Hawker Beechcraft is getting close announcing who will replace its chief executive Jim Schuster, sources say. In November, Schuster announced plans to retire, but said he would stay with the company until a replacement could be named.
The replacement is someone who has been in the industry, sources say.
The company did not immediately return a call for comment.
The criticism by Congress and others about the use of private aircraft for business — and how that is hurting Wichita’s aviation industry — fueled the ire of a reader who lives in San Diego.
“It is ironic to think that the cradle of aviation is threatened by short-sightedness at a time when Europe is preparing for the VLJ (very light jet) and China is building airports in areas where there is not yet anything but earth to support them,” he said in an e-mail.
He has owned and used a dozen light aircraft over the years, including five Bonanzas, two Barons and one Hughes helicopter, he said.
“People have suggested to me that owning aircraft must have been expensive,” he said in the e-mail. “I always tell them that the only time aircraft ever cost me any money was when I did not have one. There is no doubt that general aviation has allowed me to double the activities of not just my business, but my life experiences.”
Ample data supports the fact that businesses swarm around smaller airports, he said. That kind of activity will grow exponentially when the new very light jets provide a new conduit of commerce, he said.
Makes sense to me……………
The global recession is taking a toll on airline passengers and cargo shipments.
Passenger revenues for U.S. airlines fell 19 percent in February when compared to a year ago. It’s the fourth consecutive month of decline, according to the Air Transport Association.
Compounding the drop in travel demand, cargo traffic — as measured by revenue ton miles — fell 21 percent in January, following 17 percent declines in both November and December 2008, the ATA said. February cargo data is not yet available.
