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On Aug. 1, Raytheon Company entered into a retention agreement with James E. Schuster, Executive Vice President of the company and CEO of Raytheon Aircraft Company (RAC). The agreement attempts to secure retention of and secures compensation for Schuster in the case that he stays on through the company’s then stated goals of seeking “strategic […]

Onex Corp. together with Goldman Sachs might have entered into exclusive negotiations for the acquisition of Raytheon Aircraft Company (RAC), according to a report published Thursday in The Wichita Eagle. The arrangement would allow the potential buyer access to company records providing information necessary to determine the exact position of Raytheon Aircraft as final details […]

The FAA’s rulemaking process takes a long time, and NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker says airlines shouldn’t wait for a rule to be finalized before they adopt more conservative stopping-distance estimates for contaminated runways. “We think airlines should voluntarily adopt the procedures contained in the FAA’s OpSpec (operations specification) now, as we are entering another winter […]

“This Cessna [Caravan] should not take off into anything more than light icing — period,” said Wendy Tadros, chair of Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB), at a news conference on Wednesday. “We think it would be safer if a Cessna 208 pilot never took off during anything but light icing conditions.” The TSB asked both […]

After some customers balked recently at being asked for a “six-month” deposit — expressing concern that delivery of their jets appears to be more than six months away — Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn this week announced a rebate plan for late deliveries. “For customers with a scheduled delivery date on or before September 30, 2007, […]

When it became clear during development of the Eclipse 500 very light jet that it wouldn’t quite be able to meet its projected speed and range targets, the depositors were offered refunds. But the company also said it would continue working on aerodynamic improvements. On Tuesday, Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn said a series of modifications […]

The NPRM also looks at the general operation of repair stations and recommends some changes to ensure best practices and compliance with regulations. For instance, the new rule proposes to set in stone the requirement that a repair station have “permanent” quarters from which to operate. It won’t preclude mobile repair capability but is designed […]

The FAA is proposing changes to the ratings of aircraft technicians under Part 145 by all but eliminating the so-called “class” structure of ratings and replacing it with more comprehensive and encompassing general ratings. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which has been under construction for about five years, was published last week and appears to […]

On Nov. 23, the International Civil Aviation Organization adopted a rule that will allow pilots to continue flying until age 65 as long as there’s someone younger than 60 in the cockpit with them. Just before that rule came into effect, the medical committee of the European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) revealed it had come […]

It’s long been alleged by critics of Age 60 that it was imposed in 1960 at the behest of airlines who wanted to lower their labor and training costs by getting rid of their highest-paid captains (all of whom earned their stripes on piston-powered airliners) to make way for younger pilots who’d already been trained […]