Speaking at the opening session of the European business aviation conference in Geneva, held May 19-21, Ed Bolen, president and CEO of the National Business Aviation Association, said he is pleased all indicators are up for business flying. Announcements of new products from Gulfstream and Dassault, Bolen said, are welcome signs of confidence of the […]
Safety focus of international conference
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Each year representatives from the FAA and other nations gather for an international aviation safety conference. This year the meeting will be held in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb of the nation’s capital. The importance of the meetings is expressed by the FAA in its statement on this year’s meeting: “In a rapidly […]
Webinar to discuss effects of aviation noise
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The potential effects of aviation noise will be explored in a webinar May 29 conducted by the Transportation Research Board. An hour-and-a-half program will discuss noise concerns at airports. Issues include possible effects of aviation noise on hearing, sleep, health, annoyance, and learning environment. Although the subjects will deal primarily with airport noise, points brought […]
GA loses a champion
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Widespread dissatisfaction with politics is feeding a movement to promote limits on the length of time an elected federal politician may serve. Stripped of all its meaningless rhetoric, that movement boils down to one point: Limit the terms of those with whom I disagree, but don’t touch the ones I admire. Whatever […]
NTSB recommends FAA, National Weather Service improve weather forecasts to pilots
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Transportation Safety Board said May 7 that the National Weather Service and the FAA should provide improved forecast services to pilots. NTSB officials pointed to nine areas for the two agencies to provide better information. The recommendations were based on the NTSB’s accident investigations involving aircraft encountering weather conditions, such […]
Government and GA groups differ over security actions
WASHINGTON, D.C. — While aviation groups here are seeking to reduce the way general aviation pilots are stopped for questioning about possible terror flights, at the same time a powerful Senator was declaring concern about gaps in GA security. In his opening statement at a Senate aviation subcommittee hearing April 30 about scheduled airline service […]
Questions surround NextGen
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FAA reported earlier this month that it had completed nationwide equipment installation for the NextGen aircraft tracking system. The announcement — like others in the past and probably those in the future — raises more questions than it provides answers, particularly for general aviation. The nationwide installation of the Automatic Dependent […]
FAA issues second GA airport study
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FAA has issued its second study of general aviation airports, called ASSET 2, this time covering 497 airports that did not fit into a category under the original study. In 2012, the FAA released a one-year-and-a-half study that examined the role GA airports play in the national aviation system. Nearly 3,000 […]
Are federal regulations helping to increase flying costs?
WASHINGTON, D.C. — If costs of flying have increased in recent years, one reason might be new federal regulations on small businesses, such as FBOs, airport managers, and others who must raise prices to meet increases in their costs of doing business. Over the past five years, 157 new major rules have been issued, according […]