VERY LIGHT JET REPORT :: OCTOBER 13, 2008

Phenoms Debut at NBAA
With its full complement of business jets now launched, if not about to be certificated, Embraer can rightly crow about its progress in the executive jet market. Only three years after its decision to enter the market as its commercial jet business matured, it now has six products in various stages of...

Citation Airlift Call Goes Out
Cessna is looking for Citation owners to volunteer their time, their aircraft and their money to join a massive airlift of Special Olympics athletes to the games that begin July 27 in Lincoln, Neb. Supported by Citation Owner Harrison Ford and Gold Medal Athlete Kyle Mezina, Chair and CEO Jack Pelton said...

VA Launches On-Line Res Site for Air Taxis
The Virginia SATSLab (VSATS), in partnership with the Air Taxi Association (ATXA), officially launched VirginiaAirTaxi.com, a new on-demand flight reservations system. VirginiaAirTaxi.com allows travelers to book on-demand flights from air taxi and air charter operators instantly. Passengers log in their...

JetSuite, Pratt Ink Deal
JetSuite, the planned jet charter company which will operate the Embraer Phenom 100, signed an 11-year deal with Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) to maintain its new fleet of PW617F-powered Embraer Phenom 100 aircraft. The company has 50 aircraft on order with 50 options. Based in California and Nevada...

B of A to Provide Enhanced Financing
Bank of America and British-based aviation group, Gama Aviation, Inc., formed a strategic alliance, providing enhanced financing terms for clients who finance their aircraft through Bank of America and obtain aircraft management services from Gama Aviation. The announcement was made at the 61st annual...

NBAA Watch – Diamond
Diamond D-JET Flies to Air Taxis Despite the fact it is marketing the D-JET to the owner operator, Diamond Aircraft announced fleet sales to two air taxi operators – YourJet and SwiftJet – both of which are planning to start up shortly. The sales came in the wake of the aircraft’s first...

NBAA Watch – Embraer
A price increase on the Phenom 300, the opening of its Hartford service center and the broadening of its Executive Care program were all in the talking points for Embraer at last week’s National Business Aviation Association convention. At the static display its Phenom 100 and 300 made their debut in...

NBAA Watch – Cessna
Cessna Service Centers Preparing Open Cessna’s service centers at Mesa, Greensboro, the UK and India are set to open shortly. Mesa The majority of employees at Cessna’s Long Beach, Calif. facility will move to the Citation Service Center’s new location at Mesa in January as part of the...

Sound Bites
NBAA attendees reported a glut of planes on the market with few buyers, the worst some have seen in many years. Just a year ago demand was so high that manufacturers were reporting one broken sales record after another whether they...