Chairman’s Message: CJP Moving Ahead with Plans for a Brighter 2021

by CJP Chairman Randy Broiles

There’s much better news on the horizon with the three COVID vaccines now available and rollouts rapidly accelerating. That will be helpful on several fronts for CJP. Here are a few updates that the board, committees and staff have made on key CJP priorities since my January summary.

Safety

The Safety Committee is making good progress on the Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) expanded beta test. FOQA is a key component to minimize the risk of runway overrun events, particularly during landing. About 40 owner member aircraft are being identified for use to test cockpit hardware solutions across various single pilot Citation models. Expect to hear more detail from Charlie Precourt, our safety committee chair, in the coming weeks.

Advocacy

The CJP Insurance Task Force has identified insurance consultants who specialize in captive insurance markets. With the broader aviation insurance premiums and coverage on their current trends, we’ve prepared an updated owner member survey that will be needed as we continue to scope out the pros and cons of a captive insurance alternative.

You should have received the email blast with the link to the survey by the time you read this. Please take the time to complete it as your individual survey submittals are critical for an insurance consultant to develop an honest assessment of alternatives. The survey will include more detailed insurance policy questions than the 2019 survey in addition to those on updated training & currency. Owner member submittals will be treated confidentially, then aggregated before sharing with consultants. Thanks in advance for taking the time to complete the survey.

The Textron Aviation Customer Advisory Board (CAB) process continues to be healthy and active. I participate on two of these CABs and the Textron executives consistently show intense interest in candid CJP owner member feedback on Citation products and services in spite of recent COVID challenges. Garmin and Textron Aviation have announced the G3000 v4.8 software release which should be available soon to those who wish to upgrade.

Collins Aerospace also recently earned FAA approval of the Pro Line Fusion cockpit for the CJ2+. You may read more about this upgrade in this newsletter, and we expect CJ1+ approval to follow in the next few months.

Interaction

Assuming COVID case counts continue improving as expected, CJP and Textron Aviation plan to host the Santa Fe Regional event from June 16-19 at the La Posada Hotel located near the city’s historic Plaza. A registration link will be sent out soon; should another surge in COVID cases prevent the event from occurring, CJP will reimburse all member prepays. Cindy and I plan to attend and look forward to reconnecting with CJP members who choose to travel. See Andrew’s CEO Update in this Flight Levels edition for more details.

In addition, we’re on track to host the CJP Annual Convention near Palm Springs from October 20-24 at the Renaissance Esmeralda Indian Wells Resort. A small CJP team will make an early planning trip in April to continue working on details of the convention. Like last year, we’re working to ensure that CJP’s significant financial commitments to the event can be deferred or minimized should if COVID case numbers move in the wrong direction in the months ahead.

Aside from the terrific safety & aircraft O&M content as well as the long-awaited reconnection with other owner members, OEM’s, and service reps, you’ll have opportunities to golf, hike, shop and otherwise enjoy the resort pool and spa.

More to come… Stay safe in the meantime!