Championing heroes in aviation's business, regional and rotary sectors as our industry rises to the challenge of the new normal.
 United States: Pre-owned business jet, turboprop, piston, helicopter, and commercial airliner market report March 2020 and Q1 2020. JETNET has released March 2020 and first quarter 2020 results for the pre-owned business jet, business turboprop, piston, helicopter, and commercial airliner markets. JETNET analyzed key worldwide trends across all aircraft market segments, comparing March and first quarter of 2020 to March and first quarter of 2019. Generally, inventories are up across the board, but only slightly, from 5.5% last year to 5.6% in 2020. Total sale transactions for aircraft and helicopters were down 337, or 15.4%, for all the markets reported in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the first quarter of 2019. Across all aircraft sectors, there were a total of 6,369, or 3.0%, more aircraft for sale in the quarterly comparison. This was a difference of 186 more aircraft and helicopters for sale. Interestingly, Fleet For-Sale percentages for business jets showed 9.9% for 2020, an increase of .6 points from 9.3% for 2019 in the quarterly comparison.
Houston, Texas: Universal launches COVID-19 standards program for preferred suppliers Initial program covers Ground Handling, Inflight Catering, and Ground Transportation. Universal Weather and Aviation has launched a new COVID-19 standards program for preferred suppliers across the top 100 destinations where its trip support customers travel. The initial program covers three core logistical components within a mission that physically touch passengers and crew - FBO ground services, inflight catering, and ground transportation.
Standards for the program are based on COVID-19 health and safety practices outlined by the CDC, FDA, IATA and WHO, and they are similar to what has been implemented within Universal’s own global divisions for FBO ground services, inflight catering, and ground transportation - Universal Aviation, Air Culinaire Worldwide, and Universal-Drivania Chauffeurs, respectively. So far, more than 80 percent of Universal’s preferred suppliers across its top 100 destinations have pledged their commitment to follow these standards for all missions managed by Universal. Universal is actively working to bring that to 100 percent by the end of the month.
Las Vegas: Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport might be famed for its abundance of slot machines, but it’s latest claim to fame is its innovation as the first airport to install vending machines loaded with personal protective equipment (PPE). The three machines, which are stocked up with items including a selection of face masks, hand sanitisers, alcohol wipes and gloves are located in Terminal 1 and Terminal 3.
“The whole world is going through behavioural modification and learning new habits, so it’s not unthinkable that someone could show up at the airport and not have the new necessities that are part of travel,’ said Christine Crews, a McCarran Airport spokesperson. Nothing like a clean getaway . . .
Savannah, Georgia: Resilient Rock Stars in Savannah  By Jane Stanbury. Savannah-based MSB Aerospace LLC manufactures and engineers interior components for business jets. Faced with Georgia-state pandemic guidelines Managing Director Shannon Gill, and her team, took an early decision to continue supporting the MSB customers that were providing essential services for the aviation industry. Gill managed to achieve the tricky balance between following the COVID-guidelines, protecting her employees and ensuring continuity of production for MSB clients. “We encouraged employees that could work from home to do so, while a reduced onsite team maintained their day to day schedules while adhering to the safety guidelines in terms of social distancing, hand washing and being aware of each other’s health,” said Gill about what was needed to remain open. Maintaining efficiency with a leaner team stimulated a review of processes on the production floor. “We have recently introduced a new enterprise resource planning software. The team discovered new and innovative ways to use the system to streamline processes to gain important ground on subassembly work,” says Gill. This meant that MSB could continue to produce throughout the general lockdown. Despite the benefits of the new system, which has also enhanced efficiencies in terms of inventory management, Gill says it is her team that have been the rock stars throughout.
Europe’s regionals hampered by finance support  By Keith Mwanalushi. The devastation caused by the Coronavirus pandemic has enabled some airlines across Europe to tap into loans and guarantees pledged by their respective governments to deal with the economic impact from Covid-19. Unfortunately, for some regional airlines especially, financial aid packages are few and far between. Montserrat Barriga, Director General at the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) tells Resilience Aviation that the ramifications of Covid-19 are not exaggerated when it comes to the likely outcome it will have on the air transport industry in Europe: “ If cash is not available through state aid and public guaranteed loans are not made available to all European airlines soon, many will disappear creating a huge void in the sector that will ultimately destroy the competition levels we have enjoyed until today.”
Montserrat Barriga, ERA Director General. Covid-19 has struck regional operators hard and in times of crisis, these airlines are often the most exposed. Regional carriers survive on smaller margins therefore are more susceptible to going bust or being taken over by larger carriers. “Air travel in Europe as we have known it will cease to exist,” warns Barriga. “Larger carriers will indeed survive thanks to state aid that only larger wealthy states will be in a position to offer, and small to medium-sized airlines, in the best-case scenario, will be acquired by them.” Thomas Reynaert, Managing Director at Airlines for Europe (A4E) is under no illusion that it will take time, financial sacrifice and hard work for airlines to recover from the damage caused by the pandemic.
Helping young people get into aviation will never be more important than now, says EBAA Communications Director Frederique Luca. What we take for granted facilitating that access is going to be more and more valued, she highlights, foreseeing heightened social opportunities for its sustainable STARS project, driven by 20 millennials. EBAA has teamed with the Aviation Week Group Network week to produce three days of in-depth digital content from next week. It will cover the crisis work being handled by EBAA and industry news and views, running for a month on line. An Aviation Week /EBAA webinar, Strategies for Recovery, moderated by ShowNews Editor in Chief John Morris, kicks off the initiative on 27 May at 4 pm CET. Resilient Aviation contributor and AvWeek writer, Angus Batey, is among the team of reporters.
Washington, DC: Aviation groups balk at increased fees for CBP’s User Fee airportsResponding to notification of significant fee increases for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) services at several US airports, the NBAA and other aviation associations are urging the acting CBP commissioner to consider alternatives in addressing possible budget shortfalls. Last week, many airports that support international operations with CBP inspection facilities funded by the user fee program received notice of a significant fee increase - from 29% up to 54% - with nearly immediate effect. In some cases, the airports were asked to either accept the new fee or suspend future CBP service. CBP’s User Fee program funds inspection services at approximately 60 airports, most supporting a significant number of general aviation operations.
“We have great concern regarding CBP’s approach to this increase and we are requesting that the agency consider alternative pathways to address these issues,” said Doug Carr, NBAA’s vice president of international and regulatory affairs. “Affected airports are already facing significant decreases in international traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic, severely impacting airport revenue.”
The London Heliport re-opens on 26th May, following the recent lockdown. Initially, opening hours will be 07.30 to 19.30 weekdays and 08.00 to 18.00 hrs during weekends and public holidays. In order to maintain a safe environment, operation procedures and social distancing measures are being implemented. All helicopter arrivals will be booked to arrive at 15 minute intervals starting on the hour; no rotors running operations. Slot flexibility may be reduced to ensure the social distancing environment is observed. Passengers departing and arriving ahead of their slot must wait in their own ground transport before entering the passenger terminal. |
Business aviation activity inching back, still 55% below normal Global business aviation activity is down by 55% through 19th May, compared to the same period of the month last year, according to WINGX`s weekly Global Market Tracker published today. 113,000 sectors flown worldwide this month compares to 254K sectors operated last year, a deficit of more than 141K sectors over the last 20 days. On average, 2,600 business aviation aircraft have been active globally each day this month, 44% of the average fleet normally employed. But at least the moving 7-day average daily activity has steadily improved, from 4,800 flights on May 1st to 6,600 flights on May 19th. The low-point in business aviation activity in mid-April dropped below 3,700 daily flights. By contrast, global scheduled aviation activity is still close to trough levels, trending around 85% below normal operations. By region, North America has hosted almost 80% of globally tracked business aviation flights in the month-to-date, activity trending 55% below normal. The European area is still further below, flights down by 62% this month, but has seen relatively the strongest regional recovery in the last fortnight. Flight activity in Oceania has improved by most since March, flights trending down by 31% this month, and South America is hovering at 35% below normal in May. Business aviation activity in Asia and Africa is down just over 50%. The US and Canada are the two busiest countries for business aviation operations in May, with Australia next busiest due to turboprop volume. Excluding props, France, Germany and Mexico make up the top 5 countries in May 2020. Italy, Spain and the UK are the worst affected countries with well over 70% drops in flight activity this month.
Zoom, Co-Vids and admission to Boris Johnson’s Covid WardGearUp TV CEO, Liz Moscrop speaks with Alison Chambers.
Liz Moscrop is CEO of GearUp.TV, which provides video storytelling to the private aviation industry. She is a regular contributor to BlueSky News. Liz has a strong working interest in Diversity and Inclusion. She sits on the Communications Committee for the new UK Women in Aviation and Aerospace Charter and was instrumental in establishing the UK Chapter of Women in Aviation International. Since March 2020 she has been providing remote video services, using livestream and pre recorded footage, including a series of Zoom interviews, “CoVideos,” which are running on GearUp.TV’s YouTube channel, social media platforms, BlueSky News and Resilient Aviation. You live in London where the pandemic took hold most fiercely. What were your fears? Ha! None of my fears were as dramatic as what actually happened to me. I ended up in the Covid emergency room in St Thomas’ Hospital - where Boris Johnson had been a couple of weeks prior. And no, I didn’t actually have Covid-19. I had a fortnight of - fortunately unfounded - fear, because I’d been in searing pain, and seen a GP who whisked me straight to St Thomas’ A&E. They asked me whether I had a temperature, I said I didn’t know, which landed me in a sealed room in the Co-Vid area.
Wichita, Kansas: Cessna's SkyCourier enters flight test program Twin utility turboprop makes maiden flight. Textron Aviation has announced the successful first flight of its new twin utility turboprop, the Cessna SkyCourier. The milestone flight is a significant step toward entry into service for the clean-sheet aircraft, and it kicks off the important flight test program that validates the performance of the Cessna SkyCourier.
“Today was an exciting day for our employees, our suppliers and our customers. The Cessna SkyCourier performed exactly as we expected, which is a testament to the entire team of men and women who worked together to prepare for this day,” said Ron Draper, president and CEO, Textron Aviation. “I’m proud of the way the team has persevered through disruptions caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic and remained focused on getting us to this point."
  
Keeping connected, beachside: Bill Garvey Editor-in-Chief of Business & Commercial Aviation, Bill Garvey, speaks to Kelly Murphy.
William Garvey has been Editor-in-Chief of Business & Commercial Aviation since 2000 during which time the esteemed monthly magazine received scores of awards for editorial excellence. Prior to that he was chief editor at Flying and Professional Pilot magazines. Earlier this year he was inducted into the Living Legends of Aviation. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all segments of aviation. How do you compare this disruptor with other industry devastations like 9-11, SARS, fuel crisis? I think the COVID-19 pandemic is unique. I’ve never seen such startling contraction so rapidly of so many systems, businesses and behaviours we formerly took for granted. The impact on aviation has been almost mind-boggling. The world’s airlines went from being hungry buyers of Boeings and Airbuses, to parking them and cancelling scheduled flights by the thousands. Manufacturers ceased manufacturing. Business aircraft operators - corporate, charter and fractionals - were grounded. FBOs were bereft of transients, their fueling trucks parked. All of this seemingly occurred within days. And at the moment, there’s no medical solution to the medical crisis. Yes, the economy is in freefall and people are wearying of isolation, but the coronavirus doesn’t care. So, as to comparisons with other crises I’ve seen befall aviation, in my opinion, there are none.
Air bp: Air bp provides support during COVID-19 As the impact of COVID-19 touches every corner of the globe, Air bp has been active in supporting communities around the world through a number of initiatives, working with customers and partners. In France it is supporting an initiative led by Aviation Sans Frontières, an aviation charity dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance by donating 60,000 litres of jet fuel for flights dedicated to transporting medical staff and equipment between French hospitals. These flights are carried out free of charge when requested by medical authorities drawing on its 50 locations in the country.
Providing fuelling services to the Australian Royal Flying Doctor Service In the UK, Air bp is providing free jet fuel for use by the helicopters of a number of UK air ambulance services, supporting their life-saving work during the pandemic. All these services are charitable organisations it already supplies with jet fuel. Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Great Western Air Ambulance receive fuel directly from Air bp, whilst Wales Air Ambulance and Midlands Air Ambulance Charity are supplied by Air bp customer Babcock International.
Paul Norton, Managing Director commented, “Since the easing in the lockdown scenario here in the UK it has been pleasing to see so many customers returning to our facilities, their trust, understanding and loyalty at these difficult times cannot be praised higher. We have been quite surprised at the number of bookings we have taken from both regular and new operators, especially those operating smaller air taxi type aircraft. The lack of clarity on the 14 day quarantine continues to hinder our long range business and I look for certainty on this subject in the coming days." Operations Dircetor Kerry Besgrove added, "Staff continue to respond well to the challenges and have adapted well to our new stringent cleaning regime and temperature checks before anybody can enter our buildings. We recently published a comprehensive risk assessment to ensure all visitors and staff can feel safe in our facilities."
United KIngdom: Airbus backs The People’s Mosquito restoration project By Paul Eden The 2020 air show season ought to have been upon on us now, while in the UK we have also just marked VE-Day. An opportune time then to look at The People’s Mosquito, a UK registered charity, which is working to inform and educate the public about the de Havilland Mosquito, defining its place in history through the airworthy restoration of Mosquito FBVI RL249.
Mossy-4. The Flying Heritage & Combat Armour Museum at Paine Field, Everett, Washington, operates Mosquito T.Mk III TV959 one of three New Zealand restorations. RL249 will be externally similar. Photo: David G Schultz. On 25 March, as the nation locked-down, The People’s Mosquito announced it had secured a major backer in Airbus. Jeremy Greaves, Vice President Corporate Affairs and Strategy, Airbus UK, confirmed: “Airbus is a strong believer in preserving wider aviation heritage. For us, the Mosquito is more than a beautiful and iconic aircraft. Airbus has a direct relationship to it as more than 90 were built at our Broughton factory in Flintshire.” The Mosquito deserves a place in the nation’s heart, alongside the Hurricane, Lancaster and Spitfire, he added.
We invited media friends to name their stand out companies / individuals who have made a worthy contribution during the pandemic. Chloe Wilson, Editor, Regional Gateway and Tim Robinson, FRAES, Editor of Aerospace name their COVID heroes. Cargo is King: Liege Airport It’s impossible to name just one hero in this whole COVID crisis. So many industry players have gone above and beyond as they rally to support not only each other, but those outside the aviation industry. Liege Airport has definitely earned its spot in the hero’s hall of fame. Just before the UK went into lockdown I was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the fifth Aviation Africa Summit. During a session I was moderating on behalf of Regional Gateway magazine on the sustainable growth of African airports I was joined by Steven Verhasselt, VP Commercial at Liege Airport. A regional hub tucked away in the east of Belgium and catering for around 250,000 (mostly charter) passengers a year plus some business aviation activity, it isn’t an airport that featured heavily on my radar. In fact, I had to look it up on a map. Liege Airport is Europe’s sixth biggest cargo hub and cargo, right now, is firmly in the spotlight.
JetFly operated its first UK Pilatus PC-12 PPE flight for charity NHS Heroes Support last Saturday. UK Director Jonathan Clough and flight crew supported the facilitation of 400kg essential face visors urgently needed for UK hospitals. The visors were flown from London Biggin Hill to Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
To date 100 flying hours, donated by JetFly owners, have been used to ferry essential medical equipment around Europe.
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 Brussels: First mover advantageWere it not for this pandemic, many of us would be prepping for what would have been the 20th annual EBACE Convention For EBAA, planning started many, many months ago. Resilient Aviation spoke with Secretary-General Athar Husain Khan about what has been preoccupying him and how business aviation is well positioned to lead the European recovery.
Athar Husain Khan. There isn’t anything new about these conversations, but the over-riding topic now is what this pandemic has brought about, he said. “I am very proud of our membership,” Athar says. They have been on the frontline of the crisis and will be on the front line, leading the European recovery. We are not asking for any exemptions, he adds. Rather he feels our actions these past few months speak for themselves, significantly elevating our place in the eco-system as a “must have.” (versus a nice to have).
Austria: Crisis is bringing the industry together - VistaJet  By Angus Batey Much has been made of how the Covid-19 pandemic has forced us to work together in unprecedented ways. That's even been true in business aviation, despite the industry having a reputation for the bespoke and individualistic mind-sets of both providers and customers. Ian Moore, chief commercial officer of VistaJet, has seen this first hand - both inside his company and elsewhere.
VistaJet COO, Ian Moore. "We've had a lot of interest in our community support [initiative]," he tells Resilient Aviation. He's referring to the invitation, extended by VistaJet's founder Thomas Flohr, to governments and NGOs, to use empty legs or positioning flights on the company's Bombardier business jet fleet to ferry people and equipment around, during the crisis. These offers of help have not just involved their company. "We've had conversations with other brands who are doing similar things, who we probably wouldn't have discussed this with before," he says. "There's been a good community element to what we're doing. One thing we've seen is that our people are far more open now to collaborate and to discuss, and to work on understanding what each other needs."
Corporate pilots ‘will find confidence in peer support’ Niven Phoenix, founder of Kura Human Factors, discusses the importance of peer support systems. ‘Resilience'. This word is widely used in aviation today as we struggle to grasp the multitude of threats facing our industry. People often view resilience solely as a ‘quality,’ but in reality it is a process. Like any other process it can be mapped, taught and reinforced. It was a process I personally lived and breathed throughout the Troubles, growing up in Northern Ireland as the son of an RUC Special Branch officer. The ‘process’ of building resilience took many forms for my family. Carefully concealing my father’s employment and never setting regular patterns became second nature to us. When threatened by loyalists, as well as republican paramilitaries, extinguishers appeared on upstairs landings to help deal with fire attacks. In 1990, our address fell into the hands of the Provisional IRA, the most effective European terrorist organisation of modern times. The house was armoured with bullet proof glass, panic buttons, movement sensors and as teenager I was taught how to use my father’s handgun. This rolling process of adaption gave a feeling of control over the situation, delivering efficacy and strength to us as a family. As a military pilot I sought to replicate that process and it was to become the genesis of the first military aviation Peer Support Programme, in direct response to the emotional adversity faced in dealing with casualties from Afghanistan.
Germany: FAI Rent-a-Jet reflects on busiest month FAI Rent-a-Jet is reflecting on its busiest ever month in April which saw it complete nearly 800 hours of flying with three Bombardier Challengers and a Global on medevac missions. It has been flying between continents - from Asia to the Middle East; Europe to the USA and Middle East to USA. “This has been the busiest period since we started 30 years ago,” commented FAI Chairman Siegfried Axtmann, noting a fourth Challenger went into maintenance in order to keep the high utilisation levels up and keep the three others in the air.
Siegfried Axtmann FAI recently had to reduce its Learjet activity, owing to a progressive lack of scheduled airline connections for re-positioning crews and heightened immigration restrictions in Africa and Middle East. This has hindered activity to a certain extent, he notes.
MRO: Maintaining calm in a pandemic  Ian Harbison reviews the challenges faced by MROs during the COVID restrictions. When COVID-19 restrictions began to bite, many MRO facilities were coming to the end of a very busy winter season, with hangars and workshops still full of aircraft and components. Hopefully that will provide a bit of fat to live off until demand returns. However, it also meant that the work had to be completed under a new regime. That included a deep clean of the facilities and the provision of hand sanitisers and other protection. Personnel who could work home from were encouraged to do so and, of course, there were furloughs. Ensuring that social distancing was maintained also became important, although different companies took different approaches. One obvious problem was large numbers of staff arriving and leaving simultaneously at shift changes. By using fewer people per shift and staggering the shift patterns, this meant the numbers involved could be reduced to safer levels. One company split the work force into two distinct groups, each working three days on a longer shift - if there was any infection, only one group would be affected. As at mid-May, not only had that policy worked, the effectiveness of the general protection measures that were introduced meant that not a single case of COVID-19 had been registered.
Events: How have aviation event organisers responded to COVID19? by Jeremy Parkin. From early March, aviation event organisers responded to the pandemic, and so far at least 135 aviation industry events have been postponed or cancelled. To all intents and purposes, conferences and exhibitions have been entirely closed for March to August inclusive, although only a handful are ever scheduled for the vacation months of July and August. Looking ahead, seven events scheduled for September are already affected, including the RAA Regional Airline Association’s annual convention, scheduled to start 29th September. Many more events are expected to follow, and monitoring the event websites suggests that decisions to be made in June will dictate how many remain running in September. With the resilience demonstrated across our industry, a number of different approaches have been made by event organisers. Initially, a number of spring events were put on hold to the autumn, but with so many looking at that idea, some inevitably fell by the wayside.
How being your own customer elevates product enhancement and validation: By Chris Moore, President of Business Aviation, Satcom Direct. Nowhere to Run: A highly original account of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on business aviation, from aviator, operator and celebrated author Zak Knight. Safely navigating through the COVID-19 crisis Virtually Better Meetings Ashley Bowen Cook discusses videoconferencing etiquette.
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WINGX Global Market Tracker:
Around the world in four days: Hi Fly A380 circumnavigates the Globe
A Hi Fly A380 has just arrived from an around the world humanitarian mission, that started in Beja, Portugal, on the evening of May 14th 2020, and ended in the same city on May 18th 2020.
During the trip, the aircraft - registration 9H-MIP - covered 31,047 km in a flight time of 33 hours and 45 minutes, with stops in Tianjin, P.R. China, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Hi Fly Vice President and Captain Carlos Mirpuri and his Crew at Beja Airport after their around the world flight.
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