Air Capital Aviation Report: Special Edition for 5/11/08

Carl ChanceBy Carl Chance, Wings Over Kansas’ aviation & aerospace correspondent, former news consultant and producer for Wingspan Air & Space Channel.

CAE Becomes Bombardier’s Authorized Training Provider for Learjet 40/40 XR and Learjet 45/45 XR and Challenger 300 aircraft training programs in Europe.

CAE and Bombardier Aerospace are expanding their 20-year Authorized Training Provider agreement to include Learjet 45/35 XR aircraft for European customers. The original agreement announced in June 2007 named CAE as Bombardier’s Authorized Training Provider to provide pilot and technical training for Global Express, Global 5000, Global Express XRS, and Challenger 300 aircraft.

To address growing demand, CAE will build and deploy a new Learjet 40/40 XR and Learjet 45/45 XR aircraft full-flight simulator (FFS) to the CAE Burgess Hill Training Centre in the U.K., and a Challenger 300 aircraft FFS in Europe (exact location to be determined) in the fall of 2009. This marks the first time that training programs for these aircraft types will be available in Europe, and will augment Bombardier’s existing training capability.

Cessna’s Jack Pelton Named 2008 Laureate by AVIATION WEEK.

Cessna Chairman, President and CEO Jack J. Pelton was named winner of the 2008 AVIATION WEEK Laurel for Business and General Aviation at the annual awards ceremony this year in Washington D.C.

AVIATION WEEK Laurels, among the aerospace industry’s most prestigious awards, have been presented annually for more than 50 years to recognize professional excellence.

"Jack Pelton has pushed Cessna to develop, refine and deliver aircraft across its full line, from the SkyCatcher trainer and diesel-powered singles up through the just-announced Columbus, the largest and most capable Citation ever," said William Garvey, Editor-in-Chief of Business & Commercial Aviation, an AVIATION WEEK magazine. "We editors felt that such leadership in so competitive and dynamic a segment deserved special recognition."

Pelton was noted for his work in spurring the company into new markets with the introduction of both the SkyCatcher light sport aircraft and the planned Citation Columbus large-cabin, long-range business jet. Pelton also led Cessna’s expansion of its single-engine product line with the company’s first-ever acquisition of another manufacturer in December 2007, acquiring certain assets of Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Company and its high-performance aircraft product line.

Under Pelton’s leadership, Cessna turned in its best financial performance ever with 2007 sales of $5 billion, raising the company’s backlog to a record $12.6 billion.

Cessna’s Ad Agency Takes Top Honors for B-to-B Work.

Sullivan, Higdon & Sink (SHS), the 21-year advertising agency for Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. company, garnered nine awards at the recent Business Marketing Association’s 33rd Pro-Comm Awards event for ads developed for Cessna. No other single advertiser won more awards in the competition.

Along with awards won by SHS for other clients, the Cessna work earned the agency the ranking as the top business-to-business agency in the country by BMA.

"All of us at Cessna are proud of the work done by SHS on our behalf, and we are very excited to have Cessna advertising recognized on the same level as our aircraft and our aircraft service," said Tom Aniello, Cessna vice president, Marketing. "We think SHS understands our business as well as anyone, and our creative teams work very well together. These awards are the result of that collaboration."

Note: We’ll publish continuing news and items of interest in the next "Air Capital Aviation Report," as they develop. Please keep logging on to www.wingsoverkansas.com for weekly aviation and aerospace updates on stories, features, history, news, education and more!