The Million Air FBO at Utah’s St. George Regional Airport (KSGU) held the ribbon-cutting for an in-house restaurant last week. Located on the second floor of the FBO’s terminal, the Jet-A-Way Café is operated by a noted local chef with 27 years of experience who has served as the FBO’s preferred catering partner for more than a year.

The dining room features modern decor, indoor and outdoor seating, and expansive views of the field and Utah’s mountainous red rock landscape. It is open weekdays from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m., offering breakfast favorites such as biscuits and gravy, as well as entrees including seared salmon, house-smoked pulled pork sandwiches, signature burgers, and fresh salads. An in-flight catering menu is also available.

“We’re thrilled to introduce this new amenity for both travelers and the local community, further enhancing the Million Air St. George experience,” said Amanda Zundel, the FBO’s general manager. “This café is more than a place to eat; it’s a destination where guests can enjoy incredible food, world-class hospitality, and the best runway views in Southern Utah.

“It’s a natural complement to our full suite of services, ensuring every guest enjoys the highest level of care with every visit,” she said.

Last Friday, I attended what many call the “Oscars of Aviation”—the National Aviation Hall of Fame ceremony. Among the enshrinees were my friends Julie Clark and Gen. Lloyd W. “Fig” Newton. While their paths in aviation could not be more different, both broke barriers in the mid-1970s. Julie became one of the first female captains for a major airline. Fig made history as the first African-American pilot to fly with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.

Having served on the NAHF board of nominations for 20 years, seeing Julie and Fig honored was especially meaningful. Their stories carry the power to inspire generations.

Watching them stand together on that stage in Wichita, I thought about the thousands of lives they’ve touched. Julie broke barriers and inspired generations through her airline career and airshow performances. Fig shaped future leaders in the Air Force, the aviation industry, and beyond.

Their leadership isn’t about the spotlight. It’s about resilience, service, and the ripple effect of caring for others. Julie reminded us: “Keep dreaming, keep flying, and never let anything stand in your way.” Fig charged us: “Let’s keep believing, keep climbing—as one people, as one nation.”

That, I believe, is what makes them not just Hall of Famers, but role models for every aviation leader today.

International aircraft brokerage Jetcraft has found that high-net-worth individuals will typically vastly outspend on yachts rather than on their business aircraft, but there is a generational shift in that trend.

Coinciding with the Monaco Yacht Show this week, Jetcraft delved into the intersection of private aviation and yachts, finding that about 35% of those who own the latter also own a business aircraft. That percentage varies by continent, with the highest in Africa at 57% and the lowest in Europe at 30%. Asia had the second-highest percentage of yacht owners who also own aircraft, at 41%, with North America, the Middle East, and Latin America hovering between 38% and 39%.

Looking at the comparative spend, it changes by age, with the older generation (those at least 60) spending 4.5 times more on a yacht than on a jet. That dips to 3.9 times for those between 45 and 60 and to 2.4 times for those younger than 45.

This insight is critical, said Jetcraft, because it underscores the importance of timing. “Whether transitioning from business first to leisure first, or balancing both business and pleasure simultaneously, the decision on when to buy or sell an aircraft is rarely just about the market. It’s about life stage and personal priorities,” the brokerage said.

The FAA is undertaking a “vendor challenge” as a new approach to streamline its next air traffic control upgrade project to modernize the system and meet congressional mandates.

Announced this week, the challenge requests responses by October 10 for the development of a new Flow Management Data and Services (FMDS) system that will replace the existing Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS) used by controllers to plan and implement traffic flow initiatives to minimize delays and congestion.

Noting that the challenge is designed “to get the work done as fast as possible,” the agency is seeking a system that is modern, scalable, and sustainable, it said. “The new FMDS program will replace current technology that is decades old and struggling with performance and maintainability issues,” said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford. “If we want the gold standard of air traffic control, we need to give air traffic controllers the tools they need to succeed.”

Congress called for the agency to modernize its TFMS program in the 2024 FAA reauthorization bill. In addition, the upgrade is part of a larger initiative underway at the FAA to move forward rapidly on a new ATC system. The FAA had previously solicited interest for vendors to serve as a prime integrator in the overarching ATC modernization and expects to announce that contractor by November.

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Omni Aircraft Maintenance wants to help aircraft owners with legacy Gogo air-to-ground connectivity systems swap them out for the C-1 upgrade at no cost. Customers can either fly to Omni’s Tulsa, Oklahoma headquarters, or Omni will send a technician to the customer’s location to do the upgrade.

Gogo’s C-1 upgrade enables legacy ATG owners to continue using Gogo’s LTE connectivity service over the U.S. and parts of Canada without having to upgrade to the faster L3 or L5 Avance system or upcoming high-speed 5G service. The classic ATG network will be shut down on May 1, 2026, and there will be no extensions of this deadline.

Gogo is offering $35,000 rebates for buyers of the C-1 upgrade, and Omni Aircraft charges $35,000 for the upgrade, so the result is no cost to the aircraft owner. To get the rebate, customers must sign and commit to the C-1 upgrade by Dec. 1, 2025, according to Gogo.

“There is no cost to the owner or operator,” said Michael Rodgers, CEO of Omni Aircraft Maintenance. “It’s going to be a long time before another network [gets shut] down…and this is a great opportunity to win a long-term client. It’s an opportunity to give the owner a great deal and, assuming it’s a good experience, hopefully…it’s a way for us to further develop our client base.”

Rise is integrating its Optirise fleet and operations optimization software with the Skylegs flight manager system. The companies said the combined platforms will help aircraft operators to streamline flight scheduling.

According to France-based Rise, operators using Skylegs can now directly input fleet, crew, and operational data into Optirise, which was launched in 2023 specifically for business aircraft operations. It claimed this approach improves the process for allocating aircraft and crew to specific planned flights in the most cost-effective way.

The Optirise software is already integrated with the Leon Software and FL3XX systems. Rise said it will now be better placed to support European operators and that it plans further software integrations in other parts of the world.

“We’ve built Optirise to adapt to the way operators work, not the other way around,” said Rise CEO Max Van Cauwenberghe. “By integrating with Skylegs, we’re helping more teams remove repositioning flights, improve crew plans, and make decisions that actually move the needle.”

Production test flights of Airbus H135 helicopters for Canada’s Future Aircrew Training (FAcT) program have taken place, a key step on the path to training Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) pilots. The RCAF designation for the H135 is CT-153-Juno, and this aircraft was chosen by training contractor SkyAlyne as the helicopter training platform for the RCAF.

The next step is completion of the helicopters, which includes paint and supplemental type certification modifications to be done at the Airbus Helicopters facility in Fort Erie, Ontario.

“By operating twin engines from the outset of training, future RCAF pilots will be immersed in a real-world environment that matches the current operational fleet, ensuring a seamless transition to their first operational units,” said SkyAlyne head of training David Farman. “With Airbus’ Helionix avionics system, which is standard on twin-engine platforms, trainees will gain experience with advanced digital cockpits, a step forward from the analog systems in the current training fleet.”

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