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Magazine Issue

Aviation Week & Space Technology October 27, 2014 

VOL. 176 NO. 38 October 27, 2014

Air Transport

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MRJ Test Program Laid Out As Prototype Revealed

Oct 27, 2014
At the rollout of Mitsubishi’s MRJ regional prototype, the first look was greeted enthusiastically; now come the all-important flight tests
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IATA’s NDC Initiative Slowly Being Introduced In Airline Sales

Oct 27, 2014
Airlines eye tailoring offers to individual passengers via IATA-driven new distribution capability
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One More European Regional Airport, The U.K.’s Blackpool, Closes

Oct 27, 2014
In another indication of the woes befalling Europe’s regional airports, Blackpool has been shut down and others are teetering
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New Company Enters Market For Runway Arrestors

Oct 27, 2014
A quiet battle likely will simmer at Chicago Midway as a startup provider of anti-overrun technology takes on the heretofore uncontested ruler of engineered materials arresting systems.
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Delta Aims For Delta Connection To Feel More Mainline

Oct 27, 2014
More than two years after Delta Air Lines became the first U.S. carrier to announce it would substantially reduce its 50-seat regional jet fleet, its transformation is nearly complete. Although Delta Connection soon will operate a fraction of the Embraer ERJ 145s and Bombardier CRJ200s it once flew, Delta does not expect any cities to lose service.
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Kansai Airport Taps International And LCC Surge

Oct 27, 2014
In contrast to Tokyo’s Narita and Haneda airports, Kansai has been able to use its greater available capacity to draw new flights from Japanese and foreign airlines. It is positioning itself well to take advantage of an increase in overseas visitor numbers. This has been particularly evident with LCCs, as Japan’s new budget airlines establish bases and grow their networks at Kansai. In addition, several foreign LCCs have launched service to Osaka, and more plan to follow.
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Austrian Strikes Deal With Unions, Looks To Replace Fokkers

Oct 27, 2014
Many of Europe’s legacy airlines, Austrian Airlines among them, are experiencing bitter disputes with employees about cost cuts. But now that Austrian seems to have found a compromise with labor, management attention is shifting to fleet renewal and a sustainable model.
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IndiGo May Go For IPO After Big A320neo Order

Oct 27, 2014
Indian LCC IndiGo has given Airbus its largest single order to date, for 250 new A320neos. A successful IPO in a still tumultuous air transport market will be key to fund the order—and it would cement IndiGo’s position as India’s leading domestic airline.

Up Front

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Opinion: U.S. Company Shares Generally Doing OK

Oct 27, 2014
Defense stocks are traditionally thought of by investors as defensive.

Commander's Intent

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Opinion: Bumbling Caused B-52 Reengining Delay

Oct 27, 2014
USAF is taking a serious look at reengining the Boeing B-52. The question is not whether it makes sense, but why it hasn’t been done.

Inside Business Aviation

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Production Terrafugia Transitions Could Be Road- And Airborne By 2016

Oct 27, 2014
Terrafugia continues to make inroads on its quest to be a ‘flying automobile’ or roadster aircraft, depending on your point of view

Airline Intel

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LCCs, New Carriers Cause Shift In Chinese Aircraft Forecast

Oct 27, 2014
Boeing upgrades its forecast for China’s demand for narrowbodies.

In Orbit

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Capsule Choices Will Limit ISS Payload Returns

Oct 27, 2014
NASA’s commercial crew program is in court now, so the lawyers will get a say in deciding how the U.S. and its space-exploration partners will fly astronauts to orbit.

Washington Outlook

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Intelligence From the U.S. Capital

Oct 27, 2014
FAA submits a plan for implementing near-term NextGen priorities over the next four years.

The World

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Airbus Nears Launch of Long-Range A321neo

Oct 27, 2014
Airbus is close to launching an increased maximum-takeoff and long-range version of the A321neo that it seeks to position as a Boeing 757 replacement. The manufacturer is briefing potential customers, but has not yet made a decision to proceed. An Airbus official says the new version is still in a project study.
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New Aircraft Strengthen Business Jet Demand

Oct 27, 2014
The strong pipeline of new products, many announced but some still to come, provided a boost in Honeywell’s latest forecast for the delivery of 9,450 business jets valued at $280 billion through 2024.
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Lunar Reentry

Oct 27, 2014
A spacecraft designed to test reentry techniques for a future lunar-sample return mission lifted off from the Xichang launch facility on a Long March 3C Oct. 23 (Oct. 24 local time) on a week-long mission that will take it around the Moon. Citing a spokesman for the China National Space Administration, China Daily’s English-language edition says the testbed will return to Earth after a swing around the Moon to test a “skip” reentry technique to bleed off velocity before a parachute touchdown in the Gobi Desert.
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European Airports

Oct 27, 2014
Moody’s Investors Service believes the European transport infrastructure industry will remain stable over the next 12-18 months on growth in traffic volume. “We expect EU airport passenger levels to grow by 2-6% in 2014 and 1-4% in 2015, mainly driven by an increase in airline capacity,” says senior Moody’s analyst Joanna Fic.
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Oil and Airliners

Oct 27, 2014
The steady drop in oil prices is not yet raising concerns at Boeing or on Wall Street that airlines will alter their emerging pattern of lining up a historically high percentage of new deliveries as replacements for less efficient, older-generation aircraft. “The price of oil still could fall a long way before our planes are anything but compelling,” Boeing Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney said last week.
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A&D M&A Slows

Oct 27, 2014
Mergers and acquisitions activity in the U.S. aerospace and defense industry slowed in the third quarter, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Total deal volume slipped to the lowest level in 11 quarters, and was the weakest since the second quarter of 2005. The trend, reported by Aviation Week last month, comes as many A&D participants had once thought this year would mark the beginning of a wave of strategic M&A in Western industry. Divestitures continue to remain favorite business-shaping tools as companies divide or slice off divisions deemed non-core, slow-growth or worse.
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Russian Downgrades

Oct 27, 2014
Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Kremlin-controlled aircraft maker Irkut, a subsidiary of United Aircraft Corp., based on Russia’s worsening economic situation. The U.S.-based credit rating agency says it still believes Irkut and other state-backed companies will enjoy state support if they encounter “financial distress.” Not every state-backed Russian company will see ratings downgraded, albeit because they were lower already. For instance, Moody’s reaffirmed outlooks on Russian Helicopters.
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F-35 Missile in Development

Oct 27, 2014
Lockheed Martin and Turkey-based Roketsan are to codevelop a medium-range cruise missile for internal carriage on the F-35. Final integration of the 1,000 lb.-class SOM-J weapon is planned for 2023 as part of the Block 4 capability upgrade. Designed to meet a Turkish air force requirement, SOM-J is based on the larger SOM stand-off cruise missile developed indigenously in Turkey and in production at Roketsan.

Feedback

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Letters From Our Readers (Oct. 27, 2014)

Oct 27, 2014
JetBlue Says . . . I would like to respond to your recent editorial about CEO Dave Barger’s departure from JetBlue Airways (AW&ST Oct. 13, p. 58).

Who's Where

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New Positions, Promotions, Honors and Elections (Oct. 27, 2014)

Oct 27, 2014
Greg Psihas has become vice president-corporate development for the Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Maryland. He was corporate vice president-mergers and acquisitions at Applied Materials. Guy Hachey, retired president/chief operating officer of Bombardier Aerospace, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Hexcel Corp., Stamford, Connecticut.

Defense

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U.S. Navy’s New Hawkeye Optimized For Land, Sea Ops

Oct 27, 2014
The new Hawkeye provides a much improved UHF radar antenna useful for finding targets that are hard to see in other bands, such as cruise missiles and aircraft with low radar cross sections, which are types of threats to carrier strike groups that worry Navy officials.
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E-2D Hawkeye Gains Aerial Refueling Capability

Oct 27, 2014
The aerial refueling capability will extend the range and persistence of the U.S. Navy’s Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye to at least 7 hr., up from the current 4-6 hr.
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Australia Mulls F-35Bs For Its New Assault Ships

Oct 27, 2014
The F-35s would reintroduce fixed-wing combat aircraft to Australian naval service after a gap of more than 30 years. However, the move lacks backing from the three armed services and looks difficult to justify, even as the government is willing to boost the defense forces with more Boeing C-17 airlifters and Airbus KC-30 tankers.
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Embraer Works To Firm Up KC-390 Exports

Oct 27, 2014
With new and potential orders, Embraer sees bright future for KC-390 airlifter. Emphasizing its multirole capability along with the speed performance offered by its IAE V2500 turbofan—as well as the reliability and low-cost operational experience of its regional jet family—the Brazilian aerospace company hopes to take a major share of the airlifter market over the next 10-15 years. .
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Russia, China Seem Close To Agreeing On Su-35 Order

Oct 27, 2014
Sukhoi needs an order, so it is willing to sell its most advanced Flanker to China, a customer that has already reverse engineered the Su-27.
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India, Russia Nearing Contract For Fighter Research

Oct 27, 2014
Though India and Russia are nearing a deal on a “joint effort” to develop a fifth-generation fighter, Indian air force officials remain exasperated by the service’s shrinking contribution and slipping schedules.
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Pricing Dispute Intensifies Over Seoul’s F-16 Deal

Oct 27, 2014
BAE Systems’ arrangement to upgrade South Korean F-16s may be in jeopardy as the U.S. and South Korea dispute the costs involved

Unmanned Systems

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FAA Highlights Accomplishments In Approving Commercial UAS

Oct 27, 2014
Commercial UAS users finding ways to get around FAA’s slow rulemaking process

Space

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Comet Flyby Produces Reams Of Data—From Mars

Oct 27, 2014
Space community receives a bumper crop of information from Mars-orbiting spacecraft, planet-based rovers and amateur astronomers worldwide

Business Aviation

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Pratt & Whitney, GE Eclipse Rolls-Royce On Long-Range Bizjets

Oct 27, 2014
The official unveiling of Pratt & Whitney Canada’s PW800 turbofan at this year’s National Business Aviation Association convention marked a sea change in the provision of engines for the world’s long-range business jets.

Technology

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Rockwell Collins Extends Fusion Avionics From Manned Into Unmanned

Oct 27, 2014
Steeped in manned-aircraft experience but with a burgeoning unmanned-aircraft avionics business, Rockwell Collins is working to help UAVs fly in the national airspace system. With NASA, the company is developing a certifiable command-and-control data link allowing multiple unmanned aircraft systems to be flown from a single ground station. And now Rockwell Collins has shown that certified manned-aircraft avionics can be used in a UAS without breaking the certification chain of evidence.

U.S. Elections

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Is A Republican Senate Good For Defense?

Oct 27, 2014
No matter who holds the majority in the Senate after the November midterm election, the fate of defense spending in the fiscal 2016 budget will be tied up in a larger tangle of spending issues.
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Industry, Wall Street Look Beyond Elections

Oct 27, 2014
Analysts predict that even if Republicans regain a majority in the Senate, A&D spending depends on other factors

Aerospace Calendar

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Conferences & Exhibitions

Oct 27, 2014
Nov. 4-6—MRO Asia, Singapore. Nov. 19-20—A&D Programs, Litchfield Park, Arizona. Jan. 13-14—MRO Latin America, Buenos Aires. Feb. 2-3—MRO Middle East, Dubai. March 5—Laureate Awards, Washington. April 14-16—MRO Americas, Miami.
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Upcoming Events (Oct. 27, 2014)

Oct 27, 2014
Nov. 3-5—52nd Annual SAFE Symposium. Caribe Royale Hotel & Convention Center, Orlando, Florida. www.safeassociation.com Nov. 3-5—SpeedNews 19th Annual Regional and Business Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference. Montelucia Paradise Valley, Scottsdale, Arizona. See speednews.com/ Nov. 4-6—Flight Test Safety Committee’s Eighth Annual European Flight Test Safety Workshop. Manching, Germany. See www.setp.org/symposium/meetings/european-workshop

Viewpoint

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Opinion: Changes In A&D Center Of Gravity Require Globalization

Oct 27, 2014
Even as world military expenditures fell again last year, commercial aerospace entered its 12th year of consecutive growth.