Bombardier’s Newest Globals Get Transport Canada OK

Bombardier obtained Transport Canada certification for its newest members of the Global family, the 5500 and 6500, and anticipates EASA and FAA approvals, along with service entry, to follow shortly, the company announced today. The initial customer will lease the first 6500 delivery back to Bombardier for use as a demonstrator. Plans call for a handful of deliveries of the ultra-long-range twinjet by the end of the year.

The Transport Canada nod comes about 16 months after the Montreal-headquartered manufacturer took the wraps off the 5500 and 6500, which build on the Global 5000 and 6000 with a redefined wing, new flight deck, redesigned interior, and new 15,125-pound-thrust Rolls-Royce Pearl 15 turbofans that were unveiled during EBACE in May 2018 alongside the new Globals. Rolls-Royce announced yesterday that the Pearl 15s had received Transport Canada approval.

The Global 5500 flies 500 nm farther than its predecessor and is capable of connecting São Paolo and Paris. Its sibling, the Global 6500, has 600 nm more range and can connect Singapore and London. They also have a 13 percent fuel burn improvement and improved hot-and-high performance.

“Following their dramatic unveiling last year [at EBACE], these aircraft continue to surprise and surpass expectations,” said Bombardier Aviation president David Coleal. “Not only did we deliver on our commitments but we did on schedule.”

Aviation Reps Call For Agreement on 2050 CO₂ Target

At the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York yesterday, aviation industry organizations together with environmental groups called on governments “to set a time frame for agreement on a long-term target to reduce CO₂ emissions from air transport.” The industry representatives are hoping for agreement on a comprehensive 2050 goal for aviation CO₂ by the next ICAO Assembly in 2022.

Michael Gill, executive director of the Air Transport Action Group, said at the UN summit: “Aviation…is growing to meet the needs particularly of developing economies, but we also recognize that with growth comes responsibility. The industry is committed to further reducing its climate impact.” He added that the long-term goal to halve net total CO₂ emissions by 2050 “remains a robust and ambitious focus for industry action in line with the Paris Agreement.”

Gill added: “We urge governments also to adopt a pathway towards a UN-backed long-term goal for aviation and set in place the right policy environments to meet the needs of that goal. Importantly, those policies must be implemented by governments in the short-term to help build a foundation for meaningful long-term reductions in CO₂. We can’t wait until 2049 to take action.”

SyberJet SJ30i Nears First Flight

SyberJet Aircraft has completed high-power engine runs on its new SJ30i light jet, has initiated power-on taxi testing, and anticipates first flight next week from its San Antonio, Texas flight-test facility, the company announced this week. The test aircraft, N50SJ, is a modified 2005 model SJ30-2. 

The SJ30i will feature a new interior and an upgraded “Sybervision” avionics suite powered by the Honeywell Primus Apex 2.0 system with 12-inch displays. The avionics and interior are lighter than their progenitors and take an estimated 200 pounds out of the airplane. 

A follow-on aircraft, the SJ30x, will feature uprated Williams International FJ44-3AP-25 engines with dual Fadec controls and is expected to provide a variety of performance benefits including higher cruise speed at altitude, faster climb, more payload, and better high and hot performance. It will also feature single-point refueling. 

The SJ30 program began in the late 1980s and the SJ30-2 finally received FAA certification in 2005. Since then, the company has had several different corporate owners and only eight examples of the Mach 0.83, 2,500 nm, seven-seat jet have been produced. SyberJet’s current owner, Metalcraft Technologies, bought the company out of bankruptcy in 2011. SyberJet plans to transfer manufacturing to its new facility at Cedar City (Utah) Regional Airport, with the first production aircraft planned to come off that line in 2020.

Foreign Bizjet Operators Bearing Losses in Russian Market

International business jet operators are bearing serious losses in the Russian market due to the recently introduced protectionist measures by the Russian government. The mandate obliges operators to notify their Russian rivals about the plans to organize a flight in Russian airspace, according to operators and industry analysts.

Under the terms of the new procedure, each foreign business jet operator must send a notification to eight local business jet operators about plans to conduct a flight.

Anna Serezhkina, executive director of the Russian Association of Business Aviation, told AIN a flight could be performed only when each of these Russian companies responds that it cannot complete the transportation or does not respond to the request within eight days.

The new procedure applies only to for-hire transportation and does not apply to the flights of business jet owners “for their own needs.”

The recently approved measures have sparked criticism in the Russian business aviation community. According to local analysts and operators, the current fleet of business jets managed by Russian operators does not meet current market needs. Moreover, only half of these aircraft are involved in for-hire transportation, with the remainder being primarily focused on the serving of corporate needs of Russian major corporations.

Wheels Up Making Tech Acquisition

Wheels Up has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire some of the assets of flight management systems provider Avianis Systems. The move is expected to accelerate development of the private aviation membership company’s next-generation digital services, including its charter marketplace. Specifically, Wheels Up is creating technology to help private aircraft operators move their business to a streamlined, digital platform that will offer post-booking automation; calculate real-time pricing, feasibility, and availability; and create new revenue streams through access to additional demand for flights.

The acquisition also will enable Wheels Up to move faster in developing a charter marketplace that aims to connect a real-time supply of verified aircraft that are safety vetted with its more than 6,000 members, who will benefit from the access to additional lift and competitive pricing.

“The talented team at Avianis will be a formidable addition to our expanding organization as we build out the most advanced digital platform in private aviation,” Wheels Up chief information officer and executive v-p for digital Dan Crowe said. “Avianis will further help us tech-enable operators in the running of their businesses.”

The deal, financial terms of which were not disclosed, is expected to close by the end of this month. 

Michigan FBOs Rebrand

Privately-owned Executive Air Transport, the lone aviation-services provider at Michigan’s Muskegon County Airport is rebranding as it grows into a regional FBO chain. In 2017, owner and president Terry Boer acquired Tulip City Air Service, long a fixture at West Michigan Regional Airport, and kept its name intact. With his latest recent purchase of charter provider Air Service at Traverse City’s Cherry Capital Airport (TVC), he is establishing a new FBO there, which will compete with the existing Avflight facility.

All three locations will be rebranded as Vision Air Center, while the company’s charter operations at all three locations will be incorporated as Vision Air. Air Service had a pair of Learjet 31s, a Citation CJ3, a Beechcraft King Air 200 and two Barons on its certificate, which transferred to Boer’s company.  

While it is already using the former Air Service office at TVC to conduct charter operations and will retain it as its FBO terminal, the company expects to begin handling transient aircraft there in the first quarter of 2020, following the installation of a new Phillips 66-branded fuel farm holding 20,000 gallons of jet-A, and 10,000 gallons of 100LL avgas. The facility also includes a 20,000-sq-ft hangar, which can accommodate up to mid-size business jets.

In Fight Against Contamination, NATA Issues DEF Decals

The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) is distributing free diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) decals as the association continues to highlight the need for proper training and handling of the substance that has been involved in jet-A contamination incidents and led to in-flight emergencies. The decals are intended to clearly label DEF storage containers to reduce the possibility of mistaking DEF for other liquids such as fuel-system icing inhibitors.

NATA created a free DEF contamination prevention training course after a 2017 contamination incident. But this past spring another incident of DEF contamination was believed to have caused the loss of power in the engines of two Cessna Citations. These incidents spurred the NTSB to issue a safety alert on the dangers of DEF contamination and prompted NATA to reiterate the need for training on DEF use and handling. “FBOs and aircraft operators must be diligent in ensuring that staffs are not only properly trained, but that company policies and procedures used to prevent DEF contamination are being followed,” NATA said.

DEF is required for newer on- and off-road diesel-powered vehicles, making it more prevalent on airfields as refueling trucks are replaced. When combined with jet-A, DEF forms crystalline deposits in aircraft fuel systems.

The decals are available by contacting Safety1st@nata.aero. NATA further has developed a resource page on DEF.

DOT IG, FAA Spar Over Metroplex Documentation

Following its audit of the FAA’s metroplex redesign program, the DOT Inspector General found that although the FAA has completed seven of 12 locations, it does not expect to complete all remaining locations until 2021, four years later than originally planned. Delays have occurred largely due to increased community concerns about aircraft noise and other issues, including alleged failure of the FAA to properly document work.

While the FAA concurred with several of the audit’s recommendations, including providing completion timelines, the agency did not agree with the DOT IG’s claim that the program lacks proper documentation. The DOT IG said the FAA’s methods for estimating benefits “overly rely on judgment and are not well documented, limiting transparency and hindering the agency from reproducing its process for estimating benefits in the future.”

The FAA contends the DOT IG finding “incorrectly reports that the FAA’s documentation of its metroplex benefits estimation consisted largely of presentation slides with little text and brief summary reports. Detailed reports, including a methodology section, are completed for each Metroplex post-implementation analysis which we have recently provided to [the Office of Inspector General] for review.”

The seven completed redesigns referred to by the DOT are Houston; North Texas; Northern California; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; Charlotte; and Southern California. Metroplex redesigns remain underway for Cleveland, Denver, South Central Florida, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.

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