News

This just in: Is the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) getting ready to delay implementing its controversial rule requiring pilots to prove their U.S. citizenship? That’s exactly what sources tell AVweb, although we were unable to confirm any details by our deadline Tuesday night. For those of you just joining us, the TSA’s new rule on […]

Gulfstream Aerospace announced that the FAA has issued a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for installing the company’s Broad Band Multi-Link (BBML) telecommunications system on a GIV bizjet enabling an “ultra-high-speed Internet connection” during flight. The system uses an ARINC-developed “backbone” with data speeds of up to 3.5 megabytes per second. Gulfstream said the dedicated satellite-based […]

Adam Aircraft reached a long-awaited milestone this week as it rolled out its first production aircraft — an A500 piston-powered tandem twin — from the its assembly facility at Centennial Airport in Englewood, Colo. With its Type Inspection Authorization (TIA) received from the FAA Sept. 30 firmly in hand, the company said it is beginning […]

Also yesterday at NBAA, Boeing said it will make its Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) available for retrofit to in-service Boeing Business Jets. A neat tool, the EFB includes the documentation and forms necessary for legal operation as well as current Jeppesen charts, manuals for fault reporting and operations, minimum equipment lists and logbooks, all in […]

Ending years of speculation and increasing signs it will enter the business aviation market, Honda Motor Co. Ltd. yesterday formally announced a joint venture with the General Electric Co. to bring the Japan-based manufacturer’s turbofan engine to market. Dubbed GE Honda Aero Engines LLC, the company was formed to pursue “the launch of Honda’s HF118 […]

As AVweb reported last month, a new group this week announced its plans for a supersonic business jet, or SSBJ. Aerion Corporation, a Reno, Nev.,-based company styling itself as an “advanced engineering group formed to reintroduce commercial supersonic flight,” this week made good on its promise to bring it high-speed plans to NBAA with a […]

Each year at NBAA, much of the buzz focuses on the new airframes being announced and which company looks like it has the upper hand in the market’s various tiers. A perennial contender in each convention’s sweepstakes for the most sweeping new-aircraft announcement, Cessna this year announced it will be plus-sizing two of its best-selling […]

Meanwhile, many other challenges still confront the business aviation industry. Perhaps foremost among them is that over-the-top security concerns designed to win the last battle with terrorism will return and further restrict non-scheduled flight operations at certain places or times. While the appearance this week of the TSA’s Stone at Las Vegas is, at least […]

Yet, some rocky weather may loom on the industry’s horizon. On the convention’s opening day, NBAA saw fit to release the results of a study it funded that concluded the business aviation community pays more than 100 percent of its share of the costs it imposes on the federal air traffic system. The study, by […]

It is the best of times for most in the business aviation industry. Despite slow economic indicators in many sectors, business travel is trending up, most aircraft manufacturers and support organizations are doing well and crowded ramps are the norm at most FBOs, not the exception. And the near future looks good, especially if you […]