Industry News

avfuel corp. — and three of its branded FBO dealers — Banyan Air Service, Duncan Aviation, and Fargo Jet Center — co-exhibit at the 2009 European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland, May 12 to 14.

boeing — reports that it will adjust its twin-aisle airplane production plans for 2010, due to significant deterioration in the business environment for airlines and cargo operators driven by unprecedented global economic conditions. Monthly production of the 777 will decline from seven to five airplanes per month, beginning in June 2010. Boeing will delay plans to modestly increase 747-8 and 767 production. No change is being made to the 737 production rate.

century crm — of Peachtree City, GA announces that it has developed a licensing program for its Crew Resource Management (CRM) courses for business aviation. Flight departments can have an instructor trained by Century CRM to provide FAA-approved training to their pilots. Century CRM maintains on-line recordkeeping and testing; www.centurycrm.com.

chicago — selects thee companies to design the remaining runways for an expanded O’Hare Int’l Airport and conduct a study for a proposed western terminal complex. A team headed by HNTB was picked to design a new runway that can handle the largest commercial airplanes; Chicago Aviation Runway Designers, a joint-venture partnership, was selected to design an extension to an existing runway; and O’Hare Runway Designers LLC was selected to design a new runway south of the terminal core.

Landrum & Brown was named to conduct the planning study for the new western terminal complex, during the next 12 months.

cityservice valcon llc — of Houston extends its marketing agreement to represent the Phillips 66 Aviation brand in 12 states, including Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas. 

dwf int’l airport — receives a second grant from the federal stimulus program totaling $8.8 million to be used for the renovation of Runway 13L/31R, including lighting and surface repairs.

eaa — Experimental Aircraft Assn. and Sporty’s Pilot Shop announce a partnership to enhance the EAA Young Eagles Program, a nationwide initiative that has used general aviation to touch the lives of more than 1.4 million youths since its inception in 1992. Through this partnership, kids who receive a flight via the EAA Young Eagles Program will also receive from Sporty’s a logbook for recording this and subsequent aviation experiences. The youth, dubbed a “Young Eagle,” will also receive an access code to the Sporty’s Online Complete Pilot Training Course. Both the logbook and the entire flight training course will be free of charge.

eclipse jet lp — of Chesterfield, MO enters into an agreement with Eclipse Service Network, LLC (ESN), a logistics and management organization, to form a network of third-party service centers across the U.S. Eclipse Jet is also in discussions with third-party service providers in Europe to start an ESN-Europe.

• Brigadoon Aircraft Maintenance, LLC, based in Chicago, is the first Platinum Level Service Center under the Eclipse Service Network.

epa — Environmental Protection Agency delays for the second time the effective date of the final rule that amends the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations published in the Federal Register on December 5, 2008.  The amendments will now become effective on January 14, 2010. 

faa — is currently undertaking an internal and external initiative to implement safety management systems (SMS) to comply with Int’l Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) requirements. This implementation is sure to have significant impacts on airports and consultants, reports the Airport Consultants Council. In response, ACC forms a new Safety Management Systems Subcommittee under the ACC Safety & Security Committee to help increase awareness of SMS among the membership and aviation industry, and to provide education/training opportunities.

ft. lauderdale/hollywood int’l airport — is now operating with Sensis Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X), a runway incursion detection and alerting system.  Fifteen of the 35 airports to receive the technology through the FAA’s ASDE-X program are now operational.