OBAMA: SEQUESTRATION WOULD AFFECT ATC
If Congress doesn't act before next Friday, March 1, the automatic spending cuts that would take effect would result in cutbacks for air traffic controllers, President Obama said on Tuesday. The FAA budget could be cut by $600 million, and controllers would likely be furloughed for one day per pay period through the end of September, according to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "The result will be felt across the country, as the volume of travel must be decreased," he said in a letter to the Senate appropriations committee last week. Aviation safety staff also would have to cut their hours on the job, with impacts on airlines, airplane manufacturers, and pilots that need their services, LaHood said. More...

REPORT: FAA LAGGING ON REGIONAL SAFETY EFFORT
The FAA is not doing enough to ensure that regional airlines meet the same level of safety as the major carriers they are affiliated with, according to a report from the Transportation Department's Office of Inspector General, released last week. After the 2009 crash of a Colgan Air Q400, which was operated as a Continental Connection flight, the FAA and the Transportation Department initiated an industry-wide "Call to Action" to ensure a common level of safety between code-sharing partners. However, the OIG report found that the FAA doesn't have any specific procedures in place to make that happen. The FAA needs to do more to review code-share agreements and to ensure that major airlines share their safety practices with their regional partners, the report concluded. More...

CONTRACT MAINTENANCE RULE COMMENTS EXTENDED
The FAA has extended the comment period by a month for a controversial new rule it says is aimed at ensuring contract maintenance companies do their work to the standards set by their customers. The proposed rule would require air carriers to ensure maintenance done to their airplanes by third parties is done according to the requirements laid out in their own maintenance manuals. The rule primarily targets scheduled carriers but it also affects a lot of smaller operations, and it was at the request of the Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association that the comment period was extended. More...

DATABASE BRINGS PILOTS, RECRUITERS TOGETHER
ATP Flight School has opened a database aimed at helping pilots find jobs and also to help airlines find pilots. PilotPool.com allows pilots who want to join the airlines to register and keep their qualifications updated so that they may be considered by airline recruiters monitoring their progress and that of others registered on the site. As the pilots reach significant milestones in training and experience, the recruiters are notified. "As a provider of training to over 4,200 pilots every year, we know it is important to help our customers get contact with potential employers," said Vice President Jim Koziarski. "At the same time, we know how important it is for airlines to access data on pilot supply and training pipeline. PilotPool.com brings these two sides together." More...

SURVEY POLLS CREW ON AIR RAGE
An Eastern Michigan University undergrad has launched a survey on a topic that gets plenty of media attention (especially if celebrities are involved) but, as far as he's been able to determine, has never been independently studied. Robert Chapin says the survey is designed to poll flight crew members on the incidence of air rage. "Your participation in this study will help us to better understand the effects of passenger misconduct," Chapin says in his preamble to the survey. More...

BEECHCRAFT CORPORATION EMERGES FROM BANKRUPTCY
A leaner and financially fit Beechcraft Corporation has emerged from bankruptcy protection with an eye to launching new products and supporting the existing fleet. In a podcast interview with AVweb in advance of today's announcement, Beechcraft spokesman Shawn Vick said the new company has more than $600 million in capital to work with and encouraging signs from the market that its chosen path to future profitability is being met with optimism. "We are moving into the market as Beechcraft Corporation and expect 2013 to be a very good year for this business," he said. More...

PODCAST: BEECHCRAFT EMERGES FROM CHAPTER 11
A trimmed down Beechcraft has come out of bankruptcy protection after nine months, and company officials say they're properly financed and organized to grow the business. AVweb's Russ Niles spoke with Beechcraft's Shawn Vick in this extended special edition podcast (15 minutes).

This podcast is brought to you by Bose Corporation. More...

PROMOTIONS AT FLEXJET

Richard Shayne	Brian Atkinson

Richard Shyne and Brian Atkinson have both been promoted from sales associates to sales directors. Atkinson will look after the Chicago area and Shyne the Midwest.
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MILL CONFIRMED AS PIPER VP

Jack Mill

Jack Mill is the new vice president of engineering at Piper Aircraft. He had been doing the job as an interim position for several months.
More...

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...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: AIRLINE MERGERS -- WHY BOTHER?
If they had a history of offering customers more choices and more competition and even helping the airline companies themselves, we would say, "Why not?" But the coming merger between American Airlines and US Airways promises little of that, according to Purdue University's Airline Quality Rating project. On the AVweb Insider blog, Paul Bertorelli looks at some of AQR's numbers and agrees with the organization's view that this merger will be a fiasco, at best. Read more and join the conversation. 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...

VIDEO: AUDIO AUTHORITY'S FLEXIBLE POWER UNIT
More owners and pilots would probably invest in ground power units for starting and running avionics in the hangar if the things were just more flexible. One that is comes from Audio Authority, which, besides being a GPU, also doubles as a battery tender. In this video, Aviation Consumer's Larry Anglisano gives us the lowdown on this versatile unit. More...

VIDEO: YVES ROSSY'S JETMAN SCHOOL (WITHOUT THE JETS)
A video released Feb. 8, 2013, by Jetman Yves Rossy suggests the skydiving innovator may be on the verge of marketing an unpowered version of his strapped-on wing and opening a school to teach people how to fly it. Rossy has piloted another version of the wing with four micro-turbines attached to its underside delivering power. He has flown that version across the English Channel and a section of the Grand Canyon. Rossy describes the unpowered version by saying it can achieve a "glide angle" of 4.5. English is not Rossy's first language and a glide angle of 4.5 would translate to a glide ratio of roughly 13:1 -- substantially better than a Cessna 172. It's possible that Rossy's use of the term instead indicates the wing's glide ratio. Rossy says he's flown his gliding wing in excess of 150 mph, he has demonstrated aerobatics while flying it and believes there is much more potential for his unique brand of flight. Rossy is meticulous in his flight preparations, studying terrain, angles of flight and walking portions of the route when able. It is not yet known if his apparently proposed school will train the same pre-flight planning. 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 world's premier independent aviation news resource.

The AVwebBiz team is:

Publisher
Tom Bliss

Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli

Editor-in-Chief
Russ Niles

Webmaster
Scott Simmons

Contributing Editors
Mary Grady
Glenn Pew

Contributors
Kevin Lane-Cummings

Ad Coordinator
Karen Lund

Avionics Editor
Larry Anglisano

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