GA GROUPS CHALLENGE BARR CHANGE
The Transportation Department's recent decision to dismantle the BARR (Block Aircraft Registration Request) program, which allows aircraft operators to block identifying data from public flight-tracking systems, now faces a legal challenge from general aviation advocacy groups. NBAA, AOPA, and EAA said on Monday they will seek an injunction to prevent the DOT decision from taking effect and will ask the courts to invalidate the new policy altogether. "The DOT ... appears to have simply ignored the thousands of individuals and companies that voiced their strong and principled opposition to this change," said NBAA President Ed Bolen. More...

BIZJET USE RISES SHARPLY
Business aircraft traffic is now within 10 percent of the April 2008 peak and while that's good news for some parts of the industry, the manufacturing side is still in the doldrums in many sectors. USA Today quoted JSSI CEO Lou Seno as saying flight hours took a big jump in the first quarter of the year. He said the 1,300 customers for whom JSSI manages aircraft, on average, flew 11.4 percent more hours and the trend continued into April, which saw a 7-percent increase over March. "We are not back to late '07, early '08 levels, but we're really off the bottom of where we were," says Lou Seno, president and CEO of JSSI. "In the fall of 2008, following the decline of the financial markets … flying literally fell off the charts, and because of the economy and everything else, it has been slow to recover. But the recovery we're seeing has been encouraging." While bizjet owners are using their aircraft more, most are still not in a buying mood. More...

CSERIES ORDERS BUOY BOMBARDIER
It's been a good week for Bombardier's CSeries program with a few new orders and a more positive outlook for the potentially game-changing design. An unnamed airline took three 110-seat versions of the ultra-efficient single-aisle aircraft and options for three more. The $350 million deal, if the options are exercised, is small in airline terms but it comes on the eve of the Paris Air Show and some pundits are suggesting this sale and last week's 10-plane order from Sweden's Braathens are teasers before a blockbuster announcement at the big show. Regardless, the orders are the first in 15 months for the CSeries and Bombardier's arch rival in just about everything, Embraer, is watching from the sidelines as it assesses the market potential for single-aisle jets in an increasingly crowded field. More...

GA GROUPS LOBBY FOR KINDER TFRS
Aviation advocates working with the TSA last year made progress in lessening the impact of TFRs on Hawaii's airport businesses during a presidential visit, and now six GA groups are asking the TSA to loosen its grip nationwide. In a letter (PDF) to TSA Administrator John Pistole, the groups ask for procedures that would allow general aviation operations at near-normal levels while still addressing the security measures necessary to protect the president. Plans already in place at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport allow GA aircraft to share the airspace with the president, the groups said, and those procedures could be implemented elsewhere. More...

SECOND HAWKER 200 FLYING
Hawker Beechcraft says it's about halfway to certification of the Hawker 200 light business jet it unveiled last October at the National Business Aviation Association convention in Atlanta. Executive Vice President Shawn Vick said the second preproduction 200 had its first flight last week and is now taking part in the certification flight testing. There are also two modified Beech Premier jets. The 200 is an updated version of the Premier 1A and was originally named the Premier 2. Although they look the same on the outside, the systems changes and performance upgrades make it virtually a new aircraft. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: LOTOT AND THE IMPOSSIBLE TURN
One reason so many people die in stall-related accidents may be that we don't have good training doctrine to detect and respond to loss of power incidents on takeoffs. And we persist in the notion that turning back to the runway is never a good idea. On the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli offers a different viewpoint. Read more and join the conversation. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: FATAL ACCIDENT REDUCTION — NO EASY TASK
Paul Bertorelli's been looking at the numbers from a single year of GA accident fatalities —— and he shares his findings on the AVweb Insider blog. When you look at the numbers, says Paul, it's not easy to see any low-hanging fruit because there isn't any. Stall-related accidents still kill the most pilots every year, but plain, unimaginative loss of control is a close second. And don't even get him started on the bad judgment calls. Read more and join the conversation. More...

YOWELL LAW AT PLANE FAX

Christi Yowell Law

Christi Yowell Law is now an aircraft history specialist at Plane Fax. She was formerly at International Aircraft Title and Escrow.
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RAMIREZ PROMOTED AT JSSI

Haydee Ramirez

Haydee Ramirez is the new director of business development for Africa at JSSI. She's been at JSSI for three years as an international sales assistant.
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MCANDREWS TO PLATINUM AVIATION

Kevin McAndrews

Kevin McAndrews has been named director of sales for the aircraft division of Platinum Aviation. McAndrews was previously the co-owner of Sunrise Helicopters in New York and Florida.
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WHO'S WHERE? YOU TELL US
Get a promotion or a new job? Your colleagues want to know about it, and AVwebBiz can get the word out. Drop us a line about the staff appointment, with a nice recent photo, and we'll do our best to include it in our new section, "Who's Where." The items will be permanently archived on AVweb for future reference, too. More...

VIDEO: TRIBUTE TO AMANDA FRANKLIN
A nice video tribute to Amanda Franklin, who died a week ago, was posted shortly after her death. Franklin died May 27 from complications of burns suffered in a March 12 crash while she was doing her wingwalking routine with husband Kyle flying their Waco biplane. Donations are still being accepted to help the Franklin family in the aftermath of the tragedy. More...

VIDEO: EASTMAN AVIATION'S CH750 VIDEO REVIEW
There are only a few LSAs that qualify for true STOL status, and Eastman's CH750 is one of them. With full-span flaperons and leading-edge slats, it won't win any beauty contests, but it could excel at some short landing contests. In this video, Aviation Consumer editor Paul Bertorelli takes a spin with Eastman's Gary Webster. More...

AVWEB'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something 255,000 pilots might want to know about, tell us. Submit news tips via email to newstips@avweb.com. What have you heard? More...

MEET THE AVWEBBIZ TEAM

AVwebBiz is a weekly summary of the latest business aviation news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the internet's aviation magazine and news service.

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Publisher
Timothy Cole

Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli

Editor-in-Chief
Russ Niles

Contributing Editors
Mary Grady
Glenn Pew

Features Editor
Kevin Lane-Cummings

Webmaster
Scott Simmons

Contributors
Jeff van West

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