AKERS...EUROPE’S ETS PROVES TO BE A FIASCO FOR OPERATORS...NEWSMAKERS...PLATINUM JET EXECS, EMPLOYEES INDICTED...NEWSMAKERS...START-UP FRAX JET REPUBLIC F O L D S . N E W S M A K E R S . F A A A C T S Q U I C K L Y I N NEWSmak2009ers INSIDE: I Sully’s splashdown pg 22 I The recession takes its toll pg 22 I Santulli ejects from NetJets pg 23 I Negative portrayal of bizjets pg 23 I Northwest pilots overfly MSP pg 23 I Europe’s ETS proves a fiasco pg 24 S R E T JetDirect collapse pg 24 U I E R / D I SULLY’S SPLASHDOWN: TSA revises LASP proposal pg 24 M I R E D C M Colgan crash ignites questions pg 26 N I A D A story of redemption for pilots N E R Eclipse Aerospace pg 26 B I NEWSMAKER OF THE YEAR I Hudson River midair pg 28 K C I Platinum Jet workers indicted pg 28 N I P hen Capt. Chesley “Sully” going to be in the Hudson.” E O K Sullenberger brought the aft Only a fellow pilot, aware of the slim odds Jet Republic collapses pg 30 M I I belly skin of his US Airways for putting an airliner down in water without J Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger (left) and FAA approves Waas upgrades pg 30 WAirbus A320 into contact breaking apart in the process, can fully appre- First Officer Jeffrey Skiles brought some glory I with the cold water of New York’s Hudson ciate the enormity of what confronted Sully to the airline pilot profession. River on January 15 and pulled off a mag- and his first officer, Jeffrey Skiles. nificent emergency ditching after Canada Was it the Airbus’s fly-by-wire flight then TEB would be out of reach. FBW became fixtures in the media and the image geese had choked the life out of both control system that saved the day, as couldn’t scrutinize the cliffs of the Palisades of the airline pilot enjoyed renewed luster. engines, he restored to the piloting profession William Langewiesche asserts in his latest or the towers and span of the George Wash- But it was at an NTSB hearing in June that an aura of cool skill and professionalism book? Perhaps it helped, but sorry, old ington suspension bridge or the densely 57-year-old Sullenberger tackled the more that had been sullied by decades of acci- friend, I firmly believe that many a lesser populated region over which this predica- serious task of telling the harsh truths dents blamed on pilot error. Indeed, within airline pilot would have made a hash of that ment was unfolding. Two pairs of human about his deteriorating profession in an era months of Sully’s splashdown, an accident emergency, FBW or no FBW. Along with eyes surveyed that grim array of options and of longer working hours, lower pay and (the Colgan Q400 disaster near Buffalo in Skiles, Sully deserves all the praise he has Sully’s vision illuminated the decisions that corporate disregard for the intangible qual- February) and an incident (the Northwest received for an unmitigated feat of superb saved the lives of 153 people in the back. ification known as “experience.” No one in “laptop affair” Minneapolis overshoot) judgment and airmanship. Fly-by-wire Satisfying the public’s yearning to meet 2009 was more qualified to occupy that swiftly tarnished the fresh luster. didn’t make the decision that first LGA and the “Hudson Heroes,” Sully and Skiles pulpit than Sullenberger. –N.M. But God bless Sully for showing a world wearied by bad news what good old-fash- ioned piloting can achieve in an era when among the massive inventory of pre-owned the profession of airline pilot has been dis- The recession takes its toll business jets. tilled to a job centered more on monitoring From Bombardier came news that more automation than on stick-and-rudder finesse. By November 2008, it was obvious that for new aircraft, and flight hours fell further. than 100 employees will avoid layoffs next Like the pilot who deadsticked an Air Canada despite the best efforts of the drivers and Among the manufacturers, who were year following a job-sharing agreement 767 onto the disused runway of a former most ardent wishes of the passengers, the the last industry segment to feel the blow, with the union. And Greenwich, Conn.- RCAF base in Gimli, Manitoba, in July 1983 economic bus was headed over the cliff. healthy order backlogs began to wither in based private jet travel specialist Citation- after a fueling dipstick error at the departure And as weeks passed, it became appar- December as credit became scarce and Air has announced it will recall 16 of 85 airport silenced both engines en route, Sully ent that with the bus still falling and no customers canceled orders. pilots placed on furlough. counted gliding among his flying experience. bottom in sight, the business aviation As the recession deepened, business But the bottom is still there, and it’s The engines of the A320 sucked in Canada industry was facing a recession–one that activity fell 10 percent, then 20 percent, still bumpy. geese at 2,800 feet scant seconds after takeoff quickly spread across the Atlantic to and in some cases as much as 30 percent. In a late November release, Forecast from New York La Guardia Airport. With Europe, then to Russia, India and China Aircraft manufacturers began cutting pro- International predicted production of ap- power severely compromised, Sully alerted and most recently into the Middle East. duction, followed by implementing layoffs proximately 825 aircraft in 2009, 738 in controllers that he would be returning to La On-demand charter hours had begun to and furloughs in unprecedented numbers. 2010 and 716 in 2011. The General Aviation Guardia but soon realized those runways were drop, even as early as the summer of Now, some 15 months into the reces- Manufacturers Association third-quarter out of reach. “What’s over to our right? Any- 2008, and that drop continued into 2009, sion, signs of a recovery remain elusive. numbers show business jet deliveries down thing in New Jersey, maybe Teterboro?” he as did interest in fractional ownership. But they are there, however slight. 37.8 percent compared with the same period asked. With his altitude dwindling, that, too, A decision by the big three automobile Since September, the number of total in 2008, and numbers from Berkshire Hath- soon vanished as an option. manufacturer CEOs to fly to Washington, flight hours has increased. The improve- away showed its NetJets subsidiary suffered After some discussion by controllers D.C., on their company jets in November to ment has not lasted long enough to be a loss in revenues of 42 percent (about $1.5 about rolling the crash trucks at TEB, Sully ask for bailout money from the federal gov- called a trend, but it is encouraging billion) in the first nine months of 2009. said, “We can’t do it.” ernment resulted in a public black eye as nonetheless. And used aircraft brokers One thing with regard to the economic “OK, which runway would you like at Congress and the media piled on. The fall- have watched as anxious buyers who are state of the industry is certain: it will Teterboro?” asked a controller. Sully calmly out was predictable and flight departments able to obtain credit, or who have sufficient remain a major story through this year and announced in his last transmission, “We’re began closing, companies canceled orders liquidity, have begun slowly cherry-picking probably well into next. –K.J.H. 22aaAviation International News • January 2010 • www.ainonline.com MPLOYEES INDICTED...NEWSMAKERS...START-UP FRAX JET REPUBLIC F O L D S . N E W S M A K E R S . F A A A C T S Q U I C K L Y I N and built a successful helicopter leasing Frax founder company called RTS Helicopters. Buying EJA, a company run by ex-military brass with a passion for record- Hello? Hello? Northwest pilots Santulli keeping, gave Santulli access to a treasure trove of data for every flight the company overfly Minneapolis destination ejects from had operated in the past 20 years and allowed him to devise the fractional con- cept–a model that has fueled a 20-year Not long after Capt. Chesley “Sully” air traffic controller twice asked the NetJets bonanza for the OEMs but in the context Sullenberger helped restore the good pilots why they hadn’t answered radio of the current economy is now under name of the piloting profession with his calls for more than an hour. The pilots Individually last year there was no taller scrutiny as being flawed. extraordinary water landing in the Hud- first simply blamed “cockpit distrac- toppling in business aviation than that of Speculation at the time of his depar- son River, a pair of Northwest Airlines tions.” When asked to elaborate, one of NetJets founder and chairman Richard ture from NetJets was that Warren Buf- pilots did their part to remind the general the pilots responded that they were “deal- Santulli, who on August 4 announced his fett was distressed by Santulli’s reluc- public of its shortcomings with perhaps ing with some company issues.” resignation from the fractional tance to bring costs in line an equally extraordinary act of distrac- The pilots later said that they became company he had been building with revenues by letting go tion while flying 144 passengers between involved in trying to determine how to since he acquired Executive the people who had built his San Diego and Minneapolis.