Aircraft manufacturer Embraer (NYSE: ERJ) announced today that its family of E2 commercial jets, which include the E195-E2 and E190-E2, received type certification from Transport Canada Civil Aviation (TCCA).

The certification is the latest for the aircraft, which have also received certification from ANAC (Brazil), the FAA, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Embraer said in a statement that the first of 50 E195-E2 deliveries to Porter Airlines, A Toronto-based carrier, will happen at Embraer’s headquarters in São José dos Campos, Brazil, in the coming days. The OEM said it would also be the first E195-E2 to operate in North America.

• READ MORE: Embraer Nabs Order for 5 E195-E2 Aircraft, Keeps Airline Secret

Porter’s order with Embraer is for up to 100 E195-E2s, with 50 being firm commitments and 50 as purchase rights. Embraer said the deal is worth $5.82 billion at the list price, with all options exercised. The OEM also noted that Porter placed another firm order for 20 more aircraft this year, worth $1.56 billion.

Embraer said the E195-E2 burns 25 percent less fuel than the previous-generation aircraft. Meanwhile, the jet is expected to emit 17 percent fewer emissions, Embraer said. 

• READ MORE: Embraer’s Q3 Revenue Dips Alongside Defense Demand

In its third-quarter earnings update earlier in November, Embraer said its firm order backlog reached $17.8 billion. For the third quarter, it reported $929 million in third-quarter revenue and told investors that it had delivered ten commercial jets and 23 executive jets during the period.

CEO Francisco Gomes Neto, however, told investors that while business was strong, supply chain woes continued to impact its output.

The post Embraer E195-E2 and E190-E2 Receive Type Certification in Canada appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Aviation attorney Joe LoRusso is a “fierce advocate” for supporting pilot mental health and has made it his business to do so—at least that’s how he’d put it, based on his profile at Ramos Law. 

LoRusso is a lead aviation attorney at the firm, but before that, he was a pilot. The pilot-turned-lawyer recently joined BusinessAir TV, where he spoke with FLYING COO Preston Holland and Kaylee Nix about the state of mental health support in the aviation industry.

• READ MORE: Mental Health Services Crucial for All Pilots

“With aviation law, I do certificate defense and one of the few that does certificate defense with a focus on the medical side,” LoRusso shared during the segment.

LoRusso, according to a Ramos Law profile, said the impetus to become a lawyer came nearly a half decade after working as a professional pilot because he “saw a need for dedicated and passionate representation of pilots.” With the bar under his belt, the Colorado-based lawyer blends his time between supporting his clients and flying actively as a contract pilot.

“I’m still a professional pilot—I fly half the time, and I do attorney-ing half the time,” LoRusso said.

“I started my career putting pilots into the HIMS [Human Intervention Motivational Study] program and letting 135, and 91 drivers have access to what is normally a 121 program,” LoRusso shared.

‘Inadequate’ Mental Health Policies

The HIMS Program is a substance abuse treatment program designed specifically to help professional pilots. According to HIMS, “It is an industry-wide effort in which managers, pilots, healthcare professionals, and the FAA work together to preserve careers and enhance air safety.”

But during his segment, LoRusso said he had changed tunes. “As my career progressed, I realized the HIMS program has essentially lost the plot. It stopped being about clinical medicine, and it started being about money in pockets,” he said.

LoRusso said now, he’s pulling pilots out of HIMS and is now looking at the FAA’s medical standards. He isn’t satisfied with what he found there, either.

“It’s absolutely out of touch with current clinical medicine,” LoRusso said during the segment, describing the regulations in place as “inadequate.” 

“It is a constant banging your head up against the wall fight with the FAA, but it’s worthwhile and necessary,” LoRusso said.

When Holland weighed in to mention some of the ongoing conversations around mental health in the industry and asked LoRusso if he could name some of the things the FAA was doing well regarding mental health, LoRusso said he couldn’t think of anything.”I know I’m going to get flak from the FAA, but that’s the truth,” LoRusso said.

FLYING reached out to the FAA to clarify LoRusso’s claim. In response, the agency said, “the FAA encourages pilots to seek help if they have a mental health condition since most, if treated, do not disqualify a pilot from flying.”

• READ MORE: Watch: A FLYING Roundtable Discussion on Mental Health and Aviation

LoRusso went on to name one initiative the FAA was doing but didn’t seem to think much of it. 

“Dr. Northrup is doing ‘The Air Up There’ podcast where she’s talking about mental health,” which he cites as part of the agency’s awareness campaign. “But really, that doesn’t mean anything.”

A spokesperson with the FAA countered the claim. “During the last several years, the FAA has invested resources to eliminate the stigma around mental health in the aviation community, so pilots seek treatment,” the agency spokesperson said.

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 Specifically, the FAA said its efforts included:

• Increasing mental health training for medical examiners
• Supporting industry-wide research and clinical studies on pilot mental health
• Hiring additional mental health professionals to expand in-house expertise and to decrease wait times for return-to-fly decisions
• Initiating clinical research to address the frequency of cognitive testing in airmen on antidepressant medication

Still, according to LoRusso, the FAA needs to focus its efforts on changing regulations concerning mental health provisions for pilots, which according to his measure, “haven’t been updated since the early 80s.”

• READ MORE: Flying Isn’t All or Nothing

“The FAA can say as much as they want, but until they actually start changing the regulations through rulemaking and notice and comment period, it’s all façade,” LoRusso said.

Humanizing Pilots

When Nix quizzed LoRusso to name specific policies that he thought were worth changing, he explained that in the context of the pandemic, which the World Health Organization says has resulted in 6.63 million deaths worldwide, even pilots are facing a hard time.

“What I do is try to humanize pilots,” LoRusso said. “COVID was hard for everybody. Often we get the thought that when I say mental health, we’re talking about schizophrenia and bipolar [diagnoses], but I’m also just talking about anxiety and situational depression.”

• READ MORE: How Can The Aviation Industry Encourage People to Self-Report Their Mental Health Conditions?

LoRusso pointed out that while pilots can address those disorders through means such as counselors, therapists, and even medicine, he said FAA regulations don’t allow pilots to do that. 

“From the FAA standpoint, with the regulations, if you are grieving for the loss of a loved one, and maybe you have situational or acute depression, in response to that, you’re disqualified. You’re as disqualified from flying as somebody with bipolar disorder,” he said.

• READ MORE: Depression, Anxiety, and the FAA

He explained that this is because of the limitation of the application for a medical certificate, form 8500-8, that professional pilots have to fill out to gain a medical to work. Specifically, Question 19 of the form requires pilots to disclose the previous three years of visits to health professionals. According to LoRusso, if it included psychiatrists, it sets off a cumbersome chain of events for pilots, namely because he says the FAA has limited personnel in the Federal Air Surgeon’s office who have the final say in the review process. Because they can’t fast-track the process, LoRusso argues that pilots are left in limbo. 

The FAA put it differently. In its statement to FLYING, the FAA said, “Aviation medical examiners are trained to determine the pilot’s mental health and fitness to fly.” However, it said, “the examiner may request additional psychological testing if necessary,” but also clarified that “before these examinations, pilots must disclose any mental health conditions. Commercial airlines often have their own mental health screenings and requirements,” the agency said.

Is HIMS a Problem? 

LoRusso has another suggestion, however. He wants the FAA to stop relying on HIMS personnel in the medical evaluation process because he believes there’s a discrepancy in the process.

“The FAA utilizes HIMS psychologists and psychiatrists for most mental health concerns to evaluate airmen for mental health conditions,” LoRusso said. “We’re finding that the FAA will reverse their decisions, and that’s the problem.” In other words, he says HIMS personnel are disconnected from the process because they haven’t interacted with the clients directly, yet they have the power to decide whether they are fit to fly.

The FAA shared with FLYING resources that explain its pilot mental health oversight, as well as remarks by former FAA Administrator Steve Dickson on pilot mental health.

 “We have people that are disconnected in the federal air surgeon’s office, that are looking at a report and making a clinical decision that is counter to a medical professional that has seen the pilot, face-to-face, and went through the medical records and evaluated them appropriately. The fact that those evaluations are getting disregarded is shocking.”

• READ MORE: Delta Air Lines Settles With Pilot Who Raised Safety Concerns

Where does the industry go from here? LoRusso said that, unfortunately, professional pilots are also up against the public’s opinion of pilots dealing with mental health issues.

“If you stop somebody in Newark International Airport and you asked them, ‘would you be concerned if your pilot had depression? Immediately, the public would say, no, I don’t want that,” LoRusso reasoned. As a result, he said the industry should be more outspoken, but he is doing his part.

As for pilots dealing with their struggles, LoRusso’s advice is two-fold.

“Go see somebody and then see an aviation attorney because we can do much more proactively than reactively.”

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Garmin’s (NYSE: GRMN) G5000 flight deck for the Cessna Citation Excel and Citation XLS aircraft has officially received European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification. 

A spokesperson for Garmin confirmed the news with FLYING after the company announced in October that approval was pending. 

At the time, Garmin said its Cessna Citation Excel and Citation XLS G5000 modernization program launched three years ago and that more than 100 Excels and XLSs have added the avionics package to those jets. The next major milestone was to work with European regulators to finalize the permission needed by EASA-certificated operators to install the G5000 integrated avionic suite on the midsize jets. 

“We are thrilled to bring this complete flight deck solution to the European market and further expand the G5000 upgrade program for the Citation Excel and Citation XLS fleet,” Carl Wolf, Garmin’s vice president of aviation sales and marketing, said in a statement.

• READ MORE: Garmin’s G5000 Flight Deck Adds New Capabilities for Some Citations

The upgrade includes FAA and EASA-compliant and integrated ADS-B Out solutions. Operators will also be able to access more airports and lower approach minimums through the PBN/RNP 0.3 with LPV/APV approach capabilities.

Some other G5000 features for the Citation Excel/XLS include:

• Three landscape-oriented flight displays with split-screen capability
• Simultaneously viewing of maps, charts, checklists, TAWS, TCAS, flight plans, and weather
• Electronic charts and geo-referenced Garmin SafeTaxi airport diagrams across all displays
• Touchscreen controllers that as the pilot interface to the flight deck
• Fully digital automatic flight control system (AFCS)
• Autopilot-enabled emergency descent mode (EDM) in the event of aircraft depressurization
• Optional autopilot-assisted underspeed protection (USP) to assist with airspeed management while enabling fully coupled go-arounds.

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Months after losing its primary engine manufacturer, Boom Supersonic is now leading a consortium of industry partners in designing a powerplant for its Overture supersonic airliner, it announced.

Boom said it is leading the collaborative effort in developing the new supersonic engine—dubbed Symphony— alongside Florida Turbine Technologies (FTT) for engine design, GE Additive for additive technology design consulting, and StandardAero for maintenance for Symphony.

The announcement comes three months after engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce exited its contract with the commercial airline manufacturer, prompting Boom to look to other engine manufacturers with supersonic propulsion programs. At the time, Rolls-Royce said commercial supersonic flight was no longer a short-term priority for the company.

• READ MORE: Rolls-Royce Will No Longer Power Boom’s Supersonic Airliner

Company officials, however, then decided the solution was to design the aircraft and engine together.

“Developing a supersonic engine specifically for Overture offers by far the best value proposition for our customers,” said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic,

The announcement comes at a pivotal point of development for Boom following Rolls-Royce’s exit. The first Overture aircraft—expected to fly as fast as Mach 1.7, as high as 60,000 feet msl, and carry between 65 to 88 passengers—was scheduled to roll out in 2025 and begin commercial service with passengers by 2029.

Now, with Symphony, Boom said that design is already underway and that Overture is expected to achieve type certification in 2029. The company will build Overture at the Overture Superfactory in Greensboro, North Carolina, with ground testing to begin in 2026 and flight test in 2027.

• READ MORE: How North Carolina Got Boom’s Overture ‘Superfactory’

“Through the Symphony program, we can provide our customers with an economically and environmentally sustainable supersonic airplane—a combination unattainable with the current constraints of derivative engines and industry norms,” Scholl said.

A Boom-Led Partnership

FTT, a Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc business unit, will lead the engine design portion. Boom indicated that it would leverage FTT’s “supersonic engine design expertise,” notably because FTT’s workforce, including engineers involved in the “designing the F-119 and F-135 supersonic engines that power the F-22 and F-35,” Boom said.

“The team at FTT has a decades-long history of developing innovative, high-performance propulsion solutions,” FTT President Stacey Rock said. “We are proud to team with Boom and its Symphony partners and look forward to developing the first bespoke engine for sustainable, economical supersonic flight.”

• READ MORE: American Airlines Inks Deal for 20 Boom Supersonic Overture Aircraft

Boom has also tapped GE Additive for additive manufacturing design consulting. Boom said the partnership would enable more streamlined development, reduced weight, and improved fuel efficiency.

“GE Additive will bring industry-leading capabilities to Symphony, providing additive manufacturing design consulting and technology while looking for additional areas to potentially collaborate,” Chris Schuppe, general manager of engineering and technology at GE Additive, said in a statement.

Looking ahead to maintenance, Boom selected StandardAero in order to deliver “reliable and economical operations and provision of maintenance services for the life of the aircraft,” it said.

StandardAero also has experience as a supersonic engine assembler.

“Our current qualifications, capabilities, and experience assembling and servicing supersonic military jet engines make us the intelligent solution for future commercial supersonic engine MRO applications,” said Russell Ford, chairman, and CEO of StandardAero.

• READ MORE: Curious About Boom Supersonic? Here Are Five Things to Know

Here’s What to Know About Symphony

According to Boom, the powerplant will be a medium-bypass turbofan engine, similar to powerplants on current commercial aircraft. However, unlike subsonic turbofans, Boom said its Symphony would feature a Boom-designed axisymmetric supersonic intake, a variable-geometry, low-noise exhaust nozzle, and a passively cooled high-pressure turbine. It won’t have an afterburner. 

Boom said the powerplant would produce 35,000 lbs of thrust on takeoff and would run on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel. To keep things quiet and meet Chapter 14 noise level requirements, Symphony will be designed with a single-stage fan. The process will include additive manufacturing to keep its weight and parts count low and reduce assembly costs. Finally, it will need to meet FAA and EASA Part 33 engine certification requirements.

Boom said it expects Symphony to reduce airplane operating costs for airline customers by 10 percent compared to other derivative powerplants.

The post Boom to Lead New Powerplant Design for Supersonic Jet appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) placed a firm order for 100 Boeing (NYSE: B.A.) 787 Dreamliners and an option to purchase 100 more, it announced Tuesday.

The aircraft order is the largest ever placed by a U.S. commercial carrier for widebodies, United said. Deliveries are expected to begin between 2024 and 2032, and United will have the option of choosing among 787-8, -9, or -10 models.

In the same announcement, United also said it exercised options to purchase 44 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for delivery between 2024 and 2026, keeping its United Next 2026 capacity plan, and ordered 56 more MAX aircraft for delivery between 2027 and 2028.

• READ MORE: United’s Big Boeing Purchase Set to Advance Its Ambitious Climate Goals

Altogether, the major carrier is expecting to take delivery of around 700 new narrow- and widebody aircraft by the end of 2032. The aircraft volume will average more than two deliveries each week in 2023, with more than three each week in 2024, it said.

Training and Hiring Pilots

Earlier this year, in June, the airline announced that it would spend $100 million to expand its pilot training center in Denver, Colorado, and allow it to streamline its operations. The airline is planning to hire 10,000 pilots by 2030. At the time, the company said it would add a new four-story building on the 23-acre campus in Denver’s Central Park neighborhood to house 12 additional advanced flight simulators, training classrooms, conference rooms, and offices. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.

Of the 10,000 pilots, the airline will train 5,000 pilots through 2030 at its United Aviate Academy, which opened in the spring, with a commitment to ensuring that half of those trainees are women or people of color.

• READ MORE: United Aviate Academy Orders 25 Cirrus TRAC SR20s

In a social media post, United CEO Scott Kirby said the airline was the only one to negotiate a deal with its pilots’ union to keep all pilots current and in place. Pilots at many carriers have been at odds with management over old contracts as they look to negotiate for better pay and benefits.

United said around 100 new widebody jets would replace older Boeing 767s and 777s. By 2030, United will remove all 767s from the airline’s fleet. The airline said the move would be beneficial because newer aircraft are expected to decrease carbon emissions by 25 percent per seat compared to the older jets.

Is Boeing Back?

The news is a boost for Boeing, which has had a year of ups and downs as it looks to regain its pre-pandemic high. It’s also another vote of confidence in the MAX program by another major U.S. carrier. Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) ordered 100 737 MAX 10s at the 2022 Farnborough International Airshow in July.

• READ MORE: 737 MAX Orders Help Boeing Crush Airbus at Farnborough Airshow

“With this investment in its future fleet, the 737 MAX and 787 will help United accelerate its fleet modernization and global growth strategy,” Stan Deal, president, and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes said in a statement. 

Following the announcement, Moody’s, which assigns credit ratings to companies based on risk assessments, signaled to the market that United’s order was a good sign. “Today’s order by United Airlines for new Boeing aircraft is a boon to Boeing and its Commercial Airplanes segment,” Jonathan Root, senior vice president for Moody’s Investors Service, said in a statement.

The order’s value is estimated to be worth approximately $16 billion, even with discounts and accounting for inflation, Root said.

“Importantly for Boeing, with this order, United becomes the second of the U.S. Big Three airlines to commit to operating an all-Boeing widebody fleet. American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) is the other,” Root said. “Boeing’s 787 backlog is currently about 420 aircraft. The United order increases this backlog by almost 25 percent. The MAX order adds to the current MAX backlog of about 3,600 aircraft.”

The post United to Purchase Up to 200 New Boeing Widebody Aircraft appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

During the first nine months of the year, global sales of business and general aviation avionics totaled more than $2 billion, the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA) said in its recent third quarter report 

AEA said avionics sales increased 4.6 percent from the second to the third quarter this year, marking nine consecutive quarters of increasing sales, the association said. Comparing July to September 2021 with the same period in 2022, avionics sales increased by 23.2 percent.

The report was compiled using data from participating companies, AEA said.

The news comes as the aircraft purchasing market has also seen an uptick, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s (GAMA) third-quarter shipping and billing report released in November.

• READ MORE: Aircraft Deliveries Up in Q3 Across All Segments: GAMA

The $2.08 billion in forward and retrofit sales for the first nine months of 2022 was 18.3 percent more than during the same period in 2021, AEA said. Following earlier trends, forward-fit sales led the way over retrofits, with $407 million and $333 million, respectively. 

AEA said the more than $407 million in forward-fit sales was the largest in the report’s history, topping the previous high of $376 million that came back during the 2019 second quarter.

• READ MORE: Garmin to Supply G3000-based Flight Deck for Special Forces’ Strike Aircraft

The rise in sales has been focused on one region, according to the report. The U.S. and Canada generated 73.7 percent of the nine-month sales activity this year.

“While year-over-year avionics sales in the retrofit market are nearly flat, the overwhelming majority of the total sales growth is taking place in the forward-fit market,” AEA president and CEO Mike Adamson said in a statement. “Avionics installed in newly manufactured aircraft were valued at more than $400 million this quarter for the first time in our report’s history, and our industry is seeing a healthy demand for brand-new general aviation aircraft.”

• READ MORE: New Trends in Inflight Connectivity

The post Forward-Fit Avionics Sales in Q3 Highest On Record appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday that would require the FAA to publish new aircraft evacuation standards for Part 121 commercial aircraft, Reuters reported. 

Senators Tammy Duckworth and Tammy Baldwin co-sponsored the Emergency Vacating of Aircraft Cabin (EVAC) bill that would require future FAA evacuation simulations to include more realistic scenarios, including passengers across a wider age range and physical abilities, and with carry-on bags.  

• READ MORE: The Word No Airline Pilot Wants to Utter

The current standards require pilots and cabin crews of airlines to fully evacuate the aircraft in 90 seconds or less. 

Specifically, FAR 121.291, which governs emergency evacuations, states that “each certificate holder must conduct an actual demonstration of emergency evacuation procedures… to show that each type and model of the airplane with a seating capacity of more than 44 passengers to be used in its passenger-carrying operations allows the evacuation of the full capacity, including crew members, in 90 seconds or less.”

• READ MORE: FAA Faces Renewed Pressure to Stop the Shrinking of Seat Sizes on Commercial Airplanes

The senators’ push for the FAA to update its standards is related to a study it released in March of this year that sought to establish a minimum seat size for airline travel and which factored in simulated emergency evacuations. The report garnered more than 26,000 public comments regarding the seat sizes and their effect on evacuation, which the FAA said it was reviewing but explained that it only followed guidelines set by Congress, according to Reuters.

So now, the senators are also weighing in. Duckworth, who is a double amputee, said she was “appalled” that the evacuations were not a “realistic test” because “they are using groups of able-bodied people,” according to the Reuters report.

• READ MORE: Jumpseat: U.S. Airways Flight 1549

In 2018, Congress directed the FAA to set minimum dimensions for passenger seats necessary for passenger safety. While the FAA has conducted studies to evaluate the situation, with the results published in the March 2022 report, it still needs to update its standards.

The results would ultimately affect airline crew training, as FAR 121.417 requires airline training programs to include pilots coordinating evacuations.

The post Senators Call Part 121 Aircraft Evacuation Standards ‘Unrealistic’ appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Atlanta-based fractional jet and aircraft management company Volato is expanding its fleet. The company announced a new order of 25 HondaJet Elite II light jets, which upon delivery will stretch its fleet to more than 40 HondaJets. Deliveries will begin in 2023 and will be completed in 2025.

HondaJet unveiled the new Elite II in October during the National Business Aviation Association’s Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Orlando, Florida.

Watch: CEO Matt Liotta on Business Air TV

Volato currently has 17 HondaJets in its fleet, and the 25-unit order announced Thursday is incremental and firm, the company said. The company also recently announced it has ordered four Gulfstream G280 super midsize jets.

• READ MORE: Private Jet Company Volato Adds Gulfstream’s G280 to Its Fleet

Volato said in a statement that its fractional owners would have immediate access to the wider fleet upon delivery.

“We believe in the vision and future of Honda Aircraft Company as they continue to optimize the private jet experience with the HondaJet,” Matt Liotta, CEO, and co-founder of Volato said.

Volato’s news comes on the heels of its competitor, Jet It, announcing last week that it was pivoting away from the HondaJet because of what it described as poor service.

• READ MORE: Jet It Pivots Away From HondaJet to Phenom 300

In a scathing letter sent to customers, Glenn Gonzales, the founder and CEO of fractional company Jet It, accused the Honda Aircraft Company of costing the company tens of millions of dollars due to its gaps in customer service. 

In Volato’s case, Liotta said his company is taking a different approach.

“Every business decision we make aims to deliver the best experience for our customers,” Liotta said. “Volato’s fractional ownership program provides an unmatched offering in the industry, and it makes sense that one of our key partners would have the equivalent offering in aircraft manufacturing. Receiving such a large order from HACI is a big win for Volato and further reinforces our strong working relationship.” 

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NetJets will be the fleet launch customer for Bombardier’s Global 8000, adding the new platform to its already sprawling fleet of more than 850 aircraft, the aircraft manufacturer announced Wednesday.

The long-time fractional company has placed a firm order for four Global 8000 ultralong-range jets valued at $312 million. Additionally, it converted eight existing orders for Bombardier products, the OEM said. 

• READ MORE: Take a Look at Bombardier’s New Global 8000

“The new Global 8000 aircraft is the ultimate solution for NetJets’ discerning Owners, offering a truly seamless private aviation experience,” said Eric Martel, president and CEO, of Bombardier. “NetJets’ experience and expertise make them the ideal partner to unlock the full potential of this revolutionary Mach 0.94 business jet in a large fleet context. Our valued relationship continues to grow stronger, and we are proud to share this historic milestone together.”

This new commitment adds to the Global 7500s that NetJets already has on order and in service. The operator plans to expand the fleet to 24 Global 8000s, and at a point in the future upgrade the entire Global 7500 fleet to Global 8000s.

“The new Global 8000 will help us to continue offering our owners, specifically our international travelers, the pinnacle in unforgettably personalized experiences aboard the finest ultralong-range aircraft available,” said Patrick Gallagher, NetJets’ president of sales, marketing, and service.

• READ MORE: Bombardier Displays New Global 8000 Executive Interior

Bombardier also said NetJets could continue expanding its fleet through options that it has the right to exercise soon.

“With inventory sold out through 2023 in the U.S., we are continuing to invest in further expansion for prospective owners in North America and across the globe. In fact, by the end of 2023, we are proud to share that our worldwide fleet will be approximately 30 percent larger than it was at the beginning of 2022,” Gallagher said.

Bombardier introduced the long-range Global 8000 at the The European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva, Switzerland, earlier this year. Currently, in flight testing, it has achieved its projected 8,000-nm range and a top speed of Mach 0.94. The Global 8000 is expected to enter the market in 2025.

• READ MORE: Bombardier Unveils Global 8000 Jet at EBACE

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Construction of 3.3 million-square-feet of new deicing pads at Memphis International Airport has been completed ahead of the winter season. The project, which included $174 million in FAA funding, is an example of federal investment into the modernization of a critical U.S. cargo hub, according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The new deicing pads are large enough to accommodate a dozen wide-body cargo aircraft simultaneously, the Department Of Transportation said.

Buttigieg joined federal, state and local business leaders at the airport Tuesday to mark completion of the project that is strategically geared toward keeping the supply chain intact this winter at FedEx’s largest air cargo sorting facility. 

“This holiday season and every season, it’s critical that American families and businesses get the goods they need when they need them,” Buttigieg said in a statement. “Memphis International Airport is the biggest cargo airport in the country, and this innovative aircraft deicing facility is one of the many ways we’re modernizing America’s supply chains.”

• READ MORE: New Study Reveals 10 Busiest Airports In the World

Innovative Deicing Pads

The deicing pads are designed to make operations more efficient. Message boards, for example, eliminate the need for audio communication with pilots, DOT said. Additionally, taxiway lead-in lights eliminate the need for follow-me vehicles or marshallers, and infrared cameras help position airplanes in deicing bays. 

• READ MORE: Why Did FedEx Ask the FAA About Installing Lasers on Airplanes?

“Innovative projects like this are key to improving safety, increasing efficiency, and advancing sustainability across the country,” Deputy FAA Administrator A. Bradley Mims said.

The new deicing pads will also have a segregated drainage system and containers to collect fluid, which the city will use to sanitize city wastewater.

Richard Smith, president, and CEO of FedEx Express, expressed gratitude for the investment and the impact it would have on his cargo airline.

“We want to thank the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, and Memphis International Airport for their support of this new Consolidated Deicing Facility—an example of how to deploy technology to improve operational efficiency,” Smith said. “The timing could not be better as FedEx enters the busy holiday season.”

Winter is Coming

The Memphis project is one of several investments being made with winter weather in mind. Last week, the FAA and DOT awarded more than $76.2 million to airports to equip them with snow plows, deicing equipment, and new or upgraded buildings for equipment storage for the winter season.

• READ MORE: How to Winterize Your Flying

Of that, approximately $46.2 million will be used to purchase snow removal equipment, another $13.6 million will be used to develop deicing facilities, and the final $16.4 million will construct and renovate buildings that house and maintain snow removal equipment. That funding comes from the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program.

“We can’t let winter weather stop aircraft from safely landing and taking off. This funding will help keep airports operating this winter and safely transport passengers and cargo to their work, families, and vacations,” Associate Administrator for Airports Shannetta Griffin, P.E. said.

The post Memphis Airport Opens New Deicing Pads Ahead of Winter Season appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Denver International Airport (DEN) revealed the mockups today of its forthcoming Center of Equity and Excellence in Aviation (CEEA), a training center to create an aviation talent pipeline in Denver, especially for under-represented groups and young people. Construction is set to begin in late 2023.

The airport in Denver is the biggest economic engine for Colorado, which means the new facility will serve an essential role in creating business and career opportunities for the community, Mayor Michael Hancock said. 

“CEEA is a groundbreaking concept that will be instrumental in developing a skilled workforce of the future that will allow our airport to operate effectively and efficiently during its continued growth,” Hancock said.

The 66,000-square foot facility will be built on Level 4 of the Hotel and Transit Center, making it easy to access Denver’s commuter rail station. The space will also feature a Hall of Equity that is big enough to hold 300 people for training and educational sessions. There will be adjacent rooms of similar capacity, the airport said in a statement. Additionally, CEEA will have a pre-function and lobby space with a small café for networking and small group meetings.

The airport has begun implementing some of the center’s future programs, including a business development training academy to provide small business training for potential airport concession businesses. The airport said nearly 30 business owners have completed and graduated from the program as part of the inaugural session this fall. 

The center will also use a progressive training model to attract, recruit and retain students, and will feature a Research and Innovation Lab to spur research and development through partnerships between the airport and local universities.

Phil Washington, who became the airport’s CEO last summer and was also tapped by President Biden recently to become the new FAA administrator, said the facility would serve as a model for the industry for developing aviation talent.

• READ MORE: Phillip Washington Tapped for FAA Administrator Post

“We are committed to providing under-represented people and businesses opportunities to enter the aviation industry and grow into the leaders of the future,” Washington said. “Through CEEA and our robust programming, we will provide current and future employees the training and tools they need to have a successful career in aviation while helping our small and minority-owned business partners grow and thrive.”

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The International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA) is making it easier for its members to understand their environmental impact. Under a new partnership with sustainability solutions provider 4AIR, IADA-member aircraft owners will now have access to a free carbon assessment and exclusive discounts on voluntary programs and regulatory monitoring and compliance services, IADA said.

Clients can also use 4AIR’s web-based calculator to measure their carbon footprint, giving aircraft purchasers greater visibility of the carbon impact of their potential purchase, according to the organization. 

• READ MORE: IADA Reports Strong Third-Quarter Aircraft Sales

“The partnership with 4AIR is a statement that the leaders in the business aviation resale industry place importance on sustainability,” David Monacell, IADA chair emeritus and partner in CFS Jets, said in a statement Monday.

Monacell said the new partnership gives IADA’s accredited dealers another tool to “be the very best counselors available for buyers and sellers of business aircraft.”

The partnership will be a useful tool during aircraft purchases, according to 4AIR president Kennedy Ricci.

“With today’s growing scrutiny of private travel and its impact on the environment, it’s increasingly important to be able to assist buyers and sellers answer questions about prospective aircraft and their environmental impacts,” Ricci said.

• READ MORE: Embraer and 4AIR Partner Up

4AIR offers a streamlined reporting program for owners and operators to track their environmental footprint. It aims to simplify voluntary and compliance reporting and align with industry standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol).

“We provide an avenue to help those looking to make meaningful, verified, and documented steps in understanding and minimizing their environmental footprint. IADA and its members are helping lead the industry to a sustainable future,” Ricci said.  

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Neste, the aviation fuel provider, continues expanding its sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) network. Tuesday the company announced it delivered more than 500,000 gallons of My Sustainable Aviation Fuel supply to the Los Angeles International Airport (KLAX), boosting the supply of SAF at the airport. 

Neste said it worked closely with LAXFUEL to make the transfer possible. LAXFUEL is a group of airlines at KLAX that provide the jet fuel supply infrastructure for planes at the airport. The company said that this marked the first time SAF was delivered into LAXFUEL using barges.

“We now have the means to supply this low-emission fuel in larger volumes not only to the airlines flying from LAX but also to other airports in the region serviced by the broader fuel infrastructure managed by LAXFUEL in California,” said John Trozzo, chairman of LAXFUEL Corporation. Trozzo called SAF the “the fastest, most effective means” to reduce carbon emissions.

• READ MORE: JetNet CEO Greg Fell Issues a Call to Arms on Sustainability

“This partnership with Neste proves that we have the capability to immediately implement this fuel as a low-carbon solution. It also provides a sound basis for scaling up future deliveries to airlines,” Trozzo added.

Neste said in its statement that while smaller deliveries of SAF have been made in the past to the airport, one of the biggest challenges is making it available in large volumes.

• READ MORE: SAF Refiner Neste Delivers Fuel to LaGuardia Airport

“This partnership marks the first time that SAF is being delivered as a ready made fuel blend into the existing fueling infrastructure in large volumes at LAX,” Neste said.

Meanwhile, the President of Neste US, Chris Cooper, said this recent partnership with LAXFUEL was a “concrete step” towards improving the industry’s sustainability efforts.

“Neste is fully committed to supporting the decarbonization of aviation. Our company has been at the forefront of accelerating the availability of SAF, and this achievement, together with LAXFUEL, shows how we are taking concrete steps towards a more sustainable future for aviation,” Cooper said.

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Wheels Up (NYSE: UP) announced Tuesday it is partnering with medical transport provider AirMed to bring a range of medical-travel services to Wheels Up members and their families. 

As part of the exclusive partnership, Wheels Up will launch a new membership tier that features the enhanced product offering from AirMed. That provision will allow Wheels Up members and up to 11 additional designated travelers to have 24-hour access to AirMed’s medically equipped fleet when they need medical consultation or air medical transport more than 150 miles from home.

Wheels Up chairman and CEO Kenny Dichter called the partnership “incredibly valuable” in a statement, saying it would support customers “during some of life’s most critical moments.”

• READ MORE: Wheels Up Outlines Path to Profitability After Another Quarterly Loss

AirMed, which is part of the Global Medical Response family of companies, operates an extensive air medical transport business with more than 20,000 missions in all 50 states and 150 countries on six continents. It provides medical care and bedside-to-bedside transportation with air medical crews, and it works closely with major medical institutions, like the Mayo Clinic and the Department of Defense.

AirMed owns and operates a fleet of permanently customized, medically-configured aircraft, including Raytheon Hawker 800s, Beechcraft King Airs, Learjet 35/36s, and Challenger 601s. It has bases in Birmingham, Alabama; San Antonio, Texas; and Las Vegas, Nevada. It also has a point-to-point system with a floating fleet model using its Learjet 35/36s, capable of serving domestic missions on a two-hour call-out.

• READ MORE: Wheels Up, MAG Aerospace Launch Pilot Recruitment Partnership

“The health and safety of our members is our top priority at Wheels Up, and this partnership will provide additional peace of mind wherever their travels might take them,” Dichter said. 

The companies will also offer a COVID-19 benefit to provide air medical transport to members with a confirmed and eligible diagnosis. 

“AirMed International is thrilled to be partnering with Wheels Up as our exclusive membership partner in the aviation industry,” said Denise Treadwell, president of AirMed. “As two best-in-class operations, the partnership equips Wheels Up with an enhanced worldwide membership program to take to market, and we’re excited to support their efforts.”

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Wheels Up (NYSE: UP) is partnering with MAG Aerospace, a Virginia-based military contracting company, as it looks to boost its pilot recruitment efforts.

The on-demand private aviation company said this Pathway Development Program would allow current and former MAG pilots to move their employment to Wheels Up. Additionally, former MAG pilots who work for Wheels Up can take leaves of absence to complete MAG tours. Wheels Up said the shared pipeline would be beneficial to both organizations.

“Wheels Up is committed to being the employer of choice in private aviation, and partnering with MAG Aerospace is another important way we’re helping pilots build lifelong, rewarding careers,” said Stevens Sainte-Rose, chief people officer at Wheels Up. “This talent pipeline is an attractive, accelerated pathway for pilots and allows us to continue to deliver a premium experience for our members by working with the best in the industry.” 

• READ MORE: Wheels Up Outlines Path to Profitability After Another Quarterly Loss

Wheels Up said the PDP offers Wheels Up and MAG employees an opportunity to broaden their skill set while still being able to contribute to the aviation industry. More than 70 percent of MAG’s workforce has a military background, and Wheels Up said the Pathway program would allow it to continue supporting veterans. 

Mark Town, a MAG Aerospace and Wheels Up pilot, added that “MAG is a great company to work for with upward mobility, training, and a diversity of departments and programs. The opportunity to use that experience to be a part of what Wheels Up is building in private aviation is exciting and a great career path for pilots looking for the next step in their careers.” 

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Aircraft manufacturers have delivered 1,841 aircraft so far this year, representing an increase in deliveries across all segments, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association’s (GAMA) third-quarter shipping and billing report. 

The delivery trend also points to an increase in the overall value of the aircraft shipments, the association said in a statement.

Through the third quarter, piston airplane deliveries increased 8.8 percent with 1,012 units, turboprop numbers increased 7.3 percent with 383 units, and business jet shipments increased 1.8 percent with 446 units, according to GAMA.

Altogether, the value of airplane deliveries during that period increased nearly 4.8 percent, up to $14.1 billion. The helicopter market also experienced a demand increase, with OEMs shipping 137 piston helicopters—representing a 3.8 percent increase—and 439 turbine units, a 7.1 percent increase.

• READ MORE: Leonardo Search and Rescue Helicopter Completes U.S. High Altitude Trials

“Demand for general aviation aircraft remains hardy as our industry continues to strategically navigate ongoing challenges, which include issues with supply chain and workforce shortages within our industry and within global regulatory authorities,” GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce said. “Deliveries are converging on and, in some cases surpassing the levels, we were experiencing prior to the pandemic, which is a testament to the strength of our industry and the importance and utility of general and business aviation.”

Supply Chain Woes, Workforce Shortages

In recent third-quarter reports made by various OEMs, similar threads have emerged: persistent workforce shortages and supply chain challenges are preventing them from shipping more units.

Earlier this week, Embraer (NYSE: ERJ) said some of the constraints it faced were “affecting the availability of spare part inventories, delaying repair turnaround time, and increasing the quantity of back-ordered items.” Moreover, Embraer CEO Francisco Gomes Neto told investors those things would make it hard for the company to meet its 2022 goal of delivering 60 executive jets.

Similarly, Textron (NYSE: TXT), Bombardier, and Boeing (NYSE: BA) said the supply chain issues pinched their third-quarter revenue. 

• READ MORE: Embraer’s Q3 Revenue Dips Alongside Defense Demand

Important Milestones Ahead

“We must focus on training the regulator workforce and leveraging bi-lateral safety agreements between regulatory bodies to improve both certification and validation processes,” Bunce pointed out. “At the same time, our industry will continue to foster the momentum we have created on addressing environmental issues, which includes advancing technology that improves efficiencies of aircraft and operations; supporting the production, distribution, and uptake of SAF; and further developing hydrogen, electric and hybrid propulsion—all of which are important to meeting our business aviation commitment of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.”

• READ MORE: Business Aviation Leaders Meet With Senators To Discuss Future Technologies

His sentiments match that of other aviation leaders who, during the third quarter, urged lawmakers and other stakeholders to do all they can to improve the regulatory process for certifying emerging technologies and improve sustainable offerings for the industry or risk disruption.

In September, JetNet CEO Greg Fell issued a call to arms on Sustainability during the JetNet iQ Business Aviation Summit in New York City. “We must be leaders in adopting sustainable aviation fuels and carbon offsets,” Fell said during one of the event’s sessions.

The post Aircraft Deliveries Up in Q3 Across All Segments: GAMA appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

BOC Aviation has become one of the latest aircraft leasing firms to launch legal action against insurers to recoup losses from airplanes stranded in Russia. The Dublin-based aircraft lessor, is suing 16 insurance companies, including Swiss Re, Chubb European Group, Lloyd’s of London, and AIG Europe, Reuters reported. 

BOC Aviation is a subsidiary of Singapore-based BOC, the largest aircraft leasing company in Asia. In August, the company reported to its investors that 17 aircraft stuck in Russia amounted to a loss valued at $804 million.

Russia’s unprecedented move to nationalize more than 500 foreign registered aircraft from lessors has disrupted the insurance sector.

• READ MORE: Insurers May Face Record Claims From Aircraft Grounded in Russia

BOC chief executive Robert Martin told investors in August in his earnings update that the sanctions against Russia were “rushed through approval by governments” and would impact both lessors and insurers, tying up both parties in litigation for the foreseeable future. Martin said BOC Aviation had filed insurance claims at the time, and the company intends to “vigorously pursue those claims.”

“These have impacted lessors and our insurers and will keep lawyers busy for many years. This may require a complete rethinking of aviation insurance,” Martin said.

• READ MORE: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Helps Send AerCap to $2 Billion Loss in Q1

BOC Aviation joins AerCap, Avolon, and Carlyle Aviation as some of the major aircraft leasing companies to file lawsuits against insurers. In June, AerCap filed a $3.5 billion lawsuit over its claim for over 100 aircraft. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Carlyle Aviation Partners, a subsidiary of the Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG), filed a $700 million claim to more than 30 insurers and reinsurers.

• READ MORE: Air Lease Claims $802.4 Million Write-Off After 27 Leased Jets Stuck in Russia

Fitch Ratings, the American credit rating agency, indicated that “insurers and reinsurers could face claims as high as $10 billion in a worst-case scenario due to the grounding of planes in Russia.” 

If insurers and reinsurers had to make those payments, it would be “thoroughly devastating,” Bill Behan, CEO of Assured Partners Aerospace, told FLYING in March. He said he estimated that the payout would be more than “two to three times the size of every insurance dollar paid to the insurance industry in the world for all of aviation.”

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Chinese intelligence officer Yanjun Xu, who worked for China’s Ministry of State Security, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Wednesday after being convicted for attempting to steal trade secrets from U.S. aviation and aerospace companies. 

Federal Judge Timothy Black presided over the trial, which took place in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati. It’s a lesser sentence than the 25 years that federal prosecutors sought after a jury convicted Xu in November 2021.

Xu was convicted of conspiring and attempting to commit “economic espionage and steal trade secrets from multiple U.S. aviation and aerospace companies.” According to trial documents,  beginning in December 2013, Xu targeted leading companies, such as G.E. Aviation (NYSE: GE), by recruiting its expert employees to visit China under the guise of asking them to deliver a university presentation. He also paid their travel costs and provided stipends.

• READ MORE: GE CEO Culp Takes over Aviation Unit

In April 2018, Xu was arrested in Belgium while trying to meet a G.E. employee. He was eventually extradited to the U.S., where he was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Ohio. The G.E. employee was not charged. 

Xu’s case marks the first time a Chinese intelligence officer was extradited, convicted, and sentenced in the U.S. and could set a precedent for the Department of Justice’s pursuit of economic espionage prosecutions.

A Chinese intelligence officer has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for espionage crimes & attempting to steal trade secrets from a Cincinnati company. Yanjun Xu is the first Ministry of State Security officer ever extradited to the U.S. to stand trial. pic.twitter.com/o20mk6DLg2

— FBI Cincinnati (@FBICincinnati) November 16, 2022

• READ MORE: Ex-U.S. Army Pilot Pleads Guilty To Selling Secrets to China

‘This Should Be a Wakeup Call’

Throughout the case, prosecutors claimed Xu, in his role as a deputy division director at the Chinese Ministry of State Security, attempted to steal proprietary composite powerplant knowledge from G.E. Aviation’s engine unit so that the Chinese government could try to replicate it. Prosecutors said Xu used “multiple aliases to target specific companies in the United States and abroad that are recognized as leaders in the field of aviation.”

After a two-week trial in November 2021, a federal jury convicted Xu of all charges. He was convicted of two counts of conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage. He was also convicted of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft and two counts of attempted theft of trade secrets. The first two counts bore a maximum prison penalty of 15 years for each count and a maximum $5 million fine. Additionally, the conspiracy and thefts of trade secret convictions bore a maximum 10-year prison sentence for each count and a $250,000 fine. Altogether, Xu faced a maximum of up to 60 years in prison.

“This conviction of a card-carrying intelligence officer for economic espionage underscores that trade secret theft is integral to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) government’s plans to modernize its industries,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of DOJ’s National Security Division said.

An official with the FBI, which also aided the investigation, said the conviction was a warning. 

“This was state-sponsored economic espionage by the PRC designed to steal American technology and put Americans out of work,” assistant director Alan E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division said following his conviction last November. “For those who doubt the real goals of the PRC, this should be a wake-up call.”

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CubCrafters, the light-sport, experimental, and backcountry aircraft company, could soon become a publicly traded company. The company announced Tuesday it earned a qualification through the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to make a $50 million public stock offering. Using the exemption, the company said it would be the first time outside investors would have an opportunity to support the company.

• READ MORE: CubCrafters Gets Set To Go Public

Advised by Manhattan Street Capital—an online fundraising platform for midstage and mature startups—CubCrafters said it intends to raise the $50 million from “fans, customers, aviation enthusiasts, the investment community, and the general public.”

The company said that first-round investors would be able to purchase shares at $5 per share and would need to make a minimum $400 investment per investor.

“In just 90 days, we received reservations for more than $25 million of CubCrafters’ shares,” Patrick Horgan, CubCrafters’ president and CEO, said in a statement. “This was a great first step in securing the vision of our founder, Jim Richmond, who wanted to give the public an opportunity to participate in the growth of our company.”

• CubCrafters Founder Jim Richmond Dies

Richmond passed away at his home in Washington in November 2021. He established the company in 1980 after being inspired by the Piper Super Cub. Over the course of four decades, the company has built more than 1,500 aircraft and has positioned itself to corner the backcountry market. 

The company said in a statement that demand has led to a two-year waitlist for its aircraft, and that public fundraising will allow it to complete orders more quickly. Additionally, it will invest in its customer support services and product innovation. According to the company’s investor presentation, CubCrafters predicts that the light sport aircraft global market could be worth $13 billion in 2027, up from $8.1 billion in 2021.

“Now that we have been qualified by the SEC, we look forward to welcoming new investors to CubCrafters and working on their behalf to drive long-term shareholder value,” Horgan said.

The company said it plans to remain a U.S.-based company and will continue manufacturing its product line at its facilities in Yakima, Washington.

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Earlier this year, FLYING spoke with Eric Zipkin, CEO of Tradewind Aviation, to take the temperature of the charter jet market. During that interview, Zipkin shared how his Connecticut-based company was adjusting to shifting work-from-anywhere trends and increasing demand for private aviation. In early March, Tradewind Aviation announced that it was ordering 20 PC-12 NGX turboprops from Pilatus to bolster its fleet.

• READ MORE: Tradewind Aviation Orders 20 PC-12 NGX Turboprops

Since early spring, however, the world has changed. The global economy has been awash with the ripple effects of the Russian-Ukraine conflict that began at the end of February. That crisis is still playing out. So far, it has affected the fuel market by sending prices surging. It has also affected aircraft ownership and insurance premiums; and losing Russia from the marketplace as the world emerged from the pandemic has caused various supply and demand challenges that may also contribute to a global recession. 

Throughout this time, however, the increasing adoption of private aviation as the preferred means of travel for those who can afford it has not waned. At least, that was Zipkin’s sentiment when FLYING caught up with the business owner and operator in October.

“Since we last spoke, people have continued to fly private, writ large, whether for personal reasons or business,” Zipkin said, adding that there are some caveats. “People’s travel patterns are moving slightly back to where they were before. Whereas people would be much more willing to travel in the middle of the week for leisure because they could be remote or weren’t expected to be in an office, that’s changing a little bit.”

• READ MORE: Are Aviation Businesses About To Face Headwinds? Not So Fast

What he shares is consistent with a return to office initiatives many companies have been pushing and business travel trends that FLYING reported in September. For instance, WingX said that during August, operators in North America traveled just 1 percent more than they did in 2021—a possible indication that while activity was still robust, it may have reached the top. In that report, WingX said business jet activity fell 4 percent by late August, and charter activity decreased by 8 percent. So far, that trend has held through November, though there were some slumps in October, WingX reported Friday. 

No Slowdown in Business Travel for Tradewind

For Tradewind, Zipkin explained that business travel demand appears to be still robust. 

“People are still taking advantage of being able to work remotely, which means they’re spending maybe long weekends in Nantucket, but the center of gravity is shifting back towards the workplace,” he said.

Additionally, Zipkin said people who have acquired a taste for private aviation because of its privacy, efficiency, and convenience, compared to commercial airline travel, have had a hard time returning to the airlines. It’s similar to what Éric Martel, president and CEO of Bombardier, told investors in August: “With every passing month of airport and flight schedule disruption, business [aviation] travel becomes a more appealing option.” 

According to Zipkin, even as the pendulum swings back to more time in the office, customers are now more likely to tap into business aviation when they have to go on business trips. Also in Tradewind’s favor is its ability to offer that option to corporate customers at an affordable price point, Zipkin reasons, even as the broader economy slows and companies start to cut costs. 

“What you’re seeing is the small, mid-size companies realize that to take advantage of private aviation, they don’t have to do that in Gulfstreams—they can use a Pilatus,” Zipkin explained, and points to this as one reason why demand—at least for Tradewind—hasn’t waned. “We allow people to have all the benefits of business aviation at one of the most efficient prices. In terms of value proposition, the PC-12 is about as good as it gets.” So, while he believes there is a high probability of a recession, Zipkin said people who use private aviation tend to be more insulated. 

Pilot Shortage the Big Challenge

The biggest challenge ahead is finding pilots, especially for business aviation. Zipkin makes the case that airlines, attempting to regain pre-pandemic flight levels, have ramped up pilot recruiting by offering lucrative pay and benefits, making it hard for private aviation to compete. To address this challenge, Tradewind has positioned itself as a partner in JetBlue’s pilot gateway program, which at least ensures a stream of pilots will still flow through the charter company before possibly moving on to the larger carrier. 

Positioned for the Future

Tradewind is also trying to stay balanced in meeting demand, Zipkin said. In the broader economy, during the pandemic, many companies mistook a spike in demand for their goods and services as a structural shift. In turn, they ramped up their capacity, only to discover that they got too large too quickly. For a charter company, that could be costly, as it would mean expanding a fleet too much or hiring too many people. 

By contrast, Tradewind has taken a measured approach instead of overextending itself, Zipkin told FLYING, adding that the company has focused on the customer experience to encourage loyalty, even if things slow down. 

“This is a long game,” Zipkin said. “There are a number of places out there that are playing the short game to grow, but we’re in the service business, and if you don’t provide service each and every time, you’re done.”

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