Industry News

air trek — of Punta Gorda, FL, in what is termed an unprecedented decision, gets a favorable ruling from an NTSB Administrative Law Judge who orders FAA to pay the air ambulance operator $120,169.35 for attorney fees and expenses pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act. According to the law judge, the “Administrator failed to achieve his ultimate goal in the prosecution of the underlying action,” which was the revocation of Air Trek’s air carrier certificate. The revocation order initially contained 38 factual allegations and 14 regulatory violations. As a result of the FAA’s actions, Air Trek was grounded for nearly 15 months.

alaska airlines — adds a second daily non-stop between Austin and San Jose.

american eagle airlines — switches to innovative clean technology when repainting its aircraft, using Pantheon Enterprises’ non-toxic surface pretreatment, PreKote, to prep all of its planes for painting. PreKote, which promotes paint adhesion and prevents corrosion, is an environment-friendly alternative to hexavalent chromium.

arsa — Aeronautical Repair Station Association releases a study that provides fresh insights about the aviation maintenance (MRO) industry’s economic footprint and impact on the U.S. economy. The report, prepared by AeroStrategy of Ann Arbor, MI, determined that spending in the global MRO market exceeded $50 billion in 2008, with North America (the U.S. and Canada) accounting for $19.4 billion of the total. When induced and related economic effects are considered, the MRO industry’s annual impact on the U.S. economy is $39 billion. The report is available at www.arsa.org/node/586.

asa — offers its 2010 FAR/AIM Series for flight crews and for aviation maintenance technicians; www.asa2fly.com.

Bruegger’s — credited with launching the bagel bakery concept nationally, opens its fourth airport location at Cleveland Hopkins Int’l Airport.

capital region int’l airport — in Lansing, MI is granted Foreign Trade Zone status by the federal government.

cessna aircraft co. — a Textron Inc. company, announces that Atlas Air Service AG, its Citation Authorized Sales Representative in Germany, opens a Citation Service Center at Bremen Airport.

city of salina (ks) — Saline County, the Salina Airport Authority, and the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce announce a strategic plan to develop the SLN Aviation Service Center as a premier location for aviation businesses to establish facilities for the maintenance, repair, and overhaul of general aviation, commercial, and military aircraft. The authority is completing more than $5 million in improvements to airfield runways and taxiways. Earlier this year a new $6.1 million, 69,000-sq. ft. maintenance, repair, and overhaul hangar was completed and ready to be leased.

cutter aviation — adds on-demand charter at its new Texas base located at the Cutter Aviation FBO facility at Collin County Regional Airport in McKinney.

dane county regional airport — in Madison, WI announces $20 million in infrastructure investments, including two taxiways; a glycol retention facility; airfield electrical system upgrade; general aviation apron; and corporate hangar area development.

delta, us airways — agree to exchange slots at New York LaGuardia and Washington Reagan National airports, subject to government approvals. US Airways will obtain 42 Delta slot pairs at Washington Reagan, where it will add 15 new daily destinations, using larger dual-class jets. US Airways will transfer to Delta 125 LaGuardia slot pairs currently used by US Airways Express, and will discontinue 26 Express destinations, resulting in a cut of 300 employees at its Piedmont subsidiary. US Airways does not plan changes to mainline flight levels at LaGuardia, including its Shuttle service. A swap of LaGuardia gates will allow Delta to consolidate operations, including its Shuttle.

dot office of inspector general — finds that the FAA’s process for awarding stimulus funds for Airport Improvement Program (AIP) projects does not meet federal requirements, in an advisory to DOT. Federal stimulus requirements call for transparent, merit-based selections and effective administration of funds, but FAA awarded millions to low-priority airport projects of questionable economic merit and to airports whose operators have histories of grant management problems, says the OIG. FAA said it wanted to ensure widespread geographic distribution of funds. DOT was awarded $1.1 billion in stimulus funds for airport improvements; FAA has approved [at press time] some 263 projects worth $873.9 million.