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EDITORIAL
FROM THE DESK OF…
PAPERVS PIXEL
Fernand Francois
THE QUESTION IS RAISED – If you had the choice, would you prefer to read this column on the mini-display of your cell phone or computer monitor, or would you rather continue reading this printed version of BART International? Nowadays our reading behavior is split between the printed and electronic word. Essentially, that’s what the debate about the consequences of multi-media mania on our reading behavior boils down to. How do we perceive a message, sent electronically, compared to a printed message? The problem is fundamental and the answer critical – especially as there is a growing trend among marketing executives who consider the electronic approach as an efficient, low-cost advertising line of attack. This heated discussion is the same as that of the value of face-to-face business meeting versus video teleconferencing. How will multi-media affect the publishing business? Not much. In the end, just as there will never be a substitute for personal contact in the business world, there will never be a substitute for the paper version of a good book. Have you ever tried working on a computer outside on a sunny day? While there’s nothing like reading a magazine in your garden or at the beach, you cannot even glance at the text and images displayed on a screen in a sunny environment. With a magazine, you can stop in the middle of the article and suspend your reading, knowing that you will be able to come back to your reading at any time. Many of our readers even keep their back issues. If you are a pilot, maybe you are reading this editorial in the crew room of an FBO, where BART is largely distributed. Have you noticed the state of the publication? How many of your fellow airmen have read the articles in this issue? Reading a magazine is easy. You read, you look at pictures and sometimes you look out the window, letting your mind wander off the point for awhile before coming back to your reading with a refreshed mind. No problem, the battery will not be flat! And when reading your magazine in an airplane, you don’t have to turn it off during take-off and landing! Still, the explosion of electronic communications services for businesses and industries has been nothing but startling. Satellite communications and other electronic services are getting cheaper and are ushering in a new way of life. Make no mistake about it, web communications will remain strong. The wrist radios and TVs of agent 007 were thought of as a joke a generation ago. But it became reality – from handheld TVs to men in space – that’s the excitement that technology can bring. At BART International, we have not neglected this exciting aspect of communications. We developed a dynamic website where our readers can find the latest news, updated several times throughout the day. And every week the latest industry news is recapped in our newsfeed – The Ticker. But although technology has made some things obsolete, the printed version of BART International is here to stay.
BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 3
Editor and Publisher Fernand M. Francois, Senior Editor Marc Grangier, Managing Editor Nicholas J. Klenske, Senior Writers Liz Moscrop, Jack Carroll Contributors Brian Humphries, Michel R. Grüninger, Capt. Giancarlo Buono, Markus Kohler, Louis Smyth, Javier Ortega Figueiral, Aofie O’Sullivan, Steve Nichols, LeRoy Cook Business Aviation Consultants Walter Scharff, Guy Visele Director Marketing & Advertising Kathy Ann Francois +32 472 333 636 e-mail advertising@bartintl.com Administration and Circulation Brenda Bogacz Production Manager Tanguy Francois Photographer Michel Coryn Circulation and Editorial Office: BART International, 20 rue de l’Industrie, BE1400 Nivelles, Europe Phone +326 788 3603 Fax +326 788 3623, e-mail info@bartintl.com BART International Business Aviation Real Tool (USPS #016707), ISSN 0776-7596 Governed by international copyright laws. Free subscription obtainable for qualified individuals. Bank account: Fortis 271-0061004-23. Printed in Belgium. Bimestreil. Bureau de depot B-1380 Lasne. Responsible editor Fernand M. Francois, 38 rue de Braine 7110 La Louviere. Periodicals postage paid at Champlain, N.Y., and additional mailing offices. Address changes should be sent to IMS of N.Y., 100 Walnut St. #3, PO Box 1518, Champlain, N.Y. 12919-1518. For details call IMS at 1 (800) 428 3003
SECTIONS
3 EDITORIAL
8 FAST TRACK
22 EURO/BUSINESS NEWS
26 EBAA: CEO CORNER
82 INSIGHT
FEBRUARY - APRIL 2010 Volume XXI - No 1 BART No 125 WWW.BARTINTL.COM
OUR ADVERTISERS AND THEIR AGENCIES 83 2 17 65 13 21 9 27
AIR BP AIRCELL LLC AMSTAT AVINODE CESSNA (MEDIASSOCIATES INC) CRS JET SPARES DASSAULT (SINGULIER & ASSOCIES) EBACE 2010
84 11 77 35 73 6/7 15 29
HAWKER BEECHCRAFT (ROSS DESIGN CREATIVE SERVICES) JET AVIATION (PUBLICIS WERBEAGENTUR AG) JETEXPO 2010 JETNET LLC NBAA 2010 RAISBECK ENGINEERING RUAG AVIATION AG (OTTIGER & PARTNER BSW A G) UNIVERSAL WEATHER & AVIATION
CONTENTS
B USINESS A VIATION R EAL T OOL Member
28
60
EXCLUSIVE FLEET REPORT Fear not – it’s not all bad news in Business Aviation. Although 2009 was a tough year, the positive may just weigh out the negatives. For instance, the emerging markets are surging, charter requests are on the rebound, the helicopter market held strong and the market analysis are all pointing towards a recovery. Nick Klenske, Avinode Amstat and Marc Grangier present Business Aviation by the numbers.
MAINTENANCE This month, the focus is on maintenance. First, Marc Grangier gives us an overview of MRO Spare Parts and RUAG Aviation. Then, the BART Team heads to Switzerland for company visits and reports on Jet Aviation Basel, Air Service Basel.
54 ROTATING INTO HOUSTON Heli-Expo 2010 is just around the corner, and the industry is primed for another stellar show. As always, expectations are high and, as Jack Carroll reports, the industry is set to show just how resilient they are.
70 THE DETAILS Derek A. Bloom opens The Docket on grey cabotage flights in Russia, the Experts at Great Circle Services’ put some sense into safety, LeRoy Cook takes us inside the VIP cockpit and Nick Klenske pays Pilatus a visit.
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Got a grumble with something in BART? Want to sound off about one of our contributors? Or offer us a commendation? E-mail us at editor@bartintl.com Avidyne Corporation announced that, along with Brown Aviation Lease, they have extended their partnership with Western Michigan University (WMU) with the selection of Avidyne’s Entegra Release 9 Integrated Flight Deck avionics system for WMUs fleet of Cirrus SR20 aircraft. Through Brown’s Operating Lease Solution, WMU’s fleet of 26 Cirrus aircraft will be outfitted with Entegra Release 9, comprising dual high-resolution IFD5000 Integrated Flight Displays, WAAS-capable FMS900w Flight Management Systems (FMS), 16-watt alldigital VHF radios, and MLB700 SIRIUS/XM for broadcast datalink weather.
AGENDA
AVIDYNE’S ENTEGRA RELEASE 9 SELECTED BY WESTERN MICHIGAN
HeliExpo 2010 20 - 23 FEBRUARY 2010 Houston, Texas EBACE 4 - 6 MAY 2010 Geneva, Switzerland Farnborough Int’l Airshow 19 - 25 JULY 2010 Farnborough, U.K.
DASSAULT SET FOR ON-SITE SUPPORT Dassault Falcon will continue its practice of positioning technical support personnel and spare parts in strategic locations to assist operators who will be travelling to highly-attended events in 2010. These events include the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland (January 27-31), the Singapore Airshow, in Singapore (February 2-7), the Super Bowl XLIV, in Miami, Florida (February 7), the Winter Olympics, in Vancouver, Canada (February 12-28), and the Soccer World Cup in South Africa (June 11-July 11).
FINNISH BORDER GUARD ORDERS AW199Ke AgustaWestland is pleased to announce that the Finnish Border Guard has ordered a fourth AW119Ke single engine helicopter. The Finnish Border Guard chose the AW119Ke in 2008 to sustain its fleet modernization and enhancement program. All four helicopters will be used to perform various tasks including border patrol, special operations and fire fighting. The first three helicopters ordered will enter service during the 3rd quarter of 2010 and will operate from Helsinki and Rovaniemi (Arctic Circle) bases, flying in the harshest environmental and weather conditions and covering the entire Finnish/Russian border.
CRS JET SPARES ANNOUNCES CRJ SUPPORT CRS Jet Spares, a leading corporate aviation supplier, has announced that they are now offering tip-to-tail support for CRJ aircraft. This latest support program offered by CRS is in addition to the company’s current lineup of supported aircraft which includes Gulfstream, Challenger, Falcon, Learjet, Beechjet and 8 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
Hawker. The company will also extend its popular 24 hour, seven days a week AOG support to include CRJ requests. The company, which has been a trusted provider of parts and support to the aviation community for more than 25 years, has been gradually building their CRJ inventory in preparation for
this move. “We made the decision to support CRJ aircraft after noticing an increase in the number of CRJs being retrofitted as executive airliners,” explains CRS CEO, Armando Leighton, Jr, “We now provide the level of service our executives are accustomed to for aircraft that used to be strictly commercial jets.”
GoTeam
ROCKWELL COLLINS HAZARD DETECTION SYSTEM WINS AWARD
DASSAULT FALCON APPLAUDS INDUSTRY EFFORTS IN HAITI
The Rockwell Collins Multiscan™ Hazard Detection system has received the 2010 Aviation Technology Achievement Award. The award, which is sponsored by Air Transport World® (ATW) magazine, highlights the vital role the system plays in improving the safety of flight, reducing turbulence-related injuries and boosting operational efficiency. The award will be presented on Monday, Feb. 1 at the 2010 Singapore Airshow during the magazine’s gala dinner and awards celebration.
P&WC CELEBRATES 500TH PT6A DELIVERY TO BLACKHAWK
As the situation in Haiti continues to unfold, Dassault Falcon would like to recognize those Falcon operators who have provided much needed assistance to the area. As part of the ongoing effort, on Wednesday, January 20th Dassault Falcon Jet Captain Jack Kemper and First Officer Tom Willis and Cabin Attendant Sue Taylor, flew Dassault Falcon’s 900EX EASy demonstrator aircraft from Fort Lauderdale International (KFLL) to Cap-Haitien International Airport (MTCH) in northern Haiti. The mission was arranged by Corporate Aviation Responding to Emergencies (CARE) and responded to a need for additional medical personnel at a hospital near Cap-Haitien Airport. The group was comprised of two doctors, two first responders, five nurses and two nurse practitioners and a significant amount of medical supplies.
COMLUX CREATES COMPANY IN BAHRAIN Comlux The Aviation Group and MAZ Aviation (MAZAV) announced the creation of Comlux Middle East Company in Bahrain. Initially, Comlux and MAZ will base two of their Airbus aircraft in the region: one A318 Elite and one ACJ. At the end of 2010, Comlux will receive its brand new A320 Prestige that will be positioned in the Middle East region too. Thanks to this new aircraft base, Comlux Middle East will be more reactive on the charter demand of its clients. Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) recently celebrated the delivery of its 500th PT6Aturboprop engine to Blackhawk Modifications Inc. of Waco, Texas, a major player in the growing aircraft modifications market. P&WC held a special ceremony at its engine manufacturing facility in Longueuil to honor Blackhawk and its 250th engine conversion customer, Dan Rogers, owner of Franklin, N.C.-based DuoTech Services, a company offering engineering laboratory, depot repair facility, and other technical services to military and civilian agencies.
10 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
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JSSI COMMITS TO HAITI RELIEF EFFORTS
Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI), the world’s largest, independent provider of hourly cost maintenance programs for the Business Aviation industry, has responded to the devastating earthquake in Haiti on January 12th with an outpouring of donations and support for relief efforts. Key JSSI personnel contacted the Corporate Aircraft Responding in Emergencies (CARE) network that is working with the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) to facilitate the donation of more than $1 million worth of business aircraft flight hours to transport supplies, equipment, medical personnel and volunteers to earthquake stricken areas in Haiti. JSSI management began their commitment by purchasing 20,000 lbs of critical supplies last weekend and assisted the CARE volunteers with loading and preparing the donated aircraft for departure from Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE). They will continue to provide support to CARE by assigning JSSI Technical Service Representatives to assist with aircraft loading and other tasks as needed at the FXE airport.
PremiAir NAMED BEST EXECUTIVE AVIATION COMPANY PremiAir, the leading executive helicopter charter operator, was voted ‘Best Executive Aviation Company’ at the 2010 Business Travel Awards, which took place at a glamorous awards ceremony, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Group Managing Director David McRobert accepted the award from John O’Hagan, Senior Vice President, Diners Club International.
BYTRON ANNOUNCES LATEST SKYBOOK SERVICE BYTRON are pleased to announce the latest release of skybook® service. This optional module allows subscribers to obtain briefing updates on mobile devices that are browser enabled. Flight crew can log on to receive up-to-the-minute additions to their flight briefing information including weather, NOTAM, fuel & navigation plans, ETOPS route plots and Operational Notices. The Weather Watcher color coding feature provides the ability to visualize weather changes at a glance. This information can be invaluable in flight crew decision making, especially in changing conditions, ensuring crew are updated wherever they are, for example, during the aircraft turnaround process. 12 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
PrivatAir ARRIVES IN GULF REGION PrivatAir SA, the Swiss VIP and Business Aviation specialist, has decided in its 33rd year of operations to offer its unique brand of luxury aviation services to the discerning Gulf market. PrivatAir’s extended presence at the inaugural Bahrain Airshow is a sign of its commitment to commencing operations out of Bahrain later in the year. PrivatAir is currently spending significant time and effort in planning and organizing for a launch of executive aircraft management and charter operations in midsummer this year.
TIMIDITY DIDN’T
GET YOU THIS FAR. WHY PUT IT IN YOUR
BUSINESS PLAN NOW? In today’s corporate world, pity the poor executive who blinks. The good news is, in trying times like these, fortune tends to favor those who make bold, decisive moves. It’s simply about adjusting, not retreating, starting with a good, hard look at your flight department. Are you flying the right aircraft for your missions? Can you adjust capacity to meet demand? One thing is certain: true visionaries will continue to fly. Because, in tempestuous times, leaders recognize it’s not about ego. Or artifice. It’s simply about availing yourself of the full range of tools to do your job. RISE.
May we help you develop your plan? Visit www.bart.cessna.com or call 00.800.6060.0018.
AVALON AERO ARRIVES AT LONDON BIGGIN HILL
AIR PARTNER ARRANGES RELIEF FLIGHTS TO HAITI Air Partner offices worldwide have come to the aid of earthquakestricken Haiti, arranging a number of humanitarian aid relief flights carrying vital cargo, medical personnel and support workers. The company flew some 38.5 tonnes of supplies to the country, departing from Brindisi Airport in Italy. Its UK-based freight team arranged for a commercial MD-11 aircraft to transport kitchen sets, generators, water tanks, blankets, tents, plastic rolls, latrines, trauma kits, energy biscuits and emergency health kits to support relief efforts after the recent devastation.
London Biggin Hill Airport are pleased to announce the arrival of a new maintenance organization. Avalon Aero have taken a 19,000 sqft hangar facility on the airport and consolidated their bases that were in various locations around the country.
BEECHCRAFT KING AIR 350I GETS FAA, EASA CERTIFICATIONS
AVIDYNE EX600 MFD AWARDED AML-STC APPROVAL Avidyne Corp., a leading provider of integrated flight decks, displays, and safety systems for general aviation aircraft, announced they have received FAA Approved Model List - Supplemental Type Certification (AMLSTC) approval for their recently-introduced EX600 Multi-Function Display (MFD). This AML-STC, which comes on the heels of the Technical Standard Order (TSO) approval that was granted at the end of December, authorizes installation of the EX600 MFD in over 650 Part 23 Class I, II, and III aircraft makes and models.
MEDICAL CENTER SELECTS EMS SKY CONNECT FOR AIR AMBULANCE
Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC) announced it has received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Type Certifications for the new Beechcraft King Air 350i turboprop. The King Air 350i sets the standard in cabin luxury, entertainment and flexibility while delivering unmatched fuel efficiency and the lowest operating cost per seat, making it one of the greenest aircraft available to business travelers today. Deliveries of the aircraft commenced in December 2009.
14 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
Carolinas Medical Center (CMC), one of the Southeastâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading healthcare systems, has selected the EMS Sky Connect FLEETâ&#x201E;˘ Satcom system to provide voice and tracking for each of its aircraft ambulances. The MedCenter Air program, based in Charlotte, N.C. , operates the air ambulances, which support local, regional, and international health care entities.
The fine art of business jet maintenance. When it comes to your safety, no requirement is too high, no effort too big. Therefore you should never compromise on business jet maintenance, neither in terms of service quality nor engineering. At various locations highly qualified experts are waiting to take care of your aircraft especially for you. Whether you need MRO services, system upgrades, exterior painting or interior refurbishment, you can rely on our first-class workforce and a service level that is in line with our customers’ discerning needs. As an official OEM partner and Major Service Center for Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault Falcon, Dornier, Embraer, Hawker Beechcraft, Piaggio and Pilatus aircraft, we know exactly what matters wherever you call on our services. You should get to know the difference too.
RUAG Aviation Seetalstrasse 175 · P.O. Box 301 · 6032 Emmen · Switzerland Legal domicile: RUAG Switzerland Ltd · Seetalstrasse 175 · P.O. Box 301 · 6032 Emmen · Switzerland Tel. +41 41 268 41 11 · Fax +41 41 260 25 88 · communication.aviation@ruag.com · www.ruag.com
MARSHALL AVIATION, AEROSPACE RESOURCES PARTNER UP Marshall Aviation Services of Cambridge, part of the Marshall Aerospace company, has formed a partnership with Aerospace Resources Ltd. of Surrey, to provide a range of consultancy and management solutions to airport owners and operators, and air traffic management organizations. The two companies have agreed to combine their capabilities to provide a single source meeting the needs of operators in these closely related fields.
GlobalAir.com MOVES INTO FORMER FSS AT BOWMAN FIELD Just before the start of the New Year, employees of GlobalAir.com unpacked boxes in new offices beneath the Bowman Field control tower. Now, as the company settles into the formerly vacant Flight Service Station (FSS), founder and President Jeff Carrithers wants the transition to spark more growth at the airport. The new offices will allow GlobalAir.com to expand, Carrithers said, spurring economic development in the Louisville area, a community where airports and aviation-related businesses in recent years have created thousands of jobs. Once a large data center for the FAA, the new Bowman Business Center provides GlobalAir.com with greater network capabilities.
BERLIN AIRPORTS SELECTS ExecuJet EUROPE Berlin Airports will hand the operation of the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) at Berlin-Schönefeld Airport over to ExecuJet Europe this Friday. ExecuJet was successful in winning the Europe-wide tender and will be responsible for the handling of all Business Aviation movements in future. ExecuJet will provide fast and exclusive VIP passenger handling for all arriving and departing business aircraft, building on its success in Berlin Schönefeld over the past years. It opened a newly refurbished and enlarged fixed base operation (FBO) at the airport in autumn 2008. Its two-floor 400m2 facility includes a crew lounge and operations briefing room, VIP passenger lounges and conference facilities. In addition, ExecuJet offers all aviation services for private or charter aircraft, including fuelling, handling and aircraft parking.
NetJets TAPS SIGNATURE LAS VEGAS AS TOP US FBO Signature Flight Support Las Vegas was recently awarded ‘Top FBO’ honors for 2009 by NetJets. The NetJets’ Service Excellence award is conferred upon the FBO that best meets NetJets’ strict criteria for safety, service, facilities and amenities, partnership development, maintenance capabilities and price.
16 -BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
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ASSOCIATED AIR CENTER RECEIVES ODA
ARGUS C.ONTINUES INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION
Associated Air Center, the completions center for transport-category VIP aircraft, and a key business unit of StandardAero, a Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) Company, has successfully transitioned their Designated Alteration Station (DAS) to Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) at its Dallas, Texas location. The Dallas-Fort Worth Aircraft Certification Office, ASW-190 (ACO) and the Associated Air Center certification team worked tirelessly to complete the transition before the November 14, 2009 deadline.
ARGUS is pleased to announce continued international growth for both its CHEQ (Charter Evaluation and Qualification) System and ARGUS Audits. The new year has brought the achievement of several important milestones with 250 aircraft and more than 600 pilots participating in the international CHEQ System. Additionally, 12 international operators have received an ARGUS rating, and several more will be added to the elite list during first quarter 2010, following completion of an ARGUS Audit.
VIH COUGAR HELICOPTERS GETS AW139
EMBRAER DELIVERS FIRST PHENOM 300
AgustaWestland announced that the VIH Cougar Helicopters Inc. of USA has taken delivery of an AW139 medium twin helicopter during an official ceremony recently held at Vergiate plant (Italy). This 12 seat-configured helicopter will be operated for offshore transport missions in the Gulf of Mexico.
Embraer has begun delivering its recently certified Phenom 300 executive jet, just one year after the first Phenom 100 customers received their aircraft. The first Phenom 300 was delivered at the Company’s headquarters, on December 29, 2009, to Executive Flight Services, a wholly owned aircraft management subsidiary of Executive AirShare.
AEROPORTS DE LYON LAUNCHES TV STATION
EMBRAER DELIVERS LINEAGE 1000 TO AJA
FLY’On TV, the first TV station owned and directed by a French airport, is on air. Aéroports de Lyon TV reaches the 30,000 people who use Lyon-Saint Exupéry and Lyon-Bron passenger terminals every day. Programs focus on Lyon, the region, the airports and the services they provide. Since December 9, Aéroports de Lyon FLY’On TV station can be viewed on 12 screens in the three Lyon-Saint Exupéry and Lyon-Bron terminals. Targeting all users, the 45 minute program prepared monthly is transmitted 6 times daily on weekdays and 3 times during the weekend. Throughout the rest of the day passengers can enjoy Euronews, the international news channel based in Lyon. Embraer delivered the first Lineage 1000 executive jet to Al Jaber Aviation (AJA) of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, at the end of December, in São José dos Campos, Brazil. The aircraft will begin operations for on-demand charter service in March 2010. AJA will be the largest Lineage 1000 operator, with a fleet of five aircraft.
18 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
HAWKER 4000 TAKES SPOTLIGHT IN SINGAPORE With the recent certification by the Civil Aviation Administration of China and deliveries underway in the region, the flagship Hawker 4000 is setting a positive tone in Southeast Asia for Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC). HBC and its international dealer, Hawker Pacific, will display a Hawker 4000, along with a Hawker 750 and a King Air B200GT, at the biennial Singapore Airshow from Feb. 2-7 at the Changi Exhibition Center in Singapore . The 2010 show is expected to attract more than 40,000 visitors from 112 countries. The HBC and Hawker Pacific exhibit will be located at Chalet CD-31.
ExecuJet EUROPE ADDS FIVE WIDE-BODIES TO FLEET The ExecuJet Aviation Group has bolstered its European fleet with the addition of seven new aircraft. Over the past few months the company has added a Challenger 300, Challenger 850, two Global Express’, one Global 5000, one Falcon 2000 and a Gulfstream 100. These aircraft are based in London, Moscow , Kiev , and Nice. With more Global Express, Gulfstream and Falcons also in the pipeline for arrival in the next weeks this takes ExecuJet Europe’s management fleet to over 50 aircraft.
EMBRAER DELIVERS 100th PHENOM 100 JET Embraer delivered the 100th Phenom 100 aircraft to JetSuite, a U.S.based private jet charter company. The commemorative aircraft is the sixth delivered to this customer.
EMBRAER OPENS NEW SERVICE CENTER
Embraer has appointed ExecuJet Australia Pty. Ltd. as its exclusive authorized executive jet service provider in Australia. ExecuJet has been offering services to all of Embraer’s Legacy 600 customers since January 2010, including warranty and line and heavy maintenance. During this year, ExecuJet will expand its role to support Phenom customers. The global aviation service provider will also offer 24-hour Aircraft On Ground (AOG) support for Embraer executive jets based in Australia and traveling through the region, out of its Melbourne service center, complemented by its Sydney and Brisbane maintenance bases.
CESSNA ESTABLISHES PARTS DISTRIBUTION CENTER IN ASIA Cessna Aircraft Company announced it has reached agreement with sister company Bell Helicopter to use Bell’s Asia parts distribution facility in Singapore to further enhance parts distribution to Citation operators in Asia and the Pacific Rim region. Both Cessna and Bell are Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) companies.
CITATION CJ4 NEARS FAA TYPE CERTIFICATION Cessna Aircraft Company has completed all certification testing and is in the final stages of Federal Aviation Administration type certification approvals. Deliveries are set to begin later this year. The Citation CJ4 offers an extensive standard equipment list including a four-screen Collins Pro Line 21 avionics suite with electronic charts and graphical weather, TCAS II, EGPWS Class A TAWS, Dual Mode S Diversity transponders with ADS-B out capability, Multi-Scan weather radar, Emergency Descent Mode, and an essential electrical bus.
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PEOPLE AIA David Mandell has joined AIA as the Vice President of Membership and Business Development.
Blackhawk Modifications Darden Hamilton has been tapped as the new Director of STC Programs for Blackhawk Modifications.
ARGUS ARGUS announced the appointment of Ryan Kahl to the newly created position of International Sales Manager.
roles. Eric Cardinali, currently president of Bell Helicopter, Canada, will succeed Alberti. Esterline CMC Electronics Patrick Champagne has been appointed Vice President, Cockpits and Systems Integration, James Palmer as Vice President, Aviation Products and Jean-Michel Comtois Vice President of Marketing and Sales.
Avidyne Avidyne Corporation has promoted Peter Ring to Eastern Region – North America Sales Manager. BBA Hugh McElroy, President of the BBA Aviation Engine Repair and Overhaul Group and its constituent companies was elected Chairman of the Board to the Frontiers of Flight Museum. McElroy has previously served as a Board Member of the Dallas, Texas-based museum that chronicles a broad collection of historic aircraft and space vehicles.
Customer Support, Scott Hunter to Director, Maintenance
Jeffery McPhie Darden Hamilton Cessna Cessna announced changes to its leadership team. Mike Shonka, executive vice president and chief financial officer, is retiring. He will be succeeded by Eric Salander, who currently serves as executive director, Financial Planning & Analysis for Textron. Further, Ron Alberti, senior vice president of Integrated Supply Chain will assume several new
Jean-Michel Comtois FlightSafety FlightSafety International announced that Jeffery McPhie has been promoted to Director,
Scott Hunter
FINAL FLIGHT FOR DICK FRIEL, “THE KING OF CHARITY”
Hugh McElroy Bell Helicopter Barry Kohler, currently Bell’s vice president of Commercial Programs, was promoted to the role of president. 20 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
One of a kind, larger than life, and loved by a world of friends, Seattle marketing executive, aviation pioneer, and charity auctioneer extraordinaire Dick Friel passed away early on the morning of Jan. 14 at Bailey-Boushay House. He was a giant in the advertising and promotion business, credited with the successful branding of Aviation Partners’ fuel-saving Blended Winglet Technology, on more than 3,000 Boeing aircraft and jets worldwide. The countless hours Dick spent raising money for charities, applying his unique auctioneering concept, is legendary. Dick and his wife, Sharon, have raised more than $300 million for charities around the globe.
Training Sales and Patrick Dulac to Manager of the company’s Learning Center located at the Paris-LeBourget airport. GAMA G A M A h a s h i r e d Kathryn Fraser as Manager of Operations.
Pilot, Hillcrest Aircraft Company of Lewiston, Idaho, while the W.A. (Dub) Blessing Certified Flight Instructor of the Year Award goes to Tom Read, Check Airman and Flight Instructor, Omniflight Helicopters of Addison, Texas. Hawker Beechcraft Hawker Beechcraft named Justin Firestone as president, Sales, Asia and Pacific Region and Hugh Waud as the company's Field Service Representative, based in New Delhi, India.
Kathryn Fraser Gulfstream Jeff Toline was named director of service and Greg Laabs vice president and general manager at Gulfstream’s Appleton, Wisconsin facility.
Justin Firestone JSSI Phillip Dickerson was appointed Director, Business Development for the Southeast US Region at JSSI.
Greg Laabs HAI HAI is pleased to announce the 2010 Pilot of the Year Award goes to Earl S. Palmer, Chief
StandardAero Michael Kaplan has joined StandardAero as General Counsel and will assume the responsibilities of Chief Security Officer upon confirmation from the Department of Homeland Security. Chris Bodine was appointed vice president and general manager of the company’s Augusta, Georgia facility. The company also named Jeff Manion Vice President, Global Sales and Customer Service for Business Aviation and Frank Rodgers Director of Human Resources for the Associated Air Center. BART: BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 21
ROCKWELL COLLINS COMPLETES AIR ROUTING ACQUISITION
Rockwell Collins, Inc. has completed the acquisition of AR Group, Inc., and its affiliated companies, including Air Routing International, a premier provider of trip support services for business aircraft flight operations. Under the terms of the agreement, Rockwell Collins will acquire all outstanding shares of AR Group, Inc. and its affiliated companies. The acquisition is expected to be neutral to Rockwell Collins’ fiscal year 2010 earnings. During the transition, the company will go to market as Air Routing International, a Rockwell Collins Company. “One of our growth strategies is to extend beyond products and systems to bring value-added applications and services for flight operations,” said Steve Timm, vice president and general manager, Information Management at Rockwell Collins. “Air Routing’s expertise in flight planning and trip support is a natural fit with this strategy. We look forward to the opportunity to deliver new levels of service to current and future customers.” Rockwell Collins is a leading provider of flight deck, cabin and information management solutions for business aircraft operators. Air Routing has been providing flight departments with trip planning services for more than 30 years. Recently, the company extended its offering to give customers comprehensive online access to its flight support tools. This offering provides customers with a single-source, global solution for weather services, flight planning services, fuel arrangements, international trip handling and concierge services.
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EMBRAER DELIVERS 244 JETS IN 2009
GE AVIATION’S TURBOPROP BIZ TAKES OFF
Embraer delivered 91 jets to the airline, executive and defense markets during the fourth quarter of 2009 (4Q09), totaling 244 airplanes for the year, surpassing the guidance of 242 deliveries. The Company’s firm order backlog totaled US$ 16.6 billion on December 31, 2009. In 4Q09, Embraer delivered 23 E-Jets and three ERJ 145 jets to the airline market; six Legacy 600 super midsize jets, 52 Phenom 100 entry level jets, two Lineage 1000 ultralarge jets, and the first Phenom 300 light jet to the executive jets market; and one ERJ 135 jet, two Phenom 100 jets, and one EMBRAER 190 jet to the defense market.
Since GE’s acquisition in mid-2008, GE Aviation Czech s.r.o., formerly known as Walter Engines, has been busy —- launching a new engine, being selected to power a new aircraft, receiving a Czech grant and expanding its services and support network. Eighteen months ago, GE Aviation acquired certain assets of Walter Engines, a Czech Republic-based manufacturer of small turboprop engines and high precision machined parts for the aviation industry. Renamed GE Aviation Czech, the business has made great strides. Among the highlights: P New facility and test cells: GE Aviation Czech moved to a 135,000 square-foot facility in Prague in earlier 2009. The facility includes CNC machining centers, EDM and NDT capabilities and a new surface-treatment plant. The most recent addition includes three new automated engine test cells for development, certification and serial production acceptance testing of turboprop engines. About 400 employees work at the new facility. P H80 engine launch: Immediately after the acquisition, GE launched the H80 turboprop engine, which will produce up to 800 shaft horsepower (shp) to power utility, agriculture and business and general aviation aircraft. The H80 engine combines the elegant, robust design of the M601 engine with GE’s 3-D aerodynamic design techniques and advanced materials to create a more powerful, fuel-efficient, durable turboprop engine with significantly enhancing hot-day takeoff performance and high-altitude cruise speeds. The H80 engine will also feature an extended service life of 3,600 flight-hours and 6,600 cycles between overhauls. Component testing as well as aeromechanical and performance testing are underway. The first engine to test will begin running in the first quarter of this year with certification expected in mid-2010. P H80-powered Thrush 510: At EAA 2009 in Oshkosh, Thrush Aircraft selected the H80 engine to power an improved version of its 510gallon, 10,500-pounds gross weight Thrush aerial applicator (crop duster). The H80-powered Thrush 510 is expected to enter service this summer. At NBAA, Thrush and GE announced the H80-powered Thrush 510 launch customer, a joint venture between
Deliveries by Segment 4T09 2009 Phenom 100 52 93 Phenom 300 1 1 Legacy 600 6 18 Lineage 1000 2 3 In the last quarter of 2009, Embraer began delivery of the Phenom 300 light executive jet, which was certified in December by the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency (Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil – ANAC) and by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the United States. In October, Embraer launched a new executive jet – the Legacy 650, in the large category – and announced the first order by Aircraft Asset Management AAM GmbH, from Germany, for two of this aircraft model. Another highlight was the growth in the number of deliveries of the Phenom 100 entry level jets – 52 aircraft in 4Q09.
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Boschung Global AG and Inter Sinex AG of Switzerland. The venture plans to operate the aircraft in Kazakhstan, which is the world’s seventh largest producer of grains and a major exporter of wheat. P Power 90 and Smyrna Air Center designations: Also announced at Oshkosh, GE Aviation named the Power 90 as the GE Preferred Engine Conversion for the King 90 aircraft and Smyrna Air Center as a GE Designated Engine Installer for the Walter M601E engine on King Air 90 aircraft. Smyrna Air Center of Smyrna, Tennessee, holds the rights to the Power 90 conversion Supplemental Type Certificate (STC). Power 90 is an FAA-approved STC conversion for King Air 90, A90, B90 and C90 aircraft in which the original engines are replaced with the more powerful 751 shaft-horsepower (shp) Walter M601E-11A engines. The E-11A engine delivers faster rates of climb, higher flight levels, faster cruise speed than current engines and lower acquisition and maintenance costs compared with competing conversions. P Cascade Aircraft Conversions engine purchase agreement: During the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) annual meeting last month, Cascade Aircraft Conversions signed a formal agreement to purchase M601E-11 and M601D-11 engines from GE for its engine conversion STCs on Thrush and Air Tractor 300, 400 and 500 series aircraft. The engine conversion benefits include lower acquisition and maintenance costs with no fuel nozzles, no hot section inspections, no engine teardown in a wire strike event and improved hot and high performance. P Premier Turbines repair center designation: GE Aviation also announced at NAAA the selection of Premier Turbines as its Designated Repair Center in North and South Americas for M601 and H80 engines. Premier Turbines will offer heavy repair services, exchange engines and rentals, line replacement unit rotable pools and field service support to all existing and future M601 and H80 engines in the Americas region. GE Aviation will provide the necessary OEM parts to meet Premier Turbines’ needs. Premier Turbines will be ready to accept M601 engines for repair in the first quarter of 2010. P Czech research grant: The Czech Government awarded research grants valued at about $4 million USD (70 million CZK) to GE Aviation Czech. The grants will assist GE Aviation Czech in incorporating advanced technologies into its existing Walter M601 series engines to reshape the landscape of turboprop aviation. These research grants were the first grants GE Aviation has received from the Czech Government.
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NBAA ASSIST IN HAITI EMERGENCY RELIEF EFFORT
In support of the international emergency relief effort following the tragic earthquake in Haiti earlier this week, NBAA has launched a website to assist in the coordination of its members’ efforts to volunteer aircraft, supplies and personnel. NBAA President Ed Bolen released the following letter: Dear Aviation Professional, In times of crisis, we often find the true meaning of courage and selflessness. The business aviation community has a long history of providing flights and other support to help people and communities in the aftermath of natural disasters, and following this week’s earthquake in Haiti, NBAA has heard from many Members wanting to volunteer aircraft, supplies and personnel to support earthquake relief efforts. In response, NBAA has set up a specific and continually updated resource on the Association’s web site - www.nbaa.org/haiti - to provide the latest operational information and help match available assets with people and organizations involved in coordinating missions into Haiti. The site also provides for online registry of NBAA Member aircraft and other assets available to assist in relief efforts. NBAA is continually sharing the information entered into the registry with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) Critical Incident Management Group, which is managing the government’s response to the crisis and has requested information on available assets from the business aviation community.
Please note that general aviation aircraft may be needed to transport supplies and personnel to staging areas within the US to be designated by the CIMG, in addition to direct flights to and from Haiti. Operators who are unable or unwilling to fly to and from Haiti can still make significant contributions to relief efforts by facilitating such flights within the US. Of course, the Association will continue coordinating with officials from DHS, the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation Security Administration and others in government in the coming days. Finally, it is important to remember that, as this tragic situation unfolds, there will be a number of ways to assist those in need. Many organizations providing direct relief are very much in need of volunteer time and simple cash contributions to help fund their relief efforts, and I encourage you to consider those groups in your assistance planning. In the coming days, NBAA will keep Members advised of the latest developments related to the earthquake. We know that the business aviation community will continue to answer the call for help, and we will do all we can to support the industry’s work to help those in crisis. Sincerely, Ed Bolen President and CEO National Business Aviation Association
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EUROPEAN UPDATE
AOPA FRANCE SET FOR EUR-AVIA CANNES 2010-01-25 Eur-Avia Cannes and AOPA (the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) are pleased to announce their renewed collaboration for the Eur-Avia Cannes 2010 General Aviation air show, which will take place at the Cannes-Mandelieu International Airport from 4th to 6th June. AOPA has nearly 23,000 members in Europe, and any general aviation pilot or owner-members will be welcome on their stand. AOPA also welcomes interested pilots or aircraft owners to bring their questions, or just to share in the camaraderie of the group. Under the aegis of the Association’s dynamic President, Patrick Charrier, and as part of this partnership, all AOPA members are cordially invited to come to what will be the 4th edition of the air show. Beginning in April, AOPA members will be able to orde
P In recognition of aviation’s global nature and unique status, aviation was not included in emissions reductions targets in the original 1997 Kyoto Protocol. · Business Aviation supports the development of an appropriate metric within ICAO to measure and track business aviation emissions on a fleet-wide basis in light of our commitments. P ICAO’s High Level Meeting on October 7-9, 2009, recommended that ICAO “explore the relevance of the GIACC’s1 fuel efficiency metric to international business aviation”2 In other words, ICAO is mandated to consider, for the first time, whether a metric being developed for environmental purposes is appropriate to business aircraft. P This is an entirely separate metric from the CO2 certificationbased metric and standard that may be developed by ICAO for new aircraft. R Business aviation’s global CO2 emissions represent approximately 2% of all aviation carbon emissions and only .04% of global man made carbon emissions. R Business aviation has an excellent record of consistently improving fuel efficiency – delivering 40% improvement over the past 40 years.
EBAA RELEASES TALKING POINTS ON BUSINESS AVIATION & CLIMATE CHANGE DESPITE CRISIS, EUROCONTROL MEMBER On Nov. 24, 2009, the global Business Aviation operating and manufacturing communities represented by the General Aviation STATES AGREE ON 2.7% INCREASE Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and the International Business OF ROUTE CHARGE UNIT RATES Aviation Council (IBAC) issued a press release announcing a joint position on business aviation’s commitments on emissions and climate change. The Business Aviation Statement on Climate Change outlines several specific targets, as well as stating the imperative of a global sectoral approach to the management of aviation emissions. This document contains key messages, and a series of supporting Q&As for your background and use in responding to inquiries.
Key Messages R The Business aviation community is committed to achieving: P Carbon-neutral growth by 2020; P A fleet-wide fuel-efficiency improvement of an average of 2% per year from today until 2020; and P A reduction in total CO2 emissions of 50% by 2050, relative to 2005. R The Business aviation community will achieve these objectives through expecteddevelopments and advances in four areas: technology, alternative fuels, infrastructure and operational improvements, and market-based measures. R Business aviation supports the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) proposal for a global aviation sectoral management of targets and monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions. P We favor global aviation being regulated as a sector independently, rather than being included in national or regional targets. o This sectoral approach would be administered by ICAO, not by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
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The Eurocontrol Enlarged Committee for Route Charges adopted on 25-26 November the unit rates for 2010 as presented by the States. Ignoring the great difficulties that airspace users are currently facing, the majority of states decided to increase their route charges. The main reasons claimed for this increase are directly linked to the forecasted decrease of traffic in 2010 and with the debt of some ANSPs. Inflation rate, exchange rates and extra investments were also claimed. As a result of the negotiation, the average weighted unit rate in 2010 will be 56.96 € which represents an increase of 2.7% compared to the average in 2009 (54.80€). Airspace users associations including EBAA have expressed their concerns as the charge increase does not take into account the critical situation of airspace users and the need for ANSPs to be more cost effective.
EUROCONTROL PREDICTS WEAK GROWTH AIR TRAFFIC SAFETY FOR EUROPEAN AVIATION KEEPING UP ACROSS EUROPE Air traffic management continues to support the operational needs across Europe while maintaining safety levels according to a new report issued by the EUROCONTROL Safety Regulation Commission (SRC). The 2009 SRC Annual Safety Report says that in 2009, there was no fatal accident directly induced by ATM and only two non-fatal accidents with an indirect ATM contribution. This continues a trend seen over recent years where the number of ATM-related accidents has decreased year-on-year. At the same time, the safety maturity of both Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) and Regulators continues to improve. The report notes that while there has been an improvement in reporting of safety occurrences, overall progress towards full reporting by States is too slow. In addition, States need to produce more detailed analysis and classification of risks. Safety oversight processes also need to be improved. “It is clear that in the future safety will be tested even more rigorously than ever before,” said First low-cost, then Business Aviation, have returned to growth in recent weeks. The largest market segment, ‘traditional’ carriers, is hovering just below 0% growth and looks set for a return to growth in January 2010. The total number of flights in Europe has tracked 2006 for most of the year, but with further cuts in the winter 2009-2010 timetable, November and December 2009 will have much the same volumes of traffic as in 2005. Calendar year 2009 should have 6.6% fewer flights than 2008, the largest annual decline on record. For 2010, the forecast is for a weak 1.7% growth, driven by an anemic economic recovery, low yields, continuing scarcity of credit and a high oil price. There appear to be both upside and downside risks to this. Even 2011, though the uncertainty is wide at this range, is forecasted to grow at a below average rate of 3.2%.
Jos Wilbrink, Chairman of the EUROCONTROL Safety Regulation Commission. “While the overall situation is improving on a longterm basis, in order to meet the ten-fold safety improvement aim of the Single European Sky, further efforts will be needed.” The report underlines the important role of national supervisory authorities (NSAs) in overseeing safety processes in European countries. In this regard, the lack of funding and resources at NSAs is a concern. With additional pressure being put on operating budgets for both ANSPs and Regulators, it is necessary to keep a rigid focus on safety and continue to invest in both developing a safety culture and the necessary infrastructure. “Europe has an ATM system that can and does fully support the system’s operational demands. However, major changes are taking place in the way ATM safety is addressed in Europe. With the development of the Single European Sky, we need to continue to work to build the pan-European approach to European air traffic management safety,” Jos Wilbrink added.
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EBAA
CEO’S CORNER
SIGNS OF A RECOVERY BY MID-YEAR 2009 Business Aviation traffic figures in Europe were some 20% down with little sign of improvement. While we were not faring quite as badly as our US colleagues, these figures were bad nonetheless. However, we began to see the monthon-month reductions starting to abate from the middle of the year, so that by September we were forecasting an annual out-turn only 15% down on 2008. Moreover, as reflected in reports from our members, things continued to improve so that by November we were back in positive territory.
BUSY
EBACE has a busy schedule expected to attract a significant number of industry participants to Geneva in May.
Then came December. Although in line with seasonal patterns, traffic declined in comparison with November. For the first time since the beginning of the recession, the traffic figures showed positive signs of growth compared with December 2008, bringing us to a slightly better final forecast for 2009 of minus 14.5%. So, with 2009 back to 2005 traffic levels, and positive reports from several members, can we look forward to seeing this incipient recovery sustained in 2010? It’s still too early to tell particularly as, although we do not yet have the January figures from Eurocontrol, anecdotal evidence suggests this was not a good month, aided and abetted by the appalling weather. So the jury is still out, but we believe we should see a slightly erratic but slow recovery in the year ahead – and there are other signs that support this conclusion. The recent NBAA Schedulers and Dispatchers conference saw a significant increase in attendees compared with last year’s show. Furthermore, this favorable trend seems to be backed by EBACE bookings where, to our delight, exhibitor bookings and hotel reservations are slightly UP, making us optimistic about the prospects for the 10th EBACE, which will be held May 4 to 6 in Geneva.
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By Brian Humphries
Looking to EBACE, we have a busy schedule that we expect will encourage a significant number of industry participants to arrive a little earlier in Geneva. On Monday, May 3, Bombardier (in conjunction with EBAA and NBAA) will conduct its fourth annual Safety Standown Europe—an all-day, no-charge meeting that is expected to draw upwards of 150 people. In addition, and running in parallel, will be a half-day-long international aircraft transactions workshop and a training course on IS-BAO. We are also excited about the educations sessions this year. They kick off with an Opening General Session themed around “The Realities in Europe Today”. Tuesday afternoon’s sessions will also cover recovery from the economic crisis and the “hot” topic of aviation and the environment. On Wednesday, the sessions will be on the latest Business Aviation safety statistics and initiatives, updates on
the Single European Sky air traffic management concept and its associated avionics requirements, and European Aviation Safety Agency operations, in particular, the organization’s new flight- and duty-time regulations. In the afternoon we will have what is likely to be a lively and well attended forum tailored specifically for Airports, Handling and Ground Operations specialists, under the leadership of our newly formed specialist Committee for these activities. Finally, on Thursday the focus will be on the absolutely vital topic of access, particularly as we move into the future, and the very different operating environment we must be ready for as the Single European Sky starts to become reality from the middle of the decade. Here we will examine both the transatlantic market and our increasingly congested secondary airports in Europe, where low-cost carriers have been consuming many of the available slots. In the afternoon we will be running an emergency-response planning workshop to help people put into practice a new ERP assistance tool we plan on launching shortly as a new EBAA member benefit - watch this space!! Surveys have shown that this is a serious weakness for many operators and since an ERP will be a mandatory part of the soon-to-berequired Safety Management Systems, this will be a very important session for many operators. So my message for 2010 is positive. Of course we are not going to see a sudden jump back to 2007 activity levels, but we are going to see a slow if sometimes erratic growth and EBACE will lead the way to recovery and provide education sessions for what is to come. Roll on 2010 and all it brings for Business Aviation’s continued success in Europe!
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('8&$7( EBACE is the essential and largest educational event in Europe for business aviation.
&(/(%5$7( EBACE2010 will celebrate the tenth year of advancing the goals of business aviation in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
&211(&7 No other business aviation event in Europe offers this level of sales and networking opportunities with business aviation manufacturers, suppliers and their customers, as well as unparalleled access to industry influencers, technical experts, business leaders, and government officials and regulators, and a wide range of other industry specialists.
$'9$1&( EBACE will provide you the opportunity to advance your own goals through direct contact with companies that can benefit your business and to make your voice heard by key European officials and regulators, in person, while they are still formulating the policies that may impact your business.
For more information or to register,
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REPORT
2009 BUSINESS AIRCRAFT FLEET
NO SURPRISES HERE
FLEET TOTALS (As of End 2009) World Fleet 29,992 European Fleet 3,959 Jet Aircraft Worldwide 17,118 Turboprops Worldwide 12,499
By Nick Klenske
SHIFTING
The marketplaces are turning towards Europe and the emerging markets of Asia, South America and Africa.
No surprise here. 2009 was a slow year for Business Aviation. After declaring 2008 as “One of the Best”, this year we here at BART are hesitant to declare 2009 as “One of the Worse”. But before we tossed in the towel and all but wrote the past year off, we took a closer look at the statistics. And there, buried within the numbers we found good news – and even a hint at what may be the future of Business Aviation. Although the traditional power players have taken a hit – with the United States actually posting a negative rate of growth – the so-called emerging markets are surging like never before.
28 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
ust take a brief glance at the numbers and it should be blatantly clear: the center of Business Aviation is shifting. For starters, world leader USA saw its fleet decrease by 185 aircraft. On the other hand, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America are all growing at exceptional rates. In terms of specific countries, the Top Ten list is nearly split between traditional western nations and such emerging markets as Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela. But again, this really should not come as a surprise. Not only has the market been shifting away from the US for the past several years – companies have been claiming that their sales are now 50 percent US and 50 percent “international” – but these numbers also reflect the economic crisis. Whereas the US was hit hard – as was the United Kingdom and, to a lesser extent, Europe – the emerging markets tended to fare better (with Dubai being a major exception). In other words, while companies in the
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US were having a fire sale trying to quickly get rid of their business aircraft in order to avoid government and public scrutiny, countries like Brazil were turning to Business Aviation as a business solution. The result – well, we think the numbers speak for themselves. So yes, 2009 was a slow year for Business Aviation – as expected. The World Fleet continued to grow, although at a much slower rate than past years (the world fleet grew by seven percent last year, in comparison to this year’s 4.8 percent). And yes, Europe may have been a surprise as it navigated the crisis fairly well, but only saw a 9.7 percent increase in its fleet, which although strong is almost half the size of last year’s world-leading 18 percent. But the slowdowns in Europe and the US are made up for by the 15.3, 27.1 and 13.3 percent growth rates in Africa, Asia/Middle East and South America respectively. Ok, so we changed our minds about 2009. Business Aviation is not slowing down. Business Aviation is simply changing, shifting and going where business goes – building new economies and ensuring that business gets done. Overview Let us start from the end – or as close to the end as the numbers allow: GAMA’s 2009 Third Quarter Report on Shipments. This report traditionally gives us a better idea of what might be expected in 2010. And as we are all forward-looking business people, we don’t dwell in the past but simply use it to better navigate the future. According to the GAMA report, in the first three quarters of 2009, total general aviation airplane shipment fell by 46.8 percent, from 2,982 units in 2008 to 1,587 units at the time of the report’s release. Total industry billings were down 23.5 percent, to $13.8 billion. “These shipment and billing figures are a result of this difficult business cycle and reflects the impact of the weak economy,” said GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce. “However, another contributing factor that has led to the disappointing year-to-date numbers is the unwarranted negative attacks on Business Aviation.”
What have you heard about other ground support providers?
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Passenger special requests were nearly fulfilled. The fuel truck was almost on time.
Sort of, nearly, and almost should never be a part of your experience on the ground. Be confident in your decision. Choose Universal Aviation. We provide reliable, professional ground support at locations in Europe and throughout the world, combined with savings on fuel purchases arranged by UVair®. To see the benefits, contact Lenora Naughton at +44 7717 811489 or lnaughton@universalaviation.aero.
Athens Milan
Dublin Paris
London Rome
And locations beyond Europe
Madrid Shannon
JET SUMMARY BY MODEL MFG/MODEL AIRBUS A300 AIRBUS A310 AIRBUS A318 ELITE AIRBUS A319CJ AIRBUS A320 AIRBUS A340 ASTRA 1125 ASTRA 1125SP ASTRA 1125SPX BAC 1-11 BAE 146-100 BAE 146-200 BAE 146-300 BAE Avro RJ70 BEECHJET 400 BEECHJET 400A BOEING 707-120B BOEING 707-320 BOEING 707-C BOEING 707-E BOEING 720B BOEING 727-100 BOEING 727-200 BOEING 737 BOEING 737-100 BOEING 737-200 BOEING 737-300 BOEING 737-400 BOEING 737-500 BOEING 737-700 BOEING 747-300 BOEING 747-400 BOEING 747SP BOEING 757 BOEING 757-200 BOEING 767-200 BOEING 767-300 BOEING 777-200 BOEING BBJ BOEING BBJ2 CANADAIR RJ CHALLENGER 300 CHALLENGER 600 CHALLENGER 601-1A CHALLENGER 601-3A CHALLENGER 601-3R CHALLENGER 604 CHALLENGER 605 CHALLENGER 800 CHALLENGER 850 CHALLENGER 870 CHALLENGER 890 CITATION 500 CITATION 525 CITATION BRAVO CITATION CJ1 CITATION CJ1+ CITATION CJ2 CITATION CJ2+ 30 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
TOTAL 1 21 7 44 5 10 32 36 58 18 4 6 1 1 60 346 4 33 7 5 3 51 25 1 1 36 9 3 4 7 1 10 12 4 15 7 4 1 99 14 24 260 78 63 132 59 363 82 3 43 2 2 271 352 335 195 97 239 153
EUR 0 12 4 22 1 0 0 1 3 1 1 4 0 1 1 25 0 5 0 0 1 3 2 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 14 4 2 48 5 9 14 4 80 33 1 26 1 0 37 86 81 53 33 73 58
MFG/MODEL TOTAL CITATION CJ3 329 CITATION ENCORE 165 CITATION ENCORE+ 55 CITATION EXCEL 369 CITATION I 24 CITATION I/SP 296 CITATION II 586 CITATION II/SP 73 CITATION III 195 CITATION MUSTANG 256 CITATION S/II 153 CITATION SOVEREIGN 279 CITATION ULTRA 274 CITATION V 258 CITATION VI 36 CITATION VII 118 CITATION X 298 CITATION XLS 328 CITATION XLS+ 35 DIAMOND I 4 DIAMOND IA 71 DORNIER 328JET ENVOY 53 ECLIPSE EA500 256 EMBRAER LEGACY 600 164 EMBRAER LEGACY SHUTTLE 11 EMBRAER LINEAGE 1000 2 EMBRAER PHENOM 100 68 FALCON 10 152 FALCON 100 33 FALCON 200 33 FALCON 2000 231 FALCON 2000DX 4 FALCON 2000EX 26 FALCON 2000EX EASy 143 FALCON 2000LX 4 FALCON 20C 93 FALCON 20C-5 21 FALCON 20D 29 FALCON 20D-5 4 FALCON 20E 37 FALCON 20E-5 15 FALCON 20F 87 FALCON 20F-5 79 FALCON 20G 5 FALCON 50 241 FALCON 50-40 6 FALCON 50EX 101 FALCON 7X 49 FALCON 900 39 FALCON 900B 138 FALCON 900C 25 FALCON 900DX 21 FALCON 900EX 118 FALCON 900EX EASy 100 FOKKER F100 4 FOKKER F28 3 GLOBAL 5000 77 GLOBAL EXPRESS 149 GLOBAL EXPRESS XRS 84
EUR 77 13 6 65 9 33 65 19 14 65 10 47 15 19 5 13 21 108 10 1 3 23 22 61 0 0 6 14 11 4 49 1 8 55 3 25 5 7 0 14 9 10 6 5 40 0 15 25 12 35 8 9 35 39 3 1 18 36 30
AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2009
MFG/MODEL TOTAL GULFSTREAM G-100 22 GULFSTREAM G-150 78 GULFSTREAM G-200 221 GULFSTREAM G-300 13 GULFSTREAM G-350 11 GULFSTREAM G-400 23 GULFSTREAM G-450 160 GULFSTREAM G-500 9 GULFSTREAM G-550 239 GULFSTREAM G-II 164 GULFSTREAM G-IIB 40 GULFSTREAM G-III 183 GULFSTREAM G-IV 212 GULFSTREAM G-IVSP 286 GULFSTREAM G-V 191 HAWKER 1000A 44 HAWKER 1000B 7 HAWKER 125-1A 19 HAWKER 125-1AS 9 HAWKER 125-1B 11 HAWKER 125-3A 3 HAWKER 125-3A/RA 7 HAWKER 125-3A/RAS 3 HAWKER 125-3AS 2 HAWKER 125-3B 9 HAWKER 125-3B/RAS 1 HAWKER 125-3BS 1 HAWKER 125-400A 16 HAWKER 125-400AS 52 HAWKER 125-400B 14 HAWKER 125-400BS 3 HAWKER 125-600A 20 HAWKER 125-600AS 12 HAWKER 125-600B 2 HAWKER 125-600BS 1 HAWKER 125-700A 173 HAWKER 125-700B 32 HAWKER 4000 25 HAWKER 400XP 234 HAWKER 750 35 HAWKER 800A 226 HAWKER 800B 61 HAWKER 800XP 423 HAWKER 800XPI 51 HAWKER 850XP 100 HAWKER 900XP 111 JET COMMANDER 1121 11 JET COMMANDER 1121B 8 JETSTAR 6 2 JETSTAR 731 16 JETSTAR 8 7 JETSTAR II 24 LEARJET 23 15 LEARJET 24 37 LEARJET 24A 4 LEARJET 24B 25 LEARJET 24D 66 LEARJET 24E 15 LEARJET 24F 9
EUR 2 10 28 0 0 0 14 0 60 1 2 2 11 11 19 4 3 4 0 9 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 1 0 0 9 21 0 43 14 5 14 52 25 19 19 0 1 0 3 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0
JET FLEET
TURBOPROPS 2.697
MFG/MODEL TOTAL EUR LEARJET 25 30 0 LEARJET 25B 68 1 LEARJET 25C 14 1 LEARJET 25D 138 2 LEARJET 25G 4 0 LEARJET 28 5 0 LEARJET 29 4 0 LEARJET 31 35 4 LEARJET 31A 207 13 LEARJET 35 50 0 LEARJET 35A 479 40 LEARJET 36 15 0 LEARJET 36A 38 4 LEARJET 40 45 16 LEARJET 40XR 74 13 LEARJET 45 239 42 LEARJET 45XR 155 15 LEARJET 55 116 14 LEARJET 55B 8 1 LEARJET 55C 14 2 LEARJET 60 312 54 LEARJET 60XR 54 19 LOCKHEED L1011 3 0 MDD DC8 2 0 MDD DC9 12 0 MDD MD80 14 2 PREMIER I 126 23 PREMIER IA 136 36 SABRELINER 40 24 2 SABRELINER 40A 28 1 SABRELINER 40EL 7 0 SABRELINER 40EX 2 0 SABRELINER 40R 4 0 SABRELINER 40SE 1 0 SABRELINER 50 1 0 SABRELINER 60 43 0 SABRELINER 60A 3 0 SABRELINER 60AELXM 1 0 SABRELINER 60EL 3 1 SABRELINER 60ELXM 33 0 SABRELINER 60EX 4 0 SABRELINER 60SC 2 0 SABRELINER 60SCELXM 2 0 SABRELINER 60SCEX 1 0 SABRELINER 65 75 1 SABRELINER 80 27 0 SABRELINER 80A 3 0 SABRELINER 80SC 7 0 SINO SWEARINGEN SJ30-2 4 1 WESTWIND 1 105 0 WESTWIND 1123 7 0 WESTWIND 1124 54 0 WESTWIND 2 80 0 Total Jets 17.382 2.744
© avdata/JETNET
MFG/MODEL
TOTAL
EUR
87 98 390 1.311 40 171 17 372 80 54 75 209 318 70 45 31 9 64 713 32 20 212 21 623 27 30 13 112 236 77 121 122 1.091 100 9 86 5 23 113 445 42 226 426 97 98 16 295 188 30 218 9 2 37 28 35 59 24 9 24
33 42 29 81 7 15 4 48 9 16 6 16 9 3 9 5 2 1 65 3 2 2 10 48 4 1 0 4 1 5 2 1 134 6 0 16 1 1 6 43 0 20 34 8 16 0 18 11 3 56 2 0 4 1 5 5 2 1 5
17.118 AVANTI II AVANTI P180 CARAVAN 208 CARAVAN 208B CHEYENNE 400 CHEYENNE I CHEYENNE IA CHEYENNE II CHEYENNE III CHEYENNE IIIA CHEYENNE IIXL CONQUEST I CONQUEST II GULFSTREAM G-I JETSTREAM 31 JETSTREAM 32 JETSTREAM 41 KING AIR 100 KING AIR 200 KING AIR 200C KING AIR 200T KING AIR 300 KING AIR 300LW KING AIR 350 KING AIR 350C KING AIR 90 KING AIR A/B90 KING AIR A100 KING AIR A200 KING AIR A90 KING AIR A90-1 KING AIR B100 KING AIR B200 KING AIR B200C KING AIR B200CT KING AIR B200GT KING AIR B200SE KING AIR B200T KING AIR B90 KING AIR C90 KING AIR C90-1 KING AIR C90A KING AIR C90B KING AIR C90GT KING AIR C90GTi KING AIR C90SE KING AIR E90 KING AIR F90 KING AIR F90-1 MALIBU JETPROP MERLIN 300 MERLIN IIA MERLIN IIB MERLIN III MERLIN IIIA MERLIN IIIB MERLIN IIIC MERLIN IV MERLIN IV-A
World
Europe
TURBOPROPS FLEET
1.215 12.499
World
Europe
WORLD TURBINE FLEET 3.912 29.617
World
MFG/MODEL
Europe
TOTAL
EUR
MERLIN IV-C 21 MITSUBISHI MARQUISE 98 MITSUBISHI MU-2B 3 MITSUBISHI MU-2C 16 MITSUBISHI MU-2D 1 MITSUBISHI MU-2F 39 MITSUBISHI MU-2G 6 MITSUBISHI MU-2J 47 MITSUBISHI MU-2K 43 MITSUBISHI MU-2L 22 MITSUBISHI MU-2M 19 MITSUBISHI MU-2N 26 MITSUBISHI MU-2P 32 MITSUBISHI MU-2S 17 MITSUBISHI SOLITAIRE 42 PILATUS PC-12 776 PILATUS PC-12 NG 151 PIPER MERIDIAN 382 SOCATA TBM-700A 105 SOCATA TBM-700B 96 SOCATA TBM-700C1 8 SOCATA TBM-700C2 95 SOCATA TBM-850 174 STARSHIP 2000A 5 TURBO COMMANDER 1000 100 TURBO COMMANDER 690 48 TURBO COMMANDER 690A 186 TURBO COMMANDER 690B 193 TURBO COMMANDER 840 105 TURBO COMMANDER 900 34 TURBO COMMANDER 980 74 Total TurboProp 12.499 Grand Total 29.881
4 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 7 0 3 0 2 0 1 92 24 61 30 30 5 11 33 0 3 1 9 4 6 1 3 1.215 3.959
© avdata/JETNET BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 31
REPORT
2009 BUSINESS AIRCRAFT FLEET
Likewise, a recently released study shows the powerful connection between well-run companies and those that use Business Aviation. For example, Business Week magazine’s 2009 “25 Best Customer Service Companies” and the Corporate Responsibility Officer’s list of 2009 “100 Best Corporate Citizens” both show that 90 percent of the identified S&P 500 companies are business aircraft users – which hints that as the economy recovers so too will Business Aviation. “When America’s most responsible and best-run companies use Business Aviation to create jobs and share holder value, attacks on this segment of general aviation are
EUROPE
EXECUTIVE
Executive aircraft are airliner aircraft converted to private business use, excluding models originally meant for business use.
Country Total Austria 267 Belarus 1 Belgium 85 Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 Bulgaria 28 Croatia 11 Cyprus 11 Czech Republic 46 Denmark 102 Estonia 9 Finland 41 France 398 Germany 644 Gibraltar 2 Greece 56 Hungary 7 Iceland 8 Ireland 45 Isle of Man 42 Italy 230 Latvia 8 Liechtenstein 3 Lithuania 5 Luxembourg 72 Macedonia 2 Malta 6 Moldova 1 Monaco 5 Montenegro 5 Netherlands 89 Northern Ireland 4 Norway 59 Poland 32 Portugal 194 Romania 16 Russian Federation 128 San Marino 6 Scotland 2 Serbia 19 Slovak Republic 14 Slovenia 15 Spain 193 Sweden 85 Switzerland 313 Ukraine 36 United Kingdom 611 Total 3959
32 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
Executive Jet 2 236 0 1 2 49 0 2 1 21 0 6 0 10 0 28 0 71 0 8 0 27 4 195 7 420 0 2 3 35 0 5 0 4 1 34 0 37 0 151 0 6 0 2 0 3 1 34 0 2 1 5 0 1 0 4 0 5 1 51 0 4 0 15 0 18 0 187 1 12 1 106 0 5 0 1 0 15 0 9 0 12 4 141 0 50 4 227 2 29 12 411 47 2697
Turb. 29 0 34 1 6 5 1 18 31 1 14 199 217 0 18 2 4 10 5 79 2 1 2 37 0 0 0 1 0 37 0 44 14 7 3 21 1 1 4 5 3 48 35 82 5 188 1215
SOUTH AMERICA Country Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela Total
Total 233 15 1010 78 228 23 8 23 37 3 8 560 2226
Executive 1 0 3 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 9
Jet 105 3 463 28 21 9 0 5 5 0 2 200 841
Turb. 127 12 544 48 207 14 8 17 31 3 6 359 1376
Executive Jet 0 0 0 13 1 7 0 3 0 1 1 35 8 400 2 23 0 10 1 0 0 17 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 22 2 0 0 4 0 3 0 0 11 635 0 2 0 0 0 25 0 28 0 2 0 1 0 1 122 10787 1 11 0 7 0 7 150 12046
Turb. 1 2 15 1 13 4 660 3 20 0 20 4 1 3 46 1 10 2 1 314 3 7 61 31 1 0 1 6996 4 4 0 8229
NORTH AMERICA Country Total Antigua and Barbuda 1 Aruba 15 Bahamas 23 Barbados 4 Belize 14 Bermuda 40 Canada 1068 Cayman Islands 28 Costa Rica 30 Dominica 1 Dominican Republic 37 El Salvador 7 Greenland 1 Guadeloupe 3 Guatemala 68 Haiti 3 Honduras 14 Jamaica 5 Martinique 1 Mexico 960 Netherlands Antilles 5 Nicaragua 7 Panama 86 Puerto Rico 59 St Vincent-Grenadines 3 Trinidad and Tobago 1 Turks and Caicos Isl. 2 United States 17905 Virgin Islands (British) 16 Virgin Islands (U.S.) 11 West Indies 7 Total 20425
UNKNOWN Country Unknown Total
Total 93 93
Executive 2 2
Jet 49 49
Turb. 42 42
AFRICA Country Total Executive Jet Algeria 27 1 8 Angola 53 4 21 Benin 4 1 3 Botswana 30 0 3 Burkina Faso 4 1 0 Cameroon 6 1 2 Canary Islands 2 0 2 Central African Republic 2 0 0 Chad 6 1 1 Congo 7 0 3 Cote d''Ivoire 6 1 2 Dem. Republic of Congo17 6 5 Djibouti 1 1 0 Egypt 42 3 34 Equatorial Guinea 4 0 3 Eritrea 1 0 0 Ethiopia 5 1 0 Gabon 12 0 9 Gambia 2 1 1 Ghana 2 0 1 Guinea 1 0 0 Guinea-Bissau 1 0 0 Kenya 87 0 4 Lesotho 1 1 0 Liberia 2 0 0 Libya 20 3 11 Madagascar 11 0 3 Malawi 2 0 0 Mali Republic 8 6 0 Mauritania 3 1 0 Mauritius 4 0 4 Morocco 34 2 15 Mozambique 4 1 1 Namibia 26 0 5 Niger 1 1 0 Nigeria 47 1 40 Reunion Island 0 0 0 Sao Tome and Principe 2 1 1 Senegal 6 1 0 Seychelles Islands 0 0 0 South Africa 444 7 159 Sudan 8 0 4 Swaziland 3 3 0 Tanzania 47 0 1 Togo 7 2 1 Tunisia 5 1 4 Uganda 15 0 2 Zambia 15 0 1 Zimbabwe 9 1 2 Total 1046 54 356
TOP TEN BUSINESS FLEETS Turb. 18 28 0 27 3 3 0 2 4 4 3 6 0 5 1 1 4 3 0 1 1 1 83 0 2 6 8 2 2 2 0 17 2 21 0 6 0 0 5 0 278 4 0 46 4 0 13 14 6 636
AUSTRALIA & OCEANIA Country Australia Fiji French Polynesia Guam Marshall Islands New Caledonia New Zealand Papua New Guinea Samoa Tahiti Vanuatu Total
Total 418 3 2 3 1 2 41 15 1 0 1 487
Executive Jet 1 133 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 13 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 152
Turb. 284 3 2 0 0 2 27 14 0 0 1 333
BY
COUNTRY
United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17,905 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,068 Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,010 Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .960 Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .644 United Kingdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .611 Venezuela . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .560 South Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .444 Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .418 France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .398
ASIA Country Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Brunei Burma Cambodia China Georgia Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Macau Malaysia Mongolia North Korea Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Sri Lanka Syria Taiwan Thailand Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Vietnam Yemen Total
Total 1 1 4 20 4 3 1 1 85 1 37 201 72 39 5 82 223 17 17 15 1 2 17 12 55 3 1 5 34 42 15 147 26 33 2 2 13 48 97 5 115 2 2 1508
Executive Jet 0 0 0 1 0 4 5 12 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 1 7 61 0 1 0 37 3 119 4 19 3 19 0 1 16 31 3 73 5 11 0 14 3 10 0 0 0 0 1 15 1 11 0 31 0 0 0 1 3 2 2 21 1 17 2 12 26 108 1 22 1 22 0 0 0 2 2 8 4 12 0 75 2 3 9 91 0 0 1 1 108 869
Turb. 1 0 0 3 4 0 0 0 17 0 0 79 49 17 4 35 147 1 3 2 1 2 1 0 24 3 0 0 11 24 1 13 3 10 2 0 3 32 22 0 15 2 0 531
Š AVDATA/JETNET BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 33
REPORT
FLEET
The figures are positive, with Europe experiencing almost 10 percent growth.
unwarranted,” says Bunce. “We are now seeing some encouraging signs that policymakers all around the US are recognizing the vital contribution our industry makes to the economy.” Piston-powered airplane shipments totaled 679 units compared to 1,646 units delivered in the first three quarters of 2008, a 58.7 percent decrease. Turboprop shipments decreased 15.8 percent from 348 units in the first nine months last year to 293 units during this same period in 2009. Business jet shipments totaled 615
2009 BUSINESS AIRCRAFT FLEET
12 - MONTH FLEET GROWTH (December 2008 - December 2009)
World Fleet European Fleet USA Africa Asia/Mid East Oceania S. America N. America
2008 28,612 3,609 18,090 907 1,186 469 1,965 20,356
2009 29,992 3,959 17,905 1,046 1,508 487 2,226 20,425
Unit Change +1380 +350 -185 +139 +322 +18 +261 +69
Growth +4.8 +9.7 -1.0 +15.3 +27.1 +3.8 +13.3 +0.34
units, a 37.8 percent decline over the 988 units delivered through the third quarter in 2008. And how are all these depressing numbers translated into words? It’s not that bad! “Really?”, you ask. Let us explain. Yes, the world fleet grew by a lower rate than it did in 2008. But it still grew, by nearly five percent. Five percent, that’s not bad when we are talking about an economy that – at some points – failed to grow at all. And yes, the United States market actually shrunk, but 17,905 jets is still an impressive number. And when reading this number one must keep in mind that every year aircraft are retired or sold to other markets and, although they are usually replaced by new jets, this year was an exception. 34 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
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REPORT
2009 BUSINESS AIRCRAFT FLEET That’s right – an exception. The numbers, when held up against the economic and political facts, make 2009 an exception, not a rule. The US economy was hit hard and, as Bunce states, Business Aviation was unfairly held out as the scapegoat. But, thanks to the concerted efforts by GAMA and NBAA, this perception is changing and with it, business aircraft are once again being bought. So expect to see the US back in the black next year at this time. What about Europe? It’s the opposite situation here as 2008 was an exception – with an 18 percent growth rate. Perhaps because of the economy or maybe simply a result of a leveling off of the business scene, Europe is back to a more reasonable 9.7 percent rate of growth. But let’s go out on a limb here and say “who cares about the US and European markets”? Yes, they’ve slowed but they are still strong. What we should care about is where the growth is because – going back to the concept of using the past to predict the future – this year’s statistics are screaming that the future of Business Aviation is in the emerging markets. Africa is up by 15.3 percent, with South Africa leading the way. Asia and the Middle East enjoyed a 27.1 percent increase in fleet size. Think about that. 27.1 percent – in an economic crisis nonetheless. And South America, home of Top Ten players Brazil and Venezuela, enjoyed a 13.3 percent rate of growth. Although the Top Ten list saw no changes in position since 2008, we may predict a new number two in 2011. Last year, Brazil trailed Canada by almost exactly 100 aircraft. Over the course of the past year, Brazil has closed this gap to 58 aircraft – so maybe a BRIC country will move to number two in next year’s list? Let’s not forget there are plenty of countries looming in the shadows of this prestigious list: Argentina (233), Columbia (228), Japan (223), India (201), Saudi Arabia (147), Russia (128), China (122) and the UAE (115) are all creeping their way up. And guess where these countries are all located? That’s right, the emerging regions of Asia, the Middle East and South America.
36 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
Where the Growth Is Turboprops vs. Jets Bolstered by the surge in emerging markets and steady sales in bush countries like Australia and the safari region of Africa, Turboprops continue to grow. This year the turboprop fleet increased from 12,127 to 12,499, for an increase of 372 – slightly down from last year’s increase of 457 aircraft. But this is still up from several years ago when turboprops were viewed as a thing of the past. If you recall, in 2007 the number of new turboprops entering the market plummeted from 794 in 2006 to just 325. Likewise, all things considered, jets too enjoyed another strong year. This sector closed out the year with a fleet total of 17,118 aircraft worldwide. In 2008, the worldwide jet fleet was at 16,240, which represents an 878 aircraft increase (compared to a 970 increase in jet fleet last year). Of the total jet fleet, 2,697 are based in Europe, meaning that the continent’s love affair with the business jet continues. Models and Makes On the jet side, as to the overall contribution to the worldwide jet fleet, there is no change in the leading OEMs with Cessna staying at the top spot with 5,769 jets flying, followed by Bombardier (3,672) and Hawker Beechcraft (2,113). This year Gulfstream bumped Dassault out of the number four spot with its 1,852 jets (compared to Dassault’s 1,834). And Embraer – a company who continues to surge with new aircraft – comes in with 245 jets. In terms of specifics, like last year, the Citation reigns supreme, claiming six of the top ten spots. At the top remains the Citation II, which actually dropped two aircraft from its fleet to end the year with 586. Other leading Citations include the Excel (369), 525 (352), Bravo (335) and CJ3 (329). Dropped from the list are the XLS and I/SP, which had 328 and 296 respectively. At the number two spot was once again the Learjet 35A, which, like the Citation II, dropped in numbers from 485 aircraft to 479 in 2009. The number three spot went to the Hawker 800XP, which accounts for 423 aircraft, up one jet from last
year. Other leaders include the Challenger 604 (363 jets), Beechjet 400A (346 jets) and the Learjet 60 (312 jets). Once again turning to numbers to predict the future, according to GAMA’s reports the above listed trends look to stay on track. As of the close of the Third Quarter 2009, Cessna has shipped 512 units, with Hawker Beechcraft at 173, Bombardier at 140, Gulfstream at
74, Embraer at 56 and Dassault at 51. In terms of total billings year-todate 2009 the list turns a bit: Bombardier ($3,948,000,000), Gulfstream ($3,054,000,000), Dassault ($2,000,665,000), Cessna ($1,828,523,634), Hawker Beechcraft ($1,221,618,700), and Embraer ($523,975,000). On the turboprop side, things remained pretty much the same. The leading aircraft continues to be the
GROWTH
Both turboprops and jets showed a strong year.
BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 37
AREA
Europe continues to be one of the most promising regions.
REPORT
2009 BUSINESS AIRCRAFT FLEET
Caravan 208B at 1,311 aircraft. The other leaders include the King Air B200 (1,091), Pilatus PC-12 (776), King Air 200 (713), King Air 350 (623) and Cheyenne II (372). In Europe, which favors the jet, the King Air B200 is the most popular turboprop, at 134. The Pilatus PC-12 and PC-12 NG remain popular in North America, with 583 and 98 respectively.
Europe falling and Asia/Middle East surging). At the same time, 2009 can be compared to 2007, where regions saw a limited level of growth. At the time, the lower levels were explained by such international issues as increased oil prices and greater regulations making it more difficult for Business Aviation to sustain its upward growth. In 2009, the lower levels of growth can simply be explained by the often quoted Bill Clinton quote: “It’s the economy, stupid”. Where the economy is struggling (US, Europe), the numbers stagnated. Where the economy did better (Asia, Middle East, South America), the numbers surged.
Regional Performance As previously mentioned, unlike last year, in 2009 not all regions experienced an increase in total fleet size, with the United States seeing a decrease of 185 aircraft, or a one percent decrease in rate of growth. But overall, the net growth of all other regions remains positive. In 2006 all regions were reported as showing a decrease in level of annual growth. More in line with last year’s trend, most regions saw an increase, although which regions experience how much growth varied (with
38 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
Europe Europe continues to be one of the world’s most successful markets, with growth continuing over the last several years. In 2006, the total European fleet was at 2,851. By 2007
it grew by 7.2 percent to 3,054. And in 2008 it boomed to 3,609 – an increase of 552 aircraft, or an 18.0 percent rate of growth in overall fleet size. So things cooled off a bit, but this year’s 9.7 percent increase in fleet size (350 aircraft) is still higher than the impressive 2006 – 2007 7.2 percent increase. Top individual countries remain the usual suspects, with Germany, the United Kingdom and France all representing the continent on the Top Ten Business Fleets by Country list. All three countries saw their fleets grow, with Germany going from 570 to 644, the United Kingdom from 536 to 611 and France from 330 to 398. Other European countries that saw considerable growth over the past year include: Austria (+26), Bulgaria (+9), Czech Republic (+10), Denmark (+7), Finland (+8),
This isn’t anything new. Even last year in our Fleet Report we discussed not only how the slowing of the American economy and the weakening of the US dollar both contribute to this trend, but that it is also the result of a larger trend – namely the growing importance of the global economy. And that trend continues to strengthen. In North America, the three main players – US, Canada and Mexico – are all Top 10 Players, with both Canada and Mexico seeing their fleets grow. Other North American countries enjoying a net growth include: Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Domincan Greece (+15), Italy (+17), Luxembourg (+9), Netherlands (+21), Norway (+16), Poland (+9), Russia (+55), Spain (+31) and Switzerland (+23). Interestingly, the Isle of Man saw 29 new aircraft on its registry, whereas Cyprus lost four, Ireland went down eight, Lichtenstein by 11 and Monaco by 35 aircraft. 2009 also welcomed Moldova to the Business Aviation club. The Americas Usually this space is dedicated to the United States and Canada, with the rest of the America filling in white space. But this year let’s change the focus. Yes, the US and Canadian fleets still dominate – and will probably do so for some years to come. However, the focus has shifted to South America.
LEADERS
Russia +55, Austria +26 and Switzerland +23 were the leading countries last year. BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 39
REPORT
2009 BUSINESS AIRCRAFT FLEET Breaking down this diverse region into countries, it again becomes clear that the vast majority of this business is within the Middle East. It should be noted that this could be severly effected by the late 2009 debt crisis in Dubai – but we’ll have to wait and see. In the Middle East, the big players are Israel (82), Bahrain (20), Iran (39), Qatar (15), Saudi Arabia (147), Turkey (97), and the UAE (115). On the Asian side, the leaders include China/Hong Kong (122), Indonesia (72), Japan (223), Malaysia (55), Pakistan (34), Philippines (42), Singapore (26), South Korea (33), and Thailand (48). India also continues to grow as a Business Aviation center. With a total fleet of 201, this is a 33 aircraft increase from 2008.
Republic (with an impressive 10 aircraft added to the fleet), Guatamala and Puerto Rico. Other tropical nations did not fare as well, with Belize, El Salvador, Turks and Caicos and both the US and British Virgin Islands losing aircraft. Although Anguilla fell of this year’s list, its spot was taken by Martinique. In South America, Business Aviation continues to boom. In 2008 its total fleet came in at 1,965. At the end of 2009 the number was 2,226, for an addition of 261 aircraft. In
REGIONS
Business Aviation is booming in India, the Middle East and Africa.
terms of growth rates, this converts to an impressive 13.2 percent. Individual country leaders continue to be Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina and Columbia, but one should keep an eye on such countries as Chile and Paraguay, both of whom continue to steadily increase their fleet sizes. Interestingly, Ecuador saw its fleet decrease and Peru saw no change at all.
40 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
Australia, Oceania and Africa Australia and Oceania continued its trend of posting a slow but steady increase, with a total increase of 18 aircraft, which is down from the 38 aircraft added last year. Countries that enjoyed an increase include Australia (+8), Fiji (+2), New Zealand (+9), and Papua New Guinea (+4). Those with decreases include French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Tahiti. Africa, on the other hand, continues to enjoy significant growth. Coming off an 8.9 percent increase in growth over 2008, in 2009 Africa topped itself by adding 139 aircraft for a 15.3 percent increase in rate of growth. The leader continues to be South Africa, who is a Top Ten member, but such countries as Angola, Botswana, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and Tanzania continue to add to their fleets.
Asia and the Middle East If you were to hedge your bets on where the future of Business Aviation is, put your money on Asia and the Middle East. With an increase in fleet size of 322 aircraft and a whopping 27.1 percent increase in rate of growth – this region is booming. This may explain why in 2011 NBAA will return to its relationship with ABACE after canceling the show last year.
Looking Ahead 2009 was a rough year – and chances are 2010 will be slow going too as the economy struggles to pull itself together. Yet the future of Business Aviation continues to look promising. New markets are opening and others are seeing new benefits for Business Aviation. How will our 2010 Fleet Report read? It’s hard to say, but we’re guessing the world fleet will continue to climb.
REPORT
CHARTER INDEX
PULLING THROUGH
For the sixth year in a row, BART International has teamed up with the experts at Avinode, an independent European online charter network, to provide an indepth statistical overview of the European Business Aviation Industry. 009 can best be summarized as a year of slow recovery for the charter industry. In 2008, 585,000 searches and 500,000 requests were sent. In comparison, 2009 saw these numbers drop to 473,572 request, with demand hovering slightly below 2008 levels (see charts). But this is not necessarily bad news as, if one looks at the numbers, it becomes clear that things are getting better – as both demand and requests saw a steady increase as the year progressed. In fact, at the close of 2009 demand actually exceeded 2008 levels with searches peaking over 180,000 in December. This is slightly up from the roughly 170,000 made during the same month in 2008. Also, the pattern of searches and requests remained the same, with both years showing a sharp increase during the summer months (mainly July) and a gradual increase to close the year.
2
NUMBER OF CHARTER REQUESTS SENT PER MONTH 60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0 2009 Jan
2009 Feb
2009 Mar
2009 Apr
Needless to say, the reason for this overall drop is the global financial crisis and its significant affect on the charter industry. Out of the Business Aviation sector, perhaps the charter industry took the quickest hit, with a number of charter companies going out of business, particularly in Europe and the US. However, the late increase in numbers is also proof that the recovery has begun and – although it may be slow – the worse is likely behind us.
2009 May
Year 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2009
2009 Jun
2009 Jul
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2009 Aug
2009 Sep
2009 Oct
Total Sent Requests 26,734 26,550 31,372 34,460 39,315 45,807 51,420 47,608 41,827 42,561 41,691 44,227
2009 Nov
2009 Dec
RECOVERY
Charter demand exceeded 2008 levels at the end of the year.
BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 41
REPORT
CHARTER INDEX
Distribution of Requests Below is a graph showing the distribution of requests between the different aircraft categories. Light Jets and Midsize Jets also contain Super Light Jets and Super Midsize Jets respectively. As in past years, Heavy Jets enjoyed its strongest period in the least overall busiest period â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the winter season. At the same time, Light Jets had its busiest period during summer season. Midsize jets remained fairly constant throughout the course of the year, as did turboprop requests. Most Popular Departure Airports In terms of the most requested departure airports, a few trends can be identified. First, Moscow and London remain, by far, the strongest regions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; representing 17.8 and 8.9 percent respectively of all departure requests. These numbers are up from 2008, when the London area represented 11.7 percent and the Moscow area 12.8 percent of all departure requests.
50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 2009 Jan
2009 Feb
2009 Mar
Turbo Prop
DEPARTURE
Moscow, London and Nice have enjoyed increased requests in 2009. 42 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
2009 Apr
2009 May
2009 Jun
Light Jet
2009 Jul
2009 Aug
2009 Sep
Midsize Jet
2009 Oct
2009 Nov
2009 Dec
Heavy Jet
Departure Requests (All Categories) UUWW 17.5% LFPB 4.3% EGGW 3.7% LFMN 2.9% EGLF 2.3% ULLI 2.1% LSZH 1.6% LIML 1.4% UKBB 1.3%
Trends In the turboprop sector, the top ten list is dominated by western and northern European cities. However, for light jets, the list for departures is mixed – covering both European staples as Bordeaux, Nice and Geneva, along with Moscow’s Vnukovo and Kula Lumpur. Eastern Europe continues to develop as a prominent location for midsize jets, where the numbers far outpace those of smaller aircraft categories. Moscow, St. Petersberg and Kiev are all represented on this years top ten list – along with Dubai at the number six position. Heavy jets remain international in scope, with Teterboro, St. Martin, London, Moscow and Dubai represented in the top ten. In terms of overall percentage, the Moscow region dominates in both the mid and heavy categories, checking in at 29.4 and 28 percent respectively.
Turbo Props LFPB EHRD EGGW LSGG EBAW LOWW EHAM LSZH LFMN EBBR
5.8% 2.1% 2.1% 2.1% 1.9% 1.8% 1.8% 1.8% 1.8% 1.8%
Mid-Size UUWW ULLI EGGW LFPB LFMN OMDB LSGG KTEB UKBB EGLF
Light Jets LFPB LFMN LSGG UUWW EGGW EGLF LIML LSZH EGKB LFMD
5.8% 4.2% 4.0% 3.7% 3.4% 2.8% 2.5% 2.1% 1.8% 1.7%
Heavy UUWW EGGW LFPB LFMN ULLI LSGG KTEB EGLF OMDB LSZH
29.0% 3.5% 2.8% 2.6% 2.4% 2.0% 2.0% 1.9% 1.5% 1.4%
27.6% 4.5% 3.9% 2.8% 2.8% 2.7% 2.1% 1.8% 1.8% 1.5%
Most Popular Arrival Airports As an overall trend, people typically fly from North to South, with such cities as Costa Smeralda, Malaga and Rome showing up in the arrival top ten. Turbos significantly follow this North to South flying pattern, whereas in the heavy jets sector one sees more major city destinations as Dubai and New York. When compared to departure airports, Moscow’s overall 4.9 percent of all arrivals shows that once again Moscow remains a popular region for departing. A similar pattern can be seen in London, although not as significant.
ARRIVAL
Costa Smeralda, Malaga (left) and Rome show up in the arrival top ten.
BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 43
REPORT
PICK UP
Expect to see the charter industry rebound with the economy’s recovery.
All Categories UUWW LFMN LFPB LSGG EGGW LIEO OMDB LSZH LEMG LIRA
4.8% 3.8% 2.9% 2.6% 1.9% 1.6% 1.4% 1.3% 1.2% 1.2%
Turboprops LFPB LFMN LSGG EDDV LFTZ LIRA EDDM EBBR EIDW LIEO
2.5% 2.2% 1.7% 1.4% 1.2% 0.9% 0.9% 0.8% 0.8% 0.8%
Light Jets LFMN LFPB LSGG LIEO UUW W LEIB LIRA EGGW LFMD LSZH
4.1% 3.6% 2.9% 2.3% 2.1% 1.5% 1.5% 1.4% 1.4% 1.3%
Mid Size UUWW LFMN LFPB OMDB LSGG EGGW ULLI LEMG LTAI UKBB
6.6% 3.9% 2.3% 2.2% 2.2% 1.8% 1.6% 1.5% 1.4% 1.2%
Heavy Jets UUWW LFMN OMDB VRMM EGGW LFPB LSGG KTEB LSZH KMIA
5.2% 3.5% 2.8% 2.7% 2.7% 2.6% 2.5% 1.8% 1.3% 1.2%
44 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
CHARTER INDEX
105.00
100.00
95.00
90.00
ex nd I ce Pri
85.00
80.00 01/09 02/09 03/09 04/09 05/09 06/09 07/09 08/09 10/09 1/09 12/09
Chartering into 2009 Perhaps “Decline” is the best word to summarize the Charter Industry in 2009. Although the trend for departures and requests have all increased towards the latter half of the year, when it comes to price the graph continues to show a steady decrease. However, as the economy slowly climbs out of the crisis, expect to see this industry begin to rebound – especially as companies return to Business Aviation as a tool for economic success.
The data presented in this article is extracted from The Avinode Marketplace, the leading online marketplace for private jet charter flights. For more information please contact: Nina Bertilsdotter, Director of Marketing Avinode Phone: +46-31-751 00 00 Email: Nina.Bertilsdotter@avinode.com Internet: www.avinode.com
MARKET ANALYSIS
Last year in this space we were pulling from the headlines – where Business Aviation was being smeared as the cause of the world’s economic demise. Seems ridiculous, doesn’t it. After all, we all know that Business Aviation is the key to economic growth, not to mention the basis of thousands of jobs. Unfortunately, although we all knew of the many benefits of our industry, the outsiders did not. And of course it didn’t help when the big auto executives flew into Washington DC aboard private jets to ask for a government bailout. But that’s not Business Aviation being evil, that’s just an example of a bad business decision.
BIZ AV STRIKES BACK
By Nick Klenske hankfully, one year after company jets were being chased off the corporate account by an angry mob – and misinformed politicians – it seems things have quieted down. The reason for the change in attitude is not a result of the public’s short attention span (although that may play a part!) but because the Business Aviation industry decided to strike back. The counter-attack came from the OEMs, like Cessna, Gulfstream and Hawker Beechcraft and from the leadership of NBAA and GAMA. Add into the foray such celebrity Business Aviation advocates as Arnold Palmer, and Washington started to take notice. Has the No Plane No Gain campaign worked? It seems to be, as the following reports show:
T
Embraer Forecast As a result of the financial crisis, this year Embraer revised its business jet sales forecast, which covers the period 2009 – 2018. More importantly, howev-
er, is that not only did the company revise its numbers, it also revised its forecasting methodology to better reflect the changing face of the industry. Like in our Fleet Report, the Embraer Forecast decreases the weight of the US and European indicators.
Nonetheless, the Forecast still predicts a total of 10,900 aircraft deliveries within the covered time period, for a net worth of $188 billion. This is just slightly lower than the number reached in previous forecasts. Out of this total, the North American share is
UPSHOT
Reports and forecasts hint that the No Plane No Gain campaign is working.
BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 45
REPORT
MARKET ANALYSIS
5,400 aircraft (49 percent) for a total of $84 billion. Again, reflecting our Fleet Report, this represents a -0.3 percent annual growth rate. But things aren’t all bad. Embraer sees signs of stability coming, with a return to growth – although limited – commencing in 2012. UBS Index of Business Jets According to the UBS Index of Business Jets, the number of aircraft up for sale fell for the fourth straight month in November – although the number of jets still available remains four percent higher than the same
time one year ago. Yet, as the used market is a key indicator of new business jet sales, this is a good sign. Although the Report warns of a continued downturn in the market – due to a oversupply of jets, weak fractional ownership market and tight financing – the weak dollar will help with international sales. The Report goes on to state that the average asking price for a new business jet has fallen by 30 percent and prices declined another one to two percent as late as November. But, as used inventories decline, expect to see prices to begin to crawl back up. OUTLOOK
Several estimations predict a significant level of production over the next ten years.
Forecast International Likewise, Forecast International also comes with good news, declaring in its latest report that there is “Light at the end of the tunnel for Bizjets”. In its report, Forecast International predicts that a total of 11,277 business jets, worth an estimated $197 billion, will be
46 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
produced in the 10-year period from 2009 through 2018. Production is expected to total approximately 825 units in 2009, followed by 738 units in 2010, and 716 in 2011. Annual production is projected to rise in 2012, however, and continue improving through the remainder of the forecast timeframe. Recently, some encouraging signs of economic improvement have appeared. Within the Business Aviation world, aircraft utilization is up; the used jet market has stabilized, and cancellation rates have subsided. All are signs of optimism, and the market appears slated to improve slowly and gradually. Some difficulties in the market still need to be overcome. Forecast International Senior Aerospace Analyst Raymond Jaworowski said, “Market saturation remains a problem, especially in the North American market, where large numbers of relatively new business jets reside in operators’ fleets. In addition, buyer hesitation is exacerbated by concerns over fuel and insurance costs and governmental regulations.” During the 2009-2018 time period, the Forecast International projections indicate that the top three manufacturers in terms of unit production will be Cessna, Embraer, and Bombardier. When the market is measured in monetary value of production, heavy iron builder Gulfstream takes the top spot, followed by Bombardier and Dassault.
Honeywell Business Aviation Outlook In line with the rest of the forecast, Honeywell’s 17th Annual Business Aviation Outlook also counters the gloom that has overcome the industry. And like our Fleet Report, the Outlook predicts that strong demand from emerging markets outside the US will drive global deliveries to a record 1,400 aircraft in 2009, valued at $25 billion. However, as a result of the crisis, deliveries are expected to decrease by nine percent between 2009 and 2011. The report goes on to find that operator purchase plans will be down for the next five years. Further, regardless of a decline in flights in the US and slowing growth in Europe (mainly as a result of a reduction of light jets in the air), these numbers will increase in other markets. The Outlook forecast a demand of 5,200 aircraft between 2009 and 2013, with 55 percent coming from North America, 20 percent in Europe, 12 percent in Latin America and ten percent in Asia (down from last year’s 15 percent forecast). Over the 11 year period of 2008 to 2018 the Outlook forecast a delivery of 16,700 jets, with the medium/mediumlarge sector dominating at 4,500 aircraft, followed by light/light-medium (4,000), very light (4,000), long/ultralong range (2,800) and large (1,400).
AMSTAT MARKET UPDATE
SLOWLY BUT SURELY
By Tom Benson
With data from the fourth quarter of 2009 now available, it seems like a good time to reassess the health of the business aviation market. Industry buzz seems to be pointing toward conditions that are at least somewhat improved from several months ago. But is this idea supported by objective data? As the leader in providing researched market data to the industry, AMSTAT once again takes the opportunity to provide some insight into the state of the business aviation market.
lways an important starting point for such an analysis, the level of pre-owned aircraft inventory has certainly eased from its peak of last year. During the spring and summer of 2009, nearly 18% of the worldwide fleet of business jets was for sale. In a promising sign, that figure now stands at 16.2%. Similarly, 12.2% of turboprops are currently for sale, down from their peak of over 13%. The fact that these figures are still above their 20 year averages of 12.4% for jets and 11.2% for turboprops, reinforces what any business aviation professional in the field can tell you – that although market conditions may be a bit better than they were several months ago, they are still not great. But given that this metric has decreased in each of the last 6 months for business jets, it would seem that for the pre-owned business aircraft market, the worst is probably behind us.
A
Potentially even more promising is the transaction activity that we observed in the most recent quarter. Since 1990, quarterly resale retail transactions, as a percentage of the worldwide fleet, have averaged 3.4% for both business jets and turboprops. In Q1 of 2009, this metric was down to 1.5% for jets and 1.7% for turboprops – half the 20 year averages and a far cry from the level of transactions we saw in 2007. But in Q4 of 2009, business jet transactions represented 2.7% of the worldwide fleet, and turboprops saw about 2.3% of the fleet change ownership. Furthermore, for jets in particular, we have now seen three consecutive quarters of improvement in this metric. Although examining transactions on a quarterly basis, rather than monthly as we did in our last market update, eliminates much of the volatility that we often see in transaction data, it is still true that we typically see at least somewhat of a spike in transactions in fourth quarters. This is to be expected since a variety of incentives persuade corporations to change aircraft ownership positions prior to the end of the calendar year at a higher rate than during other times of the year. So although the Q4 2009 data is very promising, whether or not the market is able to sustain these improvements in the current quarter will be a very telling sign of how quickly we can expect to see a recovery to market conditions that we can refer to as “good”.
Tom Benson is the Executive Vice President of AMSTAT. AMSTAT is the leading provider of market research information and services to the corporate aviation industry. Founded in 1982, and based in Tinton Falls, NJ, AMSTAT introduced the concept of providing researched information to corporate aviation professionals.
FAITH
The Amstat Report reveals a decrease in the number of preowned aircraft for sale.
BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 47
REPORT
2009 WORLD HELICOPTER FLEET
By Marc Grangier
2008 had been a bad year in terms of world helicopter fleet increase, but 2009 was even worse – although not totally catastrophic as in certain areas. Compared to 2008, the world helicopter fleet grew by only 5.6 percent (against 7% a year ago). The total number of helicopters went up from 24,118 to 25,480 (+1,362).
A VERY SLOW RECOVERY H Business Helicopter Fleet Totals
(AS OF END 2009) World Fleet 25,480 European Fleet 6,283 Pistons Worldwide 8,833 Single Turbines Worldwide 10,696 Multi Turbines Worldwide 5,925
BUSINESS HELICOPTER FLEET BY WORLD AREA World Area
Total Aircraft
Worldwide United States Europe Africa Asia Oceania North America South America
25,480 8,303 6,283 1,136 2,172 2,153 11,564 1,888
GROWTH
The major fleet increase is observed in Africa, where Dauphins are operated in offshore operations 48 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
(AS OF END 2009) Total Piston Operators Operators 13,030 3,934 3,230 740 994 1,118 5,406 1,254
6,525 2,142 1,739 416 247 799 2,751 452
Turbine Operators 6,970 1,874 1,662 352 775 405 2,782 827
Single Turbine Operators 5,196 1,532 1,147 278 374 355 2,297 617
aving heavily suffered after the last economic crisis, North America saw its fleet grow by only 3.6%, from 8,016 to 8,303 units (+ 287 units), while Europe’s fleet grew by 6.5%, from 5,896 to 6,283 units. The biggest continent fleet increases, even if the final numbers are relatively low, were recorded by Africa (+10%, corresponding to a 103 unit increase), followed by South America (+ 9.7%, corresponding to a 167 unit increase) and Asia (+ 8,5%, corresponding to a 170 unit increase). Oceania’s fleet increase was more or less within the world average, with a 5% increase (+170 units). As far as the numbers of helicopter operators are concerned, the worldwide number grew from 12,258 to 13,030 (+6.2%). In the USA, their number was nearly identical to 2008 (3,934 compared to 3,897) but thanks to increases in Canada and Mexico, North America’s number grew by 3.3%, though one of the lowest figures worldwide, as in Europe, the number
HELICOPTERS SUMMARY BY WORLD AREA PISTON MFG/MODEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . .TOTAL ENSTROM 280 SHARK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 ENSTROM 280C SHARK . . . . . . . . . . . . .138 ENSTROM 280F SHARK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 ENSTROM 280FX SHARK . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 ENSTROM F-28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 ENSTROM F-28A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138 ENSTROM F-28C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 ENSTROM F-28C-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 ENSTROM F28F FALCON . . . . . . . . . . . .101 ROBINSON R22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 ROBINSON R22 ALPHA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 ROBINSON R22 BETA . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1268 ROBINSON R22 BETA II . . . . . . . . . . . . .1512 ROBINSON R22 HP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 ROBINSON R22 MARINER . . . . . . . . . . . .129 ROBINSON R22 MARINER II . . . . . . . . . . .46 ROBINSON R44 ASTRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . .619 ROBINSON R44 RAVEN I . . . . . . . . . . . .1066 ROBINSON R44 RAVEN II . . . . . . . . . . .2521 SCHWEIZER 300CB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102 SCHWEIZER S-300C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .534 SCHWEIZER S-300CBI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179 Total Piston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8.833
. . . .EUROPE . . . . . . . . .1 . . . . . . . .38 . . . . . . . . .1 . . . . . . . .30 . . . . . . . . .0 . . . . . . . .27 . . . . . . . .11 . . . . . . . . .1 . . . . . . . .10 . . . . . . . .15 . . . . . . . . .7 . . . . . . .354 . . . . . . .342 . . . . . . . . .6 . . . . . . . .26 . . . . . . . .14 . . . . . . .165 . . . . . . .318 . . . . . . .661 . . . . . . . .23 . . . . . . .202 . . . . . . . .37 . . . . .2.289
SINGLE TURBINE MFG/MODEL . . . . . . .TOTAL AGUSTA/WESTLAND A119 KE . . . . . . . . . .38 AGUSTA/WESTLAND A119 KOALA . . . . . . .89 BELL 204B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 BELL 205A-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135 BELL 206A JETRANGER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 BELL 206B JETRANGER II . . . . . . . . . . .1.024 BELL 206B-3 JETRANGER III . . . . . . . . .1.972 BELL 206L LONGRANGER . . . . . . . . . . . .103 BELL 206L-1 LONGRANGER II . . . . . . . . .436 BELL 206L-3 LONGRANGER . . . . . . . . . .497 BELL 206L-4 LONGRANGER IV . . . . . . . .359 BELL 210 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 BELL 214B BIGLIFTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 BELL 407 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .899 BELL/AGUSTA AB-206A JETRANGER . . . . . .22 BELL/AGUSTA AB-206B JETRANGER II . . . . .87 BELL/AGUSTA AB-206B-3 JETRANGER . . . .78 ENSTROM 480 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 ENSTROM 480B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 EUROCOPTER AS-350B ECUREUIL . . . . . .357 EUROCOPTER AS-350B-1 ECUREUIL . . . . .59 EUROCOPTER AS-350B-2 ECUREUIL . . .1.000 EUROCOPTER AS-350B-3 ECUREUIL . . . .734 EUROCOPTER AS-350BA ECUREUIL . . . . .529 EUROCOPTER AS-350D ASTAR . . . . . . . . .81 EUROCOPTER EC-120B COLIBRI . . . . . . .507 EUROCOPTER EC-130B-4 ECUREUIL . . . .270 EUROCOPTER SA-315B LAMA . . . . . . . . .221 EUROCOPTER SA-316B ALOUETTE III . . . .164 EUROCOPTER SA-318C ALOUETTE II . . . . .83 EUROCOPTER SA-319B ALOUETTE III . . . . .33 MD MD 500E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .354 MD MD 520N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96 MD MD 530F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86 MD MD 600N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 SCHWEIZER 330 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 SCHWEIZER S-333 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Total Single Turbine . . . . . . . . . . . . .10.696
. . . .EUROPE . . . . . . . .11 . . . . . . . .21 . . . . . . . . .2 . . . . . . . . .9 . . . . . . . . .5 . . . . . . . .76 . . . . . . .222 . . . . . . . .10 . . . . . . . .26 . . . . . . . .27 . . . . . . . . .9 . . . . . . . . .0 . . . . . . . . .2 . . . . . . . .73 . . . . . . . .16 . . . . . . . .67 . . . . . . . .70 . . . . . . . .16 . . . . . . . .16 . . . . . . . .68 . . . . . . . .25 . . . . . . .167 . . . . . . .264 . . . . . . .133 . . . . . . . .10 . . . . . . .245 . . . . . . . .59 . . . . . . .117 . . . . . . . .65 . . . . . . . .34 . . . . . . . . .9 . . . . . . . .74 . . . . . . . .16 . . . . . . . . .1 . . . . . . . .12 . . . . . . . . .5 . . . . . . . .12 . . . . .1.994
MULTI TURBINE MFG/MODEL . . . . . . . .TOTAL GUSTA/WESTLAND A109A . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 AGUSTA/WESTLAND A109A MK II . . . . . .100 AGUSTA/WESTLAND A109C . . . . . . . . . . .68
. . .EUROPEA. . . . . . . .31 . . . . . . . .58 . . . . . . . .28
AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2009
AGUSTA/WESTLAND A109E POWER . . . . .327 AGUSTA/WESTLAND A109K2 . . . . . . . . . . .27 AGUSTA/WESTLAND A109S GRAND . . . . .118 AGUSTA/WESTLAND AW139 . . . . . . . . . .192 BELL 206LT TWINRANGER . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 BELL 212 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .478 BELL 214ST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 BELL 222A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 BELL 222B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 BELL 222SP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 BELL 222UT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 BELL 230 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 BELL 412 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124 BELL 412EP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .391 BELL 412HP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 BELL 412SP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 BELL 427 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 BELL 429 GLOBALRANGER . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 BELL 430 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122 BELL/AGUSTA AB-412 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 BELL/AGUSTA AB-412EP . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 BELL/AGUSTA AB-412HP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 BELL/AGUSTA AB-412SP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 EUROCOPTER AS-332L SUPER PUMA . . . . .67 EUROCOPTER AS-332L1 SUPER PUMA . . . .65 EUROCOPTER AS-332L2 SUPER PUMA . . . .44 EUROCOPTER AS-355E ECUREUIL II . . . . . . .2 EUROCOPTER AS-355F ECUREUIL II . . . . .142 EUROCOPTER AS-355F-1 ECUREUIL . . . . .56 EUROCOPTER AS-355F-2 ECUREUIL . . . .158 EUROCOPTER AS-355N ECUREUIL II . . . .151 EUROCOPTER AS-355NP ECUREUIL II . . . .24 EUROCOPTER AS-365C DAUPHIN 2 . . . . .55 EUROCOPTER AS-365N DAUPHIN 2 . . . .112 EUROCOPTER AS-365N-1 DAUPHIN 2 . . . .35 EUROCOPTER AS-365N-2 DAUPHIN 2 . . .119 EUROCOPTER AS-365N-3 DAUPHIN 2 . . .131 EUROCOPTER BK-117A-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 EUROCOPTER BK-117B-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 EUROCOPTER BK-117B-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 EUROCOPTER BK-117C-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 EUROCOPTER EC-135P1 . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 EUROCOPTER EC-135P2 . . . . . . . . . . . .145 EUROCOPTER EC-135P2I . . . . . . . . . . . .187 EUROCOPTER EC-135T1 . . . . . . . . . . . . .88 EUROCOPTER EC-135T2 . . . . . . . . . . . .141 EUROCOPTER EC-135T2I . . . . . . . . . . . . .98 EUROCOPTER EC-145 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .273 EUROCOPTER EC-155B . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 EUROCOPTER EC-155B1 . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 EUROCOPTER EC-225LP SUPER PUMA . . . .48 EUROCOPTER/KAWASAKI BK-117A-1 . . . . .12 EUROCOPTER/KAWASAKI BK-117B . . . . . .81 EUROCOPTER/KAWASAKI BK-117C-1 . . . . .9 MD MD EXPLORER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110 SIKORSKY S-76A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142 SIKORSKY S-76A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 SIKORSKY S-76A++ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 SIKORSKY S-76B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 SIKORSKY S-76C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 SIKORSKY S-76C+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142 SIKORSKY S-76C++ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168 SIKORSKY S-92A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108 Total Multi Turbine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5.925
. . . . . . .128 . . . . . . . .19 . . . . . . . .54 . . . . . . . .65 . . . . . . . . .4 . . . . . . . .60 . . . . . . . . .1 . . . . . . . . .6 . . . . . . . . .4 . . . . . . . . .2 . . . . . . . . .4 . . . . . . . . .3 . . . . . . . .16 . . . . . . . .37 . . . . . . . .16 . . . . . . . . .2 . . . . . . . . .9 . . . . . . . . .0 . . . . . . . .10 . . . . . . . .26 . . . . . . . .18 . . . . . . . . .3 . . . . . . . . .7 . . . . . . . .28 . . . . . . . .26 . . . . . . . .25 . . . . . . . . .0 . . . . . . . .58 . . . . . . . .26 . . . . . . . .56 . . . . . . . .84 . . . . . . . .20 . . . . . . . .29 . . . . . . . .39 . . . . . . . .14 . . . . . . . .32 . . . . . . . .57 . . . . . . . . .1 . . . . . . . .32 . . . . . . . . .8 . . . . . . . .27 . . . . . . . .16 . . . . . . . .57 . . . . . . . .79 . . . . . . . .53 . . . . . . . .99 . . . . . . . .68 . . . . . . . .86 . . . . . . . .20 . . . . . . . .31 . . . . . . . .22 . . . . . . . . .0 . . . . . . . . .1 . . . . . . . . .0 . . . . . . . .55 . . . . . . . . .8 . . . . . . . . .9 . . . . . . . . .3 . . . . . . . .17 . . . . . . . . .5 . . . . . . . .10 . . . . . . . .22 . . . . . . . .33 . . . . .1.867
Grand Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25.454 . . . . .6.150
© AVDATA/JETNET BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 49
REPORT
2009 BUSINESS HELICOPTER FLEET
of operators grew by 6.2% (from 3,041 to 3,230), by 8,9% in Asia (1092 to 1118), by 10% in Africa (668 to 740), and by 13% in South America (1,102 to 1,254).
EXPANSION
The Eurocopter multi-turbine fleet increased by 13.4%. VIP EC225 interior.
Country Rankings If we analyze the Top 10 business helicopter fleets, USA remains definitely the No 1, with 8,303 units (with a meager 3.5% increase - + 287 units - compared to 2008), followed by Canada, with 2,142 units (practically no change compared to the 2,110 units in 2008), Australia, with 1,386 units (1358 in 2008), United Kingdom, 1,290 units (but here the fleet decreased by 2.8% compared to last year, as the country operated 1,326 helicopters in 2008). Brazil arrives 5th, with a fleet of 1,041 helicopters (916 in 2008, which corresponds to a 13.6% increase (the highest in these top ten countries). France, which arrives in the 6th position, has had a 6.3 increase, from 771 to 820 units. South Africa, with a 766 unit fleet, has recorded a 3.2% increase. In 2008, Japan had a 685 unit fleet, but its fleet decreased by three units in 2009 and therefore was overtaken by Italy, which had a fleet increase of 35 units last year and now totals 700, against 682 for Japan. No 10 in our list is Germany, even if last year its fleet increase was relatively high: 6.7% from 621 to 663 units. In this business fleet category, it is interesting to consider the evolution of two countries, China and Russia, which according to industry observers, are ‘sleeping giants’, promised to the best perspectives. Even if the absolute figures are not impressive, it is the percent evolution itself which is amazing. Imagine that between 2008 and 2009, China recorded a 26.8% increase, with a helicopter fleet growing from 108 to 137 units. The case of Russia is even more astonishing, as last year, this country nearly doubled its total number of helicopters, recording a 90.9% fleet increase, from 86 to 168 units. And according to Russia’s Progress Managing Director Yuri Denisenko, it is expected that “in 2010, the growth will be even more impressive”. Concerning the different types of helicopters, the pistons category grew by 6.2% from 2008 to 2009, adding 519
50 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
units to the fleet (from 8,314 to 8,833). For single turbine models, the increase was more moderate, with a 3.1% increase (+ 324 units, from 10,372 to 10,696). On the other hand, the multi-engine category recorded a 9.4% increase (+ 511 units, from 5,414 to 5,925), proving once more that, despite the crisis, the big helicopters continue to be in strong demand. A Look at Manufacturers As far as helicopter manufacturers are concerned, our statistics from 2008 to 2009 show that some companies more than others played their cards right. In the piston category, Robinson saw its worldwide market share grow by 7.1%, from 6,899 to 7,389 units. In the single turbine category, Agusta/Westland recorded a 24% increase, but numbers are less significant - + 25 units, from 102 to 127. Always in the single turbine category, Bell saw its fleet decrease from 2 units, from 5,750 to 5,748, while Enstrom recorded only a 5-unit increase, from 112 to 117. Eurocopter was more successful, with
a 6.9% increase - + 262 units, from 3,776 to 4,038. McDonnell Douglas Helicopters saw its fleet grow from 579 to 600, a 3.6% increase, while Schweizer Helicopters grew by only 2.4%, from 53 to 66 units. In the multi-turbine category, Agusta/Westland was fortunate to record an 18.6% increase, thanks to the sales of the 109 series. Bell was less successful, and its fleet of multi-turbine models decreased by two units, from 1,539 to 1,537. Eurocopter practically didn’t feel the crisis and its multiturbine fleet increased by 13.4% from 2008 to 2009, from 2,321 to 2,634 units. McDonnell Douglas increased it fleet by only seven units, from 103 to 110 units, while Sikorsky recorded a 7.4 increase - + 52 units, from 695 to 747. The attached tables will give our readers additional details about the worldwide fleets by manufacturer and country. In order to try to estimate the evolution of the industry this coming year, we have pinpointed some of the latest orders and highlights from the main helicopter manufacturers.
BUSINESS HELICOPTER FLEET AS OF DECEMBER 2009
AUSTRALIA & OCEANIA Australia 1.422 Fiji 2 Guam 3 New Caledonia 20 New Zealand 623 Norfolk Island 1 Pap. New Guinea 72 Solomon Islands 4 Tahiti 3 Vanuatu 3
SOUTH AMERICA Argentina 154 Bolivia 13 Brazil 1.041 Chile 151 Colombia 140 Ecuador 24 French Guiana 1 Guyana 5 Paraguay 6 Peru 67 Uruguay 8 Venezuela 278
ASIA Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Brunei Cambodia China Georgia Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kuwait Laos Lebanon Malaysia Nepal Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Sri Lanka Taiwan Thailand Turkey Turkmenistan UAE Vietnam
AFRICA 6 9 13 6 6 137 6 34 184 103 42 12 43 682 7 23 8 2 4 111 15 17 74 100 29 25 31 87 29 20 97 72 5 100 5
Algeria 22 Angola 48 Benin 1 Botswana 13 Burkina Faso 1 Burundi 2 Cameroon 4 Canary Islands 1 Comoros 1 Congo 3 Cote d''Ivoire 6 Dem. Rep. Congo 6 Egypt 33 Equatorial Guinea 1 Ethiopia 1 Gabon 3 Ghana 3 Kenya 22 Libya 16 Madagascar 3 Malawi 4 Mauritius 3 Morocco 5 Mozambique 9 Namibia 16 Niger 44 Nigeria 44 Reunion Island 18 Rwanda 3 Senegal 2 Seychelles Islands 8 Sierra Leone 2 South Africa 766 Swaziland 1 Tanzania 6 Togo 3 Tunisia 9 Uganda 8 Zambia 5 Zimbabwe 7
NORTH AMERICA
EUROPE
Antigua & Barbuda3 Aruba 2 Bahamas 2 Barbados 2 Belize 2 Bermuda 8 Canada 2.067 Cayman Islands 6 Costa Rica 21 Dominica 54 Dominican Rep. 54 El Salvador 27 Greenland 23 Guadeloupe 2 Guatemala 139 Haiti 1 Honduras 16 Jamaica 15 Mexico 571 Neth. Antilles 3 Nicaragua 3 Panama 83 Puerto Rico 61 Saint Lucia 1 Trin. & Tobago 20 Turks & Cai. Isl. 1 United States 7.501 Virgin Isl. (British) 9 Virgin Isl. (U.S.) 3 West Indies 7
Albania 1 Andorra 3 Austria 151 Belarus 2 Belgium 179 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5 Bulgaria 13 Croatia 15 Cyprus 16 Czech Republic 84 Denmark 101 Estonia 5 Faeroe Islands 2 Finland 74 France 797 Germany 638 Gibraltar 2 Greece 91 Hungary 38 Iceland 10 Ireland 162 Isle of Man 5 Italy 672 Latvia 12 Liechtenstein 5 Lithuania 12 Luxembourg 17 Macedonia 2 Malta 5 Monaco 25 Montenegro 1 Netherlands 69 Northern Ireland 5 Norway 202 Poland 90 Portugal 44 Romania 42 Russian Fed. 168 San Marino 4 Scotland 9 Serbia 10 Slovak Republic 21 Slovenia 34 Spain 416 Sweden 166 Switzerland 271 Ukraine 34 UK 1.162 Wales 1
Š AVDATA/JETNET
POPULAR
The piston Schweizer 300 (left) and turbine Jet Ranger (right) are widespread models. BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 51
REPORT Helicopter Roundup Last December, Eurocopter completed the delivery of two EC145s to Helicopteros Marinos, an Argentinean offshore operator that serves the oil and gas industry. These aircraft were scheduled to go into service in January 2010. The EC145 is a latest-generation light twin-engine helicopter, with a fast cruise speed of 135 kts and an endurance of up to 3.5 hours. Also at the end of last year, Eurocopter delivered the first two EC155 B1 Dauphin
SCORE
Canada and South Africa are among the top ten fleets. R44 Canadian and AB139 in South Africa.
helicopters to Citic Offshore Helicopter Co. Ltd. (COHC) in Shenzhen, China. The delivery is part of a contract for a total of ten helicopters of this type. The remaining eight helicopters will be delivered between 2010 and 2013. COHC already operates 21 Eurocopter helicopters. The new helicopters will be used for offshore transport missions. Concerning the Middle East, Eurocopter has been present there for over thirty years. More than 650 of its helicopters are flying in the Arab world. Recent significant contracts include the delivery to Falcon Aviation Services (FAS) of the first EC135 Helicoptre par Hermes as the ultimate style in flight, the delivery of EC225 to Oman, additional EC135 off-shore to PAS in Egypt, delivery of AS350 B3 Ecureuil to Frontier Corps in Pakistan,
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2009 BUSINESS HELICOPTER FLEET
Top Ten Business Helicopter Fleets 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
United States Canada Australia United Kingdom Brazil France South Africa Italy Japan Germany
8,303 2,142 1,422 1,290 1,041 820 793 700 (*9) 691 (*8) 663
*2008 Ranking
and several Dauphin N3 and EC155 helicopters for VVIPs of Gulf States. Mid last year, Eurocopter signed a cooperation agreement to create a public-private joint venture in Kazakhstan in order to develop helicopter activities and create a fully integrated and independent helicopter service industry in Kazakhstan. Concerning Bell Helicopter, it announced in September 2009 that the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has certified its 429 helicopter.
The Bell 429 is a new light twin helicopter with a highly flexible cabin space that can be customized to individual customer requirements: air ambulance, supporting offshore operations, VIP transport or other applications. In 2009, Bell Helicopter also announced the selection of its first Customer Service Facility (CSF) provider in Russia, Kazan Aviation Enterprise. Danny Maldonado, vice president for Customer Support and Bell’s Chief Services Officer said, “Recently Bell Helicopter has seen a tremendous increase in the demand for our products in the Russian market.”
Division had delivered the first two S434TM helicopters to the Ministry of Interior, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (MOI). The two aircraft inaugurate the Saudi MOI light helicopter fleet, which will eventually total nine aircraft. The S-434 helicopter model is a new version of the S-333TM helicopter used for missions including law enforcement patrol, commercial and military flight training, power line/pipeline patrol, personal use, and light utility operations. Last September, Sikorsky was also proud to announce the delivery of a new VIP S-76C++ helicopter to the Royal Travel
from commercial operators in India: “the Ka-226/Ka-226T, Ka-32A11BC, and Ansat helicopters are nearing certification and should boost additional interest, and the Ka-226T is already taking part in an Indian tender for the delivery of 197 light helicopters.” Mid last year, Russian Helicopters revealed the Sapsan, the first Russian FAR-27 turbine helicopter. Sapsan’s arrival is a statement to the policy of the Russian holding: to diversify its lineup to address the market needs of corporate, private, training, medevac and surveillance and using the lastest from eco-control and oil lines. “We
Sikorsky indicated last month that its S-76D had entered production on the assembly line at Aero Vodochody (Aero) in the Czech Republic in preparation for the customer deliveries planned to begin in 2011. The fuselage is scheduled to depart Aero in April 2010 for delivery to Sikorsky Global Helicopters facility in Coatesville, Penn., where final assembly and completion will take place. “With the airframe originating in the Czech Republic, the engines in Canada, avionics in France, and tail pylon in Turkey, to name a few components, the S-76D helicopter is truly a world citizen supported by world-class suppliers,” said Tim Fox, S-76D helicopter program manager. Last December, Sikorsky also announced that its Light Helicopters
Office for use by the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. Sikorsky has provided helicopters to support the Royal Family since the early 1950’s. As we mentioned it above, the Russian market is strongly progressing. Russian Helicopters, a company founded in 2006, is the managing body of the consolidated Russian helicopter industry. It has already started to extend its influence to the Indian market, which is a traditionally high-priority market for the Russian helicopter industry. In this respect, Russian Helicopters and Global Vectra Group jointly established Integrated Helicopter Services Pvt. Ltd. to service Russian-made rotorcraft and supply parts and equipment, according to Andrei Shibitov, CEO, Russian Helicopters, who forecasts new orders
have really given this helicopter a thorough shaking, and this was an ideological step,” said Shibitov. “We now have a product with a very popular and reliable French turboshaft engine, boasting good specifications and economy. This gives our helicopter a new status, a new life.” The Sapsan (Peregrine in English) uses the popular Arrius 2F by the French company Turbomeca, a reliable, long-life engine with well-established warranty and after-warranty service. This helps to diminish traditional market skepticism towards a new helicopter model, added Shibitov, convinced that the Sapsan will be able to compete with the latest Western productions.
MULTI
The multi-turbine Bell 430 is a popular model, with 122 worldwide and 10 in Europe.
BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 53
PREVIEW
HELI-EXPO
By Jack Carroll
While the helicopter industry was hurt somewhat during the economic free-fall, there really never appeared to be a genuine “crisis” or even outward signs of alarm. Those in the international helicopter community were understandably wary, but simply went ahead, worked their way through the past year and – optimistic as always – are looking forward to the start of the recovery.
HELICOPTERS DEAL DEFTLY WITH DOWNTURN
“Both operators and potential customers are smart enough to realize the competitive advantages of new technologies, operating cost reductions and increased capabilities in certain operating environments. It all boils down to making a logical business decision and carefully analyzing what the potential return on an investment in new equipment might be. Can you justify a new purchase? How long will it take to pay for itself? Does it make sense to hang on to aging, inefficient equipment? As I see it, helicopter operators are much more careful and analytical these days before making a commitment and as a whole, I think they’ve become much better, sharper businessmen.” Although some sectors were hit hard, others seem untouchable. As
s Heli-Expo 2010 approaches we went to the sages at Helicopter Association International (HAI) to get their take on the state of the helicopter industry and how it managed to maintain its stability in an unstable economic environment. We caught up to HAI’s peripatetic President, Matt Zuccaro to hear what he had to say.
A
HOVERING
No crisis for the helicopter industry says Zuccaro. Deliveries of the newly certified Bell 429 (center) started this past August.
He opens emphatically: “I don’t think the helicopter industry was ever in what could be termed a crisis. The industry has gotten through some trying times quite well and I think that’s the result of smart management and logical due diligence in dealing with the economic situation. Certainly, we’ve seen fewer orders during the past year – as might be expected – as well as production and staff reductions
54 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
at some companies to help counter the effects of the downturn, but overall we’ve gotten through the worst part and are in pretty good shape, all things considered.” As the industry continues to introduce new models, such as the Bell 429 and Eurocopter EC175, both with substantial order backlogs, Zuccaro makes a point about equipment acquisitions in general:
Zuccaro points out, “I’d have to say the oil and gas industry, utility operations – such as fire fighting – EMS and law enforcement are areas where helicopters are truly vital. In fact, helicopters have become so ingrained in certain industries that it would be virtually impossible for them to complete their missions without helicopters. Remember, the real difference between helicopters and all
other aircraft is their unmatched diversity. At last count, we figure upwards of 55 missions can be completed with helicopters – from power line patrol, to crop spraying to cattle herding and just about everything in between.” According to Zuccaro, for the past four years Heli-Expo has outperformed the previous year and set new attendance records. He notes, “Last year in Anaheim, despite all the economic turmoil, we had another record attendance over 18,000 and 65 helicopters on display. The show in Houston is looking great this year as well and with a few weeks to go we’re over 90 percent of where we were at this time last year, with booth space on the main floor just about sold out.” One might say that Heli-Expo 2009 is a show of optimism. As Zuccaro concludes, “You won’t find any signs of doom and gloom in this industry. Things are stable and we’re doing just fine. That’s the big picture and we hope to see a lot of your readers at HeliExpo. (Heli-Expo 2009, February 2023, George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, Texas, www.heliexpo.com.)
strong order backlog. According to Greg Hubbard, Director of Communications, “Bell achieved significant results in 2009, despite economic conditions and while final numbers are not in, we are on track to report a number of deliveries for 2009 similar to that of 2008.” For the record, Bell delivered nearly 180 helicopters in 2008. Over the past couple of years Bell has trimmed its lineup significantly, ceasing production of the 206B, 427 and 430. Most of the inventory has been sold and the company expects to wrap up deliveries of the last remaining 206Bs and 427s early this year, according to Barry Kohler, VP Commercial Programs. As planned, the strategy of reducing the product line to best-sellers only means that there is now more room at Bell’s Mirabel, Canada facility for ramping up 429 production to keep pace with sales. Just in the nick of time, we’d say. Says Hubbard, “We’ve continued to streamline our production processes, so once demand returns we’ll be able to ramp up to increased numbers and supply our customers with products at rates we haven’t been able to achieve
New 429 Rings Up Sales for Bell The folks at Bell Helicopter are breathing a lot easier these days, ever since the 429 was finally certified and initial deliveries started this past August. From all reports, it was well worth the wait and the view from here is that you can “take it to the bank” – it will be Bell’s best-seller for sure. Overall, Bell worked its way through the recent crisis quite well, thanks to a
before. We’re now in the process of converting Letters of Intent (LOI) for the 429 into firm orders with contracts and now have a production backlog of about two years, which we expect to grow as the economy recovers.” That’s a fairly comfortable cushion to see Bell through any glitches before “full recovery”, which everyone says will happen in 2012. Fingers crossed.
Eurocopter Looks Ahead in Downturn It’s still the world’s most prolific helicopter manufacturer, but Eurocopter saw new orders slump a bit in 2009 – not a unique situation in the industry. As Eurocopter’s President and CEO, Lutz Bertling candidly reported, “While governmental markets seem to remain stable despite budget constraints, a full recovery of the commercial markets in 2010 is not obvious to us at this time. COPING
Eurocopter President and CEO Lutz Bertling rely on stable governmental markets
The lower order intake in 2009 for light helicopters will lead to lower production rates in 2010, while military helicopter production will increase.” This allows Eurocopter to cope with the current economic conditions better than most. And while there has been a decline in the number of orders for the civil market–notably corporate, EMS and commercial operations – there was no decline in total turnover,
HEAVY
No decline for Eurocopter thanks to increased sales of heavier aircraft. EC225 SAR (left). Orders for the EC175 (right) stand at 114.
BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 55
PREVIEW
CONFIGURATION
With a cabin for 5 or 6 passengers, the S76D is the ultimate step in the evolution of the S-76 series
thanks to the aforementioned increased sales of military aircraft and heavier helicopters, such as the EC225 “Super Puma” to the oil, gas and SAR markets Looking ahead, Bertling notes, “Eurocopter will continue to increase its self-funded investment in R&D for the development of new products and services to maintain its leadership. The main trends will be safety, environmental friendliness, overall efficiency and expanded mission capabilities across the line; all with a strong focus on increasing customer value.” Fair enough. He also points to Eurocopter’s “proximity to its global customers, which has proven to be a key asset in a time of crisis.” For example, Eurocopter now has a growing presence on five continents, with 18 subsidiaries worldwide. In 2009 the company expanded its facilities in the UK, Japan, U.S., Australia and Brazil. Eurocopter also opened new customer service/maintenance centers in Hong Kong to handle the Asia-Pacific region, while American Eurocopter opened its Customer Service and Fleet Operations Center to serve customers in North America. While specific sales figures of each model will be revealed at Heli-Expo, according to a Eurocopter spokesperson, orders for the EC175 now stand at 114, with first deliveries set to begin in 2012 Get an inside look at the full-scale mockup of the EC175, appearing along with the EC130, EC135 and EC145 at Heli-Expo.
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HELI-EXPO
Sikorsky Starts S-76D Production Sikorsky Global Helicopters, the rebranded business unit of Sikorsky Aircraft, has the good fortune of having any sales slowdown offset by Sikorsky’s military business, so it appears to be maneuvering smoothly through the downturn (while it also sits on an growing order book of 100+ new S-76Ds and is pushing ahead towards certification and initial deliveries in 2011). In fact, the S-76D – now in flight test – reached a major milestone when it officially went in production on December 16, 2009, slightly ahead of schedule. The first S-76D airframe went on the assembly line at Aero Vodochody in the Czech Republic and is scheduled for delivery to Sikorsky Global Helicopters in April, 2010, for final assembly and completion. Sikorsky Global will receive one S-76D fuselage per month initially and should reach full production in 2011. According to Tim Fox, S-76D Program Manager, “Production is supported by more than 30 key suppliers, with the airframe originating in the Czech Republic, engines in Canada, avionics in France and the tail pylon in Turkey, to name just a few components. We think of our S-76D as truly a world citizen, supported by world-class suppliers.” Well put, indeed. The S-76D is perhaps the ultimate step in the evolution of the S-76 series and features a slew of upgrades and new equipment, including: all-composite, flaw-tolerant main rotors; an advanced Thales avionics suite and autopilot; dual-speed rotor with active vibration control; Pratt & Whitney
Canada 210S engines; a “quiet mode” for improved neighbor relations; and an optional Rotor Ice Protection System (RIPS) for all-weather capability. The S-76 has an increase in useful load as well as range over the S-76C+ and S-76C++. Meanwhile, S-76C++ deliveries will continue as the D model advances toward certification, finally disposing of the + and ++ designations with a single letter. The aircraft first flew on February 7, 2009. A mockup of the S-76D will be on display at Heli-Expo, as well a light, entrylevel S-300 (Formerly Schweizer, but now under Sikorsky Global’s Light Helicopter Division) helicopter and a heavyweight S-92 outfitted for offshore missions and owned by Petroleum Helicopters International (PHI). And of course you can expect some wellplanned news releases and new order announcements issued throughout the show at Sikorsky’s always impressive stand. Dominated by the S-92, you can’t miss it. Robinson Reigns Buy a Robinson Helicopter and you’re going to end up with a lot of change in your pocket. As the company proudly proclaims, its two-place Beta II has by far the lowest acquisition and operating costs in the industry – sound reasons why the company keeps setting production records. In fact, it produces more helicopters per year than all North American manufacturers combined. But the company failed to beat 2008’s sales mark last year, “due to the overall economy and financing problems,” says Kurt Robinson, Vice
flight test hours with two aircraft and will soon add a third as the certification program nears completion. Certification is set for the end of 2Q 2010, though Robinson says, “We’re pushing hard to get it done in the March/April timeframe.” Agusta Westland Gains Altitude AgustaWestland shrugged off the effects of the global economic downturn, showing positive results through the third quarter of 2009 and no signs of a slowdown. Revenues rose by 14 percent, or nearly three million Euros over 2008, and the order backlog of 10.3 million Euros is enough to cover upwards of three years of production.
President, Product Support, “But we started showing strength again at the end of 2009 and I think that in general things will be much brighter for us this year. Especially once we certify our new turbine-powered R66.” Since it was founded in 1973, Robinson Helicopter Company has organized a global network of more than 110-factory-authorized dealers and more than 290 service centers in some 50 countries, now including China and Russia. Simply put, they are where their customers are. Over the years, the company has concentrated its engineering efforts on research and development, with the objective of refining the R22 and R44 designs to improve performance while reducing maintenance costs. The latest version of the R22, the Beta II, is priced at a mere $243,000, has a 110 mph cruise speed and sips fuel at only seven to 10 gallons per hour.
The star of Robinson’s stable is the 4place R44. The original R44, now designated as Raven I, still accounts for some 20 percent of the company’s sales, while the more powerful version, the Raven II, has over 60 percent of sales, thanks to being faster, having more payload and able to reach higher altitudes than the Raven I. Both models are available with fixed or popout floats and designated Clipper I and Clipper II. The Raven II also offers such niceties as hydraulic power controls, an RPM governor, rotor brake, auxiliary fuel system for added range, plus a voice-activated intercom. The company’s flagship, the R66, is a giant step forward for the company. Powered by the new Rolls-Royce 300 turbine engine, the five-place aircraft will fly higher and faster than the Raven II, and has a 1,300 lb. useful load, as well as a very useful, roomy baggage compartment. The company has accumulated several hundred
The company significantly expanded its global presence in 2009 via enhanced product support and training services and now has nearly 70 service centers worldwide. It has also executed a number of strategic new agreements. Citing examples, Media Relations Officer Roberto Caprarella notes that AgustaWestland and Tata Sons signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the formation of an Indian joint venture company for constructing a final assembly line for AW119 “Koala” helicopters in India. The company also agreed to purchase precisely 87.61 percent of Poland’s PZLSwidnik, which also happened to deliver the 1,000th fuselage to AgustaWestland in 2009. PZL specializes in what Caprarella terms “helicopter aerostructures”, especially fuselages, which the company now produces for five AgustaWestland helicopters. Also, to buttress its growing business is Portugal, AgustaWestland opened its
FLAGSHIPS
The R66 is a giant step forward for Robinson (top). Air rescue operator REGA selected the Da VINCI AW109SP (center).
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PREVIEW
new regional headquarters in Lisbon, following formation of its in-country subsidiary AgustaWestland Portugal S.A. But that’s not all. To say the company has been busy is a gross understatement. As a good Media Officer is wont to do, Caprarella ticks off additional activities supporting AgustaWestland’s growth: Doubling the size of its Logistics Center in Lonate Pozzolo, Italy; building a new Customer Support Center in Sao Paulo, Brazil; setting up a joint venture with Abu Dhabi Aviation for helicopter maintenance and training in the UAE; establishing a Repair & Overhaul Center in Vancouver with Heli-One of Canada; appointing FAASA Aviacion of Spain an authorized Service Center for AW119 and Sky Line (a Kocoglu Holding Company) to support and service AW109 Power and Grand models in Turkey. And lest we forget, AgustaWestland joined forces with CAE in the U.S. to provide initial type rating and recurrent training–in Morristown, New Jersey—for the AW139. Whatever will they do in 2010? Look MISSIONS for answers in Houston. LAFD operates three AW139 (top). Enstrom Stresses Diversity Enstrom President “Build it and they will come,” the and CEO memorable line from the movie “Field Jerry M. Mullins of Dreams” simply doesn’t apply to (left) wants to business aircraft in general, and espereinforce an cially to Enstrom Helicopters. The relsmall but agile international atively presence. manufacturer–now in its 50th year–has 58 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
HELI-EXPO
managed to stay competitive by moving far afield in the global marketplace; “beating the bushes,” as they say, for new business. As Jerry M. Mullins, Enstrom’s President and CEO sees it, diversity is a matter of survival. Says Mullins, “The economic downturn of 2009 demands a more diversified focus for 2010 and beyond. For us, strengthening our international markets is a must to weather adverse economic conditions in the United States.” As to the product line – and all will be displayed at Heli-Expo – known for outstanding stability and being easy to
fly, they are naturals in the training role. For example, the top-of-the-line turbine powered F28B, as ordered by the Royal Thai Army features a uniquely flexible wide cabin design that allows an instructor to train two students at a time. But it also can be converted easily for such uses as surveillance, cargo (up to 1,000 lbs. on a sling), VIP transport for three to four passengers plus pilot, and even as emergency broadcast platform. Powered by a Rolls-Royce 250-C20W turbine engine with 277 shp, the basic F28B is value-priced at a shade over $900,000.
MD STRESSES PRODUCT SUPPORT As most are aware, MD Helicopters has had a long history of havoc and angst – bounced from owner to owner, effectively an orphan with little hope for survival on the horizon. That is until a savior appeared in the form of a private equity company, aptly named “Patriarch Partners”, stepped up and assumed the risk of adopting the frail, foundering company in 2005. Helmed by helicopter-minded Lynn Tilton, who realized the firm’s products were formidable, she wasted no time in shoring up MD’s underpinnings and getting right to the core of the problems. The turnaround didn’t happen overnight, of course. There were fits and starts, strategy changes and plenty of fixes needed – from supply chain to product support. But it did happen, and while still a work-in-progress, MD Helicopters today is a far cry from its seemingly perpetual on-the-brink position. Looking at 2009, although the company prefers to hold off revealing full delivery and order data until HeliExpo, let’s venture a well-informed guess: MD is not immune to economic conditions and indeed may be more vulnerable, having little to fall back on like some other OEMs. But they are nevertheless especially strong in law
enforcement, utility and EMS applications, which will help the situation. The company’s backlog, too, should have helped offset any delivery/order decline in 2009. But that’s just speculation, we’ll know more at MD’s HeliExpo press conference. We mentioned “getting to the core of the problems.” One issue apparently resolved is product support for the more than 3,000 MD helicopters in
MD’s NOTAR SYSTEM EXPLAINED
As you surely deciphered, NOTAR stands for “No Tail Rotor”. That said, according to the engineers at MD, the NOTAR system for anti-torque control uses the natural characteristics of helicopter aerodynamics. In other words, it uses an enclosed variablepitch composite blade fan that produces a low pressure, high volume of ambient air, which pressurizes the composite tailboom. Said air is pushed through two slots, running the length of the tailboom on its star-
operation worldwide, thanks to MD POWER, a comprehensive coverage program. As they refer to it, “The predictable maintenance program” covers the full range of MD helicopters, just out-of-the-crate new or many hours older: MD 500E, 530F, 520N, 600N and MD Explorer®. Among other features, operators can choose levels of service based on a minimum monthly charge or the maximum number of hours your
board side. This creates a boundary-layer control, called the “Coanda Effect.” The tailboom, in effect, becomes a sort of wing, which “flies” in the downdraft of the main rotor and produces up to 60 percent of the anti-torque force necessary in the hover mode. (Put another way, the vented, low pressure air traps the main rotor downwash against the tail boom, creating lateral lift to counter the main rotor’s torque.) The remaining directional control comes from low pressure air directed through the vents of a rotating direct jet thruster, as per the diagram. In forward flight, the boom-mounted vertical stabilizers handle the majority of the anti-torque work, while directional control remains a function of the direct jet thruster. NOTAR has been around for quite a while and has been thoroughly proven since an MD helicopter first flew with the system in 1981, while the first MD 520N was delivered to the Phoenix Police Force, its lead customer, in 1991. Incidentally, the worldwide fleet of NOTAR-equipped MD helicopters passed the 500,000-hours back in 2003 and by now is well on its way to the million-hour mark. So, yes, you might say NOTAR is indeed a successful and remarkable, well-tested system. For a closer look, contact MD Helicopters for a demo and be amazed.
helicopter is airborne. Covered repairs can be handled by any MD Authorized Service Center worldwide or a separate party with the approval of MD. Contracted parts and components are replaced at no additional cost above the hourly fixed rate or minimum monthly charge. Partner companies involved in the plan include Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney Canada for engines, and Honeywell for its VFR and IFR avionics in MD Explorers. MD Helicopters’ fields a five-model array, distinguished by teardropshaped cabins, with the exception of the larger MD Explorer. Of course, NOTAR-equipped models are simple to spot. As to Heli-Expo and pending announcements from MD Helicopters, you can expect to hear Lynn Tilton proclaim with confidence, as she’s done in the past, “We intend to continue raising the bar.” Well, good on you!
NOTAR
Standing for No Tail Rotor the NOTAR is a successful and remarkable solution
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MAINTENANCE
SERVICE UPDATE
SERVICES TO KEEP YOUR AIRCRAFT FLYING
Luxembourg-based shared ownership company flying a fleet of Pilatus PC-12, Socata TBM 850 and Piaggio Avanti, he has opted for maintenance contracts with the original aircraft manufacturers, paying a fixed amount per flight hour that includes all maintenance services, scheduled and unscheduled, with the aim being to have no unexpected expenses to invoice to share owners. As far as the fourth operator is concerned, this company, based in New Jersey and operating several Gulfstreams, started with Jet Aviation more than three decades ago. Up to now, its technical director has been fully satisfied with Jet’s services, and the take-over by General Dynamics (which also owns Gulfstream) has reinforced the decision to continue with the ex-Hirschmann company. Before we mention the main maintenance product support companies, it may be interesting to say a word concerning the present situation of the industry. In this respect, Jay Johnson, president and CEO of General Dynamics, parent company of Gulfstream and Jet Aviation, recently said he was starting to see “traction” in aircraft maintenance and believed there would be a pent-up demand for service since many operators have deferred maintenance over the last year. Citing one of its MRO market analysis in
By Marc Grangier
GLOBAL
Jet Aviation (top) has a number of maintenance facilities worldwide. The company acquired Midcoast Aviation (right) in the US.
Pilots or flight department managers are constantly seeking ways to optimize their operations. The question is often how to increase efficiency and lower costs of the aircraft operation at the same time. In other words, how is one to find the best maintenance support company? In order to find out how operators choose their maintenance product support facility, we asked the CEOs of four Business Aviation companies about their policy in this matter.
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he first company, based in Ukraine and which operates two Falcon 2000s, is indefectibly linked to the Dassault Service Center that provided its aircraft and, as a result, its CEO is reluctant to go anywhere else for maintenance. The second company, which operates a fleet of Citations out of Italy, is less rigid and each time a technical visit is due, the managing director asks for quotations from different maintenance centers. After hard bargaining, works are given to the cheapest offer. Concerning the third operator, a
T
EMEA and Asia, Jet Aviation further indicates that current market indications are showing that the aerospace industry is now going to see a slight increase in flight activity. While the light and midsize aircraft segment is still experiencing significant overcapacity and minimal flight activity, the medium to large aircraft are starting to be used again. This positive trend is accompanied by changing customer behavior. Many now demand more competitive prices, improved services and products.
Jet Aviation Jet Aviation has a number of maintenance product support facilities. Its Basel center performs the full range of maintenance activities, including DChecks, major modification and alteration of airframes and upgrades of cockpit and cabin electronic systems. It maintains all current models and the majority of out-of-production models of Gulfstream, Bombardier, Dassault Falcon, Boeing and Airbus aircraft. Concerning the Geneva facility, it maintains all Gulfstreams (except the 100 and 150), the Bombardier Global Express and the Boeing BBJ. In addition, it holds authorizations to perform base maintenance on the Dassault Falcon 50 and 900 and the Hawker series, as well as on a number of smaller jets. Over the past few years, Jet Aviation has increased its maintenance capabilities at Biggin Hill airport. The company is an approved repair station by the EASA, Saudi Arabia GACA, Bermuda DCA, Nigeria NCAA and Aruba DCA. It offers maintenance to Dassault Falcons, the Hawker series, the Citation 550 & 560s, the Bombardier Challenger series and Global Express. In addition, it is an authorized service center for Falcon 900s. With hangar facilities located next to the Vnukovo 3 FBO building, Jet Aviation Moscow is providing technical maintenance services for Bombardier Challenger and Global Express. It is also an authorized warranty line service facility for Gulfstreams and as such manages the Gulfstream spare parts inventory for the Russian market. Currently, the company holds maintenance approvals from Aruba DCA, Bermuda DCA and EASA. In addition, Jet Aviation Moscow provides AOG services at Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and other Russian airports. Jet Aviation Hong Kong offers maintenance services for Bombardier, Cessna Citation and Gulfstreams. It provides scheduled and unscheduled line maintenance, airframe and engine repairs, and avionics modifications. The line maintenance facility also services aircraft registered in other countries through Jet Aviation’s maintenance approvals in Singapore CAAS, Aruba DCA, Australian CASA, Bermuda DCA, Cayman CAA, Indonesia DGAC, Macao MAR-145, Malaysia DCA, Philippines ATO and Thailand DOA.
Jet Aviation Dubai provides maintenance and warranty support for the Boeing BBJ, the Gulfstream GIV and GV series, the Dassault Falcon 900 and 2000 series and the Raytheon Hawker 800. It also offers maintenance services for various other aircraft, including the Embraer Legacy, Cessna Citation 500 and 650, Hawker 700/800/1000 and Bombardier Global
The Savannah operation was integrated into Jet Aviation’s maintenance and completions organization in the US and operated by Midcoast Aviation. The name change from Savannah Air Center to Midcoast Aviation, effective January 1, 2010, is a logical step to unify these brands into one. “As sister organizations, united under the same management, it makes sense that both
Express. As part of the group’s service agreement with Airbus, the facility is linked to the Airbus customer service organization. Last November, Jet Aviation Dubai received GCAA Hawker 4000 and FAA Global Express maintenance approvals. Also last November, the Jet Aviation Group announced it had signed MRO service center agreement with Jet Support Services, Inc. (JSSI) to provide scheduled and unscheduled maintenance services and to supply spare parts to JSSI clients. Included in this agreement are Jet Aviation’s EMEA & Asia MRO operations (Basel, Geneva, Zurich, Dusseldorf, London Biggin Hill, Dubai and Singapore).
operate under the Midcoast Aviation brand,” says Peter G. Edwards, president of Jet Aviation. Midcoast’s maintenance repertoire includes major testing and inspection capability - from Chapter 5 requirements to routine inspections - unscheduled maintenance and complex structural repair for Global Express, Challenger, Gulfstream, Hawker, Falcon, Learjet and Sabreliner.
Midcoast Aviation In an effort to strengthen its services in North America, Jet Aviation acquired Midcoast Aviation in 2006 and, in 2008, Savannah Air Center.
RUAG Aviation (previously RUAG Aerospace) offers a comprehensive range of maintenance services at its locations in Oberpfaffenhofen and Stuttgart, Berne-Belp, Geneva, Lugano-Agno and Zurich. Over the years, the company has regularly extended its activities and network. It now maintains Bombardier CL 600 series, CL 300, CL 850, CRJ 200, Dash8 series, Global Express, Global 5000,
EXTENSIVE
RUAG Aviation offers a wide range of maintenance services in Germany and Switzerland.
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MAINTENANCE
SERVICE UPDATE
Learjet 31/35, Cessna, all models except Citation X, all Dassault Falcons (Easy and 7X incl.), the Embraer Legacy 600, the Gulfstream GIV, GV, G550 series, the Hawker Beechcraft all King Airs and Hawker 400XP - and the Pilatus PC-12. RUAG offers a vast choice of possibilities, from technical modifications like avionics upgrades and prototype certification to bringing aircraft in line with the latest standards and regulations. It has the system competence for complete aircraft modifications/upgrades and, as a TC holder, also for complete aircraft. To date, it has certified more than 270 modifications as TC upgrades, new STCs and alterations on military aircraft. In addition, it has developed and certified more than 160 repairs under its design organization responsibility.
OPTIONS
Lufthansa Technik has developed maintenance programs tailored for each operator (top). Maintenance service center at TAG Aviation (center).
TAG Aviation TAG Aviation is an authorized service center for Dassault (Falcon 7X, Falcon 900 series, Falcon 2000 series, Falcon 20-5, Falcon 50/ 50EX), Bombardier (Challenger 601, Challenger 604, Challenger 605, Challenger 300, Canadair Regional Jet SE), Learjet (Learjet 31 series, Learjet 35/36, Learjet 40/45, Learjet 60 series), Cessna (Citation 525/525A, Citation 500/550, Citation Excel 560XL), Embraer (EMB 135BJ, Legacy), Gulfstream (Gulfstream G550, Gulfstream Galaxy 200 and Gulfstream GIV) and Honeywell engines.
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As one of the world’s largest business jets operators, TAG understands what it takes to keep an aircraft flying and minimizing time out of service. Its technical services include major inspection and airframe modification, avionics repair and installation services, on-site component overhaul and repair; spare parts services, and scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. Lufthansa Technik According to Lufthansa Technik, its maintenance programs save costs at every check as the scope and frequency of the maintenance events recommended in an aircraft manufacturer’s
Maintenance Planning Document (MPD) are seldom in line with operations nor are they very cost-effective. Lufthansa Technik’s experience in aircraft maintenance has taught the company that there is no such thing as a “one-size-fits-all” program. Maintenance programs developed by Lufthansa Technik are therefore tailored to the individual operational requirements of each operator. This minimizes the cost of each check and often extends the intervals between maintenance events (escalation) to the benefit of the customer. Furthermore, every year, an operator receives an enormous amount of modification and inspection recommendations (e.g., service bulletins, service letters) from aircraft manufacturers and authorities (ADs). Implementing too many of the manufacturer recommendations would entail unnecessary cost and ground time, while not carrying out essential ones could result in reduced aircraft availability and increased costs. Therefore, for every customer, Lufthansa Technik selects the ideal combination of manufacturer recommendations that allows for the highest level of aircraft availability for the least investment. Examples have shown that, in some cases, the company can offer its customers a more cost-effective, certified solution than the manufacturer’s recommendation (e.g., alternate means of compliance for an AD, AMOC).
Dassault Falcon Service/DFS Created in 1967, DFS is the mainstay of the Dassault Aviation Service Center network for Europe, Africa and Middle East. Its services include scheduled maintenance (A, B, C, Z and MCI), airframe inspections, engine inspections (CF700, ATF3, TFE730, CFE738, and PW308C), APV inspections, service bulletin and FSA application, avionics tests and structural repairs on all Falcon aircraft. Early 2009, the company completed an expansion project that added 50,000 square feet to its complex in Le Bourget. According to Yves Gueyffier, Dassault Falcon Service General Manager, “The new facility significantly increases our capacity for regular inspections and scheduled maintenance, as well as improves our ability to provide ramp service and unscheduled maintenance.” DSFS carries out over 50 percent of the Falcon maintenance and modification market in the EMEA region, continues Gueyffier. Air Service Basel Air Service Basel has been in operation since 1967. It provides maintenance services for a large range of different aircraft models, from single engine pistons to business jets. The company is approved by EASA (Part145), as well as by the Bermuda DCA and German LBA. On October 2nd 2009, the company inaugurated three new large hangars in the EuroAirport Zone 6 area that can shelter aircraft up to BBJs and Airbus A320s. According to CEO Claudio Lasagni, Air Service Basel wants to offer its customers a Swiss service. “We are not in the business of undercutting our competitors just to say we are fully booked. We are looking for customers who are prepared to pay a certain amount of money for a certain quality of product”. Rather than competing with its neighbors (such as Jet Aviation) on large corporate jets, Air Service Basel plans to continue specializing in aircraft up to Bombardier Challenger 300 size. Although the economic downturn means take-up has been slow, sales director Stephan Koss believes Basle’s status, on the border with France, Switzerland and Germany, will continue to attract corporate clients.
BBA Aviation BBA Aviation Engine Repair and Overhaul (ERO) integrates the experience and expertise of major engine service companies: Dallas Airmotive, Premier Turbines, H+S Aviation, International Turbine Service and Barrett Turbine Engine Company. BBA Aviation began assembling this team in 1997 with the purchase of Dallas Airmotive. H+S Aviation (now part of Dallas Airmotive) was acquired in 1998, Premier Turbines, was added in 2003 while in 2008, International Turbine Service, a supplier of turbine engines, parts, components and accessories, and Barrett Turbine Engine Company, a specialty provider to the TFE731 market, joined the ERO group.
Dallas Airmotive Tracing its origins to 1932 at Dallas Love Field, Dallas Airmotive got its start repairing and overhauling aircraft piston engines. Today the company focuses on servicing turbine engines. At last NBAA, Dallas Airmotive announced it had been approved by Pratt & Whitney Canada to provide service to JT15D operators who are on the Eagle Service Plan (ESP). With this approval, Dallas Airmotive will have access to serve the JT15D operators, commented BBA Aviation ERO Vice President of Customer Service Mike Cumnock. Dallas Airmotive is also ESP approved on PW300 and PW500 engines. The company services the JT15D in Dallas and at 10 of its 12 Regional Turbine Centers in the U.S., Brazil and the UK.
RENOWN
Dassault Falcon Service added 50,000 sqft in Le Bourget (top). Part of Dallas Airmotive, H+S Aviation (down) has serviced many of the engines fundamental to Business Aviation. BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 63
MAINTENANCE H+S Aviation Since its founding in 1946, Portsmouth, England-based H+S Aviation has serviced many of the pivotal engines in the evolution of commercial and Business Aviation, including the Gipsy Major, Rolls-Royce Dart, General Electric T700, Rolls-Royce 250 and Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15. H+S joined BBA Aviation in 1998. Today, H+S Aviation provides OEMauthorized repair, overhaul and restoration services on Rolls-Royce, General Electric and Pratt & Whitney Canada turbine engines, and on Pratt & Whitney Canada and Honeywell APUs.
FAR-OFF
With the “Falcon E- Maintenance” program, Dassault can remotely access the airplane’s Maintenance Computer.
Premier Turbines Premier Turbines provides repair and overhaul services for turbine engines, components and accessories. Placed under the management of Dallas Airmotive, it gives its customers access to one of the few independent OEM authorized TFE731 Core Zone Inspection facilities in North America. It is also an Authorized Maintenance Center for Rolls-Royce Model 250 helicopter engines.
StandardAero StandardAero, a Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) company, specializes in engine maintenance, repair and overhaul, and nose-to-tail services. The company forms a global
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SERVICE UPDATE services network of 12 primary facilities in the US, Canada, Europe, Singapore and Australia, with an additional 14 regionally located service and support locations. According to StandardAero, average industry turnaround times for TFE731 Core Zone Inspection (CZI) overhauls are 28 days, while at its Houston facility, the average turn time on CZIs and Major Periodic Inspections (MPIs) are consistently tracking at 14 and six days respectively. StandardAero customers can get their CZI completed in conjunction with an airframe inspection without a return visit, meaning less maintenance downtime and substantial costs savings, said Rob Mionis, President & CEO, StandardAero. Corporate Rotable & Supply (CRS) From its very inception in 1982, the goal of the Corporate Rotable & Supply (CRS) team has been providing corporate business jet customers an alternative to OEM spares and rotable parts. This interaction has led the company to introduce many programs like its Component Rental Program that
lets a customer rent a refurbished serviceable component while theirs is being sent out for overhaul. CRS supports Learjets, Hawkers, Beechjets, Falcons and Challengers through a comprehensive inventory.
Concerning Gulfstreams, CRS JetSpares has procured a large inventory consisting of factory new air frame and structural material for all GII and GIIIs. This material includes structural and airframe parts, key items required for maintaining and the servicing the number of GII and GIIIs still in operation today. Dassault Aviation – E-Maintenance Before we conclude, we should mention this new maintenance project that could change the rules of maintenance product support. Recently, Dassault completed successful testing with Falcon operators based in Europe and the United States on a new maintenance program dubbed ‘Falcon E-Maintenance.’ The program allows the Falcon Technical Center or a Falcon service center to remotely access an airplane Central Maintenance Computer, or any other aircraft maintenance application, to troubleshoot and diagnose issues. This connection is made through a maintenance laptop with WiFi or satellite capabilities, which allows the aircraft technicians, service center and the Falcon Technical Center to work in real time on one common communication platform. From there, they can share technical documents, transfer files and organize multimedia conference meetings. If needed, an Authorized Service Center or the Falcon Technical Center will be able to remotely access the aircraft’s central maintenance computer. “Our plan is to offer this new service in early 2011 after deploying the communications systems required to all of our factory owned and Authorized Service Centers,” said Cyril MacGarry, Director of Customer Service Technical Support for Dassault Falcon. “Each new aircraft will then be delivered standard with a maintenance laptop. Ultimately, we will be able to offer our operators advanced functionalities such as direct access to the digital mock-up of an aircraft or even provide remote electronic sign-off.”
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REGIONAL REPORT
SWITZERLAND
By Nick Klenske
Since its founding in 1967, Jet Aviation Basel has expanded on its reputation as a worldrenowned completions and maintenance center – adding a new wide-body hangar large enough to work on any wide-body aircraft, including the Airbus A380 or Boeing 747-8 series, in 2008. Already, the state-of-the-art facility has completed projects on Airbus 319ACJ, A320 and Boeing B737, B757, B767 and B747-400 aircraft.
EXPERT
Jet Aviation Basel is a leader in maintenance and wide-body completion. It is also a Falcon completion center.
ut Jet Aviation is much more than wide-body completions; they are also renowned leader in maintenance, avionics, engineering, refurbishment and paint services. It is also a factory approved service center by Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Dassault and Gulfstream. The location also holds a jet aircraft repair station rating by the FAA #QV1Y440K and the EASA #CH.145.0232 – in addition to approval certificates of 21 other national aviation authorities.
B
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JET AVIATION BASEL
On a recent tour of the Basel site, BART International was updated on the many developments happening at Jet Aviation. For instance, since its acquisition by General Dynamics, Jet Aviation – and particularly its Basel location – has benefited from a better grasp on protecting aircraft and implementing six-sigma strategies. “With General Dynamics, we are continuing to see many improvements, particularly in the area of best practices. It’s not a hands-on relationship,
but we do participate in weekly conference calls,” says Michael Sattler, Senior Vice President responsible for maintenance services in Basel and Geneva. “In fact, I would describe it as a mutually beneficial relationship as we at Jet Aviation also share our best practices with General Dynamics too.” “Overall we continue to operate autonomously and in a Swiss way, by which I mean we are not required to operate like a US company. General Dynamics is very good at recognizing the cultural differences and thus we have kept our unique Jet Aviation identity.” Perhaps somewhat of a surprise is that the acquisition has had little effect on the amount of Gulfstream work Jet Aviation has seen. This is most likely the result of the low US dollar and the competition that creates with US maintenance companies – and even Gulfstream itself. Moving the conversation to the economy, currently Jet Aviation Basel has nearly 1,800 employees, which gives them the advantage of always having a back up person. In other words, if a key employee is sick business goes on as someone else can step in. One upside to the sour economy – at least for an engineering/technical intense company like Jet Aviation – is it has made recruiting specialized talent easier. Looking towards an increase in work during 2010, the company is looking to move away from contrac-
tors and instead hiring more in the maintenance sector. The company also enjoys a low turnover rate of employees, with many working a 30 to 40 year career with the company. Maintenance and Completions One of the most unique aspects of Jet Aviation Basel’s completions operations is its Falcon Completion Center, which is described as an “extended workbench of Dassault” as Dassault subcontracts work out to Jet Aviation. Besides serving as a dedicated station for the Falcon lineup, Jet Aviation also does work for such French companies as Airbus and with the French government’s various VIP aircraft. There is 16,000 square meters of hangar space on location (four times the size of the next biggest Jet Aviation facility), and – despite the economy – this is barely enough space. In fact, work alone on Falcon maintenance services showed an increase of 20 percent over the crisis period (whereas everything else stayed stable, which is still better than the industry average where MROs were down by over 20 percent). “It’s because of our well-earned reputation that we are able to keep customers coming back,” says Sattler. It also doesn’t hurt that Falcon jets are on a fixed-calendar maintenance schedule, meaning they come in regardless of how much they fly. That’s not to say that the Jet Aviation has escaped the economic crisis without any challenges. “Prior to the crisis, customers came to Jet Aviation because our turnaround time and quality was incomparable. Costs was always secondary,” says Sattler. “Now, however, that’s changed. What we see now is cost is what matters more than anything else. Because of that, we’ve had to adjust in order to remain competitive.” “Another change is that customers now want prior approval for everything. Before, we were given a lot of leeway to do the maintenance as we saw fit. Not any more! Instead of a ‘if it’s broke fix it and send us the bill’ mentality we are faced with a significant administrative effort.” In other words, because time is money, efficiency has become more important than ever. “Customers expect us to make it right the first time,” says Sattler. “And this requires
us to work hard to meet customer expectations at a lower price – to maintain our level of quality and reputation at the same time, now that’s a challenge.” Yet being Jet Aviation has its advantages – including the name recognition that goes along with it (and the distinct advantage this gives over its competition). More so, they have wellestablished relationships with many OEMs. “The OEMs will honor a certification and not give another certification to someone in our own backyard,” says Sattler. Back on the completions side, BART sat down with Daniel Suter, Director, Completions Sales & Key Account Management, to talk about upcoming projects. Suter was brought in to restructure and reorganize the completions operations for some new ‘big’ projects and ensure Jet Aviation would be set to handle these projects. “What we’ve done has been to increase the contract volume over the last three years, which means to increase by two or three wide bodies. To do this, we’ve increased our staff and increased the size of our facilities.” “The thing with wide body completions is that the entire process is very extensive – lasting over 12 months. You start with the preparation and acquisition processes, which involve designing, engineering and pre-production work. It is during this first
stage that the customers define their aircraft. Only after it is defined 100 percent can we start the installation process. Once the aircraft arrives, there’s no time to re-design or re-engineer as we start installation right away. That’s why the first process is extremely important.” The design phase consists of two steps: the concept step and the design/review step, together, which involve nearly 30 employees. Once this is finished, it is handed over to production. Touching on the General Dynamics influence, Suter commented “General Dynamics is very process focused”. “Jet Aviation took ideas and customized them to fit into our company’s culture. In other words, our relationship with General Dynamics is very process driven. This is particularly seen in the way we communicate with each other.” Interestingly, there has not been much of a downturn in the narrow and wide body completions sector. “Aircraft that were purchased are taking time to decide where to send their aircraft and things are more price sensitive, but overall business has been good.” And in case you were wondering, what is the most challenging aircraft seen? “The 747 aircraft is the most complex project in the industry,” says Suter.
REVAMP
Refurbishment and paint services are also Jet Aviation areas of expertise.
BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 67
REGIONAL REPORT
SWITZERLAND
R U A G AV I AT I O N A ONE-STOP-SHOP A
By Marc Grangier
INCLUSIVE
RUAG tends to implement the one-stop-shop principle at all their sites.
“Offering customers a comprehensive range of all the services required during the life of an aircraft”, this is how RUAG Aviation (previously RUAG Aerospace) describes its activities in the Business Aviation field. Born in 1999 from the amalgamation of Swiss federal defense contractors producing exclusively for the military, the RUAG group has regularly expanded its activities in the civil aviation sector, one of its last acquisitions being that of TSA Transairco SA (now RUAG Geneva) purchased in January 2007.
68 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
part from the standard services from aircraft ground handling, refueling and line maintenance to base maintenance – RUAG Aviation provides, for a variety of executive aircraft types, avionics integration, cabin refurbishments and special equipment installations right through to complete system maintenance, retrofit, repairs and modifications. The “one-stop-shop” principle has been, at least as much as possible, applied or implemented in all its sites in Switzerland and Germany. According to Dr. Peter Guggenbach, CEO of RUAG Aviation, “one of the strengths of the company is the combination of conventional maintenance activities and a broad engineering base. Thanks to the onestop-shop principle, several maintenance operations can be undertaken into a single downtime period, cutting down overall costs for the customer.”
A New Organization The civil aircraft maintenance business has always been strategically important to RUAG Aviation. However, increasing cost pressure and lower margins, as a result of the recent economic crisis and other factors, have obliged the company to revise its strategy and optimize its business model. After a demanding 2009, RUAG Aviation has taken steps to further develop its Business
Aviation Unit, the goal being to bundle expertise at the sites in Geneva, Bern-Belp, Agno (Switzerland) and Oberpfaffenhofen (Germany) in order to better meet the demands of high-profile customers. “Our new organization reflects our market focus and our commitment as a reliable partner, both to our customers and our strategic OEM partners,” says Beat Höhener, Head of RUAG Business Aviation. In the course of the newly focused approach, the RUAG site in ZurichKloten was closed on February 5th. To provide an uninterrupted service, the main activities will be smoothly transferred to other service centers. The Embraer Legacy activities will be shifted from Zurich to Oberpfaffenhofen and Geneva, the Falcon activities will be transferred to Geneva (a long time Dassault Falcon Major Authorized Service Center). Concerning Gulfstream customers, they have been asked to choose another European Service Center, as RUAG Business Aviation will no longer provide maintenance activities for G-IV and G-Vs. Beat Höhener is convinced that the steps taken are important in strengthening the Business Aviation Unit: “We need to focus on our core competences and concentrate on what we do best: providing quality and flexibility to our high-profile customers”. A New Venture In terms of new ventures, RUAG Aviation and the aircraft interior fittings manufacturer List Components & Furniture GmbH from Austria last year agreed to cooperate concerning the interior furnishing and equipping of business aircraft. Except in Geneva, RUAG was little involved in aircraft refurbishment. Initially, RUAG and List will not offer completions of new aircraft, concentrating on used aircraft. Refurbishments will mainly be carried out at Oberpfaffenhofen and Geneva facilities, where the company has large paint shops and hangars for aircraft up to BBJ and A320 size.
AIR SERVICE BASEL FILLING A NICHE Moving into its new facility at EuroAirport Basel-MulhouseFreiburg in early 2009, Air Service Basel now offers a complete service menu – including maintenance, aircraft parking, aircraft and passenger handling, aircraft management, and more. Better yet, it’s all under one roof! romoted as a full-service fixed base operator, a highlight of the company is its state of the art hangar facilities. Each of its three corporate hangars includes private office facilities, a private lobby and even a private parking area. Space can accommodate aircraft up to the G550 and Global Express class. Complementing this is Air Service Basel’s in-house handling and maintenance departments – along with custom and security controls, lounges and flight preparation rooms. Founded in 1967, the same year as Jet Aviation took root, Air Service Basel takes pride in its team of highlyskilled technicians who brag about their one hundred combined years of airframe and power plant experience. Thanks to its ongoing education, Air Service Basel’s technicians are able to service a wide range of aircraft types, including single engine pistons and business jets. It is EASA approved as a Part-145 maintenance organization and FAA repair station certification is in process. The company also offers an aircraft sales and acquisition service. Speaking of Jet Aviation – which looms directly across the air field – Air Service Basel describes itself not as a competitor but as a partner of sorts.
P
“We work with Jet Aviation on some services and we hope to strengthen this relationship by assisting in the spare parts and direct sales sectors,” says Stephan Koss, Director Sales. “We have a good relationship and we want to keep that.” Jet Aviation regularly makes use of Air Service Basel’s parking spaces. “Instead of competing, we focus on filling in the gaps,” says Koss. “Our interest is to become a niche player,” says Claudio Lasagni, CEO. “It was never our intention to become a ‘big player’, instead we wanted to be a complementary company.” A perfect example of this niche mentality is the company’s parking services. Seeing a specific need for aircraft parking in Switzerland, Air Service Basel moved in and were able to save local clients the hassle of keeping their aircraft abroad. “There are already plenty of strong companies here. At Air Service
Basel we coordinate the services of our clients – regardless of where they occur – especially as we do not do maintenance ourselves.” Another example of fitting into a niche is the company’s FBO service, which instead of serving passengers opts to focus on providing for the crew. “Instead of having rest rooms, we coordinate hotel rooms for crews as there’s plenty of good hotels nearby,” says Lasagni. “It’s just part of our philosophy of not reinventing the wheel.” And then there’s the challenge of working at EuroAirport – which Lasagni describes as a Swiss airport located on French grounds with a labor force coming from Switzerland, France and Germany. But, with all the business and growth happening at Air Service Basel, this is just part of doing business!
QUESTION
BART’s Nick Klenske in discussion with CEO Claudio Lasagni (center) and Stephan Koss, Director Sales.
BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 69
FROM THE COCKPIT
ENHANCING VIP COMFORT
SMOOTH FLIGHT FOR THE CUSTOMERS By Leroy Cook
Some pilots just seem to have an innate knack for making an aircraft respond to their wishes. The machine moves from one flight condition to another as if gliding on ball bearings. You can’t feel it move, but there it is - stabilized on a new heading or attitude with almost undetectable use of the controls. here do human beings get this quality of “bird blood” that makes them one with the airplane? Is it something they’re born with? A reflection of their experience? Or is it the result of diligent practice? In truth, I’ve seen a smooth flying touch come from all three sources, or perhaps a combination of them. Like most instructors, I have trained a few natural pilots who just seemed to understand what the airplane wanted, rather intuitively - my jealousy was restrained only by my awe at their ability. On the other hand, my first lessons in aerobatics were obtained from a veteran military instructor who had spent years doing the maneuvers he showed me. The airplane fairly danced under his wizened hand as he had flown loops and rolls for so long the movements of the controls were second
W
nature. In my case, I’m an unsophisticated graduate of Hardwork University. I was never a natural pilot, and any smoothness skills I have were honed from stubbornly-resistant stone, one chip at a time.
SMOOTH
The comfort of the back seat rider should always be a priority. 70 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
The Ultimate Goal For any class of aircraft, it should be every pilot’s goal to perform at the highest level possible, and that includes flying with smoothness, particularly if we’re being paid to fly important passengers. Whether handflying or directing the airplane’s path through the autopilot, achieving seam-
cial stability in inherently unstable military aircraft. In a typical summer afternoon’s “continuous light-to-moderate” turbulence, I keep the controls rigidly locked to add extra stabilizing surface and in rougher air I’ll oppose an updraft or gust with instantaneous reaction, as required by the intensity. These things smooth out the ride and limit deviations, but at the cost of hard work, so I’ll seek better air as soon as I can. Consider avoiding cloud penetrations if at all possible as they’ll invariably contain bumps, perhaps not significant to a pilot but unsettling to a passenger. When there’s no alternative except to forge ahead, punch on the “fasten seatbelts” chime and light before plunging into the cloud.
less, smooth flight leads to more than self-satisfaction. Second only to safety, it is a primary consideration to be sought – and one that can mean job security. Never forget that the VIPs riding behind the cockpit deserve the best ride we can give them. Not only are they paying us to provide uneventful comfort, their position some distance behind the aircraft’s center of gravity can be less stable than our seat in the cockpit. One’s passengers certainly appreciate a flight that proceeds undetected. For example, saving a few minutes by conducting a close-in slamdunk approach to the runway will probably leave some fingernail imprints in the seat covers. Our passengers would rather have a smoother ride than a quicker arrival. Their memories should be primarily about the destination, with only pleasant reminisces of the trip itself. Moreover, an airplane performs better with smooth use of the flight controls. The aircraft responds to deft guidance with flight manual performance indeed, you can’t get the POH numbers
yes, by the seat of your pants. Pay attention to what the airplane is telling you, it even helps you stay ahead of any deteriorating situation by announcing a change in the ship’s habits. Detecting tactile feedback is one thing, but what do we do with the information we’re given to cultivate a smooth flying technique? When we click off the autopilot, we must be ready to take its place by “connecting” to the airplane. Like an autopilot’s computer, we need to make small, early corrections, as opposed to lastminute ones that are, of necessity, greater in magnitude. Large control movements are noticeable, little ones aren’t. I like to watch autopilots perform during a coupled approach - they do what I should be doing when I hand-fly the airplane, going to work on a needle-width of course correction before it gets out of hand. Of course not every autopilot is superior to a human pilot in every flight situation, but when it comes to demonstrating smoothness, the autopilot is an excellent instructor.
Tips from the Pros Taxi technique is often ignored, but a hurried, rough ground handling procedure is noticeable to the passengers. Break away gently, then be ready to bring the power back before you have to stab the brakes to rein in speed for a turn. Steady brake pressure avoids
without using careful, smooth inputs. Airplanes don’t like to be jerked around with harsh bank-and-yank use of the controls. Like people, they prefer to be handled with smoothness.
Human-powered servos have the advantage of being variable in output we can wrestle the controls aggressively when handling windshear behind a tree-line, where an autopilot would be hopelessly overmatched. We can also nudge the nose down in small increments to stop a climb or begin a descent, thereby keeping passengers firmly in their seats. And we can increase or decrease the rate of turn as needed. Smoothness, however, doesn’t always mean wimpy control forces. You can emulate “active flight controls” technology, used to create artifi-
the jerk-stop. If your airplane is equipped with a steering tiller, take your feet off the rudder pedals during tiller use to avoid the temptation to “help” move the nosewheel roughly with your toes. If the runway isn’t minimal-length, always give the passengers the benefit of a rolling start, moving onto the runway at a slow, steady clip and feeding in the power over a few seconds of time so any fluctuations in engine acceleration can be managed. For the “click and forget” FADEC crowd, move the power levers with a pause at each detent, giving the intermediate
Connecting By Feel To gain this smoothness, all pilots should endeavor to gain a “feel” for their airplane, sensing the tremors running through the airframe generated by engine vibrations, airflow and control loads. In doing so, you will “listen” for the airplane to speak through your fingertips, the balls of your feet, visceral and inner ear movements and,
TECHNIQUE
Smooth techniques should be applied in flight and on the ground.
BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 71
FROM THE COCKPIT
DESCENT
Do your best to smooth out ATC’s jerks and stair-steps.
surges of power a chance to develop before reaching full takeoff thrust. Even when departing from a short runway, where you must push the power up while standing on the brakes, you can release the binders slowly to minimize the catapult effect. The yaw damper should go on as soon as possible after takeoff and be left on until the last possible moment before landing. Again, you may not feel the need for yaw stabilizing at the pointy end, but the aft cabin will catch all the swings and sways. Next, keep the airplane in trim. If the slip ball, or the EFIS slip indicator, shows an outof-center condition, “step on the ball” or “kick the brick” back into line. Some airplanes have a limitation on slip duration for engine airflow reasons. I’m amazed at how many pilots ignore small out-of-trim conditions, unconsciously riding the controls to keep the airplane on a more-or-less even keel or allowing roll and yaw damper servos to handle the job. I catch myself failing to adjust rudder trim or leaving roll trim untouched while preoccupied with duties like fuel and power management. You can’t feel the airplane talking to you if you’re mis-trimmed. Use your autopilot intelligently, learning how to manage its modes, or moods, particularly at high altitude. If you have a half-bank feature to tone down the autopilot’s aggressiveness, use it when appropriate to improve the ride. Instead of using FLC (flight level
72 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
ENHANCING VIP COMFORT
change) to make altitude changes at a constant speed, select constant vertical speed instead, avoiding the stairstep lumps resulting from speed chasing by keeping a nice, steady rate of ascent or descent. I’ve found that passengers don’t like to hear a sudden cessation in the comforting sound of the engine drone, or to be thrown forward by sudden deceleration. Therefore, when initiating descent, it’s better to nudge the nose down slightly and incrementally, get the deck angle stabilized, and then squeeze the power back. The passengers have already felt the descent begin so the power change is not a surprise. On the way in, do your best to smooth out ATC’s jerks and stairsteps, and brace against the low-level turbulence. When it’s time to drop the landing gear, hit the fasten-seatbelt chime to alert the passengers sitting above the gear wells that there’s going to be a change in sound and feel as the gear extends. Invariably, you’re going to be graded by the VIPs sitting in the back by the quality of the touchdown. You and I know that some airplanes just aren’t easy to paint onto the pavement, and that short runway distances require a quick, firm planting. However, you can improve your average by floating in with some power retained, snicking the tires on as you close the throttles. When the runway’s twice as long as you need, why not use it to make yourself look good?
The same thing applies to bringing the airplane to a halt. There’s no reason to toss the boss against the belt on every landing by yanking into reverse as soon as you hit the deck. That may be the right procedure on a tight runway, but if there’s ample space, take a second or two to savor the landing before you toss out the reverse anchors. Artful Flying Getting the most out of your airplane with barely-noticeable movements and stick forces is truly representative of the art of flying. Mere precision flying can be accomplished by rapid, rough stabs of control, but that’s no way to meet the standards owed to the VIPs in the back, and it’s not the smooth approach to flying that we strive to achieve. Instead, we want to deemphasize reaction inputs, replacing them as much as possible with anticipatory control. Our mind knows where we want the airplane to be five seconds from now, and we should start working on placing it there - long before any instrument indication shows we need to correct. Is this achievable for the average pilot? Certainly we can all improve our use of aircraft controls to reduce wasted motion, even if not everyone can evolve to the level of a super-pilot like Patty Wagstaff or Bob Hoover. By simply pursuing smoothness you can be better than you currently are. Your airplane, and its valuable occupants, will thank you for it.
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THE DOCKET
GREY CABOTAGE FLIGHTS IN RUSSIA
GREY SKIES IN RUSSIA
By Derek A. Bloom ears of litigation with insurance companies that would not pay a claim for the loss of the insured aircraft or the lives onboard, the loss of tens of millions of dollars of cash and securities to repay bank financing pursuant to personal and corporate guarantees, the imposition of multimillion dollar fines in Russia, criminal investigations in Russia, and uninsured liability to third parties would be the likely consequences if something goes significantly wrong on one of the regularly occurring illegal flights within Russia of foreign-registered business jets.
Y
OUTCOME
The insurance company of this foreign registered Caravan will not pay any amount after it crashed on approach to Domodedovo.
What is Cabotage? Cabotage refers to the use of a foreign registered aircraft to fly passengers, their baggage, and cargo picked up in Russia between two locations within Russia, with (or without) direct compensation for the flight. “Cabotage” is defined in Article 7 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, which states: “Each con-
74 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
tracting State [Russia] shall have the right to refuse permission to the aircraft of other contracting States to take on in its territory passengers, mail and cargo carried for remuneration or hire and destined for another point within its territory.” Note that it is not prohibited for a foreign registered aircraft to be brought into Russia and flown for the aircraft owner’s own non-commercial purpos-
es, although in order to fly an aircraft imported into Russia it is necessary to go through the process of certification of the aircraft and of the user. Accordingly, all aircraft belonging to foreign aviation enterprises that are flown into Russia for use in prohibited cabotage flights are brought into Russia pursuant to declarations indicating the aircraft are to be used for private, not commercial purposes.
Grey Skies in Russia For the last several years, it is an open secret that there are a substantial number of illegal cabotage flights in Russia of chartered corporate aircraft. False customs filings are regularly made indicating that foreign-registered aircraft are being flown in Russia for private, and not for commercial purposes, and even that the owner of the aircraft is actually on board the aircraft when he is not. This phenomenon is widely discussed on the internet and in certain industry publications. Since 2007 there has been a noticeable drop off in discussions of “grey cabotage” on the Russian internet, which is itself an interesting development, as though the industry is seeking to hide in plain sight the apparent great discrepancy between what is required and prohibited by Russian law, and the actual conduct of day-to-day business in Business Aviation in Russia. One would suppose the discrepancy between law and practice cannot go on forever and there must be a shift in the market or in the law to accommodate one with the other, or vice versa, The Legal Risks of Grey Aviation Insurance Risks As an example, take the crash of a Cessna 208 Caravan aircraft on approach to Domodedovo airport on November 19, 2005, which destroyed the aircraft and killed all onboard. The consequences of this crash have been the subject of five or six court decisions, with the most recent one given on January 26, 2009 by the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation. These court decisions have all held that the insurance company insuring the aircraft did not have to pay any amount of insurance since the aircraft was being used in violation of the restriction in Russian law on the use of a foreign-registered aircraft in a cabotage flight within Russia. The appeals court decision of the Ninth Arbitration Appeals Court was clear in stating that: “... according to Paragraph 1 of Section V of the insurance policy, the insurer does not bear responsibility if the aircraft is used for any illegal purposes or for purposes that are different than those provided in the contents of the agreement in its terms and definitions, if the aircraft is used not within the geographic limitations for flights; the aircraft is piloted by any persons not having a legal right to do so...”
Banking and Financial Risks Let’s suppose a Russian businessman buys a jet for $30 million. Typically, a large portion of the value of the aircraft will be financed, and the international bank will provide this financing that has a pre-existing and substantial banking relationship with the Russian businessman. In the event of the destruction of the aircraft, the Russian businessman and/or his estate would look to all risks aircraft hull insurance in the amount of $30 million naming the owner and the bank, the first lien mortgage holder, as loss payees, and also bodily injury and property damage liability insurance in an amount equal to perhaps $50 million for the benefit of the aircraft operator and the registered owner of the aircraft. These insurances are intended to pay for the damage caused by the loss of life onboard the aircraft, damage to other aircraft, and damage and loss of life that may be caused on the ground if the aircraft strikes another object. The total coverage available may be $80 million, and this is not a ceiling on the potential liability of the owner. In the event of a calamitous disaster causing complete destruction of the aircraft, the loss of eight lives, including six highly compensated persons, and the destruction of an occupied building on the ground and the loss of additional lives there, for conversation’s sake, the total liability may reach $50 million. However, if the aircraft was on an illegal cabotage flight, the insurance company will not pay any amount. The bank seizes $24 million of liquid assets. The $6 million of cash invested
by the Russian businessman into the aircraft is a write-off. The businessman, or his estate, is left with a complicated and expensive liabilities that are likely to grow as more claimants appear, and years of litigation to sort it out, and there is no insurance to cover these expenses. Customs Risks Let’s suppose an aircraft flies on an illegal cabotage flight from Moscow to an airport inside Russia and lands safely at its destination. There, its passengers and customs documents are inspected by the local customs officials. Before the aircraft took off from a Moscow airport, a transportation declaration was filed with the Russian Customs Service stating that the owner of the aircraft was onboard and the flight was a private flight not for commercial purposes. In fact, the owner was not onboard and there were six passengers onboard who had paid to a Moscow based charter company a substantial sum for a roundtrip flight to a domestic Russian destination. An investigation reveals that a Customs official accepted a cash payment to accept this transportation declaration and not check who was onboard the flight. Russian law provides that a violation of the rules for the use of an aircraft on the customs territory of Russia may result in an administrative fine imposed on the responsible individual or legal entity in the amount from one half to two times the value of the aircraft, and the confiscation of the aircraft. There are published cases where Russian Customs has indeed arrested
RISKY
The total liability in the event of a calamitous disaster may reach $50 million.
BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010 - 75
THE DOCKET aircraft and imposed very substantial administrative fines, and there are more cases that are known in the corporate aircraft business community that were settled without publicity and without official reports and without press reports, but with the payment of large fines. Criminal and Administrative Risks Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s suppose it comes out in an investigation that the owner of the aircraft is not onboard the aircraft when it lands safely in a Siberian city. The owner is actually not in Russia. He has not been there for the last month and was not in Moscow when the papers were filed with customs indicating he would be on board the flight to the Siberian city. To make matters worse, an investigation reveals that a customs official received compensation for accepting a Transportation Declaration indicating the owner was onboard the aircraft when he was not, and there is a pattern of numerous such filings. The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides it is a crime for a government official to accept a bribe directly or indirectly for actions or inactions to benefit the payor of the bribe. An aircraft that is in Russia illegally may be declared to be contraband, resulting in fines and imprisonment of the responsible persons for up to five years. Structures Allowing Legal Flights within Russia of Foreign-Registered Aircraft Plan A: Private Use Only There appears to be no written guidance about the scope of use that may be considered legitimate private use. As any attempt to create a unique set of regulations for Business Aviation, the sector has remained in its present condition where charter operators need either to comply with the full set of rules that apply to aviation enterprises engaged in commercial aviation, at a time when the Russian government seems set upon limiting the number of new licenses issued for new aviation enterprises, or charter operators have been forced to operate in a grey area giving rise to the current state of affairs
76 - BART: FEBRUARY - APRIL - 2010
GREY CABOTAGE FLIGHTS IN RUSSIA where the entire charter industry is continually operating on the basis of onetime exceptions from the applicable law, and all operators are more or less forced to operate in a semi-illegal manner in order to conduct their businesses. In the absence of further guidance in the form of additional laws or regulations in Russia governing the scope of permitted use that does not cross the border and become prohibited cabotage, it appears the prevailing practice today is that one is on safe ground if the same persons travel into Russia and between Russian cities on an aircraft, and no new passengers or cargo are taken onboard while the aircraft is in Russia. Plan B: Lease to a Russian Aviation Enterprise A much safer, clearly legal, and more flexible arrangement is to lease a foreign registered aircraft to a Russian charter company. That Russian charter company should be a certified operator of commercial aircraft and should place the foreign registered aircraft on its Russian operatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s certificate. It should be possible to plan to take advantage of recent exemptions from customs duties for certain corporate aircraft. Russia has introduced certain narrowly-drawn exemptions from Russian customs duties for certain models of foreign aircraft. The exemptions exclude most popular models of aircraft. One exemption is for civil aircraft having a weight from 2,000 to 20,000 kilograms and seating for no more than 19 passengers. The exemptions from customs duties do not extend to import VAT, which is still payable. The import VAT, and customs duties, if any, may be payable over three years at the rate of three percent per month, if the temporary import regime is selected, as opposed to the payment of import VAT in full when the aircraft is imported. The foreign-registered aircraft, once it is placed on the certificate of licensed operators, may be flown freely within Russia without concern about the cabotage limitations â&#x20AC;&#x201C; although the aircraft may retain its foreign registration. It would be necessary in this case to add reference to the aircraft to the relevant attachment to the agreement between
Russia and the country of registration of the aircraft dividing responsibility for supervising the safety of flights. This ownership arrangement is in use with a limited number of corporate aircraft today, and is in use by certain commercial airlines in Russia with regard to their use of foreign registered aircraft on domestic routes in Russia. If this approach is used, then the aircraft may be flown by its owner in Russia with payment to the Russian operator of a monthly fee for its services, plus all operating costs. For example, the fee may be $10,000 per month to have a large corporate jet placed on the certificate of a Russian operator. It should be possible to arrange for all operating expenses to be passed through at cost, and with no mark-up. Plan C: Create or Acquire Your Own Russian Aviation Enterprise The Russian government has taken steps to limit the number of licensed operators, and it is understood that accomplishing the steps involved to create a new company may require a budget approaching $1 million, and a year of lead-time. An alternative is to acquire a Russian company that holds the necessary license. They are few in number, but can be identified and acquired if an acquirer, or a group of acquirers, would like to do so. In this context, it should be noted that according to the requirements of the Air Code of the Russian Federation, the share of foreign capital in the charter capital of a Russian Aviation Enterprise may not exceed 49 percent.
For more information contact Derek Bloom at Capital Legal Services. Capital Legal Services is a full service law firm based in Moscow and St. Petersburg which maintains close relations with aircraft brokers, management companies and legal co-counsel on aviation law matters in Europe and the United States. Derek Bloom would be pleased to assist you in analyzing your plans for operation of a business jet by a Russian corporation or individual. dbloom@cls.ru tel: +7 495 970 1090 www.cls.ru
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SAFETY SENSE
RULES AND REGULATIONS
TOO MUCH PLANE FOR ONE MAN TO FLY CHECKLISTS By Michael R. Grüninger, Markus Kohler and Capt. Giancarlo Buono t all started in 1935 with Boeing’s entry in a design competition for a new bomber for the United States Army Air Corps. The Model 299 (which was eventually mass produced as the famous B-17) was a superior design to its competitors, and the flight demonstrations before the evaluating board were considered to be merely a formality. On October 30th, the aircraft took-off and began a smooth climb, when it suddenly stalled, crashed and burst into flames. The investigation revealed the elevator lock had not been released before flight. Newspapers dubbed Model 299 as “too much plane for one man to fly”. When, at a later stage, Model 299 was re-proposed to the US Government, Boeing’s pilots had to invent some way of making sure that nothing was overlooked. Checklists for pilots were the solution. Today, flight operations professionals are well aware of the importance of a well designed checklist system. Although various approaches exist and sometimes conflict, a number of key issues have become accepted, such as the difference between standard operating procedures and personal techniques, the fallibility of human perception and the weakness of human memory, the need for a flow-pattern in cockpit actions and the need to include enough buffers for detection and recovery from incorrect aircraft configurations. Checklists are at the foundation of operational standardization and flight safety. A checklist is a device designed to support the pilots to avoid forgetting vital items and actions while following standard operating procedures. The focus of this article lies on flight operations by commercial air transport companies. But it is equally valid for any type of flight operation, and arguably for any other high-risk activity or industry.
I
CHECKLIST
The crash of this Boeing 299 was the result of disregarding the checklist.
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More Lessons Learned A study revealed that as of 1991 there were 228 accidents in the NTSB database in which checklist misuse was at least a contributing factor. Although many could discussed here, the accident of Delta Airlines Flight 1141 on August 31, 1998 reveals a systemic breakdown of safety barriers where the proper use of the checklist as the last line of defense would have prevented the accident. The Boeing 727-232, with 108 people on board, crashed immediately after takeoff. The investigation revealed that the wing flap and slats were not properly configured prior to the attempted takeoff. It was determined that the crew was not alerted because of a technical failure of the takeoff configuration warning system. In addition, the NTSB determined that contributing factors were Delta’s slow implementation of necessary modifications to its operating procedures, checklists and training necessitated by significant changes following rapid growth and merger. At the same time, the FAA did not pursue the known deficiencies in Delta’s operation aggressively enough. However, what is really disturbing in the context of this article is, according to the CVR recordings, the First Officer replied “fifteen, fifteen, green light” to the “Flaps” item on the “Before Takeoff Checklist”. The investigation proved that the flaps were never set. The First Officer’s response
was most likely just a reflex response to the checklist item. In spite of organizational and technical factors, the proper execution of the checklist would have prevented the 14 fatalities and 26 serious injuries. Checklist Fundamentals Since checklists are an essential and fundamental concept for aviation safety, it is obvious that requirements are defined for manufacturers and operators, initiated at the level of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and implemented in national regulations. PANS-OPS (ICAO Doc. 8168) states that “Operators shall establish checklists as an integral part of standard operating procedures (SOPs). Checklists should describe the actions relevant to specific phases of operations (engine start, taxi, take-off, etc.) that flight crews must perform or verify and which relate to flight safety. Checklists should also provide a framework for verifying aircraft and systems configuration guarding against vulnerabilities in human performance.” The same ICAO document provides very useful design guidelines and criteria for checklists. ICAO Annex 6 Part I 4.2.5 “Checklists” states checklists “shall be used by flight crews prior to, during and after all phases of operations, and in emergency, to ensure compliance with the operating procedures con-
tained in the aircraft operating manual and the airplane flight manual. [...] The design and utilization of checklists shall observe Human Factors principles.”
These ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS) are brought into the legal and operational) world of commercial operators by EU-OPS 1.210(b): “An operator shall establish a check-list system to be used by crew members for all phases of operation of the airplane under normal, abnormal and emergency conditions as applicable, to ensure that the operating procedures in the Operations Manual are followed”. OEMs provide checklists in their Aircraft Flight Manuals, which are approved in the context of the type certification. When an operator introduces an airplane into operation, these checklists need to be reviewed to reflect the organization’s corporate culture as it is lived by the flight operations and the training department. Checklists provide assurance that flight safety critical tasks are performed correctly at the time and in the order required by providing two types of redundancy: P Set-up redundancy: when the pilot configures the aircraft from memory and then uses the checklist to verify no items were omitted or wrongly set, or P Mutual redundancy: when one pilot monitors the other in the execution of standard operating procedures.
Checklists Only Work if you Use them Correctly. In studies pilots have been observed to short-cut checklist work or to memorize a checklist. Both behaviors are prone to omissions of items of the checklist. Using the checklist is work. Cockpit management should plan for enough time to perform it consistently. When checklists are used frequently, routinely and over a longer period of time, a flow pattern develops. A crew member might get the impression to be doing the same thing, each time, every time, exactly the same way, and might eventually omit the use of the checklist. Under normal circumstances this flow pattern may be repeated reliably. However, even automated actions are subject to memory lapses, and any particular step may eventually be missed. There is an even bigger chance of this happening when the flow pattern is interrupted by a distraction. It takes a concentrated effort to “get back in the flow”. Without a checklist, the pilot must rely on a conscious cognitive memory process to recollect the sequence of steps. The chance of an error of omission is considerable. Another problem with flow pattern checks is habituation. Checks performed following a deeply ingrained flow pattern will repeatedly present a desired result to the flight crew.
Eventually the observation may become so habitual that the expected result is registered without actually being present. In summary, misuse of checklists may take the form of not using the checklist and performing tasks from memory, or by taking a shortcut, either omitting checklist items altogether or by not verifying the required status or condition specified by the checklist. Building a strong safety culture within the organization will help the flight crew understand the need for the correct and continuous use of checklists. Airplanes are not “too much plane for one man to fly”, but simply too complex for any one man’s memory. Your checklist does not forget – so make diligent use if this simple yet powerful tool.
Michael R. Grüninger is the Managing Director of Great Circle Services (GCS) Aviation Safety Advisors. GCS assists in the whole range of planning and management issues, offering customized solutions to strengthen the position of a business in the aviation market. Its services include training and auditing consultancy, manual development and process engineering. He can be reached at michael.grueninger@gcs-safety.com or +41-79 442 44 89. His column, Safety Sense appears regularly in BART International.
ROUTINE
When used frequently, a pilot might get the impression to do the same thing routinely.
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PROFILE
PILATUS
A SWISS STORY
By Nick Klenske
VISIT
BART’s Klenske (left) in discussion with Daniel Kunz, Pilatus Director Sales and Marketing.
Set in the shadows of Mount Pilatus, cradled within an alpine valley that – even in early November – held the crispness of ski season in the air – the Pilatus office looks out over snow capped peaks. Not only does Pilatus hold a special place in the Swiss landscape, as the only aircraft manufacturer in Switzerland, ever since its founding in 1939 Pilatus has also held a special place in Swiss heritage.
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n a recent visit to the company’s headquarters in Stans, the BART team not only had the opportunity to take in the view, we also visited the production sites and sat down for a candid conversation with Daniel Kunz, Director of Sales and Marketing, over a cup of coffee. According to Kunz, who had just returned from the Dubai Airshow, the Middle East remains a challenging market. “While we find that people are interested in our aircraft, the true advantages of the PC-12 NG, namely its flexibility, efficiency and economy are seemingly not the most important factors leading to a purchase decision in this part of the world.” However, this is expected to change as a trickle-down effect – as was seen in Russia – is expected.
O
Speaking of shows, how does Pilatus handle the rapid proliferation of shows? “In Dubai, the goal of showing the PC-12 NG was to raise the awareness for our product and to promote the Pilatus name. As a company, it is our strategy to have a presence of our own at the big international shows while we encourage and support our distributors to represent Pilatus at the smaller, regional ones. We always have to consider the logistics of bringing an aircraft to the show, as for us, doing a show without the aircraft being present has turned out to be not as effective as with the aircraft being on display.” But enough of this small talk. Let’s get to the real question that’s on everyone’s mind: the alleged new project that everybody – except for Pilatus – seems to be talking about. True to form, Kunz skirted the question, simply saying “as stated by our Chairman earlier, we are working on a new project which, I can tell you, will be a civil aircraft. But instead of making a big announcement before the fact, we prefer to stick with our philosophy of waiting to ‘show and tell’ until the time to do so has come. But, the PC-21 is ready and, although we have a lot of current projects underway, we now have the resources to focus on this new project.”
Quick to change the subject, the conversation went back to the flagship aircraft – the PC-12 NG. “When the PC12 was originally developed in the late 1980’s, Pilatus didn’t really foresee it becoming a business aircraft. Thus, we somewhat unexpectedly found ourselves in the Business Aviation arena and had to catch up in order to meet this surprise demand.” In terms of the economy, Pilatus – like anybody else - has been affected by the recession, although it has avoided the severe hits many other OEMs experienced. In fact, despite the downturn, 2009 has seen the delivery of 100 new PC-12 NG and thus has been the company’s best year ever for PC-12 NG deliveries. To adjust for the expected slow economic recovery, the planned production rate for 2010 currently lies at around 85 PC-12 NG aircraft. On the plus side, the company has not had to layoff a single employee during this downturn – thanks to its flexible staff and its ability to scale back labor. And although there has been a slowdown in production, there has only been a limited number of contracts cancelled. “Part of the reason for this is may be that we were more conservative in growing our production capacity over the last few years than other OEMs.
We use a one shop system and want to make sure all the details are worked out before we release an aircraft. If you adhere to a system like this, you’re better off by only increasing your output incrementally, ensuring the quality of the product matching or surpassing the customer’s expectations.” Kunz believes the worse of the recession is behind us now and that people are starting to make buying decision again. But not to get too excited, “in 2010 we expect to see the situation stabilize, with a ramping up beginning sometime next year.” Tour Time And with that, Daniel and the BART team headed out to see the Pilatus process first hand… Starting off in from the new facility – a state-of-the-art hangar like structure that hosts offices, meeting rooms, the final assembly line and from where the aircraft will be delivered to its customers – it was completed in 2008. One of the many aspects that makes Pilatus unique is that it limits its use of contracted work – instead opting to manufacture all parts on-site. Further, because of its 24/7 metal shop and flexible operational system, the company is able to maximize productivity and efficiency – a winning
formula for tough economic times. This flexibility has the further benefit of promoting employee satisfaction, which equates not only to low levels of turnover but also increased levels of productivity. Or maybe that has nothing to do with productivity and instead all to do with the on-site employee restaurant! All Pilatus aircraft are produced mainly of aluminum parts. That being said, the company does pride itself on its composite parts capabilities. “Although our focus is on aluminum,” says Kunz “we want to know how to work with composites.” The biggest composite part made at the plant is the PC-12 NG’s dorsal fin. “The main reason for our commitment to aluminum is that it’s a proven product and our customers are very happy with the material.” Several interesting facts from the tour: It takes around 18 months from first metal cut until the PC-12 NG is ready for delivery and 25 to 30 liters of paint are required for the application of the exterior paint scheme. Further, the primering of small parts is done by hand. “It’s the only way to do it efficiently,” explains Kunz. And doing things efficiently is exactly the Swiss – and Pilatus – way.
WARRANTY
Pilatus sees the one shop system as a guarantee that all details are worked out before the delivery of an aircraft.
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INSIGHT
EMBRAER STILL ON A ROLL Since announcing the Phenom 100 and 300 projects in 2005, Embraer has met its projected certification and delivery dates with uncanny precision. In fact, the first Phenom 100 delivery was made in 2008, followed as planned by the first Phenom 300 customer delivery just a year later on December 29, 2009. Luis Carlos Affonso – Embraer’s Executive Vice President, Executive Jets – modestly attributes this to “Hard work and highly experienced, competent teams. We always like to deliver what we promise.” Jack Carroll sits down with Affonso to discuss his company’s phenomenal success.
BART: Did your entry-level Phenom 100 and light Phenom 300 perform as expected? HUMILITY
Experienced Luis Carlos Affonso attributes Embraer’s success to the hard work of his competent team.
AFFONSO: Actually, both performed extremely well and we met or exceeded all projections. We’re especially pleased with the performance of our Phenom 300. For example, a significant range increase from 1,800 to 1,971 nautical miles (nm), while the runway performance improved from a take-off field length of 3,700 ft. to just
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LUIS CARLOS AFFONSO 3,138 ft. I think this opens new markets to us and of course was great news for our customers – the people who believed in us when we launched the programs back in 2005. We delivered right on schedule and actually delivered better aircraft. BART: Since certification you’ve been pushing Phenom 100s out the door at a steady clip. Roughly how many have been delivered to date? AFFONSO: We won’t disclose final numbers at this point, but I can say that we delivered close to 100 units by the end of 2009. I think that is an excellent result for the first year of full production, especially in a very difficult market. BART: How are your backlogs holding up in these trying times? AFFONSO: Our backlog is still very strong, though some customers are facing financial challenges, especially the fleet customers. Today we still have a 3-4 year backlog of nearly 700 Phenoms on our order book. As to the Legacy 450 and 500, we have not announced order totals yet, but I will say we are happy with the number of orders received for an aircraft not scheduled for delivery until the end of 2012. For the Legacy 600, we still have about a year’s backlog and for the Lineage 1000 we have at least a threeyear backlog. We managed to keep our revenues pretty much stabilized in 2009, mainly because of new product introductions. I think that’s a pretty good result in a scenario where the total market probably dropped by 40 percent in terms of the value of aircraft deliveries. In 2008 the value of total deliveries was about $23 billion, but in 2009 – and this number has not been announced yet – the value probably will be something between $15 and $16 billion. 2009 was the first full year of Phenom 100 production and deliveries, so I would say that definitely helped us keep revenues stabilized, as opposed to the rest of the Business Aviation industry. Also, while we have had some deferral requests and cancellations, like everyone else, I am seeing new activity in
the order book now and when we have had cancellations we’ve been able to move customers up to fill the positions for earlier deliveries. We are managing our backlog well at this point, but it is very challenging. BART: Where do you see the areas of greatest sales potential for your aircraft? AFFONSO: Well, first the United States and Western Europe are the largest; more mature markets of greatest potential for us, and continue to grow. These will continue to be our most important markets, at least over the next ten years. But the markets growing fastest are the emerging areas of opportunity, such as AsiaPacific, Latin America, China and the Middle East. BART: Have you achieved all your goals since 2005? Has it all gone as well as you expected? AFFONSO: Yes, I believe we have. Back in 2005 we had no idea we would grow so fast in the business aircraft market or launch so many new aircraft in such a short timeframe. Of course when the crisis came it delayed our growth somewhat, but overall I’m very happy with what we have achieved. BART: When do you think the real Business Aviation turnaround will happen? AFFONSO: Our most recent forecast indicates that sales will come back by 2011, but deliveries will only pick up in 2012. BART: You now have aircraft to fit just about every niche. Is there anything missing at this point? AFFONSO: It’s a bit premature to say, though we have skipped over the ultra-long range segment and there is a gap between the Legacy 650 and Lineage 1000. But right now we have our hands full with three aircraft in development - the Legacy 450, 500 and 650. These are our top priorities.
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