The political ground may have shifted dramatically in the U.S., but policy and budget outcomes in the next Congress may be more uncertain than they have been due to divisions across the political spectrum—between the two chambers and even within both major parties.
Chinese spacecraft builder CAST intends to develop a large satellite bus matched to the throw weight of the Long March 5 rocket under development by sibling company CALT. Aimed squarely at the most active part of the communications satellite market, the bus will have a mass of 6.5-7 tons, be able to carry a payload of 1.2 -1.5 tons and generate 15-20 kw. of electrical power. The design life will be 15 years and the designation DFH-5, says CAST President Yang Baohua.
Founded: 1980 Ownership: Part of privately held Aim Group Employees: 500-plus Revenues: $65 million Business: Composite specialists, primarily in aircraft interiors—ceilings, sidewalls, stowage, crew rest areas, environmental control ducting and seat surrounds. It also produces other non-structural composite products, such as cargo access doors.
Star Alliance’s expansion into Latin America has been boosted by the addition of both Avianca-TACA and Copa Airlines, a minor coup that will give the airline group access to large swathes of Latin America and the Caribbean and add 46 destinations to a comprehensive network when the two operators are integrated in mid-2012. In addition to the new hubs these two will provide in Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama, Star will have nine members at Miami International Airport.
Airbus is about to finally make serious inroads into the Japanese airline market with low-fare carrier Skymark’s plans to order up to six A380s. The airline says it will take four A380s on firm order with options for another two. The first four aircraft are to be delivered in 2014 and 2015. Airbus confirms that it is in final negotiations with Skymark about an order, but is not prepared to reveal when the deal might be announced.
By positioning FedEx and UPS cargo aircraft in the crosshairs, terrorists have put the spotlight on a vulnerability in air transport and showcased another method of concealment using a plastic explosive that is hard to detect.
Dave Walsh has been appointed country manager for Ireland at Travelport . A former Galileo employee, Walsh rejoins Travelport with more than 17 years of travel industry and business services experience, including positions with Ryanair, Allied Management Systems and BMI in Ireland.
Founded: 1945 as Western Model Works; incorporated as Aero-Plastics in 1958. Ownership: Mike Hammer, began at company as a machinist. Employees: 43 Revenues: $6.5 million Business: Contract manufacturer for precision machining and injection molding.
A Raytheon/Boeing team conducted the first flight test of an Alliant Techsystems developmental motor for the team’s Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) design, and officials say it performed as expected.
This time, it’s personal. I’m not talking about grudge match here, or a vendetta. I’m talking about how airlines are going to be pricing, selling and marketing their seats and services to customers. A big move is afoot among airlines for much more sophisticated database-driven marketing.
Founded: 1940 Ownership: Third-generation family company, Hugh LaBossier, president Employees: 125 Revenues: n/a Business: Precision tooling and fabrication shop with design and engineering capabilities.
70 Delta Air Lines is giving its Boeing 767-300ERs major interior upgrades, with lie-flat seats in business class and a new on-demand entertainment system in all areas. Delta is investing more than $2 billion in aircraft, technology, and customer products and services following its surprisingly smooth integration with Northwest Airlines. Delta is doing so, however, without any short-term plans for new aircraft orders as it focuses on reducing debt, “de-risking” its balance sheet, enhancing fleet flexibility, and diversifying its network and revenue streams.
Boeing’s 787 program is facing more pressure on its flight-test schedule after the temporary grounding of the test fleet and with deliveries for several early customers delayed yet again.
An agreement to purchase 15 Bombardier Q400 turboprops has established SpiceJet as the most aggressive among India’s budget carriers in pursuit of the country’s fast-growing regional routes.
Andy Nativi (Vandenberg AFB, Calif.), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
Italian military officials are talking to several allied nations about using data from Italy’s Cosmo-SkyMed radar satellite constellation, following launch of the final spacecraft.
Founded: 1993 Ownership: Peter and John Janicki Employees: 450 Revenues: $50 million Business: Specialist in very large-scale, precision composite structures, including carbon-fiber, fiberglass and metals. The company engineers and manufactures tools, tool molds, prototypes, jigs, cauls, fixtures and parts.
As defense budgets soared through the 2000s, large aerospace and defense contractors cashed in—literally. Companies paid down debt, repurchased shares and shored up their pension plans, and yet their stockpiles of cash kept growing. PwC estimates that the top 10 A&D contractors now have $35 billion in cash on their balance sheets. Broaden that to the top 15 companies and the total is more than $50 billion, according to a separate estimate by Bain & Co.
Phil Krull (see photo) has been named managing director of Embraer ’s first U.S. aircraft assembly plant and customer center, at Melbourne (Fla.) International Airport. He was responsible for steam turbine and generator programs process improvements at Siemens Energy.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has won the UH-X program to replace UH-60J rescue helicopters that it built under license from Sikorsky. The company is offering a lower price than the ¥5-6 billion ($61-73 million) that the government has been paying for the current model. The government is expected eventually to order about 40 of the upgraded UH-60Js, but it is unlikely to build them quickly.
Radames Velez (see photo) has been named American Airlines managing director for the Caribbean, overseeing 23 destinations in 19 countries. Velez began his career at American more than four decades ago in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and has held a number of increasingly responsible positions, among them leading passenger and ramp services at the San Juan and Mexico City airports. He has also served as country director in Ecuador and Peru and has been regional director for Central America.
Joint ventures with foreign companies will be the primary means by which the aircraft-systems company of Chinese manufacturer Avic moves into the global civil market. Driven by the Comac C919 program, the systems joint ventures will generally take over almost all of the civil assets of Avic in their respective fields of business, say Chinese executives.
Will van Zeventer has been appointed vice president-business development of BAE Systems Asset Management . Based at Hatfield, England, van Zeventer joins BAE from Focus Aviation, where he was head of marketing. He also was director of marketing at TransWorld Aircraft Leasing and Services in the Netherlands and Australia and held senior positions at Fokker Aircraft in Amsterdam and Fokker Services in the Netherlands and Singapore.
Judith McCoy (see photo) has joined Hawaiian Airlines as station manager at Pago Pago International Airport in American Samoa. She was an administrator in American Samoa’s Homeland Security Department, and before that was operations coordinator and transportation broker for The Select Carrier Group in Dallas.
Amy Butler (Washington), Graham Warwick (Washington)
The beleaguered F-35 fighter is at yet another—and perhaps its most important—inflection point, with a bipartisan White House commission recommending a sharp curtailment of the $380-billion project, just as program officials finalize details of another potentially dramatic cost and schedule revision.
