Finally, some good news in the aviation industry. For the second time in 45 days, Cirrus Aircraft
in Duluth, Minn., is boosting aircraft production. It’s planning to increase its staffing. That’s good news to workers the company has furloughed.
The planemaker is increasing its production rate to eight planes a week, up from an increase in April to six per week.
Cirrus has seen growth in new aircraft orders over the past 120 days, with order rates consistently outpacing production.
Jim Ziegler, former head of Bombardier’s Learjet plant in Wichita, has a new job. He has been named president and CEO of Greenwich AeroGroup, a Greenwich, Conn.-based aviation services company.
Ziegler will be based in Wichita.
Most recently, Ziegler was an adviser to Greenwich and had served as the chief operating officer of Jet Aviation, where he was responsible for the company’s North American operations.
Greenwich AeroGroup’s services include maintenance and avionics; fixed base operations; aircraft sales; ,charter and management; interior refurbishment; manufacturing and engineering and parts distribution.
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics released its inaugural list of the top emerging aerospace technologies today.
“Green” aviation technologies headed the list. That includes emission and noise reduction used in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Continuous Low Emissions, Energy and Noise program and the European Environmentally Friendly Engine program and “Clean Sky” joint technology initiative.
Also on the list were alternative fuels, high-speed flight, efficient propulsion, active flow, advanced materials, active structures, health management, remote sensing and advanced space propulsion technologies.
The list was developed by the group’s Emerging Technologies Committee.
In these days of a troubled economy, JetAmerica is flying in the face of the recession. The new low-cost airline, based in Clearwater, Fla., will begin serving mid-sized U.S. cities next month with fares starting at $9 a seat and topping out at $199. The $9 price applies to the first nine to 19 seats on each plane. Passengers pay $15 to check a bag.
The airline will offer 34 nonstop passenger flights a week beginning July 13 at Toledo, Ohio; South Bend, Ind.; Melbourne, Fla.; Newark, N.J.; Minneapolis and Lansing, Mich..
It also will serve the Newark Liberty International Airport with 28 flights. It will add six more flights from Toledo to Minneapolis on Aug. 14.
Lansing, South Bend, Melbourne and Toledo airports are subsidizing the airline with $1.4 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Small Community Air Service Development Program. The airports are also helping the airline with about $867,000 in waived airport fees and $1.1 million in marketing and advertising assistance. Newark and Minneapolis aren’t offering JetAmerica any assistance.
Long-time aviation professional Rollie Vincent has worked in strategic planning, marketing and business development with Bombardier and at Cessna Aircraft, where he was vice president of strategy and business development.
At Cessna, he led the strategy team involved in establishing the CitationShares fractional development program.
Vincent is now in Plano, Texas and just launched an aviation consulting business called Rolland Vincent Associates.
