Aviation International News
August 2016
PUBLICATIONS Vol. 48 No. 8 $9.00
®
www.ainonline.com
Special Report Maintenance: Independent MROs What does the future hold for the independent shops, as the OEMs come to view maintenance as a profit center? Providers discuss the challenges and benefits of working with OEMs. page 34
Avionics Cabin electronics
Tampa International Jet Center has long been on chains’ radar for acquisition, and recently the time was right and the company sold to Sheltair.
Chain buys independent: inside an FBO deal by Curt Epstein With the trend of consolidation continuing apace in the FBO industry, it seems no company is invulnerable to acquisition, as evidenced by Sheltair’s recent acquisition of Tampa International Jet Center (TIJC), a formerly fiercely independent, standalone location. The FBO, one of two service providers
at Florida’s Tampa International Airport (TPA), has consistently been one of the most highly regarded facilities in the country since it opened more than a decade ago. Long coveted by the big chains, the location attracted even more interest recently, according to former company president Phillip Botana, who remains with
AIN’s
PRODUCT SUPPORT SURVEY
When aircraft owners—or potential owners— begin the acquisition process, they have to consider more than just the present (typical mission, purchase price, direct operating costs, and so on); they need to look down the line at how the manufacturer supports the aircraft, both when it is new and as it ages. Every year AIN gives readers the chance to rate the level of support they receive and manufacturers the chance to highlight what they are doing to improve their support. By large measure, readers are happy with the level of service they are getting, though—not surprisingly—the price of parts remains a sore spot. Embraer takes the top place among business jet manufacturers, while perennial favorite Mitsubishi retains the lead among turboprop manufacturers. Read the report on page 20.
Sheltair as a senior vice president. “We’ve been approached by almost everybody in the business at some point or another in recent years to consider selling,” he noted. “Before the announcement and the closing, I’ve probably been called in this last year by more investment groups interested in getting into being a consolidator in this industry than ever before.” Coupled with those eager suitors was the looming threat posed by Signature Flight Support, which in its February purchase of Landmark Aviation acquired the other FBO at TPA, one of the now 200 locations in its network. “Obviously the landscape has been changing, Continues on page 66 u
No consensus on ATC plan, FAA gets another extension by Kerry Lynch Remaining far from agreement on the proposal to create an independent air traffic control organization, Congress settled instead on a 14-month extension of the FAA’s operating authority and pushed debate on ATC reform and other measures such as certification reform into next year. But the extension bill still won praise for providing stability over the next year and for containing a limited number of other aviation measures such as reform of third-class pilot medical certification. Congress completed action on the extension just two days before the FAA’s operating authority
was set to expire on July 15. The extension marked a compromise between the House, which had made the independent ATC organization the centerpiece of its FAA reauthorization proposal, and the Senate, which had sought to strengthen consumer protections. Senate Commerce Committee leaders had pressed the House to take up their long-term FAA bill, saying independent ATC had little chance of winning passage in the Senate. The House, however, was not in favor of the Senate bill, and Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee chairman Bill Continues on page 32 u
Customers want faster and more reliable in-flight connectivity for voice calls and Internet data. Manufacturers are giving customers what they need today and building in capacity for tomorrow’s technology. page 52
Rotorcraft Delays possible for AW609 The Italian government has impounded one of the flight-test vehicles in the civil tiltrotor program after last year’s fatal crash, and Italy’s aviation safety authority has made recommendations that could delay the project. page 56
Opinion Make CVR/FDR data accessible now Flight data and cockpit voice recorders do no good after a crash if authorities can’t retrieve the data in a timely way and make the necessary changes before another accident. page 18