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| Location: // |
| Subject: | Aviation International News - May 18, 2006 |
| From: | "Kingfisher" |
| Posting date: | 18-05-2006 |
| Content: | |
Start-up Hopes to Outfox VLJ Competitors
Tony Fox, the 84-year-old entrepreneur credited by those with long memories
as being the father of the very light jet, this week sold the 1970s-era
Foxjet design to start-up
Millennium Aerospace of California. “My dream is to see the Foxjet flying
during my lifetime…I’ve talked with 50 or 60 different prospective buyers
recently, and I was convinced Millennium Aerospace has what it takes to get
the Foxjet airborne,” said Fox. The six-seat, 1,400-nm Foxjet was shelved in
the early 1980s when its Williams WR44-800 fanjet (the predecessor to the
now-certified FJ44) was selected by the U.S. Air Force for an air-launched
cruise missile and the government denied any nonmilitary use of the engine.
Millennium now intends to refine some systems and will evaluate the current
engine and avionics offerings for the revived aircraft. It plans to freeze
the design by the end of the summer so a prototype can be built by year-end.
Fox has agreed to serve as a consultant as the Foxjet moves toward
certification.
24/7 FBO Opening at Berlin Schoenefeld
ExecuJet Europe next month is opening what it describes as the first
dedicated executive aircraft FBO at Berlin Schoenefeld Airport. The new
operation will expand the existing Lufthansa Bombardier Aviation Services
maintenance facility, in which ExecuJet is a 20-percent shareholder. The
round-the-clock FBO will phase in services over the next six months. When
completed at the end of this year, it will offer fueling, on-site customs
and immigration clearance, a pilot lounge and a flight-planning suite, as
well as catering and concierge services. ExecuJet group also has FBOs at
Zurich, Copenhagen Roskilde, Johannesburg and Dubai. Under government plans,
most air traffic for the German capital will be concentrated at Schoenefeld
beginning in 2011, when the airport will be renamed Berlin Brandenburg
International. For the time being, no slots are required to use the airport.
Air-taxi Operator’s Certificate Revoked
The FAA last week revoked the Part 135 certificate of American Air Network
(AAN) of Chesterfield, Mo., saying the company permitted flights for hire to
be conducted on its air carrier certificate but allowed individuals who did
not hold such a certificate to have operational control of those flights.
This action is part of an FAA review of air-taxi operational control issues
that intensified after a Challenger 600 runway overrun accident at
Teterboro, N.J., in February last year. In this accident the FAA revoked the
operating certificate of a company that permitted a non-certificated carrier
to operate under its certificate. These cases send a “clear message that the
FAA will act when it finds evidence that any air carrier is engaged in the
franchising or rental of its air carrier certificate,” the agency said.
“Federal Aviation Regulations require that an air carrier maintain
operational control of the aircraft and crews on its certificate.”
Final Reports Due on Learjet Fatal Crashes
The NTSB on Tuesday is scheduled to adopt its final investigation reports,
including the determination of probable cause, of two fatal Learjet
accidents–departure from controlled flight, Learjet 24B, N600XJ, Helendale,
Calif., Dec. 23, 2003; and controlled flight into terrain, Learjet 35A,
N30DK, San Diego, Calif., Oct. 24, 2004. According to the NTSB’s factual
report, the crew of N600XJ declared an emergency and reported they were
returning to their departure airport just before the twinjet descended from
24,000 feet and crashed in the Mojave Desert. The two pilots were killed.
N30DK, on an air ambulance flight, crashed into Otay Mountain at 12:30 a.m.,
about two minutes after taking off from Brown Field near San Diego. The two
pilots and three aeromedical staff were killed. The crew took off under VFR
intending to pick up their IFR clearance in the air.
NetJets Poised for a Profitable Year?
If Berkshire Hathaway’s first-quarter results are any indication, its
NetJets subsidiary will record a profit this year, which would be a reversal
from $80 million in losses incurred by the fractional aircraft provider last
year. The investment company’s flight services division, composed of NetJets
and FlightSafety International, had $919 million in revenues in the first
quarter–a $152 million, or 20 percent, increase over the same period last
year. According to Berkshire, this was “primarily due to a 23-percent
increase in revenues from NetJets,” as the result of a 19-percent rise in
flight operations and management service fees and fewer outsourced flights.
First-quarter revenues for training provider FlightSafety increased a more
modest 7 percent over last year. Pre-tax first-quarter earnings of the
flight services businesses totaled $21 million, versus $7 million last year.
Meanwhile, NetJets Europe CEO William Kelly said yesterday that he expects
his company to post an operating profit this year and be profitable next
year.
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