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INDUSTRY NEWS 10 airportbusiness November 2014 JETBLUE AIRWAYS … Plans to unveil a rooftop park on top of JFK International Airport's Terminal 5 in 2015. LAMBERT-ST. LOUIS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT … Approves renting out its unused Concourse B for holiday parties and other events at up to $1,500 a day. MELBOURNE AIRPORT, QANTAS AIRWAYS… Enters an agreement with Airports Council International (ACI) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to develop a Smart Security pilot program for delivery at the airport in 2015. MINETA SAN JOSÉ INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT … Marked 21 consecutive months of passen- ger traffic growth in September 2014, with a 9.9 percent increase in travelers compared to the same month last year. GENERAL MITCHELL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT … Announces $14.4 million worth of improvements, including a new de-icing facility and upgrades to a runway. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE AVIATION OFFICIALS … Names Greg Principato president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based organization. NBAA … Wi l l a w a r d H o l l y P e n d l e t o n — a f o r m e r chairman, vice chairman and currently educa- tion coordinator for the Association's Schedulers & Dispatchers Committee—with NBAA's 2015 Schedulers & Dispatchers Outstanding Achievement & Leadership Award. PHILLIPS 66 AVIATION … Donates $21,000 to the Corporate Angel Network. RENO-TAHOE INTERNATIONAL … Will add nonstop service to London's Gatwick Airport, beginning Dec. 19, 2015. SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT … Opens a new Secure Connector, allowing pas- sengers who have passed through security to move freely between Terminals 1 and 2. SEATTLE-TACOMA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT … Receives a $2 million VALE grant to install 43 charging units in Terminals A and B to sup- port electric ground support equipment, such as luggage loaders and aircraft tugs. SHELTAIR AVIATION … Acquires FlightLevel Aviation Lakeland at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport. SKANSKA … Promotes MacAdam Glinn to national aviation director and senior vice president. UBER … Removes Pittsburgh International Airport as a pickup option for its drivers after receiving reports that police were stopping and ticketing its drivers. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION … Reports airline consumer complaints filed with DOT's Aviation Consumer Protection Division during the first nine months of this year were up 18.2 percent from the first nine months of 2013, according to its Air Travel Consumer Report. WAYNE COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY … Reports Vice President of Human Resources Gale LaRoche was named a 2014 Michigan Human Resources Executive of the Year by the American Society of Employers. WEST STAR AVIATION … Added accessory shop capabilities at its Columbia, SC, and East Alton, Ill. locations. WILLOW RUN AIRPORT … Reopens Runway 5R/23L, which has been closed for parts of the past two construction seasons for a total re-build. YEAGER AIRPORT … Receives a $3.7 million VALE grant to fund both gate power units and pre-conditioned air units at seven of the airport's gates. Aviaton Index Shows Private Aviaton Demand Is Strong Private aviation demand is on the rise, according to the Aviation Demand Index released by Private Jet Services (PJS), a worldwide private aviation consulting firm. According to the Index, private aviation has seen an 11 percent increase in qualified demand in Quarter 3 over Quarter 2 of this year, with a 6 percent increase in the same time period for private aviation trips flown. PJS states that it has also seen a 56 percent increase in the num- ber of inquiries for private aviation services. The Index is a result of PJS' analysis of its own data compiled regularly and from a number of different sources. The company believes that the steady increase in demand is a result of a combination of continued growth throughout the economy and its unique service offerings. Gross domestic product in the economy as a whole has expanded at a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.5 percent in Quarter 3, a significant rate, though down slightly from the 4.6 percent growth of Quarter 2. "The robust growth in demand that private aviation experienced in 2014 is due to the accel- eration of business activity in specific industries that are the greatest users of corporate aircraft. PJS alone has seen a marked uptick in demand in the oil and gas, pharmaceutical, government and high-tech industries," says PJS Founder and CEO Greg Raiff. PJS recently earned a place on the Inc. 5000 list as one of the nation's fastest growing compa- nies with a three year growth rate of 160 percent. The company, which intends to release the Aviation Demand Index on a quarterly basis, expects demand to remain steady into next year. "I expect the 2014 demand to continue into 2015 for the industry as a whole and for PJS spe - cifically, as our business retains over 90 percent of our first-time customers due to the unmatched level of service we provide," says Raiff.