Growing up, James Bond movies were my favorites, and high among them was The Man With the Golden Gun. I don’t remember when I first saw it, but what stuck most in my impressionable young mind was a car. No, not one of Bond’s tricked-out sports cars with ejection seats or retractable machine guns, but a rather unlikely object of male desire, an AMC Matador.
Have you ever wondered why we keep putting off for tomorrow what we can do today, particularly when it comes to the issue of, yes—I’ll say it—global warming? Quite apart from the flat-earth crowd, the people who believe the overwhelming scientific evidence tend to acknowledge a need to do something about this existential threat.
When Gulfstream Aerospace announced that it had re-designated its G250 super-midsize jet as the G280, Business Jet Traveler’s editors were already well under way with our plans to publish a Chinese version of our award-winning BJT Buyers’ Guide.
The business aviation industry, as well as the associated companies, grow when confidence is high and retract when it’s low. As the economy slogs along for the third year in a row, with matching weak confidence, the time is now for the business aircraft manufacturers to announce bold plans for new models at the 2011 NBAA Convention next week in Las Vegas.
If you are reading this blog, then I can comfortably assume that you’ve probably visited AINonline before and have already noticed it has had a substantial upgrade. “Welcome back!” I hope you find the new design much improved from our previous edition.
If this is your first time visiting AINonline.com, then “Welcome! We’re happy you’re here.”
When I look at the Caribbean Airlines 737-800 that slid off a rain-soaked runway on July 30 at Guyana’s Cheddi Jagan Airport outside Georgetown, without any fatalities and with only relatively minor injuries, I have two immediate reactions. The first is disappointment that we still have not gotten a handle on preventing runway excursions, the leading cause of accidents these days for commercial and corporate aviation.
For readers, one good thing about Aviation International News and its sister publications is our independence. We’re not owned by a company that manufactures or operates aircraft, nor are we beholden to any trade association. Just as important, we don’t let advertisers influence our coverage. We need them, of course, to pay the bills and make a profit.
FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt has been in the hustings recently pumping NextGen and long-term FAA reauthorization. In several instances, he has broached the two topics in the same speeches.
Although I get the impression that air safety in Australia is micromanaged, I admire John McCormick, director of aviation safety for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. Maybe’s it’s because McCormick bluntly addresses CASA’s role and that he makes an effort to communicate regularly with CASA’s constituents. But it is also his willingness to confront change and consider new options.
Providing you with the best information available on business jet travel is by far our most important goal here at Business Jet Traveler magazine. As we work our way through meeting after meeting, draft after draft and plan after plan, what motivates us is helping you get the most out of private air transport.
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