Volume 10, Number 23 -- December 15, 2004

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The Top Headlines From AVweb's Expanded Business News Coverage At AVweb's Business NewsWire.

LEFT-SEAT CHANGE AT BOMBARDIER
Canadian business and regional jet manufacturer Bombardier Inc., jettisoned its chief executive on Monday amid poor financial results, lowered growth projections and apparent internal disagreements coupled with public uncertainty over the company's direction. Paul Tellier, who was president and chief executive officer as well as director, became a casualty after telling Bombardier's board of directors that he planned to leave when his contract expired in a year -- the board apparently felt there was no time like the present. As a result, Bombardier's top management is being reshuffled, with a new Office of the President being created. That office will be headed by Executive Chairman Laurent Beaudoin; André Navarri, president of Bombardier Transportation, and Pierre Beaudoin, president and chief operating officer of Bombardier Aerospace, each of whom has been appointed executive vice president of Bombardier Inc., will also occupy that office. More...

TSA WATCH: GA THREAT, VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTS NOT CONDUCTED...
In publicly releasing its long-awaited report on general aviation security (PDF), the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) last week said that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) "and other federal agencies have not conducted an overall systematic assessment of threats to, or vulnerabilities of, general aviation to determine how to better prepare against terrorist threats." This, of course, is to no one's great surprise. While the GAO found that TSA had conducted vulnerability assessments at specific airports and intends to "implement a risk management approach to better assess threats and vulnerabilities of general aviation aircraft and airports," the agency had no specific milestone-oriented plan to do so and lacked the funding to inspect each of the 19,000 GA airports in the U.S. The FAA also came in for a dollop of criticism, with the GAO noting that AVweb's Favorite Aviation Agency had not "established written policies or procedures for reviewing and revalidating the continuing need for extended flight restrictions that limit access to airspace for indefinite periods of time and could negatively affect the general aviation industry." More...

...WHILE PILOTS CONTINUE TO VIOLATE TFRS
Some other tidbits in the GAO study have to do with temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) and how often they are violated. According to the GAO, numerous operators and airports have suffered a "negative economic impact" -- that's government-speak for "losing money" -- as a result of TFRs and other steps. The GAO cited, but did not assess, an NBAA study estimating that GA operators and businesses have lost more than $1 billion from the impact of TFRs since September 11, 2001. Perhaps most significantly, the GAO cited both the TSA and the FAA, as well as industry organizations, to decry the "increase in the number, size, and duration of TFRs and, at times, limited notice given prior to their establishment." For example, the GAO said "the Washington, D.C., Air Defense Identification Zone has been violated over 1,000 times, constituting over 40 percent of all TFR violations since September 11, 2001." Yet, according to the GAO, "no TFR violations have been shown to be terrorist related." More...

CESSNA OPENS WORLD'S LARGEST GA MAINTENANCE FACILITY
Cessna last week celebrated the grand opening of its Wichita Citation Service Center, which it touts as the world's largest general aviation maintenance facility, with the cutting of 25-foot-long red ribbon. The complex includes five hangars, three of which are 60,000 square feet in size, plus numerous customer lounges and offices, flight-planning areas, a restaurant, and a gift shop. The facility's exterior features a dedicated run-up area, two compass roses, and four fuel farms. Some of the functions to be located at the new facility include Cessna propeller and Citation product support, CESCOM, and propeller and Citation technical publications. Cessna anticipates the facility will be 100 percent operational by Jan. 3, 2005, when it will house approximately 600 Cessna employees. The company expects to hire approximately 500 additional workers to staff the center over the next five years; many of these employees will be Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) mechanics More...

GULFSTREAM GETS EASA PART 145 OKAY FOR LUTON FACILITY
Gulfstream Aerospace this week announced that its London-Luton Airport-based service center received Part 145 approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on Nov. 29. The new approval replaces the previous Joint Aviation Authorities repair station authorization and allows the U.K. facility to perform base and line maintenance activities. The Luton service was acquired by Gulfstream in April 2003 and became the company's first non-U.S. service center. "This approval enables us to continue to provide business-jet owners and operators the best aviation maintenance services available in this region," said Larry Flynn, president, product support, Gulfstream. More...

ECLIPSE FLIGHT TESTING MOVES FORWARD
As AVweb reported Monday, Eclipse Aviation Corporation on Saturday rolled out its first certification flight test aircraft equipped with two Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) PW610F turbofan engines. Eclipse 500, N503EA, is scheduled for its first flight by Dec. 31, 2004. Vern Raburn, Eclipse president and CEO, said, "Over the coming months, we will have five test aircraft flying as well as airframes for static and fatigue testing. The Eclipse 500 remains on track for FAA certification in March 2006." More...

HAI ANNOUNCES 2004 LAWRENCE D. BELL MEMORIAL AWARD RECIPIENT
The Helicopter Association International (HAI) last week announced that Elling Halvorson, chairman of Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters, Inc., is the recipient of the association's 2004 Lawrence D. Bell Award. The award will be presented Feb. 7, 2005, at HELI-EXPO in Anaheim, Calif., during HAI's 44th annual "Salute to Excellence" awards ceremony. During his 37-year association with HAI, Halvorson has twice served as its chairman as well as in the assistant treasurer, treasurer and vice chairman slots. More...

CESSNA DELIVERS FIRST CITATION CJ3
While they were gearing up to open their new maintenance facility, the men and women at Cessna took a break on Dec. 1 to deliver the company's first Citation CJ3. In presenting the keys to the first CJ3, Cessna marked the third new Citation model to enter service in 2004; earlier this year Cessna certified and delivered the first Citation XLS and Citation Sovereign. "The CJ3 is an excellent addition to the family of CitationJets," stated Cessna's president and CEO Jack Pelton. The CJ3's delivery comes just two years after the program was announced at the 2002 NBAA Convention. Cessna has received over 130 non-refundable CJ3 orders worth over $800 million. More...

BILL STINE REACHES 25-YEAR MILESTONE AT NBAA
Long-time NBAA staffer Bill Stine last week marked his 25th year with the association. Presently serving the association as director of international operations, Stine has been the association's spokesman on matters involving international business aviation, communications, navigation and surveillance since 1979. He served as staff liaison for the NBAA International Operators Committee for six years, was the first executive officer of the International Business Aviation Council, Ltd. (IBAC), and later served as that organization's director general pro tem. More...

CHINA FLIES NEW SINGLE
It was five years in development, but collective efforts by three Chinese organizations to design, assemble, and fly a new single-engine airplane came to fruition Dec. 7. The five-seat plane, dubbed "AC500" or "Air Car 500," made its first flight in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province. The Nanjing Light Aircraft Company Ltd. and the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics developed the plane while the Hongdu Aviation Industry Group based in Nanchang produced it. Projected pricing is 3.6 million yuan (US $433,734), according to Nanjing Light Aircraft Company. More...

GIVE THE GIFT OF FRACTIONAL FLIGHT
In a quandary about what to get this holiday season for that "special someone"? Is money no object, but you don't have 3.6 million yuan? If you can answer "yes" to both of these questions, then Bombardier Skyjet, a fractional ownership operation of Bombardier Aerospace operating Learjet 31, Learjet 60 or Challenger 604 aircraft, has a deal for you: The Bombardier Learjet Gift Card. The card provides five hours of flight time in a Bombardier Learjet from any of 5,000 airports in the CONUS. More...

WATCH YOUR INBOX...
...the next issue of AVweb's BizAVflash will be e-mailed to you on Dec. 29. More...

Business AVflash is a twice-monthly summary of the latest business aviation
news, articles, products, features and events featured on AVweb, the
Internet's Aviation Magazine and News Service. http://www.avweb.com

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Today's issue written by Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside:
http://www.avweb.com/contact/authors.html#jburnside
AVweb's editorial team: http://avweb.com/contact/authors.html.

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Happy Holidays!