NBAA Flight Plan Podcasts

NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting Service (ASRS) marked a significant milestone earlier this year, proving its worth to the aviation industry and keeping its promise to exchange vital safety information for anonymity. "In 1 million reports in 36 years, we've never violated the confidentiality of any person reporting," said NASA ASRS Program Director Linda Connell. "We're hearing from every aspect of aviation."

A new study shows the majority of governors in the U.S. have officially recognized the value of business aviation in their state. "Government aircraft have been cited as key contributors to economic development, for example, bringing project developers together with key policy makers to locations where the economic development initiative will form," according to the study by NEXA Advisors, LLC.

With two named storms forming even before the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season June 1, general aviation (GA) airport officials must have firm plans in place to deal with potential problems. Fortunately, Michael Peery, general manager of Signature Flight Support at Georgia's Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV), was prepared when Tropical Storm Beryl blew into town. "In the case of a tropical storm like Beryl, the first thing we do is secure the GSE [ground support equipment]," Peery said. "If it were to become an actual hurricane with damaging winds, the owners would be contacted and we would recommend they remove the aircraft from harm's way."

NBAA's 17th Annual Flight Attendants/Flight Technicians Conference, set for June 14 to 16 at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Chicago, IL, features an interesting lineup of speakers and agenda topics. The conference will offer a workshop in career essentials; a session on global security and a panel discussion on "How to Survive a Ramp Inspection - At Home and Abroad." The event concludes with a safety-oriented session titled "Brace for Impact," during which crewmembers from US Airways Flight 1549 will recount their experiences as crew members on the flight dubbed "Miracle on the Hudson."

The FAA established requirements a year ago that operators must monitor their compliance with RVSM standards. Operators that are RVSM-equipped, have completed the necessary training and obtained FAA authorization still need to meet these RVSM monitoring requirements. In the U.S., this can be done simply by flying over any one of four Aircraft Geometric Height Measurement Element (AGHME) Constellations, located in Atlantic City, NJ; Cleveland, OH; Wichita, KS; and Phoenix, AZ.

After advocacy efforts from NBAA, the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) and the Italian Business Aviation Association (IBAA), Italy has modified its potentially destructive tax on business and charter aircraft, extending the number of consecutive days aircraft of foreign registry are allowed to stay in the country before facing onerous tax levies.

The UK's air traffic control service, NATS, is preparing for the influx of traffic this summer for the 2012 Olympic Games by planning significant changes to the airspace surrounding London. In addition to airspace restrictions and procedure changes, arrival and departure slots will be required at the 40 airports closest to London. "Book early to avoid disappointment. People who want to get closest to the center of London must book early," warned Stephen Patterson, the coordinator for all activities related to the 2012 Olympics at UK NATS, in this week's NBAA Flight Plan podcast.

Through the use of webinar presentations and facilitated online discussion with presenters, a new eight-week "Virtual Study Group" will focus on topics that include depreciation, state aviation taxes, personal use and the federal excise tax. "It's one of the most complicated issues in aviation," said Jo Damato, NBAA's Director of Operations and Education Development. "The exciting part of this series is that when participants move into the study group and online classroom, they can communicate with both the presenters and each other to delve even more deeply into each topic."

According to international industry advocates, the new flightcrew licensing regulations announced by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) last week should have little or no impact on aircraft registered outside the European Union. "As far as business aviation is concerned, it's a non-issue," said Ray Rohr of the International Business Aviation Council. "The majority of people who are U.S. operators going to Europe and who are not based in Europe will see no impact."

What NASA called a "breakthrough" in wind tunnel testing could soon take the "boom" out of supersonic flying, and scientists at the Dryden Flight Research Center believe it could benefit business aviation in "years rather than decades." Tom Jones, project manager for NASA's Superboom Caustic Analysis and Measurement Program (SCAMP) said "The game-changing technology out there is having tools available to design the external shape of the vehicle to give you a low sonic boom on the ground."

Are you overflying the airspace of Mexico or Venezuela anytime soon? If so, it might be a good idea to find out whether you're on a list of operators who are in arrears on their overflight fees. In at least one case, an aircraft attempting to overfly Venezuela was recently denied permission while in flight. NBAA has also received reports of the same thing happening to aircraft attempting to overfly Mexico, as that country is now also publishing a list of aircraft whose operators owe overflight fees.

Faced with the most challenging operating environment they've seen in decades, European business operators are going back to the basics, commissioning a study on what business aviation can do for users in Europe. It's not a study about the number of people working in the industry or the salaries it generates. Instead, this study focuses on the exactly how business aviation benefits European companies that use it. This week, NBAA Flight Plan interviews European Business Aviation Association Chairman Fabio Gamba on plans for the study.

To say the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) is wildly unpopular outside the EU would perhaps be an understatement. Still, NBAA Members are working through the particulars of compliance and finding that, in many cases, the process is very difficult. Nowhere is that more true than in the establishment of a carbon registry account. "Operators are wading into a completely new and foreign process of opening a carbon registry account," said Adam Hartley, a regulatory services team supervisor at Universal Weather and Aviation. In this week's NBAA Flight Plan podcast, learn more about setting up a carbon registry account and NBAA's EU-ETS compliance resources.

The gathering of business aviation interests from the U.S. and around the world at Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport for the Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (ABACE2012) later this month will mark an important milestone in the development of not only commerce, but industry advocacy efforts as well. "With ABACE, we do expect that because of the way it's structured and the people who are coming, the education sessions and the panels, this is going to lead to a much greater understanding of the issues at hand [for business aviation]," predicted Roger Whyte, NBAA's consultant on China.

Seven years after Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums (RVSM) became a reality in the U.S. airspace, there are still questions among business aircraft operators about how to obtain Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to take advantage of RVSM technology. On March 6, 2012, NBAA will host a special free webinar bringing together operators and FAA officials for a dialogue on RVSM approval requirements and best practices.