The Asian Aerospace Air Show opens in Singapore today with 900 international exhibitors from 37 countries, but attendees will be subject to the tightest security ever seen at an air show. Show organizer Jimmy Lau told journalists yesterday that the event will have a private security force of nearly 700 people, not including the police and military provided by the state government. "We've always had security but never as visible as now," he said.
Union leaders yesterday expressed dismay over the Bush administration's stance on whistleblower protections for federal employees who will, by Nov. 19, comprise the aviation screener work force. Also at issue is whether the screener force will be permitted to unionize.
Boeing named Eugene Woloshyn VP-labor relations, based in Chicago. He joined Boeing from Alcoa, where he spent more than 14 years in industrial relations and most recently was director of North American human resources.
National Aeronautic Association's 2001 Collier Trophy goes to the Integrated Lift Fan Propulsion System to be built by Pratt&Whitney and Rolls Royce for Joint Strike Fighter prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The ILFPS is designed for the short takeoff and vertical landing version of the JSF, which will be operated by the Marine Corps and possibly Britain's Royal Air Force and Navy.
Pratt&Whitney, SIA Engineering and Tube Processing Corp. formed International Aerospace Tubes Asia, an engine component repair and overhaul joint venture. The Singapore Changi Airport-based facility will do tube, duct and manifold repairs for a variety of engine types, including P&W designs.
Lufthansa City Line and its pilots' union have reached agreement on a new 36-month contract covering 633 pilots from July 1, 2001, to June 30, 2004, subject to ratification. The carrier said the agreement "takes economic developments in the aviation industry after Sept. 11 into consideration." It was called "economically viable."
NTSB Chairman Marion Blakey is being credited with changing the focus of the safety agency to a fact- and data-based agenda, rather than one based on issues. Three board members have signed off on a new version of the probable cause of the ATR accident, which contains Blakey's comments. The new report has been hung up on the desk of one member for at least a month. Next, among talk of staff reorganization, could be another look at EgyptAir.
An "outraged" business aviation community last week urged the U.S. Customs Service to hold off on its fines against charter operators that did not -- and could not -- comply with new reporting requirements for traveling into the U.S. from foreign destinations. Certain on-demand charter operators this month were hit with fines of up to $10,000 after they failed to transmit crew and passenger manifests electronically to the Customs Service before crossing the U.S. border.
Northwest over the weekend opened its new 97-gate terminal in Detroit after months of planning and preparation. Northwest, Continental, KLM, Mesaba and Express Airlines I all began service from the new terminal Sunday. Other airlines will remain in their existing facilities at the older Smith and Berry Terminals. Northwest moved its Detroit operations from the Davey Terminal to the new "WorldGateway" in a 12-hour operation that started late Saturday. More than 2,700 pieces of ground equipment and 38 Northwest aircraft made the move between 11 p.m.
Composite parts overhauler Lufthansa Technik Shenzhen is open for business. Plans call for the facility to focus on CFM56-3 thrust reversers to start and grow its 40-employee staff to some 100 workers in the near future.
PartsBase Inc. last week received notice from the Nasdaq National Market warning that the company's stock may be delisted because it has failed to maintain a minimum bid price of $1 over the last 30 consecutive trading days and failed to maintain a minimum market value of $5 million. The company now has 90 calendar days, or until May 15, to regain compliance. If the company is delisted, it has the option to appeal the decision.
U.S. and Hong Kong aviation negotiators tomorrow in Hong Kong begin what is anticipated to be an intense negotiating session that builds on last month's talks in Washington. At stake is the possibility of significant liberalization in the market that could open up cargo operations and passenger service options short of open skies -- a pragmatic approach now endorsed by the U.S. as a means to increase access in the market in the face of Hong Kong's continued resistance to the U.S. push for full aviation liberalization.
Continental has filed an Initial Public Offering for its ExpressJet operation to sell 10 million shares of common stock. Proceeds will repay a portion of ExpressJet's debt to Continental, which also expects to sell 10 million of its shares of ExpressJet common stock in the offering and grant underwriters an option to purchase an additional 3 million shares to cover over-allotments. A registration statement has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective, Continental said yesterday.
Emery mechanics put the wrong part on a DC-8 and failed to do a required post-maintenance test, causing the plane's next flight to end with a gear-up landing, NTSB concluded. The April 2001 incident at Nashville came 14 months after a fatal crash involving an Emery DC-8 near Sacramento that may be linked to poor maintenance, and four months before FAA forced Emery to ground its fleet over questions about maintenance oversight (DAILY, Aug. 14, 2001). Emery has since shut down its airline unit (DAILY, Dec. 6, 2001).
Advance Technologies Inc. (ATI) said yesterday that the first production orders for its Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS) have been received by a licensee. The purchase agreement calls for initial aircraft launch customers to purchase more than 140 for about $1 million each. Parties to the contract will remain unnamed for the time being due to "internal and national security and communication issues," ATI said. Gary Ball, president, said the contract clears the FAA-certified EVS to enter production.
Star alliance wants to expand by at least three carriers to fill the gaps of its worldwide network, and officials believe the group now has a strong management organization in place to handle such a large group of diverse airlines. While the new members will not be added in the immediate future, CEO Jaan Albrecht said in Bangkok last weekend that the group continues to target China, India and Eastern Europe as regions that need to be included in the alliance.
In a bid to tap the country's growing freight market, the Hainan Air Group HAG, which owns, Hainan Airlines, plans to launch a cargo carrier this year. HAG has received the approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) that it could start operations. The airline, to be based at Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai, will be known as Yangtze River Express. It will have three partners, with HAG holding 85%, Shanghai Airport Group 10% and Hainan Airlines the remainder. Yangtze will have a registered capital of US$25 million.
FAA inspectors found no problems with inventory supplied to Danbee Aerospace by Panaviation, the Italian distributor under investigation for records falsification and fraud, the top executive of the U.S. company said. "The FAA came by and reviewed all of the items we have received from Panaviation," said Danbee President Dan Batchelor. "They found no discrepancies in either the parts or paperwork provided."
SkyWest posted a 12.1% jump in net income to $14.1 million in the fourth quarter 2001, compared with the same period a year earlier. Operating income jumped 19.4% to $18.9 million. Operating revenues climbed 26.4% to $165.5 million, reflecting an increase in capacity, while expenses grew 27.4% to $146.6 million. Chief Financial Officer Brad Rich said the company terminated several leases on Embraer Brasilia aircraft to deal with the schedule reduction and did not achieve the expected yield in Embraer flying, not covered by fee-per-departure contracts.
Philippine Airlines has laid down a condition that it will only transfer and operate from Terminal 3 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila if both its domestic and international operations are accommodated here.
Women's Transportation Seminar, Washington chapter, presents a panel discussion on the 2002 legislative outlook featuring key congressional staffers at its monthly luncheon, March 1 at the Hotel Washington's Sky Room. For more information, call 202-777-2644, x6688.
Midwest Express earnings are expected to remain depressed until at least 2003, according to James Parker, analyst at Raymond James. Yield is down 14% so far this year, and the company is expected to show a loss in the first quarter.
