July 2007
Cessna Announces Updates Available for G1000
(July 23, 2007)Textron Inc owned Cessna Aircraft Company, reported recently that it is offering updates for the single-engine G1000 aircraft. Senior VP, Mark Paolucci announced, "Cessna remains committed to supporting earlier production aircraft and to providing upgrades requested by our customers. We are excited about these enhancements as they wil allow earlier Garmin systems to take greater advantage of the G1000′s capabilities." A previous update was available free-of-charge to G1000 owners from 2004 until 2007 and added a MFD capability to detect airways, turns and holding patterns. The new upgrades are for sale and can potentially add Garmin’s FliteCharts and SafeTaxi. Also offered are updated hardware to include ADF/DME and TAS. More information can be gained at the AirVenture convention or by calling 1-316-517-5800.
Private Jets Not Paying The Price For Air Travel
(July 21, 2007)Forty years ago in 1970, there were only 1,800 airplanes flying in the sky. Today that number has multiplied 10 times to more than 18,000 aircrafts. That number is expected to increase rapidly to add another 9,000 jets within the next ten years. While this increase in aircraft means big bucks for the makers of the planes and the training programs set up for pilots, not to mention the increase in air travel quality for consumers, not all the costs associated with this air traffic are being covered by the private jet companies. When a consumer purchases a ticket for a commercial flight, the price they pay doesn’t just cover passage on the plane but also several different taxes that must be covered. Private jet companies only pay a small percentage (less than 6%) of the taxes associated with air travel. This has caused many critics to complain that private jet companies aren’t carrying their fair weight when it comes to paying for Air Traffic Control costs. There have been a couple of suggestions made to remedy this situation. For one, the ATC system could be completely revamped to utilize satellite GPS methods to reduce the costs. Meanwhile, Congress is examining the possibility of a user-fee system that would force jet companies to pay for their ATC costs. Of course nothing is set in stone yet and the outcome of such propositions is still very much "up in the air"
Honda Sets Up To Join Aviation Industry
(July 21, 2007)Honda Motor Co. is gearing up to add aviation construction to their company portfolio, investing $27 million to build a factory in North Carolina. The plant will be located in Burlington and is intended for the manufacturing of engines for small jet planes. It is estimated that the factory will produced 70 new jobs for the area. Honda has already committed to spending $127 million to build various aviation facilities including $40 million for a factory in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Greensboro plant will be used to produce an eight-passenger HondaJet in competition with Cessna, a Textron Inc company that is currently the largest producer of business jets. Richard Aboulafia is an analyst who has consulted with Honda about their plans. "It’s going to be a slow uphill battle," said Aboulafia, "That are going to get a receptive market, but will have to pay to enter it. They’ll probably have to spend as much in marketing costs as they are for facilities." The factory in Burlington is set to begin production of an HF120 turbofan engine by 2010. Initially the plant will build 200 units, which will then be sold through a partnership created in 2004 with General Electric Co. The HF120 engine will offer up to 50% more fuel-efficiency that competing turbofan engines, according to Honda. The program manager for the GE Honda Aero Engine partnership also states that the engine will be "the lowest cost to own and operate." Price is estimated to be lower than $500,000 each. Under the terms of the joint venture, Honda will be responsible for final assembly of the engines while General Electric will provide repair and maintenance for the engines. The venture has already sold over 200 engines according to GE representative Rick Kennedy. Until now the Honda Aero division has been based in Reston Virginia, and they plan to relocate 15 individuals from that unit. Honda Motor is currently the second-biggest car manufacturer in Japan, behind Toyota Motor Corp. Honda Motor is also the largest motorcycle producer in the world. The company’s United States automotive base is located in Torrance, California. Honda’s American depositary receipts have fallen a total of 6.2 percent this year.
Flexjet Honored Eighth Year By FAA Diamond Award
(July 21, 2007)Bombardier Flexjet reported that the FAA is once again honoring them with the presentation of the Diamond Award. Flexjet, a fractional jet ownership division of Bombardier Aerospace, is the only fractional jet ownership company to be honored in this way for eight years. Vice president for Flexjet, David Gross reported, "We’re delighted to be recognized once again with the FAA Diamond Award and congratulate the many employees who also received individual awards for their accomplishments in maintenance training." A full 71 percent of Flexjet technicians earned awards for individual accomplishments last year in 2006. In order to qualify for these awards, technicians must undergo continued training in the aviation field. Not only did the 71 percent receive awards due to their training, 24 percent of those also were honored with FAA AMT Ruby Award, recognizing the completion of more than 60 hours of additional training. David Gross also wants it remembered that the Flexjet division is also certified to the AS9100 standard, one of the highest quality standards in the aviation industry. To qualify for this certification, Flexjet was required to complete a three-year long registration procedure for which they achieved a perfect score. The procedure included even more training programs and a wide evaluation of Flexjet’s quality standards. The AS9100 standard was created by collaboration between several engineering and standards teams across the world, and combined with the specific regulations set down by the FAA. Flexjet, based in Richardson Texas, was founded in 1995 to provide consumers with an easy way to purchase shares in jet ownership. The program is set up to make jet travel more affordable for companies and individuals. Fractional ownership allows consumers the chance to choose the jet that will best suit their needs and then, after calculating the estimated hours of jet flight needed, purchase shares that equal approximately 50 hours each. Owners then pay a designated monthly charge while Flexjet takes care of the maintenance, staff, storage and insurance on the customer’s behalf. Flexjet offers a wide range of jet planes to choose from including the Learjet 40 XR, Learjet 45 XR, Learjet 60 XR, as well as the Challenger 300 and Challenger 604 business planes. For consumers interested in even less commitment, Flexjet also offers the Flexjet 25 card program. This program is run by Jet Solutions LLC and allows consumers to purchase jet travel by the hour. Bombardier Inc. is a leader in the aviation industry known for offering innovative travel solutions including aircraft, jet, and even rail transportation programs. The company’s headquarters are located in Canada where they reported revenues of $14.8 billion at the end of their last fiscal year.
Prime Minister Jet Gulp Public Funds
(July 15, 2007)Only two months have passed since Prime Minister John Howard was made to abandon lavish plans to redecorate his dining room using more than $500,000 of public funds and yet Howard’s hand is in the taxpayer’s pockets once more. Over $100,000 in taxpayer money was spent to remove a fuel tank for the purpose of creating more luggage space, and then reversing the process as pilots felt the need for higher fuel capacity on the jet. "This appears to be an enormous waste of taxpayers’ money," Labor senator Penny Wong commented to reporters at ABC radio, "The prime minister appears to believe he is entitled to waste taxpayers’ money renovating his private jet and then waste more taxpayers’ money reversing these renovation." Additional renovations are believed to have taken place on the prime ministers jet, including the purchase of several mattresses from the United States, costing another $30,000 in taxpayers’ funds and the replacing of wallpaper with silk fabric priced in excess of $9,000 per roll. Reports were also released estimating the cost to taxpayers of about $600,000 just to fly the prime minister and other public officials back and forth from Sydney and Canberra.
Holiday Travelers Make Up Majority Of Private Jet Customers
(July 15, 2007)Vacationers looking to avoid long waits and annoying security checks are increasingly using private jets to get where they want to go. This demand is also encouraged by an attempt to mimic the travel style of celebrities by young and wealthy workers, according to studies done by Twinjet, an operator of private jet travel. Additionally a big boost in affluent tourists coming from Russia and the Middle East has also increased the demand for private plane charters. " Leisure customers have now overtaken business travelers for charters for the first time in our 25-year history and now make up more than 50% of our business," comments Twinjet MD John Keeble, "The face of the industry has changed, with high profile celebrities and sports stars influencing the trend." The Fifa World Cup, held in Germany last year, helped create a record-high demand for private jet flight in the UK. A similar level of demand is apparent this season, fostered in part with an increase in security at international airports.
Business Jet Seats Inc Strives To Make Private Jet Flight Greener
(July 15, 2007)While few would consider private jet flight to be environmentally friendly, Business Jet Seats Incorporated is striving to make chartering a private jet easier, less expensive as well as greener when put up against other private plane travel. Typically private jets carry only one or two passengers at a time, making the whole activity very expensive for the consumer and harmful for the environment. Business Jet Seats Inc. provides seats to passengers, who agree ahead of time to fly together in order to save money, time or cut down on emissions into the air. By combining travels onto one flight, Business Jet Seats Inc. leaves a greener footprint in the path of jet travel by reducing the noise, fuel used and emissions provided by jet planes. Not to mention the money per-seat prices saves interested individuals on jet flight. This business model is Business Jet Seats way of coping with the fact that private jet charters are increasing at an amazing rate, 20 percent for each of the last five years, with no end to the trend in sight. Business Jet Seats Inc. provides an affordable way for consumers to experience the amenities of private jet flight by booking seats on business jets. The company does not actually own or operate their own planes, instead they match vacant seats with travelers interested in private jet flights. For more information on Business Jet Seats and their environmental plan, check out the website http://www.businessjetseats.com/pdf/BJSI-Greener.pdf
Rise In Private Jet Travel
(July 15, 2007)While the lengthy security and boarding rituals are commonplace for most travels, more and more wealthy individuals are bypassing the inconvenience of public air travel for the expense of private jet chartered flights. Private plane travel is becoming increasingly more prevalent with people on holidays as well as for people who need to travel for business. Jamie Gillborn, a private jet executive, pointed out that my businesspeople are currently using the Lear Jets and others to take weekend vacations to places like Nice, Barcelona and Milan. "Senior executives are so time poor," says Gillborn, "They can leave Thursday night for a three-day weekend and arrive 10-15 minutes before departure, or they might decide to stop at a holiday villa on their way back from a business trip." Reports from the CAA state that the number of commercial passengers has risen from 14 million in 1996 to 202 million in 2006 while the number of private jet travelers rose from 3.5 million to 34 million. Saving time is the most popular reason given by passengers as to why they prefer jet travel. Executives don’t want to deal with the busy crowds and hassle of the major hubs. They want the freedom to drive right up to their plane and, if desired, have a car waiting at the other end to pick them up. The demand for private jet flights increases during high-profile sporting events, for example Epsom and Wimbledon. As London grows closer to becoming the top financial capital in the world, and the residents grow wealthier, private jet demand is expected to rise even further. According to Merrill Lynch, the number of residents in London with a net worth of more than 500,000 pounds rose more than 8% to 484,580 in 2006. However, nearly 40 percent of jet charters still come from the government. Air Partner, a private jet charter company, has an increase of 75% in profits this year. Private jet flight offers many choices to consumers that are simply not available on commercial flight. Crew and plane changes, as well as food choices and even destination plans can be altered at the suggestion of the client. In fact, many clients are choosing to simply purchase their own jet at a cost between £2.5 million and £25 million. CEO of Air Partner, Davis Savile points out, "Most of our owners are fairly simple straightforward people. You don’t get much evidence of people wanting gold taps. They are not generally ostentatious." Yet, he continues, "Yes, you can find a stretch limo equivalent on the air but they are very rare." Still, last month at a Paris Air Show, an anonymous person ordered an Airbus A380, custom made to carry 840 passengers. The purpose of this plane is only to transport the individual and their entourage. Joss Garman, a member of the environmental group Plane Stupid, compared buying a superjumbo jet for private use to "buying a filthy coal-powered power station to use to charge up your mobile phone."
Boeings Special Show For Airplane Family
(July 13, 2007)In Seattle a Special Customer Show was held by Boeing recently honoring its 7-series family of airplanes. The planes on display included an Omega Air 707; AirTran Airways 717; FedEx 727; Alaska Airlines 737-800; Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 Flying Test Bed 747-200; Continental Airlines 757; Delta Air Lines 767; and Air France777-300ER. The Boeing 747-400 Dreamlifter was on static display. Each aircraft left Paine Field and landed at Boeing Field in Seattle. The aircraft landed in sequence of numbers relative to time. That is the 707 landed at 7:07 pm Pacific time. This special display was part of a Boeing-sponsored event held at The Museum of Flight as part of the weekend’s activities for the 787 Premiere. For more information about Boeing’s 787 Premiere, visit www.boeing.com or www.newairplane.com.
Private Jet Travel
(July 11, 2007)While cost effectiveness isn’t the driving factor behind most decisions for private jet flight travel, the savings of time and aggravation is well worth the financial costs, at least according to most private jet flight passengers. And these factors are extremely important to busy business professionals, making jet travel the most plausible option. In order to better determine whether private jet flights are a worthy expense for you or your company, it pays to experience one firsthand. Purchase a single flight or low-cost charter card. After your flight you’ll have a better idea how to rank the following qualities when discussing jet travel. Saving Time – This is the main reason reported by fans of private jet flight. There are many factors that add up together to a great deal of timesavings. The first is that the jet leaves when you want it to, no unexpected delays that keep you chained to an airport. Private jets also allow you to drive directly to the flight, no maneuvering through busy airport main passengers vehicle areas. Security – With private jet flights, you know everyone on your flight so safety isn’t a concern. You can check out all flight personnel, their credentials, backgrounds and identifications, before boarding. There is nothing more valuable than peace of mind. Increased productivity – This results from a combination of the benefits of private flights. Greater flexibility, extra time saved without security and check in times, as well as more space and lack of noisy (and nosy) fellow travelers to disturb you while flying. The amount of work that can be accomplished on a private flight is substantially more than on commercial flight. Privacy – As stated ahead, without nosy co-passengers, intimate company decisions can be made on flight. Rest Factor – the privacy, security, intimacy and luxury of private jet travel is much more relaxing and restful than public commercial flights. Other factors include the ability for private one-on-one time with that important client as well as the prestige behind flying on a private jet.
