Global Jet Sues FlightSafety International

Maintenance training provider Global Jet Services filed a complaint against FlightSafety International alleging that FlightSafety is violating U.S. antitrust law by coercing aircraft manufacturers to sign exclusive long-term pilot and mechanic training contracts with FlightSafety. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

"FSI's unlawful practices have prevented and restrained Global Jet from competing on the merits in the maintenance training market," according to a Global Jet statement outlining the complaint, "and foreclosed buyers from purchasing corporate jet maintenance training services from their choice of suppliers, including Global Jet."

Global Jet's complaint claims that FlightSafety International is violating Section 1 of the Sherman Act and Section 4 of the Clayton Act. "Global Jet alleges that FSI, through illegal tying and exclusive dealing agreements, has unlawfully used its dominant position and power in the corporate jet pilot training market to become the dominant provider of corporate jet maintenance training in the United States."

What Global Jet is seeking in its complaint is "to stop the alleged anticompetitive conduct as well as treble damages and attorneys' fees mandated by federal antitrust law."

Global Jet has been in the maintenance training business since 1992, specializing in corporate jets. The company doesn't have fixed training sites like FlightSafety International and CAE SimuFlite, but offers training at the customer's location, using the customer's airplane.

Asked if the company is contemplating filing a similar complaint against CAE SimuFlite, Global Jet president JD McHenry said, "Right now, all it is is FlightSafety. I can't comment on SimuFlite."

Cessna's New Citation Service Center Nears Completion

"Four years ago this was 123 acres of green field," said Joel Davis, manager of system and facilities development at the Cessna Aircraft Company. The new Wichita Citation Service Center will begin to put aircraft into some hangars later this month. It will have its official grand opening in December and Cessna plans to have the facility fully open by early January 2005. The massive structure will accommodate 80 to 120 aircraft in three 60,000 square foot hangars. There will also be paint, paint prep, backshops such as thrust reverser repair, sheet metal and avionics labs, interior completions, a customer business center, flight planning, numerous lounges, a restaurant, medical services, a gift shop, two line service facilities, and executive offices. "In 1992 when we opened the current service center here in Wichita, the Citation fleet was at 1,850. Now we're over 4,300 aircraft. This facility is innovative and we even have room to grow," Davis said. Right, the artist's rendering of the facility and above, the nearly completed center.

PAMA Elects New Officers

Bombardier's David Orcutt won another term as chairman of the board of the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association in the association's recent 2005 election. Orcutt competed against director Ed Martinkus, which is significant because this is the first time in more than five years that there was more than one name on the ballot.

Clark Gordon will serve as vice-chairman, and Dassault Falcon's Gerry Goguen won a term as director. Regional directors are: New England, Bob Gould; Northwest, Tom Hendershot; Southern, Mark Wishart; Southwest, George Miller; Central, Rick Anderson; Eastern, Mark Russo; Great Lakes, Dale Forton; Western, Fred Batson.

FAA Releases Light-Sport

Repairman HBAW

The FAA has outlined its policies for administering the issuance of repairman certificates for the new light-sport aircraft that received the regulatory stamp of approval on September 1. The policies are detailed in Flight Standards Handbook Bulletin for Airworthiness HBAW 04-08 (www.faa.gov/avr/afs/hbaw/hbaw0408.doc).

Light-sport repairman certificates will be issued according to class of aircraft, and the class eligible to be maintained will be listed on the certificate. Classes are airplane, glider, gyroplane, light-than-air, powered parachute, and weight-shift control.

There are two ratings for light-sport repairman certificates. The first is "inspection," which is limited to owners of an aircraft that is certificated as an experimental light-sport aircraft. The second is "maintenance," which is issued for all light-sport classes except for gyroplane. The repairman certificate will list all approved classes to be maintained, and more classes can be added by obtaining required training.

For experimental light-sport aircraft, the owner holding a repairman certificate with the inspection rating can perform the required annual condition inspection, but only on that particular aircraft, which will be identified on their certificate by class, registration, and serial number.

Maintenance and inspections on non-experimental light-sport aircraft, called "special" light-sport aircraft, must be done by a repairman with a maintenance rating for that class of aircraft or by an A&P mechanic or Part 145 repair station. The same entities can maintain and inspect experimental light-sport aircraft.

A unique feature of special light-sport aircraft is that they can be used for flight training, rental, and towing operations for hire. But flight training and towing aircraft will require 100-hour inspections.

To be eligible for a light-sport repairman certificate, a person must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, 18 years old, able to read, speak, write, and understand English, and "able to demonstrate the requisite skill to determine if the aircraft is in a condition for safe operation by passing an FAA-accepted training course designed for each rating and/or class of light-sport aircraft to be worked on."

To obtain the repairman certificate with inspection rating for experimental light-sport aircraft, the applicant must complete a 16-hour training course, for that particular class of aircraft.

Anyone may apply to become a repairman with maintenance rating for light-sport aircraft after completing the required training, which is 120 hours of instruction for airplanes, and fewer hours for other classes of aircraft.