A multi-engine, instrument rated pilot, James Wynbrandt has been an AIN and Business Jet Traveler contributor since 2003. His in-depth reporting and insightful features have won more than a dozen editorial honors, including two National Business Aviation Association Gold Wing Awards (2019; 2021), and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Barron’s, Fortune, Forbes, and Smithsonian Air &amp; Space. He has flown his Mooney M20K 252 on assignments throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean. Wynbrandt is also the author of Flying High (Wiley &amp; Sons), a biography of Jet Blue founder David Neeleman, as well as histories, references works, and books on a variety of other topics from major publishers. He lives in New York City.

Contributor - Business Aviation

James Wynbrandt

Italian aircraft manufacturer Piaggio has told AIN that the first of 56 Avanti P.180 twin-turboprop aircraft from the former fleet of bankrupt Avantair has had its airworthiness certificate revalidated by the FAA. Avantair was grounded, and the airworthiness certificates of all its aircraft were revoked by the FAA, after lax maintenance at the failing fractional program operator came to light earlier this year. 
“Over the past 60 days we have working out a process to return [former] Avantair aircraft to service,” John Bingham, president and CEO of Piaggio America, told AIN. Under the process, developed with the FAA, a team from Piaggio Aero performs an inspection that requires about five days for each aircraft. First, a list of needed repairs is compiled and then Piaggio America coordinates the repairs through a Piaggio factory authorized service center. Once completed, Piaggio America informs the FAA, which may either inspect the aircraft or simply re-issue the aircraft’s airworthiness certificate. 
The first Avanti to undergo the process and to be re-issued its airworthiness certificate was serial number 1214, owned by a company in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The aircraft was flown on a ferry permit to Stevens Aviation in Greenville, N.C., where the necessary work was carried out.
“What this means is, there’s a proven way for all former Avantair owners to get their airworthiness certificates back and have all these aircraft return to the sky,” said Bingham. Piaggio maintenance personnel are now inspecting more former Avantair aircraft, he said.

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