Category: BizJet

A new facility for aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services recently opened at the Subic Bay International Airport (SBIA), transforming the former U. S. Navy base into a 24/7 hub for business aviation in Asia Pacific.

Located within an 18,000 square-meter hangar, Aviation Concepts Technical Services, Inc. (ACTSI) says it hopes to become “a premier parking and MRO service provider for business jets within the region” after completing upgrades of its facilities. The company says phase one of their upgrades is complete and more are yet to come.

“With the opening of ACTSI’s facility, business jet owners and operators will now have the confidence of knowing that a world-class facility, complimented with a team of certified engineers, can now handle parking and maintenance of their aircraft,” says John O’Meara, ACTSI general manager.

Senator Richard “Dick” Gordon, who graced the launch of ACTSI’s facility recognized the value of this latest Razon & Co. investment into Subic Bay International Airport, “This is a welcome development in the Subic Bay International Airport. It would allow more executive jets to come here to be serviced. I hope the whole of Asia, especially owners and operators of private jets, will start using this airport. Now we are going to put the airport to use and hopefully, it will expand. Certainly, we want anybody who does business here to be happy.”

Atty. Wilma Eisma, Chairman and Administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), said that the facility ushers new businesses for the former military airbase, which once served as a global hub for courier giant Federal Express until 2009, “We have long dreamed of developing the SBIA into a business and general aviation airport in the country, and this project is one huge step towards realizing that vision.”

She adds, “We are banking on the strategic location of Subic in the Asia Pacific region to boost SBIA’s chances to become a regional player in the MRO business.”

Along with Senator Gordon, executives from Gulfstream, Rolls Royce, Satcom Direct, JSSI, Honeywell and top aircraft management companies in Asia attended the launch held at the newly-refurbished facility.

The Subic Bay International Airport can accommodate large aircraft with the runway length of the former American airbase stands at 9,000 feet. With no slot restrictions, an average flight time to Subic is only one hour and thirty minutes from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, a three-hour flight from key Asian cities such as Singapore and Malaysia, and three hours and fifteen minutes from Indonesia and Thailand.

In addition to limited parking slots and general maintenance services required to keep aircrafts flight-ready in the region, ACTSI’s facility in Subic Bay is poised to provide solutions to issues such as corrosion and exposure to natural elements.

Led by John O’Meara, a former Gulfstream Test Pilot with over 40 years aviation experience, ACTSI has Cayman and Bermuda approvals and is currently working towards expanding its capabilities to include an FAA 145 approval.

 

After nearly 20 years, Robert (Bob) Rasberry, chairman of the board at West Star Aviation, is retiring. Rasberry will continue with West Star’s board of directors as chairman emeritus and join Norwest Equity Partners (NEP), a middle-market equity investment firm and parent of West Star Aviation, as a senior advisor supporting NEP’s continued interest in aviation-related investments.

Rasberry, in collaboration with co-founders, Sam Haycraft, Jim Swehla and Mike Durst, acquired the small MRO, Premier Air Center, in East Alton, IL in 2002. West Star Aviation in Grand Junction, Colo, was added in 2005, and ultimately, the companies were united and rebranded as West Star Aviation. The Company has grown from 150 employees to more than 1,400. “I find much comfort and pride in knowing that I leave West Star in extremely capable hands. Many leadership decisions have been made over the past several years to prepare for this day, including appointing Rodger Renaud as chief operating officer and president, and hiring an industry veteran, Jim Rankin, as CEO. Their commitment to our employee and customer-centric culture is unwavering and aligns with the same principles upon which West Star was founded,” says Rasberry.

Piper Aircraft has begun an apprentice program and their first group of apprentices has started their two year-program. The first nine apprentices, who started work in August, will shadow skilled aircraft assembly workers and learn all aspects of fabrication and assembly of aircraft during the two-year initiative. Additionally, they attend technical classes and receive hands-on training designed to qualify the participants as a Journeyman in Aircraft Assembly. Each apprentice is a paid employee of Piper Aircraft and receives a full benefits package.

“The Piper apprentices are part of a high-tech version of the ancient tradition of apprentices learning a trade requiring specialized skills by working with an experienced professional. This program provides the necessary training, mentoring and support enabling apprentices to successfully pursue a long-term career with growth opportunity as a Piper employee,” said president and CEO, Simon Caldecott. “As we look to the future and consider our current aircraft sales and order backlog, the apprentice program will help ensure that Piper has a strong and agile workforce for the years to come.”

The application period for the 2020 Apprentice Class will open in January 2020. The application can be found on the Piper website at http://www.piper.com under the Careers tab. For questions regarding the program, please e-mail: apprentice@piper.com

Textron Aviation opened an aircraft parts warehouse in Australia to support its fleet of business jets, turboprops and piston aircraft. The parts warehouse will be co-located at Essendon Fields Airport with Premiair Aviation Maintenance, a Textron Aviation Authorized Service Facility.

“With Premiair established as our new ASF for Australia, we are enhancing our regional parts availability. This represents another step in our ongoing commitment to Textron Aviation aircraft owners in Australia and across the Asia-Pacific region,” says Brad Thress, senior vice president of Parts and Programs at Textron Aviation.

Customers, operators, MROs and channel partners will have the option to purchase factory direct parts through Textron Aviation’s ecommerce website or local sales and support staff. Parts will be shipped locally from Essendon.

“Adding this new parts facility to Textron Aviation’s support capabilities increases its level of customer service for Beechcraft, Cessna and Hawker aircraft in the region,” says Paul Montauban, managing director of Premiair Aviation. The new Australia facility follows the recent expansion of Textron Aviation’s Singapore parts warehouse.

Duncan Aviation has received FAA approval for a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) that will allow installation of SmartSky’s air-to-ground connectivity system for Challenger 601, 604, 605 and 650 aircraft. SmartSky’s network brings new, high-performance Wi-Fi to business aircraft, powered by a mix of advanced 4G LTE and 5G technologies.

Among the many engineering services Duncan Aviation provided, Russ Kromberg, certification coordinator worked with SmartSky’s technical team regarding the optimal placement of the antennas to achieve the best in-cabin speeds and connections possible, the company says.

“We are working on STCs for several additional makes and models for the SmartSky equipment,” says Kromberg. “Those STCs, slated for completion in 2020, are for the Challenger 300, Learjet 45, and Falcon 900 and 2000.”

“Duncan Aviation…knew exactly what their customers wanted and provided critical input for our design requirements,” said SmartSky chairman and CEO Haynes Griffin. “Our system meets or exceeds that high bar Duncan Aviation helped set, giving customers the internet speed they’ve long demanded using SmartSky’s patented bi-directional, low-latency network.”

SR Technics announced the appointment of Jean-Marc Lenz as new chief executive officer beginning in early September, 2019. Lenz succeeds Frank Walschot.

SR Technics says Jean-Marc Lenz and Frank Walschot worked side by side for many years, and Lenz played an active role in business operations, quality, safety and Lean CI. Walschot is expected to remain available until the end of November this year to support the transition.

Lenz has more than 30 years of experience in the aviation industry, most recently as chief operating officer and accountable manager at SR Technics.

“We recognize Frank’s contributions to SR Technics, most recently in building an effective team and positioning the company for the future. Jean-Marc has extensive experience in the aviation industry and is particularly a quality focused and customer-oriented executive,” says Ning Wan, chairman of SR Technics. “He is well positioned to lead us forward. On behalf of the Board, I would like to wish Jean-Marc all the best in his new role and thank Frank for his great achievements at SR Technics.”