corrected per Airbus Helicopters AS350 Emergency Alert Service Bulletin (ASB) 63.00.32 and EC 130 ASB 63A019 (published as single document).
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