At its annual membership meeting, the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) announces the election of Greg Schmidt, president and chief executive officer, Pentastar Aviation in Waterford, MI, as chair of the NATA board of directors. Reelected to serve an additional term were Curt Castagna, Aerolease Group, and Guy Hill, Jr., Hill Aircraft and Leasing Corporation. Additionally, NATA elected four new members to its board of directors: Randall D. Berg, airport director, King County International Airport; Dennis Fox, senior vice president, Flight Operations, Executive Jet Management; Larry Jorash, senior vice president, Operations, Signature Flight Support; and Larry Wade, president and partner, Golden Isles Aviation.

S.A.F.E Structure Designs announces that it has successfully satisfied its contract to supply hangar equipment outfitting the United States Coast Guard’s (USCG) fleet of Sikorsky MH-60 Jayhawks in Mobile, Alabama.

Jet Aviation announces redelivery of VVIP Airbus ACJ330 and ACJ319 aircraft to a Middle Eastern customer. Both aircraft were designed and completed in Basel and are examples of the company’s commitment to design, technological advances and production. The ACJ319 was completed within a downtime of 10 months, and the ACJ330 in 14, both setting new benchmarks in the industry.

ACR Electronics, Inc.'s aviation brand, ARTEX, launches the ARTEX TPS 8715, a specially designed test and programmer set for the general aviation (GA) market. The ARTEX TPS 8715 programs, tests, and decodes ARTEX 406 MHz Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) models ME406, ELT 1000 and ELT 345.

StandardAero continues to break new ground, achieving another supplemental type certificate (STC) for the first Honeywell JetWave™ Ka band global high-speed broadband connectivity solution, available for Gulfstream G-IV business aviation aircraft operators.  In November of last year, StandardAero received a similar STC for a JetWave system for Falcon 900/B/C/EX series aircraft.

The Federal Aviation Administration issues supplemental type certificate (STC) ST04366AT to install Concorde’s RG-380E/60L or RG-380E/53L AGM sealed lead-acid batteries in Cessna 680 aircraft. The Sovereign has now joined the list of Citation aircraft certified to fly with Concorde’s robust RG®Series batteries.

Hawker Pacific, an aviation solutions provider in Asia, Pacific and the Middle East, announces the launch of its new Live Parts Search portal for customers. The Live Parts Search portal provides customers with direct, 24/7 access to Hawker Pacific’s extensive parts inventory warehouses located in Sydney, Darwin and Hong Kong.

Global Jet Services, Inc., specializing in on-location aviation maintenance and professional development training, continues on its path to bring its aviation training solution to a wider, global audience with the recent addition of Charles (Chuck) Siehr.

AAR (NYSE: AIR) expands its global footprint by signing a multi-year component support agreement with VivaColombia and Viva Air Peru. AAR will provide pool support to affiliate airlines within the Viva LatinAmerica group, including VivaColombia, Colombia's first low-cost carrier, and the newly established low-cost carrier Viva Air in Peru. AAR will make inventory available from its facilities in Miami and Chicago, as well as positioning stock in Bogota, Medellin and Lima.

Nathan Winkle announces the launch of Thoroughbred Aviation, LLC, a new consulting company dedicated to helping aircraft owners and aviation managers. Thoroughbred Aviation offers a variety of consulting services which include developing strategic aviation plans, aircraft records reviews, maintenance audits, aircraft and system specifications, pre-purchase inspection monitoring and analysis, on-site MRO project management, flight department set-up, safety management system implementation, and other business aviation consulting services.