Hugh Jones will be joining Sabre Holdings, South Lake, Texas, as president of Sabre Airline Solutions, effective April 25. He has been president and chief executive officer of Travelocity, where he will be succeeded by Carl Sparks, president of online retailer Gilt Groupe.
The European Commission is considering changing guidelines governing the provision of state aid to airlines and airports and is asking stakeholders for their input before issuing new draft rules.
Kathy Warden (see photo) has been named vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Cyber Intelligence Div., McLean, Va. Before joining the company in 2008, she was the senior vice president of a business unit supporting a secure space program and held other executive roles in the intelligence community.
As expected, the European Union has made good on its promise to launch a snap appeal of the World Trade Organization's ruling that Boeing has received illegal subsidies for its commercial aircraft programs. European officials describe the snap appeal as a tactical move to expedite proceedings and shorten the gap between the appeals case against Airbus—which is several months further along and already nearing a ruling—and that against Boeing on which the WTO only published its initial ruling on March 31. U.S. officials assert the EU action is an admission of defeat.
NASA is studying a commercial proposal to use the International Space Station for long-term tests of advanced environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) hardware, backing up the original station equipment with potentially more-reliable life-support gear designed for human spaceflight beyond low Earth orbit. Paragon Space Development Corp., a Tucson, Ariz.-based company with roots in the Biosphere 2 closed-system experiment, has briefed station-utilization managers on systems it says can generate oxygen and recycle water without moving parts.
Bolstered by a surge in interest from airline customers, Airbus will accelerate fielding its A320NEO (New Engine Option) model, putting more pressure on its rivals. The first re-engined aircraft are now slated to enter revenue service in October 2015.
It appears the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government are at odds over who gets to set the procedures for airline and railway union elections.
Airbus suffered a further cancellation of 25 aircraft in March, bringing its net orders for the first quarter down to only one aircraft. The 25 additional cancellations from Jazeera Airways for the A320 bring the total for that aircraft type to 43 in the first quarter. Overall, the aircraft maker has seen 68 cancellations in the first three months.
In “Cost Fears,” allies predict F-35 price increases and worry that no one can estimate a realistic total (AW&ST March 21, p. 27). I was fascinated to read the life-cycle cost (LCC) estimates from countries such as Canada, Britain, Israel and Australia, as well as the various U.S. organizations that are involved in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter—Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon and the Government Accountability Office.
You have to wonder where all the so-called expert statistics come from. Surveys of all sorts—industry-sponsored research and from study groups, environmental lobbyists, the airlines themselves and trade groups—all generate differing “realities.” Whom should we trust? Can we honestly claim that the airline industry's future remains bright despite CO2, NOx and decibel emissions? To hear politicians tell it, “everything is under control.” And they find statistics to back up these claims.
No more assembly required. The International Space Station (ISS) and space shuttle teams did an incredible job in completing one of the greatest technological achievements of our time. We all remember looking at the looming “EVA wall,” the once fearsome amount of spacewalks that appeared to be a show-stopper. That was just one among the so many new challenges that were faced and overcome to complete the station.
After 15 years of major disappointments in developing new satellite systems, the Pentagon has crafted its first National Security Space Strategy. Deputy Defense Secretary William J. Lynn spoke last month with Senior Pentagon Editor Amy Butler about how a new approach toward military space procurement and management could put developments back on a stable path.
Details are finally emerging on Boeing's long-fought $4.4 billion KC-46A tanker development win, and Pentagon officials are brimming with confidence about the way forward.
In recent Libya coverage, both in the magazine and on your website, did I read that right that the U.S. Air Force cited the F-22's absence in Europe as the reason for it not being a part of the Libya campaign. But it did send B-2s from Missouri. What gives? Morgan Hill, Calif.
Lockheed Martin says an international working group created to head off the potential threat of added tax costs to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is making progress as the supply chain prepares for higher production rates. Talking to Aviation Week about moves to counter the possibility of an added $3 billion in international taxes and tariffs, Lockheed Martin's F-35 executive vice president and general manager, Tom Burbage, says, “We're trying to anticipate it.
Despite more than 18 months at deep-sea levels, the wreckage of Air France Flight AF447 promises to yield important clues to unraveling the mystery of what brought down the Airbus A330-200 in midflight.
Nicolas Poussineau has been appointed global market leader-aerospace for Akron, Ohio-based Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics. He earned an MBA from Reims Management School in France and has a background in mechanical and technical engineering.
Dave Winston has been named global managing partner of the aerospace, defense and aviation practice at Chicago-based Heidrick & Struggles International. He was co-founder of a Boston-based recruiting firm focused on venture-backed startups.
The Italian government has named Giuseppe Orsi, 65, as the new CEO of Finmeccanica, with Pier Francesco Guarguaglini relinquishing that title but remaining as chairman. Orsi is CEO of AgustaWestland and will be succeeded by his No. 2, Bruno Spagnolini.
Manufacturers and users are racing to test untold numbers of GPS receivers for susceptibility to jamming as the threat of interference from a planned U.S. nationwide broadband wireless network turns a harsh spotlight on the vulnerability of the satellite navigation system upon which aviation and the public have come to depend.
The first Space-Based Infrared System satellite, made by Lockheed Martin, is being readied prior to its March shipping date to Cape Canaveral. This satellite, bound for geosynchronous orbit early in May, is the long-awaited first of a new generation of infrared sensing spacecraft designed to provide the first warning of a ballistic missile launch. GEO-1, at a cost of well over $1 billion, will likely be operational within about 15 months of launch. It will join the constellation of Defense Support Program satellites already in orbit. Lockheed Martin photo.
Jordan Hansell (see photo) earned all his degrees with distinction, including a B.A. in political science from Duke University, a master's in public policy from the University of Michigan, and a J.D. from its law school . He clerked for the chief judge of a federal appeals court and then for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Then he worked at his father's law firm in Des Moines, Iowa, for 10 years.
Delores Etter has been appointed to the board of directors of Esterline Corp., Bellevue, Wash. She was the assistant U.S. Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition.
Operating the planned Falcon Heavy launch vehicle will require a major production hike at Space Exploration Technologies Inc. (SpaceX), which foresees building 400 advanced Merlin rocket engines a year to feed the triple-barrel rocket.
