DHS Report: No Need for TSA to Regulate GA Security The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General released a report on “TSA’s Role in General Aviation Security” that concludes: “We determined that general aviation presents only limited and mostly hypothetical threats to security.” The report notes that while the TSA’s Office of Intelligence (OI) “has identified several organizations that have shown an interest in using GA to obtain flight training or to launch attacks…it has concluded that most GA aircraft are too light to inflict significant damage, and has not identified specific imminent threats from GA aircraft. OI has also concluded that there is no credible threat of crop-dusting aircraft being used to spread chemical or biological agents. OI also stated that the potential for a terrorist group to use GA aircraft to conduct an attack remains a possibility that cannot be ignored.” The report found that of incidents reported to the GA hotline, “incidents that might represent a security threat are rare.” Although the TSA seems bent on regulating general aviation, the report concludes that “The current status of GA operations does not present a serious homeland security vulnerability requiring TSA to increase regulatory oversight of the industry. According to OI, there is no specific, credible information of ongoing plots to use GA in an attack in the near future.”
ARG/US: Business Aircraft Flying Activity Stabilizing
The gap between U.S. business aircraft flying activity this year versus last year continued to narrow last month, according to TraqPak data from ARG/US. While activity last month was down by 15.5 percent from the year-ago period compared, TraqPak data also indicates that May business aircraft activity increased 3.3 percent from the previous month. More good news is that Part 91 activity eked out a 0.1-percent gain in May compared with the same month last year. Still, Part 135 charter operator activity was down 36.7 percent last month compared with May last year, and fractional flying lagged by 26.1 percent in the same comparable period, though fractional turboprop flying climbed 6 percent. Comparing May-to-May numbers by aircraft segment, light-jet activity fell the most at 23.5 percent, followed by midsize jets (down 15.5 percent), large-cabin jets (down 10.6 percent) and turboprops (down 10.1 percent). ARG/US estimates flight activity has dropped an average of 0.73 percent per month for the last 12 months, with total flight activity declining 21.52 percent year-over-year.
Pre-owned Bizjet Inventories Hold Steady, UBS Says
“Available business jet inventories look finally to be stabilizing,” UBS Investment Research noted in its recently released business jet update, though pre-owned inventory remains at record-high levels at 18 percent of the in-service fleet. While still 55 percent above prior-year levels, available business jet inventories were roughly unchanged sequentially last month over April, though a 1-percent decline in young (less than 10 years old) available aircraft listings was reported, UBS said. New delivery position inventories have also declined sequentially in each of the past two months. However, pre-owned business jet pricing is still weakening. “We estimate average asking prices for most young aircraft models have now fallen 30 to 40 percent from peak levels,” UBS investment analyst David Strauss said, “with pricing down another 3 to 4 percent in the past month. While our survey of industry professionals suggests some incremental interest at these levels, we think record-high used available inventories will continue to overhang orders, pressure existing backlogs and force further production cuts.”
FOIA Request Seeks List of BARR Participants
A December 2008 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by investigative journalism organization ProPublica asked the FAA to release the list of requests for aircraft to be blocked under the NBAA Block Aircraft Registry Request (BARR) program. On March 20, NBAA wrote to the FAA, objecting to the release of the BARR data. NBAA argued that voluntarily submitted data such as the BARR requests “is categorically protected from disclosure under the FOIA, provided that it is not ‘customarily’ disclosed to the public by the submitter.” The FAA responded that it “has determined that the requested information does not fall within any exemption under FOIA.” The FAA was to have released the data to ProPublica on June 16. However, on June 15, NBAA filed a “reverse FOIA action” with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking that the BARR information not be released, and this has temporarily halted the FAA from fulfilling ProPublica’s FOIA request.
Aerion Formal Launch Set for Late Next Year
Aerion this week at the Paris Air Show said it is nearing a decision on an aerospace manufacturing partner to lead the development and production of its supersonic business jet (SSBJ) design. According to the Reno, Nev.-based company, the next step is to carry out a pre-launch phase jointly with the OEM to confirm the Mach 1.6 jet’s performance, costs and market before formal launch in the third quarter of next year. Aerion then anticipates a five-year program, meaning the Aerion SSBJ could be flying in 2013 and certified by late 2015. Aerion vice chairman Brian Barents noted two positive economic signs for the program: the Aerion order book has held steady at approximately $4 billion–with each copy of the SSBJ costing $80 million–and OEMs have remained committed to pressing ahead with discussions at a time of economic uncertainty. “Both customers and OEMs are looking beyond the current economic turmoil,” said Barents. “OEMs understand that they need to think five to 10 years ahead and have new products in the pipeline. The development timeline for the Aerion supersonic business jet fits well with this sort of planning horizon.”
Also Noted...
Boeing yesterday released what it called “extremely encouraging” results of a three-year study that shows that sustainable biofuels analyzed in a series of test flights performed favorably in comparison to petroleum-based fuel. The company said the test results show a potential for almost immediate commercial applications for blends of traditional jet fuel with Camelina, which does not compete for land with food sources.
Workers have just finished pouring the concrete for a 10,000-foot main runway at a new airport scheduled to open next May near Panama City, Fla. The St. Joe Company, one of Florida’s largest real-estate developers, donated the land for the airport and owns 75,000 more acres surrounding the site that it will seek to develop for industrial use over the next several years.
Aircell received FAA STC and PMA certification for its inflight high-speed Internet system and completed the first installation in a Bombardier Challenger 605. The 3G mobile wireless system allows users to browse the Web, send and receive e-mail with attachments, use instant messaging and access VPNs with laptops, smartphones and PDAs at mobile broadband speeds. The Aircell ATG 4000 Internet unit weighs 11 pounds, and two belly-mounted antennas at 1.25 pounds and Aircell’s Axxess cabin system are also required components.
Ducommun AeroStructures won a contract worth an estimated $100 million to manufacture the tailcone and fuselage doors for Embraer’s Legacy 450 and 500 jets. Ducommun will build the components at its facilities in Southern California, Kansas and Mexico. In February, Ducommun announced a $50 million contract to design and build ailerons and spoilers for the Legacy 450 and 500.
Susi Air, a charter operator headquartered in Indonesia, signed an agreement with Cessna to purchase 30 Grand Caravan single-engine turboprops. Susi Air flies charters and humanitarian airlift throughout Indonesia and operates 10 Grand Caravans. Cessna will deliver eight of the new order to Susi Air this year and 22 more Grand Caravans by the end of 2011.
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