NATCA DEAL GUARANTEED
A collective agreement covering the FAA's air traffic controllers could be in place in early June. The National Association of Air Traffic Controllers announced Tuesday that formal mediated talks between the union and the agency began Monday. Former FAA Administrator Jane Garvey will lead the mediation panel, which also includes Richard Bloch and George Cohen, both experienced mediators. "One of my highest priorities, since coming to DOT, has been to resolve this issue," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said when he announced Garvey's appointment. An agreement will be reached one way or another because the mediation panel has been directed by both sides to make binding recommendations on any issues not settled in negotiations. A media blackout has been imposed for the duration of the talks. More...

ARSA RALLIES MEMBERS ON REAUTHORIZATION
The Aeronautical Repair Station Association has issued a call to members to get on the phone, fax machine and e-mail to press their congressional representatives for a change in the FAA reauthorization bill that could affect U.S. repair stations that work on European aircraft. According to ARSA, the bill "will severely damage the competitive balance enjoyed by domestic repair stations that work on European registered aircraft." The current version of the bill would require foreign repair stations that work on U.S. airplanes to submit to twice-a-year inspections by the FAA using FAA rules. ARSA says the European Union has already said that if the measure passes it will retaliate and that likely means an end to the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) that is now in force. "Under the BASA, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and individual E.U. member states conduct oversight inspections of FAA certificated facilities in Europe according to FAA guidelines and the FAA conducts oversight inspections of EASA certificated repair stations in the U.S. according to EASA guidelines," ARSA says. "The agreement was signed after years of assessments regarding the aviation safety requirements and capabilities of the aviation authorities in Europe and the effectiveness and proven performance of three individual agreements on repair stations that the U.S. currently has in place with France, Ireland, and Germany." If that deal collapses it means Europe will send inspectors to the U.S. to conduct its own inspections under European rules and the delays, paperwork and general nuisance will likely mean lost business on both sides of the pond. ARSA says a fix is simple. More...

PHUKET GETS FIRST EXEC FBO
Airports of Thailand (AOT) has given the go ahead for Bangkok-based ASA Group to develop Thailand's first world-class fixed base operation at Phuket International Airport. The move is a clear indication that the country has overcome its recent troubles when demonstrators seized control of Bangkok's International Suvarnabhumi Airport. Flights were suspended, leaving at least 3,000 passengers stranded. The state-of-the-art terminal and business center will accommodate the swelling ranks of VIP visitors to Thailand each year and is expected to be operational by the end of summer. "We handle so many private flights into both Bangkok and Phuket and it is apparent that the time is right to cater for our growing client base of VIP visitors, who presently have nowhere in the airport to go once they disembark," said ASA CEO Simon Wagstaff. More...

ATR LAUNCHES CORPORATE MODELS
ATR launched ATR Corporate at EBACE. According to sales director Milco Rappuoli the company is still working on a name for the new aircraft. The move came about because several airlines are already using the regional turboprop as a convertible from VIP to shuttle or medevac. Last year the OEM sold a VIP variant to a customer in Azerbaijan. More...

EXECUTIVE SERVICE IN LEBANON
Austria's Tyrolean Jet Services (TJS) announced at EBACE that it has joined forces with Lebanese company Clear Sky to offer executive air services in the Middle East. The new company will be called Clearsky Tyrolean Jet Services CTS) and operate out of Beirut. CTS will offer charter and aircraft management services and plans to open an FBO at a later date. CTS will base a 14-seat Dornier 328 jet in Beirut from June 2009 and aims to expand its fleet throughout the Middle East. More...

REPORT CRITIQUES FAA OVERSIGHT OF AVIATION SAFETY ACTION PROGRAM
The FAA is not making good use of the benefits that could be provided by the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP), according to a report by the Transportation Department's Office of Inspector General that was released this week. "ASAP, as currently implemented, is a missed opportunity for FAA to enhance the national margin of safety," the OIG report says. The program allows airline employees to report safety violations to their employers and to the FAA without fear of reprisal. To realize the full benefits of ASAP, the FAA needs to clarify which incidents should be excluded from the program and emphasize to employees that ASAP is not an amnesty program, the OIG said. The agency also should develop a central database of ASAP reports and use it for trend analysis. "While ASAP is a potentially valuable safety tool, we found that FAA's ineffective implementation and inadequate guidance have allowed inconsistent use and potential abuse of the program," the report says. More...

AVWEB FIDDLING AROUND AMERICA
There's nothing like a little barnstorming to revive the aviator's soul, and when it involves a vintage DC-3 we can't think of a better way to pass the time. Watch AVweb starting May 25 for daily video blogs from Editor-in-Chief Russ Niles as he goes low and slow with Dan Gryder in the fabulous 1938 Herpa Douglas DC-3 for an unscripted tour of America. We know we'll be in Huntsville, Ala. (3M5 - a 2,100-foot grass strip) on the evening of May 23 and at Gaston's White River Resort (3M0) in northern Arkansas for the weekend of May 30. All are invited. In between those dates, we could be anywhere — including your home airport! Join Russ, Dan, champion fiddler Jeff Pritchard, and the DC-3 crew as they rumble in and play bluegrass music at unsuspecting GA airports during the 2,500 nm journey. Watch for reports at www.AVweb.com and for instructions on how you can follow along, chat with the DC-3 crew live in flight (courtesy of Verizon Wireless), and join the fun! More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: WAS BUFFALO DISASTER A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE?
The NTSB hearing into the crash of a Colgan Air Dash-8 Q400 in Buffalo in February has raised a lot of questions for AVweb editor Mary Grady, specifically with regard to the readiness of cockpit staff in regional airliners. If a faulty process is to blame, could the Colgan crash be a forerunner for more to come? Read more in the latest installment of the AVweb Insider blog. More...

AVWEB INSIDER BLOG: THE POWER OF GPS CONFIDENCE
Our sister publication, IFR magazine, talks a lot about GPS and position awareness, but IFR Editor-in-Chief Jeff Van West admits there's another aspect they don't talk about so much. Jeff calls it "position confidence," and over on the AVweb Insider blog, he explains how doubt in the cockpit can cause confusion and delay, but removing the doubt can open the door to a whole new way of dealing with ATC. More...

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: CESSNA MUSTANG DEMO FLIGHT — IS IT REALLY AS EASY TO FLY AS A SKYHAWK?
Almost. In this post-Sun 'n Fun video, AVweb reports that the Mustang's control forces and basic systems are so close to those of a heavy single or light twin that any moderately experienced pilot should be able to check out in it without breaking a sweat. And at 340 knots for 1,100 miles, we could get used to it, thanks. More...

GODIN MOVES TO REMOS

Ken Godin

Ken Godin, the former national sales director for Flight Design, was named North American sales and service manager for Remos.
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'S NEWSTIPS ADDRESS ...
Our best stories start with you. If you've heard something 200,000 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.

The AVwebBiz team is:

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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