Business Aviation

On a strong domestic economy, sales of general aviation aircraft rose during the first quarter of 2018 over the same period last year, the General Aviation Manufactures Association said on Thursday. The rosy sales picture was largely driven by increased turboprop and piston helicopter sales, GAMA said. And while both unit volume and sales revenue […]

Legislation recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to create a program to bring more people into the aviation maintenance workforce. If it passes a House vote, the Aviation Workforce Development Pilot Program Bill, H.R. 5701, would provide grants of up to $500,000 for activities that support aviation maintenance workforce development. Twenty aviation […]

Flight sharing via app has been stymied so far for private pilots in the U.S., but the idea has taken root in Europe in the last few years, and is continuing to grow. Rules developed by EASA (the European Aviation Safety Agency) now allow GA pilots to share costs with up to five passengers. Tony […]

A Canadian sister company of Viking Air Limited, which builds the CL-415 Aerial Firefighter, has launched the Viking CL-415EAF, called the Enhanced Aerial Firefighter. The company will convert and modify 11 acquired CL-215 firefighters to the upgraded turbine version that provides the basis of the EAF. The company said finding qualified staff for the project […]

A decade of low interest rates on aircraft loans continues to stimulate aircraft sales, but worries about inflation are pushing rates up, says Airfleet Capital, a leading aircraft lender. While no spikes are expected short term, the market is definitely headed higher, says Airfleet’s Jim Blessing. In this podcast recorded last month at Sun ‘n […]

Mechanic Shortage Regarding legislation that creates a program and funding to help with the shortage of aviation mechanics, I submit something that is a factor in the equation. Several weeks ago in the Phoenix area there were protests demanding the minimum wage go to $15 per hour. McDonalds was targeted by supporters of pending legislation. […]

American Airlines won’t be renewing its contracts with regional carriers ExpressJet and Trans State when they expire in 2019, according to Bloomberg News. The report cites a memo to reservations agents that goes on to state the move is being made to streamline passenger experience and that ExpressJet and Trans State flights will be shifted […]

One Aviation is on the brink of eviction from its facilities at Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ),according to AIN. The company allegedly owes the City of Albuquerque more than $895,000 in back rent.This development is the latest in a series of struggles for One Aviation, includingtwo rounds of layoffs in 2017, eviction from its Brunswick, Maine, […]

It’s a small step, but the Transportation Department on Monday took what could be the first move toward allowing the widespread commercial use of drones to transport cargo, and eventually, passengers as well. The DOT—the parent of the FAA—published a “notification of procedures” (PDF) on Monday stating that it will provide “certificate or exemption authority” […]

With more than 700 exhibitors at this week’s AUVSI XPONENTIAL show in Denver, there’s a drone for every purpose and the association says UAS applications are expanding. “This business is adding more and more jobs to the overall economy,” the association’s president, Brian Wynne, told some of the 8500 attendees at an opening-day keynote address. […]