Boeing 
may lose a $1 billion order from Oman Air for its 787 Dreamliner if the schedule for the 787 slips any further, the Gulf carrier said, according to Bloomberg.
Oman has ordered six Dreamliners for delivery starting in the first half of 2014. It may turn to the Airbus A330 widebody if a two-year delay for the 787 is extended, Oman CEO Peter Hill told Bloomberg.
“I really hope they get their act together,” Hill said. “Further delays might mean that we’d have to look elsewhere.”
Rose Pelton, the wife of Cessna Aircraft’s chairman and CEO Jack Pelton, will be the first customer to take delivery of Cessna’s new light sport aircraft, the Skycatcher.
She’ll receive the plane before the end of the year. Rose Pelton plans to use the two-place, single-engine aircraft to pursue her private pilot’s license.
“I couldn’t be more excited to own the first Skycatcher,” she said in a statement.
Go Rose!
Cessna Aircraft officials report this week that they’ve seen a spike in piston aircraft sales over the past two months. They credit the increases to sales programs the company has put in place and to tax incentives that are set to expire at the end of the year.
That’s a positive development, officials said.
Through bonus depreciation, business-related aircraft acquisitions may qualify for accelerated depreciation under a provision in the federal stimulus package passed earlier this year.
Cessna also has extended two of its sales program through the end of the year.
One is a “Deal of the Decade” program that gives buyers a $10,000 fuel card and free synthetic vision technology for certain Corvalis models. A “Deposit Amplifier” program adds $30,000 to a deposit for a new Cessna 182 or T182 Skylane and a choice of one of three technology upgrades for the Garmin G1000 technology package.
Airbags aren’t just for autos anymore. Hawker Beechcraft is making seatbelt airbags for the pilot and co-pilot seats on its Baron and Bonanza aircraft available. The company also introduced with enhanced vision systems for the two models this week.
The airbags are integrated into the lap belt portion of the seatbelt. They inflate in less than 90 milliseconds, the company says. And unlike automotive airbags, they safely deploy up and away from the occupant, “making it a safe restraint for passengers of all ages,” the company says. Hawker Beechcraft’s parts and distribution organization has begun taking orders for the bags.
The enhanced vision systems, the EVS-100 and EVS-600, commonly known as infrared or thermal imaging cameras, help penetrate haze, fog, smoke and precipitation. . They help pilots see unlit obstacles during taxi and takeoff and help them avoid clouds, fly between layers and note detailed ground features out of the night landscape in flight.
