An airline pilot pointed out an ad in a major aviation publication. It worries me. A flight training school advertises a "First Officer Program" that includes "Over 250 hours of actual FAR Part 121 turboprop passenger airline First Officer experience." Now, I could be wrong, but that sounds to me like flying the line with real, paying pax in the back. That raises a few questions, at least in my mind. Doesn’t that mean that the student would be paying to fly for an airline? Will these pilots really be qualified to fly as first officers, or are they just learning? Is this a sign of things to come? If this is a trend, how far will it go? As mentioned herein before, I have always believed that those years of first-officer experience...

… grows an airport. Draw a line 35 miles west of downtown Houston, then directly south to the Gulf Coast. That southerly line represents a history of rice farming. West of Houston, the tentacles of the city are planting urban seeds, and it is here that pilot and entrepreneur Ron Henricksen purchased some 600 acres to build an airport, Houston Executive.  To date, 5,050 feet of asphalt runway and parallel taxiway have been built, along with an FBO ramp and temporary facilities. Next up is an FBO, Henricksen Jet Center, and a planned extension of the runway to 7000 feet. Then comes some 200 acres of inside the fence development, and a couple of hundred more adjacent acres for business development.  Of course, there’s more...

What happens when people intentionally break the law to showcase weakness in the system? I harped on ABC news a couple of years ago when they tried to gain access to a secure airport area in order to sensationalize their perceived lack of adequate security procedures at airports. That plot backfired when alert employees called law enforcement officials after noticing the individuals acting suspiciously. Well, another instance of trying to show a weakness in airline security procedures has come to our attention. This time, it wasn't a news agency that was out to sensationalize a lapse in security, it was a college student. Indiana University PhD student Chris Soghoin posted an online boarding pass creator that allowed people to create...

… one finds that things are good, for the most part. In business aviation, they continue to be downright bullish.   A few outtakes from the National Airports Conference, hosted by AAAE in New Orleans …   -- Sharon Pinkerton, VP with ATA, offering the airline perspective: “We think the number one challenge for us is meeting (expected) demand.†-- James E. Bennett, head of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority cautions that just as the lack of ATC modernization will inhibit growth, so too will security demands. -- Andy Cebula, who heads up legislative affairs for AOPA, observes that, when it comes to VLJs (very light jets) and air taxi networks … well, in 18 years he’s seen a lot of charter...