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Swiss-based business aviation company Executive Jet Investments (EJI) last week announced it has acquired the controlling share in German aircraft manufacturer Grob Aerospace. No details or terms of the acquisition were announced, although EJI did say its future operations would be conducted under the Grob Aerospace banner. The deal makes a multinational corporation out of […]

Last week’s award of an FAA production certification to Adam Aircraft for its A500 piston twin — along with a recently announced infusion of cash — will give the young company enough breathing room to move forward on delivering the new aircraft to customers while it accelerates development of its A700 AdamJet. The FAA gave […]

Mooney Airplane Co. Chief Executive Gretchen L. Jahn resigned her position yesterday, effective Oct. 1, formally saying only that she wished to pursue other opportunities. The Kerrville, Tex.-based company’s board of directors immediately named Dennis Ferguson as her replacement. Perhaps reflecting on the fact that deliveries of Mooney aircraft under her management more than doubled […]

Depending on how it’s measured, yesterday’s agreement between Dassault Aviation and NetJets Europe for 24 Falcon 7X aircraft valued at U.S. $1.1 billion is the second largest business aircraft order in history or the largest European deal ever. Regardless, the transaction is Dassault’s largest-ever private jet sale. The 24 aircraft will be delivered over six […]

User fees. Airport and airspace access. Operating regulations. Security. Opinions on all these issues — and many more — help distinguish one aviation industry segment from another. For example, most scheduled carriers would support eliminating the existing U.S. airline ticket tax and excise taxes on fuel in favor of a per-mile or per-flight fee. Since […]

Fractional operator NetJets said it has awarded Cessna Aircraft Company two awards designed to recognize the airframer’s “cooperative efforts contributing to the overall success” of NetJets who, not coincidentally, is Cessna’s largest customer. Cessna received the first-ever NetJets Annual Performance Award, given for process improvements Cessna implemented in 2005 to decrease maintenance downtime on aircraft […]

Eclipse Aviation last week said Paul Schumacher is being elevated to its executive team as vice president of manufacturing, replacing Rod Holter (see preceding story). Schumacher joined the company two months earlier from Raytheon Aircraft Company, where he served as vice president of operations and was responsible for all manufacturing and facility operations. In that […]

Cessna last week announced changes in its manufacturing leadership it says will allow it to better focus responsibilities to meet expected growth in the companys product line. Craig Estep, formerly vice president, operations, was appointed vice president, Citation/Caravan Operations. In this new role, Estep will have responsibility for all assembly and completion operations for Citation […]