A Moscow-based partnership that includes the Russian space agency Roscosmos and RSC Energia plans to build a man-tended commercial space station (CSS) that looks like an upgrade of the Soviet-era Salyut orbital stations. The CSS would be serviced by Soyuz and Progress vehicles as is the International Space Station, and could serve as an orbiting refuge for station crews. Able to accommodate up to seven crewmembers, CSS could also receive commercial spacecraft from the U.S. and Europe, as well as Chinese Shenzhou spacecraft.
Airlines are on track to end 2010 with their worst aviation safety performance in several years, highlighting concerns that pilot training, airport infrastructure and air navigation services are failing to keep up with air traffic growth. There have been 14 fatal air crashes so far in 2010 involving revenue-paying passengers, says aviation research consultancy Ascend, which counts commercial transports with 15 seats or above. Last year there were 10 fatal crashes, and this year may end up having the highest number since 2005.
Aviation has long been a magnet for the Hollywood crowd—Clint Eastwood, John Travolta, Angelina Jolie, Kurt Russell, Morgan Freeman and Tom Cruise are all members of Tinseltown’s Flying Corps. But none has been more smitten with—or given more back to—the industry than Harrison Ford.
“How Auto-GCAS Works” (AW&ST Aug. 2, p. 57) was very interesting and offered some clear graphics to explain a complicated technology. But I am a bit disappointed that there was not at least some mention of the U.S. Navy-developed system (GPWS and now TAWS), widely deployed on many varied Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and soon Army, aircraft. This government-developed system has been designed with an open architecture tailored to fit both helicopter and fixed-wing missions.
France’s export credit agency Coface, has given final approval to a $1.8-billion financing package for the space segment of the Iridium Next mobile satellite service constellation. Coface will secure 95% of the facility, which will cover the design and construction of 66 operational satellites, six in-orbit spares and nine ground spares to replace Iridium’s aging system.
The dilapidated houses that line the highway into downtown Buffalo are a stark reminder that this old industrial city has seen better days. But business is booming at the city’s main airport, thanks to Canada. Millions of Canadians have flocked to Buffalo Niagara International Airport in recent years, lured by lower fares, short security lines and a 30-min. drive from densely populated southern Ontario. On average, nearly 40% of the cars parked at the airport’s long-term lots sport Canadian license plates.
Patrick O’Keeffe has been named vice president-information technology services for American Airlines . He succeeds Maya Leibman, who is now president of AAdvantage. O’Keeffe was head of the carrier’s Jetstream initiative.
A fine-tuned business model, improved processes, more mature internal structures and more efficient hub operations in Dubai could make Emirates an even greater threat to European and Asian legacy airlines.
Monopolies do not create incentives to reach for higher standards. Competition leads to higher quality and better value. As a program manager who has worked on both the commercial and military sides for an aerospace supplier, I know that when vendors compete on cost, quality and schedule, the customer wins. In the case of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), that customer is the American taxpayer. That is why I am troubled that the Defense Department is asking Congress to eliminate competition on the JSF engine.
A sentence was incorrectly attributed as a quotation from Gen. Keith Alexander in the Oct. 4 article “No Fingerprints” (p. 29). The quotation and following sentence should have read: “A third may be the best at designing tools that can attack specific systems that are in their national interest,” he says. An example of the last might be the U.S. or Israel taking down computers employed in the Iranian nuclear program.
Boeing’s order book has jumped by 104 on the strength of 54 orders for 737-800s from Air Lease Corp. (ALC), another 40 that remain unidentified and 10 from China’s Xiamen Airlines. It was Boeing’s biggest one-week order boom in 2010 and brought its net total to 392. Airbus reported 211 net orders for the quarter, up sharply from 55 in 2009. Its net order book stands at 328. Both manufacturers have recorded sharply higher gross orders, but also numerous cancellations.
The first production Ilyushin Il-76MF military transport aircraft has completed its maiden flight. The Il-76MF is a stretched version of the four-engine Il-76MDl, which is in service with the Russian air force. Jordan is the launch customer, with an order for two units. A prototype of the Il-76MF flew for the first time in 1995.
International airlines are gearing up for a fight with the U.S. Transportation Department over proposed new passenger rights rules that the agency wants to apply to foreign as well as U.S. carriers.
Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport’s revival as a commercial port of call has been closely linked to the success of Porter Airlines’ Bombardier Q400 service, but the award of new slots to Air Canada and U.S. carrier Continental Airlines could catapult the airport to unprecedented heights.
Astrium is acquiring the space business of Jenoptik, expanding its German footprint and boosting its know-how in electro-optic hardware used in Earth-observation systems. Known as Jena-Optronik, the unit would help Astrium build up its optical imaging capabilities, particularly in Germany, which is looking to invest in a domestic 50-cm. optical imaging system known as Hiros (AW&ST June 14/21 p. 38). Jena-Optronik also supplies attitude sensors and laser guidance systems, notably the guidance system for Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle.
James J. Ballough, former director of the FAA Flight Standards Service, has been appointed to the board of governors of the Alexandria, Va.-based Air Charter Safety Foundation . He is now president of JBallough Global Aviation Solutions.
Steve Wagner has been named vice president-supply chain for the Aerospace Group of the Cleveland-based Eaton Corp. He was supply chain manager for its Hydraulic Div., Jackson, Miss.
Are you the Herb Kelleher of Canada?” Porter Airlines President/CEO Robert Deluce smiles at the question before he demurs. On the surface, the mild-mannered businessman and lifelong aviator bears little resemblance to the brash, chain-smoking lawyer who co-founded Southwest Airlines nearly four decades ago. “I’ve met Herb a few times and he’s really quite remarkable,” Deluce says with characteristic Canadian modesty. “I’m not in Herb Kelleher’s category at all.”
Mike Kahn (see photo) has been named senior vice president of Alliant Techsystems and president of the Baltimore-based ATK Missile Products Group. He was executive vice president of the Aerospace Systems Group.
Amy Butler (Washington), Graham Warwick (Washington)
The Pentagon’s censure of Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth fighter assembly plant—home of the $300-billion F-35 fighter program—for not adhering to government auditing standards is the latest setback for the contractor in this high-stakes international effort.
Walter Skowronski has been appointed to the board of advisers of the New York-based Seabury Group . He is retired chief executive of the Boeing Capital Corp./senior vice president of the Boeing Co. Honors And Elections
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden’s upcoming visit to human spaceflight facilities in China does not mean the U.S. is about to start flying its astronauts to the International Space Station on Shenzhou spacecraft, or cooperating in any other way with the China Manned Space Engineering Office. “This visit will be introductory and will not include consideration of specific proposals for human spaceflight cooperation,” the agency tells Rep.
Evergreen Aviation Technologies, working at full capacity despite a global downturn in aircraft maintenance, is moving toward a nearly round-the-clock operation of its physically constrained Taipei base.
The French air force has received its first operational battery of SAMP-T Mamba surface-air/anti-missile weapons, which are intended to replace aging Hawk air defense systems. The French expect to perform operational trials next spring and pronounce an initial operating capability for the Franco-Italian system in September 2011.
