Astronomers at the University of Michigan are digesting the implications of their discovery that elliptical galaxies previously thought to be dead are still producing stars, relatively slowly but apparently steadily.
“Le CSeries est mort enterré, selon Airbus,” proclaimed the May 31 edition of a Montreal newspaper. Translation: “The CSeries is dead and buried, according to Airbus.”
Your recent editorial “IAM Headed Down The Wrong Path” (AW&ST May 23, p. 62) indicates that globalization has turned the economic world into one huge Walmart.
Conventional wisdom holds that companies with decentralized business models are more agile. Freed from shackles of bureaucracy, they respond quickly to shifts in markets and technologies using cutting-edge innovation to keep product lines fresh. “But there are disadvantages of scale,” says TPC adviser Charles Armitage, a London-based financial analyst. At a certain inflection point, model complexity and size distort focus. Autonomy and entrepreneurial spirit are dulled and products can atrophy.
Cyberattacks continue to alarm Washington. Recently, two large U.S. companies were hit, entailing national security and government victims. Chinese offenders are the chief suspects. Meanwhile, U.S. officials are signaling that a cyberattack could prompt a kinetic response.
Japanese researchers are working on a solar-sail spacecraft with 10 times the surface area of the Ikaros testbed launched toward Venus last year—with a five-year mission instead of the six-month span allotted Ikaros—after achieving all of their technical objectives with the testbed.
The books are closed now and it is clear that core performance in aerospace & defense (A&D) was flat again for the second year in a row, which was good compared with other industries. Revenues stayed essentially the same and barely kept pace with inflation. Earnings were up on its face, but core earnings were level to slightly up if you add back the $10.5 billion of one-time charges in 2009 and $1.7 billion of one-time charges in 2010 associated with over-budget development programs, among other unusual items.
Flush with new contracts for its light tactical military vehicles, Oshkosh rocketed to the top of its peer group for companies with revenues of $5-20 billion, unseating two-time winner Precision Castparts. A surge in production of Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) all terrain vehicles helped drive a 579% increase in operating profit in fiscal 2010. But revenues and profits have begun to decline as production rates turn down, and TPC analysts are questioning whether Oshkosh will be a one-year wonder.
Operations and supply chain appear to be the new focus at Cessna Aircraft as Scott Ernest takes the helm of the Wichita airframer. Textron Chairman and CEO Scott Donnelly tapped his former veteran colleague at GE Aviation to succeed Jack Pelton as chairman, president and CEO of Cessna. Textron's May 2 announcement of Pelton's departure followed Cessna's “disappointing” first-quarter results that Donnelly attributed to operational problems, including growing production costs for the CJ4 business jet.
A disastrous foray into a satellite telephone venture sent Loral into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for more than two years, and the company emerged in late 2005 as a poor TPC performer. But the fortunes of the satellite manufacturer and services provider have improved greatly during the past two years, as evidenced by its second-place TPC finish. Operating income nearly quadrupled in 2010 on a 16% increase in sales, and the company ended the year free of debt.
Whether you call the best engineering development culture “hacker's spirit,” entrepreneurship or chutzpah, the ability to rapidly and pragmatically improvise is inherent. Zahid Hasan's recent Viewpoint, “Aerospace Should Embrace The Hacking Spirit” (AW&ST May 16, p. 66), correctly points out the need for this culture to be nurtured if technology companies are to succeed.
When the aerospace and defense industry entered 2011, executives could look back on the prior year and generally feel pretty good about how the sector did overall. Revenues were up modestly but still reached a new high, and profits were substantially greater.
Is Boeing finally entering calmer waters? A year ago, hefty charges on the Boeing 787 and 747-8 development programs led to a seventh-place TPC finish among the 10 companies with revenues greater than $20 billion. But this year, Boeing ranked third, as operating profit rose to 7.6% from 3% in 2009.
Carole Coune has been selected to succeed Jack Short as secretary general of the Paris-based International Transport Forum. She was president of the management board of the Belgian Ministry of Transport.
Ed Sims has been named chief executive officer of Airways Corp. of New Zealand in Wellington. He succeeds Ashley Smout, who resigned earlier this year. Sims was group general manager for Air New Zealand.
Buckner Hightower (see photo) has been appointed chief executive officer of Excalibur Almaz USA of Houston. He was executive vice president for five years and had worked with aerospace organizations in the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation since 1988.
Michael J. Hirschberg has been named executive director of the American Helicopter Society International, Alexandria, Va. He was principal aerospace engineer at Centra Technology, providing technical, program and management consulting to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
The books are closed now and it is clear that core performance in aerospace & defense (A&D) was flat again for the second year in a row, which was good compared with other industries. Revenues stayed essentially the same and barely kept pace with inflation. Earnings were up on its face, but core earnings were level to slightly up if you add back the $10.5 billion of one-time charges in 2009 and $1.7 billion of one-time charges in 2010 associated with over-budget development programs, among other unusual items.
It's not easy to finish first among a group of formidable competitors—let alone four times running. Yet that is what Lockheed Martin managed to accomplish in the largest-companies grouping in Aviation Week's 16th annual Top-Performing Companies (TPC) study, outpacing second-ranked General Dynamics and third-place Boeing. Oshkosh Corp. captured the top honor for companies with revenues of $5-20 billion, while Cubic took the crown for companies with revenues of $1-5 billion.
Aerospace & Defense (A&D) companies achieved strong revenue and operating profit in 2010, resulting in a rebound in Top-Performing Companies (TPC) scores, nearing historical highs. Although defense budget cuts are looming, military spending for 2010 was in line with prior years and commercial aerospace was generally stronger. However, operating profit was up significantly over the prior year, primarily due to better program performance.
Dassault is proof that large business jets have fared much better in business aviation's painful downturn. The new, top-of-the-line Dassault 7X helped the French jet builder achieve record deliveries in 2010. Operating margins reached 13.7% and revenues rose 17% to $5.6 billion, enough for a fourth-place TPC finish among companies with revenues of $5-20 billion. “They're not ranked fourth by accident,” says TPC adviser Tom Captain.
The space shuttle Atlantis is waiting at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A for the final flight of the shuttle era, rolled into place within an hour after its sister ship Endeavour returned to Earth from orbit at the nearby shuttle landing strip for the last time.
