Also Noted...

The European Business Aviation Association launched a Web-based survey on flight-time limitations, the data from which will be used to help develop a tailored business aviation regulation for EU pilots. Business aviation operations have been covered by the same regulation applied to the airlines, but in June 2012 a new aviation safety regulation will take effect in Europe, meaning input from the bizav community is essential.

Piaggio America today tapped Mark Stevenson as sales director for the Central U.S. and Canadian regions. Previously he was with Embraer Executive Aircraft, where he recently established a new sales territory. He was Embraer's North American salesman of the year in 2007. The addition of Stevenson to Piaggio completes its sales organization presence in the U.S. and Canada.

Comlux Aviation Services and BHE & Associates received FAA STC approval to install the Aircell Wireless Router with Wi-Fi on all 600-series Bombardier Challengers. BHE, which provided the engineering and coordinated with the FAA, is the point of contact for purchase of the STC through authorized Aircell dealers. Comlux Aviation Services in Indianapolis has completed installation and testing of the first two STCs for a single Challenger operator in the Northeast.

Baldwin Aviation and Gray Stone Advisors have developed an online analysis tool that allows flight departments to determine the cost of implementing a safety management system (SMS) into their flight operations. The tool helps department managers justify expenditures and the return on investment in creating an SMS.

Delta Air Lines and subsidiary Delta AirElite introduced a service to allow customers to book scheduled airline and on-demand charter flights in a single transaction using a prepaid AirElite account. AirElite cardholders can use their accounts to book travel on Delta or Delta AirElite by calling a dedicated client services team. With this new rollout, Delta said it is the only U.S. airline offering customers combined access to commercial and private jet service.

Correction
In last Thursday’s issue of AINalerts, the story about pilot integration at NetJets Aviation (NJA) and NetJets International (NJI) should have noted that NJI flies large-cabin Gulfstreams, not all Gulfstreams. NJA has super-midsize Gulfstream G200s in its fleet.

Poll question: How do you use your smartphone in your day-to-day flying job?

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Gulfstream ‘Poised for Double-digit Growth in 2011’
Gulfstream Aerospace and sister company Jet Aviation “will return to growth this year,” according to Jay Johnson, chairman and CEO of parent company General Dynamics. Speaking at the Sanford C. Bernstein Decision Conference on Friday, he predicted that his company’s aerospace division will begin an “attractive growth trajectory” this year and “is poised for double-digit growth” next year, the latter due to deliveries starting for the Gulfstream G250 and G650. The aerospace group backlog was $18.5 billion at the end of the first quarter and “orders have been outpacing defaults for four consecutive quarters,” Johnson said. “Demand is still strong for large-cabin Gulfstreams, and we’re on pace to deliver 77 of them in 2010.” He said there is a “healthy order intake” for the G450 and G550, with backlog for both in the 18- to 24-month range. According to Johnson, there has been “some improvement” in the midsize business jet market as pre-owned inventory declines, “and there could be upside to the 14 planned midsize deliveries” this year. Meanwhile, Jet Aviation is experiencing “solid” growth in maintenance and “extremely” strong demand for its FBO, aircraft management and aircraft charter services, he said.

Recovery in the pre-owned business jet market “remains on track,” but the pickup in the new aircraft market is still “elusive,” JPMorgan noted in its latest business jet monthly report, issued late last week. “Used inventories continued to move downward, consistent with their path over the past 10 months,” said Joseph Nadol III, the firm’s chief aerospace analyst. However, at 12 percent of the in-service fleet–down modestly from 12.3 percent in April–pre-owned business jet inventory remains above the 10-year average of 9 percent and is still higher than at any point during the 2001 to 2003 downturn. Pre-owned prices also fell again by 2.5 percent last month, “And while they are now at the lowest level since December 1997, we see further softness ahead given elevated inventory levels.” According to JPMorgan, “The abundance of used aircraft at low prices has been a major factor weighing on new jet demand, which has yet to see a real bounce…more inventory still needs to clear before demand for new aircraft can pick up.” Meanwhile, business jet flight operations climbed 19 percent year-over-year in April to 337,000, marking the fourth consecutive double-digit percent increase.

General Aviation Recovery Takes a Temporary Breather
Aviation market advisor Brian Foley said the current stagnant growth period for the general aviation industry isn’t cause for concern. “I see no cause for panic or even pessimism, certainly not at this point,” he said. “Most recoveries aren’t linear and the occasional pullback can be expected.” A year ago, Foley suggested that the recovery might be W-shaped, “And that appears to be what’s happening; the industry takes one step back before taking two more forward.” Economic troubles in Europe, the second-largest business aviation market in the world, likely explain the pause in recovery, he said. “Worldwide stock markets have responded with double-digit percentage drops. So how can any industry go unaffected, at least temporarily?” However, Foley doesn’t believe this will affect the industry’s long-term outlook. “Europe and the markets will adjust themselves–they always do–at which point the recovery can resume in synch,” he noted, adding that this slowdown “will be shorter lasting and less pronounced than the big recessionary downturn of 2008 to 2009.” But the timing couldn’t be worse, since many of the companies affected were just beginning to show improvement. This could possibly lead to more summer furloughs at aircraft manufacturers, he said, “but then the recovery should resume on a steadier, upward trend.”

EADS flew the first aircraft powered solely by algae-based biofuel today at the ILA Airshow in Berlin as part of the daily flying display. The Austrian-built Diamond Aircraft DA-42 NG’s two Austro Engine AE300 diesels required only minor adjustment to burn the biofuel, which is supplied by German processor VTS from algae oil provided by Biocombustibles del Chibut in Argentina. The aircraft’s fuel consumption was 1.5 liters per hour less than that for a similar aircraft powered by standard jet-A because the algae fuel has a higher energy content. “Our pure biofuel flight from algae is a world first and an exciting milestone in our research at EADS,” said Dr. Jean Botti, the company’s chief technical officer. “This opens up the feasibility of carbon-neutral flights.” Exhaust gas measurements show that the algae-derived fuel contains one-eighth the hydrocarbons of kerosene and greatly reduced nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxides as a result of the new fuel’s low nitrogen and sulfur content. Considered among the feedstocks with the greatest potential for widespread use, algae grows rapidly and its cultivation does not compete with food production since it can be farmed on non-arable land using non-potable water or even salt water. While the current cost of biofuels is much greater than that of fossil fuels, research and development programs are aimed at establishing cost-effective mass production.

‘Boeing 101’ Proposed as Presidential Helicopter
Yesterday, Boeing licensed the rights to AgustaWestland’s AW101 for the purpose of entering it in the latest U.S. presidential helicopter competition, known as VXX. Under the deal, Boeing will have full data, intellectual property and production rights for the three-engine, medium-lift helicopter. Boeing said it intends to provide the Navy, the contracting agency, with all necessary information on the helicopter by the June 18 deadline. Boeing said that if it wins the contract all helicopters will be produced at one of its U.S. facilities–a marked change from the canceled VH-71 program, which used an AW101 airframe assembled in the UK. The new Boeing entry will be competing with that from a Sikorsky/Lockheed Martin team which is fielding the H-92, a military version of the medium-twin Sikorsky S-92A. European aerospace and defense consortium EADS, parent of Airbus and Eurocopter, formally noted Boeing’s selection of European technology for the competition and sharply referenced its continuing and heated competition with Boeing on the USAF KC-X aerial tanker replacement program. EADS said it expects Boeing to “cease its shrill rhetoric” concerning EADS’s attempt to win the KC-X, given Boeing’s selection of the AW101.

Emirates Orders 32 More Airbus A380s Dubai’s Emirates Airline has ordered a further 32 A380s from Airbus, raising its firm order total for the double-deck transport to 90 aircraft... More...   IATA: World’s Airlines Returning to Profitability The International Air Transport Association (IATA) issued a rather stunning projection that the world’s airlines will actually turn a profit this year of $2.5 billion... More...

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