Many major U.S.-based defense companies are planning for a more subdued showing at the upcoming Paris air show than in recent years as the Pentagon zeroes in on corporate overhead as a potential area for savings. Though Defense Secretary Robert Gates—who has warned of a period of “austerity” and tried to rein in some spending on procurement programs—is on his way out of office, stateside defense firms are not yet ready to be seen ramping up spending at next month's show.
Air Berlin is facing what is perhaps the most difficult phase in its corporate history—preparing to join the Oneworld alliance and aiming for a financial turnaround as CEO Joachim Hunold's more than 20 years at the helm draw to a close.
NASA plans to launch a probe to a primordial carbonaceous asteroid in 2016 for an $800 million-plus start of the New Frontiers mission to bring back a sample for study on Earth. Japan has returned tiny samples of the asteroid Itakowa, but the Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (Osiris-REx) program will be the first asteroid sample-return mission for the U.S.
Sept. 12—A&D Finance Europe. London. Sept. 14-15—MRO for Aircraft & Engine Leasing. Dublin. Sept. 26—Aircraft Composite Repair Management Forum. Zurich. Sept. 27-29—MRO Europe 2011. Madrid. Sept. 28—MRO Military Europe. Madrid. Oct. 12-13—Fifth Edition of Lean Six Sigma for MRO Forum. San Francisco. Oct. 20-21—MRO IT. Chicago Oct. 24-26—A&D Programs. Phoenix. Nov. 8-10—MRO Asia. Beijing. Nov. 16-17—Lean Six Sigma for MRO Europe. Amsterdam.
Vincent Lam has become vice president of Asia-Pacific marketing for Dublin-based aircraft lessor Macquarie Airfinance. He comes from Cabot Aviation, where he was responsible for aircraft remarketing in the same area.
Last year, Delta Air Lines threatened to cut back investments at its main hub, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and shift traffic to its other hubs. The airline was piqued over the cost of the airport's new Maynard H. Jackson International Terminal and tough negotiations over a new Delta lease. Talks turned bitter after it was revealed that then-Hartsfield-Jackson General Manager Ben DeCosta had secretly recorded negotiations with Delta.
Jackson Schneider has become vice president of institutional relations for Embraer, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil. He was president of the Brazilian Automotive Manufacturers Association and vice president of Mercedes-Benz of Brazil.
The U.S. Navy, NTSB and FAA continue to investigate the crash of an Omega-operated Boeing 707 tanker at Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu, Calif., on May 18 after an aborted takeoff. The crew of the 1969-built, former Pan Am-owned 707-321, escaped from the cockpit after the incident, which occurred at 5:25 p.m. PDT. Investigators are looking into the possibility of engine failure during the takeoff run before the aircraft came to a halt on the south side of Point Mugu's 11,102-ft. main 3/21 runway.
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether conduct by global distribution systems (GDS) violates antitrust law, adding more heft to a fight that already includes two lawsuits by U.S. carriers alleging GDS antitrust violations. The department already has contacted several U.S. airlines and all of the major GDS providers.
Kenneth Glass, chairman and chief executive officer of Cincinnati-based UCA Holdings, has been selected to receive the University of Cincinnati's College of Engineering & Applied Science Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognizes Glass's work in scholastic, business and philanthropic endeavors.
Mark A. Caylor (see photo) has been named corporate vice president and treasurer of Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman. He was director of banking and capital markets and assistant treasurer.
One of the flagship programs underpinning the ambitious Franco-British effort to establish a 50-year strategic partnership in national security is several steps closer to being clarified.
With airliner orders rebounding, the focus of discussion at this year's Paris air show is expected to firmly center on orders and strategic directions for the big aircraft makers.
Controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will shift NASA's Deep Space Network and other assets to the upcoming Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover mission, after giving up on the Spirit Mars Exploration Rover May 25. Spirit last communicated with Earth on March 22, 2010, and engineers say there is a low probability the hardy rover will revive after spending a Martian winter without adequate power for its survival heaters.
The main focus of attention on the Indian air force's high aircraft crash rate has been the Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) modernization program to replace MiG-21s that have been lost. But perhaps more important to curing the safety ills that have plagued the service is the pending selection of a new basic trainer.
The Airline Intel column by Lee Ann Tegtmeier, “Engineering Driven” (AW&ST April 25/May 2, p. 20), correctly characterizes a current industry problem. As a reliability engineer for a major original equipment manufacture (OEM) component supplier I am acutely aware that there is a readily apparent disconnect between the reliability requirements that aircraft manufacturers flow down to OEM component suppliers and the lack of data coming back from the operators, which prevents the suppliers from supporting these requirements.
Managers on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) program will spend the summer identifying sources of funds to finish the complex observatory, but they already know it will not fly before 2018—at least three years later than the best previous public guess.
June 6-9—White Eagle Aerospace's Short Courses: “Fundamentals of Electro-Optics and Infrared Sensors.” June 13-14—“Directed Infrared Counter Measures.” Both at Wingate by Wyndham Hotel, Oro Valley, Ariz. Call +1 (520) 219-0526 or see www.whiteeagleaerospace.com June 7—ATI Short Course: Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Applications. Hilton Garden Inn, Dayton, Ohio. See www.aticourses.com
In investigating the Nov. 4, 2010, inflight uncontained failure of a Rolls-Royce Trent 900 on a Qantas Airbus A380, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) isn't just trying to determine the cause of the incident. It also is looking at “missed opportunities” to have detected a manufacturing flaw that set in motion the events that led to failure.
Jamie Rose (see photo) has been appointed chief brand manager for Dallas-based Business Jet Center. She was executive flight solutions manager at sister company Business Jet Access.
Full-service airlines in the Asia-Pacific region will be creating off-shoot carriers, with completely different brands than the parent, in an effort to capture growing segments of the market. Thai Airways International will be launching a full-service short-haul carrier, tentatively named Thai Wings, that will be a business unit of the group. And it is working with Singapore's Tiger Airways to introduce a low-cost short-haul carrier, Thai Tiger.
KAI will deliver 16 T-50 Golden Eagle supersonic trainers to Indonesia in 2013 under a $400 million contract. The deal further deepens defense technology ties between the two countries. It is a breakthrough for KAI, whose previous attempts at exporting the T-50 have failed. In this case, it prevailed over the Russian Yakovlev Yak-130 and the Czech Aero L-159B. KAI will fully build the 16 aircraft and fly them in South Korea before dissembling them for dispatch to Indonesia, where they will be reassembled and undergo final acceptance trials, says an industry official.
A year after European air traffic management was thrown into chaos by the eruption of an Icelandic volcano, a new volcanic ash cloud is demonstrating that regulators still have not determined how to respond most effectively.
Air Marshal N.A.K. Browne, India's vice chief of air staff, will be the next chief of air staff following the retirement of P.V. Naik on July 31. Browne is a fighter combat leader, who has also been an instructor at the Indian air force's Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment.
