briefs

As AVweb reported last week, the reduction in security alert status from orange to yellow is making life a little easier for GA in the Washington, D.C., area. The air defense identification zone (ADIZ) remains in effect within a 30-mile radius of the capital. But a week of negotiations between the FAA and various security […]

FAA medicals will continue to be a requirement for recreational pilot certificate holders for the time being. The FAA has turned down requests by both EAA and AOPA to scrap the requirement long enough to see if it’s really needed. Both groups proposed gathering detailed data on pilot performance and accidents over a five-year period […]

Announced last December, AOPA’s Airport Watch program and video was formally launched and presented to the general media last week amid accolades from high-ranking politicians and Transportation Security Administration head Adm. James Loy. “Airport Watch makes a significant contribution on the security awareness front,” Loy told the news conference held by AOPA. The program reminds […]

Miami International Airport officials have been told to hop to it and find a modern-day Elmer Fudd to take care of a problem that “Bugs” the FAA and airlines. Hundreds of black-tail jackrabbits have taken over the green space between the runways at MIA. And that’s resulted in some “harey” landings and takeoffs in the […]

For some time now, analysts have agreed that a long-term armed conflict with Iraq would be devastating for the airline industry. Some key members of Congress are drafting legislation to give the airlines a financial boost in the event we jump into a full-scale war. Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) is leading this effort with the […]

Transport Canada should perhaps brush up on aircraft identification. The aviation agency has finally acknowledged that a Bell CH 136 Kiowa is not a “copy or direct equivalent” of a Bell Jet Ranger. And while that distinction probably wouldn’t even make a decent Trivial Pursuit question, it certainly made a lot of Kiowa owners happy, […]

British Airways (BA) is considering grounding its sleek supersonic Concordes, it was widely reported last week. “We’re looking at when Concorde should retire,” a BA spokesman told the Daily Telegraph. Sales for seats aboard the flagship of trans-Atlantic travel have suffered from a poor economy, changing travel trends and some highly publicized problems. BA, concerned […]

Like most aircraft manufacturers, Cessna Aircraft Co. is experiencing a tough time for sales, and that translates to not enough work to go around. All production workers on the company’s turboprop Caravan line will be furloughed for three weeks in May, and 125 jobs will be cut, The Wichita Eagle reported this week. The cutbacks […]

Now that it has dealt with its engine-replacement predicament, Eclipse Aviation has moved on to deal with another part of its jet program that always requires attention: fundraising. The Albuquerque-based manufacturer needs a total of about $300 million to move its Eclipse 500 jet through the FAA certification process. Eclipse has already raised $238 million […]