News

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. last week said it agreed to acquire Polish airframer PZL Mielec, that nation’s largest fixed-wing aircraft manufacturer, with approximately 1,500 employees. Sikorsky, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., will acquire the entire company directly from the Polish government and said it will form the foundation of its European operations. The company is […]

Sources this week tell AVweb the FAA is preparing to overturn a much-ridiculed June 6, 2006, letter from the agency’s eastern region that reinterpreted what constitutes “known icing conditions” by reverting back to guidance initially published in 2003. The letter, by FAA Eastern Region Counsel Loretta E. Alkalay, was written in response to an operator’s […]

This should be easy enough: If you live in Ohio and need to register an aircraft with the state, you must certify you’re not a terrorist and do not provide material assistance to a group the U.S. Department of State considers a terror organization. That’s according to a law passed in 2006 and effective for […]

For as long as we can remember, the only documentation needed by a U.S. citizen returning home from Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas or certain other locations by air was a driver’s license and a birth certificate. No more. Beginning Jan. 23, 2007, all U.S. citizens — including children — need a current passport, even if […]

Additional details on the Raytheon Company’s sale of its Raytheon Aircraft Company (RAC) subsidiary — including the Beechcraft and Hawker business aircraft lines — to a new company formed by GS Capital Partners, an affiliate of Goldman Sachs, and Onex Partners began to emerge over the holidays. First announced on Dec. 21, the $3.3 billion […]

Yes, major U.S. airports are too congested, and it can be tough for general aviation flights to get in at certain times during the day, but we’ve never seen a non-scheduled flight hover over an airline gate, waiting on space, before departing in a huff. With some embellishment, that’s basically what a group of airline […]

We have it on good authority that several Eclipse Aviation employees woke up Monday morning with hangover-induced headaches. But their pain had nothing to do with New Year’s Eve celebrations. Instead, and as AVweb reported, the company on Sunday, Dec. 31, delivered the first customer copy of its Eclipse 500 very light jet (VLJ), sneaking […]

The latest government reaction to the Feb. 2, 2005, crash of a Bombardier Challenger CL-600-1A11 at the Teterboro Airport (KTEB) in New Jersey was published last week in the form of a newly revised operations specification (OpSpec) for Part 135 charter operators. The new OpSpec, A008, was published Dec. 28, and is a direct reaction […]

Will 2007 be known as the year in which user fees were enacted to pay for FAA services? That’s what the airlines want, although general aviation’s alphabet soup is opposed to it. The issue is guaranteed to come to a head by Sept. 30, when existing law authorizing the FAA’s programs, policies and spending on […]

Rolls-Royce last week formally recognized its long-standing relationship with Gulfstream Aerospace in a ceremony marking delivery of 3,000 engines to the business jet maker. According to the engine manufacturer, no other civil aerospace customer has received more engines from Rolls-Royce than Gulfstream. Rolls-Royce has powered eight Gulfstream variants with Spey, Tay and BR710 engines for […]