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Union Vote May Decide Plant Future… A crucial contract ratification vote on the weekend could determine the fate of one of Bombardier’s most historic manufacturing plants. Members of the Canadian Autoworkers Union (yes, the autoworkers union) were voting on a package that included layoffs and restructuring at the former de Havilland plant in Downsview, just […]

Pilots, Businesses, Officials Learn To Cope… Nancy Lynn, an aerobatic instructor out of Bay Bridge Airport in Maryland — and inside the D.C. ADIZ — told AVweb that on March 8 she waited 90 minutes for an open phone line to the Potomac TRACON to obtain the clearance and code required to fly from her […]

Eclipse Setbacks Ripple Local Economy… Vern Raburn, the CEO of Eclipse Aviation in Albuquerque, is not one to give up when the going gets tough, according to a report in Tuesday’s edition of New Mexico Business Weekly. Says Raburn: “If you are going to engage in something that is difficult, you have to be attuned […]

WMU Consolidates Aviation Programs… Western Michigan University (WMU) — which has held contracts with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Emirates Airlines and European Pilot Selection and Training, and is one of the largest aviation colleges in the U.S. — is giving up on its foreign pilot training program. At WMU, foreign enrollment has declined from a […]

Large Training School Folds… Students at a well-known flying school in Florida are plotting their next move after the establishment suddenly ceased operations last month. According to students, Airline Training Academy staff were assembled the evening of Feb. 27 and told the school was closing. Feb. 28 found some portion of 150 active students and […]

Some Airspace Boundary Depictions Flawed… Well, so much for the paperless cockpit. The FAA has issued a NOTAM warning pilots using Jeppesen NavData flight-planning information to use paper charts until the company sorts out a glitch in its database that might misrepresent the boundaries of several types of special-use and controlled airspace. “This affects a […]

Airport Manager Protests IFR Approach Closure… The manager of a private airport in Texas says the FAA was out of line when it cancelled all eight IFR approaches to his field as of Feb. 8, cutting traffic by one-third. Woody Lesikar, of West Houston Airport, about 13 miles west of Houston, said local FAA officials […]

TCM, Honda Join Forces In GA Engine Project… On Monday, Teledyne Continental Motors (TCM) and Honda Motor Co. announced they will join forces to study the feasibility of producing a next-generation piston aircraft engine for the GA market. Honda says it has developed a prototype piston engine with “the technical potential for being significantly advanced […]

FAA Says D.C. ADIZ May Be Cancelled… Federal officials are considering canceling the air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the Washington, D.C., area now that the Department of Homeland Security has lowered its terrorism threat posture. FAA spokesman Greg Martin said the agency is meeting with the appropriate federal departments and it’s possible the flight […]

Aircraft Safety Versus Pilot Complacency… As Cirrus Design rolled out its first two full glass cockpit-outfitted SR22s last week, Cirrus CEO Alan Klapmeier told AVweb the company is bringing together a group of experts from industry, government and universities to explore how improved technology and aircraft safety may affect the pilots who fly the airplanes. […]