Aviation International News (AIN) and Pro Pilot magazines recently released the results of their annual customer support surveys for 2021 for the business jet industry.
For the third consecutive year, Dassault (OTC: DASTY) Aviation was ranked “top” in the AIN survey.
Its industry leading “overall average” score was 8.7 (the highest for any company in the history of the survey), up from 8.3 in 2020. Dassault took top scores in parts availability, parts cost, AOG response, warranty fulfillment, technical manuals, and technical representatives. The company also earned a 9.2 mark for overall aircraft reliability.
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Saint-Cloud, France, March 8, 2021 – It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of Olivier Dassault, at the age of 69, in a helicopter accident on 7 March 2021. An aviation enthusiast, like his grandfather Marcel Dassault and his father Serge Dassault, he was always keenly interested in developing the business of our company. He was born on 1 June 1951 in Boulogne-Billancourt. He was an engineering graduate from the Ecole de l’Air, held a DEA diploma in Mathematical Decision Sciences and a Doctorate in management computing.
He was born on 1 June 1951 in Boulogne-Billancourt. He was an engineering graduate from the Ecole de l’Air, held a DEA diploma in Mathematical Decision Sciences and a Doctorate in management computing. Following his solid scientific training, Olivier Dassault’s first steps in professional life helped him to gain experience of the communication sector, notably as a film producer and then by creating his own advertising agency.
He was a professional pilot since 1975, and jointly held world speed records – with Hervé Le Prince-Ringuet in 1977 from New York to Paris on a Falcon 50 and in 1987 from New Orleans to Paris on a Falcon 900 – and with Guy Mitaux-Maurouard and Patrick Experton in 1996 on a Falcon 900EX from Paris to Abu Dhabi and Paris to Singapore.
In 1986, his father Serge Dassault entrusted him with a number of roles and responsibilities within the Dassault company, appointing him Deputy Vice-President for Europe Falcon Service, and then Vice-President of Civil Aircraft Strategy in 1993.
He was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Marcel Dassault industrial group (GIMD) until 2017 and Director at Dassault Aviation since 1996. Throughout his life, he was a determined defender of our company and of French aeronautics. Moreover, on Thursday, March 4, 2021, during the last Board of Directors meeting, he gave his full support to the company in its management of the covid 19 crisis.
He was also a media man, holding the position of Chairman of the Valmonde group, where he created the hunting magazine Jours de Chasse (2000) devoted to another of his passions. He became a Director of Socpresse (now Groupe Figaro) after the latter was bought out by GIMD in 2004.
While continuing to be professionally active, he entered politics. He was elected as a Member of Parliament (RPR party) in 1988, winning back the Oise first district during the parliamentary by-elections. He was an MP in the Oise department from 1988 to 1997, and then again since 2002.
An artist at heart, Olivier Dassault was an accomplished musician and notably composed the anthem for Parliament, showing this institution another side of his creative personality. He was also a well-known photographer. He published many books of photographs and regularly exhibited his work successfully, in France and abroad.
Alaska Airlines, Inc.’s board of directors today elected Brooke Vatheuer to the new position of vice president strategic performance – Seattle, where she will lead the airline’s growing, hometown hub at Sea-Tac International Airport.
Vatheuer, who previously served as senior vice president of operations and planning for Horizon Air, will be a champion for Alaska’s guests and employees as it continues to grow its operations at Sea-Tac. Vatheuer will be accountable for the guest experience, operational metrics, gate space areas, ground staffing, air space management and employee engagement at Sea-Tac. The new leadership role reflects the airline’s continued focus on Seattle as a center of national and global connections for guests traveling for both business and leisure.
Vatheuer has more than a decade of experience at Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. She started with Alaska in 2007 as an internal auditor and quickly took on new positions and leadership roles in the following years, including managing director of audit programs. In 2017, she joined Horizon Air as vice president of finance and planning where she oversaw operational performance, led strategic planning and continued to improve processes, collaboration and engagement among Horizon’s frontline employees.
“Brooke is a talented executive with a lengthy history of experience at Alaska Air Group managing people and operations,” said Gary Beck, Alaska’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “She has an astute understanding of the airline business. Her work in audit, finance, analytics, strategic planning and as the head of operations at Horizon Air enables her to deeply appreciate the intricacies of an effective operation. Our guests can look forward to an improved experience at Sea-Tac airport.”
Vatheuer earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Washington, as well as a master’s degree in professional accounting. She is a certified public accountant.
Alaska Airlines and its regional partners fly 47 million guests a year to more than 115 destinations with an average of 1,300 daily flights across the United States and to Mexico, Canada and Costa Rica. With Alaska and Alaska Global Partners, guests can earn and redeem miles on flights to more than 800 destinations worldwide. Alaska Airlines ranked “Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Carriers in North America” in the J.D. Power North America Airline Satisfaction Study for 12 consecutive years from 2008 to 2019. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK).
Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today officially launched its major training partnership with Aviomar Flight Academy on Febuary 19th to deliver a Ryanair mentored program in Rome. This partnership will ensure Ryanair continues to attract highly trained professional pilots to support its growth across Europe.
The programme, which commenced in October 2019, gives trainee pilots a structured path to achieve an exceptional training course and reach a standard where they are ready to join the Ryanair Boeing 737 Type Rating programme.
Pilots on the programme will be trained by Aviomar Flight Academy instructors, using Ryanair procedures, as they take their first steps towards becoming Ryanair pilots. Over the course of the next 4/5 years, up to 400 new pilots from across Europe will be recruited and trained by Aviomar Flight Academy, underlining its respected position in the pilot training market. Newly trained pilots who commence their ab-initio training now will start their careers with Ryanair from early 2022.
Ryanair offers unparalleled career opportunities for new pilots, with:
82 bases
Industry leading training standards and success rates
The best rosters in European aviation – 5 days on, followed by 4 days off
Major upgrade adds option to load instrument procedures, customized holds and more
Garmin International, Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), today announced the addition of new features within the Garmin Pilot™ app that incorporate professional IFR navigation tools found within Garmin avionics. Pilots can experience a near-seamless transition between Garmin avionics and the Garmin Pilot app when performing common functions, such as loading and activating instrument approach procedures, departures and arrivals within the Americas. Additional features such as a visual procedure selector, custom holding patterns and more, give pilots convenient access to advanced tools all within a mobile app.
Vertical planning within Garmin Pilot (Photo: Business Wire)
“Leveraging technologies found within Garmin avionics and flight decks, we’re excited to bring this game-changing update to Garmin Pilot customers,” said Carl Wolf, vice president of aviation sales and marketing. “This upgrade gives pilots the ability to load complex routes and procedures into the app just as they would within a Garmin integrated flight deck, offering added convenience, time savings and confidence when transitioning between multiple Garmin products in the cockpit.”
Professional IFR navigation tools
Within the latest Garmin Pilot upgrade, pilots have the option to load or activate departures, arrivals and instrument approach procedures. Published holds that are included as part of the missed approach are also added to the flight plan. When pilots activate a procedure with published altitude constraints, those altitudes are automatically incorporated into a flight plan within the app. Pilots can also choose to manually add altitude constraints into a flight plan. Additionally, approach procedures with radius-to-fix (RF) legs can be activated within Garmin Pilot.
Using the vertical planning feature within Garmin Pilot, pilots can more easily input and adhere to crossing restrictions in a flight plan. For example, pilots can manually input a crossing restriction over a specific navigational aid or GPS waypoint. With these new features, pilots can optimize their flight planning and fuel calculations.
Visual procedure selector
Pilots can now more easily visualize departures, arrivals and instrument approach procedures prior to a flight using the visual procedure selector. This new selector allows pilots to simultaneously view departures, approaches or arrivals on a map alongside a flight plan so it’s easier to visualize and select the most appropriate procedure based on a flight plan and intended direction of flight.
Customized holding procedures
Pilots now have the flexibility to easily build customized holding patterns. These holds may be created over an existing fix or over a user-defined waypoint and then inserted into a flight plan. When creating a hold, pilots can easily input an inbound or outbound course, select left or right turns and specify leg length in time or distance. Unpublished holds or those assigned by air traffic control are easily created and displayed within Garmin Pilot to simplify the process of visualizing and flying a holding pattern.
Worldwide route data packages
Route data packages within Garmin Pilot help to ensure pilots have downloaded all of the data required for a flight plan. Once a flight plan is entered, pilots can review the data that is downloaded to their mobile device. If information is missing for a particular flight, Garmin Pilot displays an option to download additional data. Route data packages are also available worldwide to help ensure pilots have all of the data they need prior to every flight. Databases that are included within the worldwide route data packages include navigation data, instrument approach procedures, SafeTaxi®, terrain, obstacles and more.
The newest release of Garmin Pilot on Apple mobile devices is available immediately. For new customers, Garmin Pilot is available in the Apple App Store as a free download for the first 30 days. After the 30-day trial period, customers may purchase an annual subscription of Garmin Pilot starting at $79.99. Garmin Pilot is supported by Garmin’s award-winning aviation support team, which provides 24/7 worldwide technical and warranty support. Visit www.garmin.com/aviation for additional information.
3D model of the New Arena at Seattle Center from NHL.com
The new Seattle NHL Franchise has picked Alaska Airlines as one of the professional hockey team’s founding Partners, as well as the official airline of the team, the companies announced today.
Under the sponsorship agreement between the SeaTac-based airline and the National Hockey League expansion team, the new Seattle Center arena’s main door and lobby area will be named the Alaska Airlines Atrium, featuring a giant Alaska sign and colors.
The arena atrium is part of the $950 million venue’s south side, and will serve as the main entrance for the facility.
GTN 650Xi & GTN 750Xi modernize cockpit navigation and are available immediately
OLATHE, Kan.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Garmin International, Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), today announced the GTN™ 650Xi and GTN 750Xi, the next generation of in-flight navigation technology. Designed as a direct slide-in upgrade to the previous generation GTN 650/750, pilots can preserve their panel and modernize the cockpit with the new GTN 650Xi and GTN 750Xi. The all-in-one GPS/NAV/COMM boasts a feature-rich multifunction display and can integrate with new or existing remote-mount equipment such as a transponder or audio panel. Dual-core processors and modern hardware also prepare the GTN Xi series for advanced capabilities in the future. The GTN 650Xi and GTN 750Xi have received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval and are available immediately for fixed-wing single-engine and multi-engine piston, turbine and experimental aircraft, with helicopter and business aircraft approvals soon to follow.
GTN 750Xi and GTN 650Xi in the panel of a Bonanza (Photo: Business Wire)
“After decades of innovation and pioneering the GPS/NAV/COMM, we’re excited to bring the fourth generation GTN 650Xi and GTN 750Xi to the market,” said Carl Wolf, vice president of aviation sales and marketing. “Garmin was the first to introduce the all-in-one navigator with the iconic GNS 430/530. Over time the GNS WAAS and the industry-first GTN 650/750 touchscreen navigators were added to the line-up along with state-of-the-art features such as voice control, wireless connectivity and more. As the leader in GPS cockpit navigation, we have brought the most widely adopted navigators to the industry and with the GTN 650Xi and GTN 750Xi, we’re excited to add one more to the family.”
Modern processing power and state-of-the-art hardware within the GTN 650Xi/750Xi supports faster map rendering and smoother panning throughout the touchscreen navigator. It boasts a large, ultra-high-resolution display and wide viewing angle that offers superior readability in the cockpit. The displays initialize within seconds of start-up, providing immediate access to frequencies and flight plan information, saving valuable time in the aircraft. Preserving the same form factor as the previous generation GTN 650/750, the 6-inch-tall GTN 750Xi and the 2.65-inch-tall GTN 650Xi offer an intuitive touchscreen design with a dedicated direct-to button and dual concentric knob that provide added convenience when interfacing with the display.
Retaining all the features of the GTN 650/750, the GTN Xi series adds a vibrant display and vivid colors that enhance the contemporary look of the new navigators. When installed alongside a G500 TXi or G600 TXi flight display, the GTN Xi series brings a new level of modernization to the cockpit. Highly complementary, the GTN Xi and the TXi flight displays share similarities in display, appearance and hardware qualities. For example, both products feature an angular bezel so the pilot has a near-seamless experience when transitioning between the touchscreen flight display and the navigator.
The GTN 650Xi/750Xi offer advanced navigation functions, including ILS and LPV instrument approach procedures, as well as visual approach guidance. Based on a published glide path angle or a three-degree glideslope from the threshold of the runway, visual approaches also take into account terrain and obstacle clearance to assist pilots in flying a stabilized approach to the runway in visual flight conditions. Approach types that incorporate radius-to-fix (RF) leg types are also supported by the GTN Xi series. Additional capabilities include the option to add a published or custom holding procedure, vertical navigation (VNAV), graphical flight plan editing on the moving map and more.
The colorful, multifunction display-like map allows pilots to better visualize their dynamic position relative to potential hazards, such as terrain, weather and traffic. Geo-referenced instrument approach procedures can be overlaid on the map page, offering superior situational awareness when transitioning from the enroute to approach phase of flight. Terrain alerting is included within the GTN Xi series and further enhances situational awareness by using its internal terrain and obstacle database to provide audible and visual terrain proximity alerts, including, “terrain ahead, pull up” and “obstacle ahead, pull up.” Helicopter Terrain Awareness and Warning System (HTAWS), TAWS-A and TAWS-B are available as options.
Superior integration with an array of avionics on the market make the GTN 650Xi/750Xi a simple and straightforward solution to incorporate into any cockpit. Options for remote audio panel or transponder display and control allow aircraft owners to simplify their panel. When paired with a Garmin autopilot, such as the GFC™ 500 or GFC 600, pilots can fly fully coupled VNAV profiles and instrument approach procedures. Pilot workload-reducing features such as Telligence™ voice control are also available within the GTN Xi when paired with the optional GMA™ 35c. When paired with a GSR 56 Iridium datalink, global text and voice calling can be completed through the touchscreen display on the navigator.
Wireless connectivity is available with the optional Flight Stream 510, allowing pilots to connect their mobile devices running the Garmin Pilot™ and FltPlan Go applications to the GTN 650Xi/750Xi. When connected to the navigator, pilots can save time in the cockpit by wirelessly transferring aviation databases and flight plans from their mobile device to the navigator. Flight Stream 510 also supports the sharing of traffic, weather, GPS position information and more. The GTN Xi series is also compatible with the cost-effective Garmin navigation database.
The GTN 650Xi and GTN 750Xi have received FAA Supplemental Type Certification (STC) and are available immediately through Garmin Authorized Dealers for a suggested retail price of $12,495 and $17,995 respectively. A free GTN Xi trainer app is also available for download on Apple mobile devices, which allows customers to experience the feature set of these navigators. A new GTN Essentials 2.0 eLearning Course provides instruction on best practices for operational use of the new GTN Xi series and can be accessed via this website: https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/712644. The GTN Xi series come with a two-year warranty and are supported by Garmin’s award-winning aviation support team, which provides 24/7 worldwide technical and warranty support. Garmin was awarded top honors last year in avionics product support for the 16th straight year by Aviation International News,and earned the top spot in the annual avionics product support survey conducted by Professional Pilot magazinethis year, also for the 16th consecutive year.
(Reuters) – American Airlines Group Inc <AAL> said on Monday it had reached a confidential agreement with Boeing Co <BA> to address damages the airline incurred in 2019 due to the ongoing grounding of its fleet of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
American, the largest U.S. airline, said the compensation will be received over several years. The airline will use more than $30 million of the compensation for the airline’s 2019 employee profit-sharing program.
American said it does not expect any material financial impact of the agreement to be realized in its fourth-quarter 2019 earnings and it will continue talks regarding compensation for damages related to the MAX grounding beyond 2019.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents American Airlines’ 28,000 flight attendants, said it welcomed the news about compensation, and was evaluating the details.
Boeing said it does not comment on discussions with airlines.
Boeing’s best-selling 737 MAX has been grounded since two fatal crashes in five months killed 346 people. The company is halting production this month. A number of airlines have struck confidential settlements with Boeing in recent weeks.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
An American Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8, on a flight from Miami to New York City, comes in for landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York
