The Air Transport Association (ATA) is planning what it terms a comprehensive conference to address pilot fatigue in May. The group in fall 2000 formed an Alertness Management Initiative Scientific Advisory Board, which met for the first time in mid-December. Comprised of sleep experts from academia, the military, medicine and the airlines, the board's mandate is to apply sleep and fatigue research to the airline industry. Observers at the first meeting included representatives from Airborne Express, UPS, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines.
Fairchild Dornier's U.S. headquarters is relocating from San Antonio to Virginia. The new 40,000-square-foot digs in Fairfax County will initially house 50 staffers from the manufacturer's customer business team, which includes a variety of sales and sales support functions as well as some product support personnel. Fairchild Dornier Executive Vice President Barry Eccleston says the new location offers proximity to increased air transportation options, other worldwide aerospace companies and the Dulles headquarters of a major airline customer -- Atlantic Coast Airlines.
Airbus Industrie of North America Chairman Jack Schofield is retiring in March after eight years with the manufacturer. A long-time aerospace executive, Schofield joined Pratt&Whitney in 1963, rising to president of United Technologies division UTC International prior to joining Airbus in 1992. No successor to Schofield has been named.
Rockwell Collins has completed its acquisition of Kaiser Aerospace and Electronics. Kaiser manufactures display components for military tactical and tanker/transport aircraft.
We are flying more than ever before. And either because the emerging global economy drives the need to traverse longer distances, or the accelerated pace of domestic business requires us to make more trips, we're spending longer periods of time in the cabins and cockpits of corporate jets and commercial airliners.
Aviation safety pioneer Paul Soderlind has died in Montana at the age of 77. A longtime Northwest Airlines captain and one-time director of flight operations for the carrier, Soderlind in 1968 developed a Turbulence Plot System (TPS) to help Northwest aircraft avoid severe weather-induced and clear-air turbulence. Three decades later Northwest continues to use the system. Soderlind also was responsible for many other safety enhancements widely used in the airline industry as well as in corporate aviation.
AAR will supply composite interior linings for 12 Boeing Business Jets under the terms of a new agreement with Lufthansa Technik. The contract also provides for options on an additional 20 aircraft.
While Bombardier attempts to trim the Global Express completions backlog, a corporate aviation completions consultant has set up shop in Little Rock, Ark. With a resume that includes stints as a corporate flight attendant, Falcon Jet interior designer and other completions work, Karin Tennstedt has opened Mach 1 Design to help customers design and oversee their aircraft completions. The new company has established a Web site at www.mach1design.com.
Fort Wayne International Airport's (FWA) Authority Board has approved a 20-year master plan that calls for an additional parallel runway, control tower and a 1,000-foot extension to the crosswind runway. The $140 million plans were submitted to the FAA for consideration, and if approved, federal funds are expected to pay for 90 percent of the construction costs.
It is unfortunate that John Wiley chose to include in his article on sterile cockpit procedures a NASA report that was apparently filed by someone totally ignorant of the ``60 and out'' regulation, and who made a totally unfounded insinuation (``The Sterile Cockpit,'' November 2000, page 66). There was not at its instigation, nor is there now, any basis, either medical or scientific, for forced retirement at an arbitrary age. It is widely recognized that the rule was promulgated in 1959 as an economic favor to an airline president.
Air Group's maintenance department has received the FAA's Service Training Excellence commendation for completing training programs far in excess of what regulations require. In addition, six of the company's technicians received individual awards.
Scott Aviation, Lancaster, N.Y, has appointed James Rash as vice president of engineering and marketing for the corporation's aviation/government product lines.
Pratt&Whitney Canada has delivered its 50,000th engine. The PT6A-67D has been installed on a Beech 1900D and is one of more than 13,000 PT6 engines delivered to Raytheon. The aircraft manufacturer was the launch customer for PT6 engines in 1963 when it took first delivery for a King Air. P&WC now produces seven engine families, including the PT6, PW100, PW200, PW300, PW500, PW901 and JT15D at a rate of 2,000 engines per year. At a delivery ceremony commemorating the event, Pratt&Whitney Canada President and CEO Gilles P.
Springfield-Branson Regional Airport (SGF) plans to use $30.1 million in federal funding to lengthen one runway by 2,400 feet, add a second ILS and rebuild the airport's 7,000-foot runway. The grant will be dispersed over a four-year period and construction at the Missouri airport already has begun.
Changing market conditions have led Bombardier Aerospace to ``indefinitely shelve'' plans to build the BRJ-X, a new regional jet design proposed for the 90- to 110-seat market. Few are surprised: Building a 100-seater would place Bombardier in direct competition with the Boeing 717 and Airbus A318, and the Montreal-based manufacturer already has committed to build a 90-seat stretch of its Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ).
FlightSafety Boeing, Seattle, has appointed Paul Hinton as its vice president of flight training and international operations and Pat Gaines as executive vice president.
Sigma Tek has designed the 1U619-002 electronic radio control panel to replace the existing mechanical panel in Cessna Citation Is, IIs and IIIs. The features include an all electronic, drop-in replacement for the mechanical controllers, no major wire changes, improved preselection of VHF comm frequencies and 10 frequency memories. The units are TSOed and have a built-in self-test with a diagnostic code display. The units will be available this spring. Price: $25,970 Sigma Tek, Inc. 1001 Industrial Rd. Augusta, Kan. 67010
Midcoast Aviation's three Midwest FBOs have received the National Air Transportation Association's (NATA) Safety 1st designation. Line service personnel at Safety 1st participants must pass a written and practical exam demonstrating their knowledge of aircraft fueling and handling within 90 days of being hired. Midcoast's Michael J. Mueller says the Lambert-St. Louis International, St. Louis Downtown-Parks and Little Rock National Airport staffs undergo rigorous training for up to a year before being considered fully trained for their jobs.
