Pat Lambrix is a Global Air Charter Specialist and Owner- Founder of Soluna Air Charter. She has managed delivery of air travel services to a growing number of executives, celebrities and dignitaries. Pat has a proven track record built from years of experience in selecting the right aircraft, for the right cost, at the right time while providing "platinum level" customer service by meeting every clients expectations regarding their world-wide travel needs.
Sequestration legislation is now looming directly overhead for many small airfields around the nation. The NBAA reported this week that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is preparing to “finalize a plan for closing nearly 170 air traffic control towers and other facilities.” NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen wrote the FAA share the business aviation community’s concerns with the plan, and offer possible solutions.
Every day I drive by an old and abandon aviation high school. The hollow site is located near my office and the building sits at an end of a runway, its slowly crumbling away in the wind.
So I was pleased to learn that PHASTAR, Northeast Ohio’s aviation non-profit, is breathing life back into this building, filling the halls once again with the voices of children. Programs and subjects will be offered, geared toward education in the maritime and aviation fields
More often than not we, as professionals in sales for business aviation discuss the specific benefits of our industry on a regular basis. I was asked the other day ,“Is the recent charter sales growth a sign of a budding business year?" Agreeing that charter sales is increasing noticeably, I checked to look at the other sources out there to expand on that answer.
Flight management software for business aircraft is improving at a tremendous rate these days. These new services are launching to streamline air charter services, in part, to match the ease of commercial booking online. Some products are decidedly better than others, and the most effective products are utilities that assist - not replace - the work of an air charter broker.
I spent a few weeks in Hawaii last month and came away with a deeper appreciation for the extensive range capacity of air travel. The inhabited Hawaiian islands are some of the most isolate lands in the world. They are surrounded by roughly 2,500 miles of Pacific Ocean in any direction. This geography alone, makes air travel a primary mode of transportation.
Commercial airports closed when Hurricane Sandy soaked the East Coast last Monday and created problems not only for travellers, but for immediate relief efforts as well. The storm was so ferocious that my own home in Cleveland, Ohio - some 500 miles from the East Coast went without power and heat for several days. Hurricane Sandy also, “caused the cancellation of around 20,000 flights,” the Economist reported.
During this electoral season, it’s easy to turn pale to all the political campaign rhetoric; yet just over a week ago, the aerospace industry was given a jolt of inspiration in the form of an energy drink.
The Red Bull Stratos Mission and Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner created an event to set several world records for man’s pursuit of aerospace, and one for YouTube viewership. Where once local air shows fueled interest in aviation, new technologies have made all this more, available online. The mission captivated an online audience of over 8 million viewers. The mission not only surpassed YouTube viewership records for the London Olympics, it drew the nation and world together to witness a unique event of aerospace exploration. A similar piece of history occurred when an estimated 3.2 million people watched the Mars Curiosity mission land on the once elusive red planet.
Biofuel Adoption in Aviation Grows Beyond Grassroots Support
It takes time for seeds of innovation to germinate, but a few announcements in September have shown that serious efforts in alternative fuels are sprouting in aviation.
According to a release last month, a collaboration by Airbus and one of China’s biggest energy companies, China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), are developing renewable aviation fuel production for commercial use in China.
Over at the Wall Street Journal Scott McCartney had an interesting post on commercial airlines that reaffirms the benefits of choosing business aviation. McCartney picks on American Airlines in particular, but the sticking points are a veritable list of reasons why to avoid commercial airlines when your business depends on it. McCartney writes:
In the posts of the Business Aviation Network and beyond, it’s hard to argue with people like Kim Showalter, President of Showalter Flying Service in Orlando, Florida. “Business aviation has simply become a way of life for the successful, thriving businesses of today,” she told Betsy Donnelly recently. It’s fitting then, that aviation is a thriving industry in itself - and one worth preserving in states across the country. As the NBAA’s “No Plane, No Gain" program tagline says prominently, “Business aviation means: millions in manufacturing and service jobs.”
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