Despite global economic uncertainties, ATR is convinced that the turboprop market will continue its strong rebound, with a delivery hike in the cards from 2012. The EADS/Alenia Aeronautica joint venture, which handed over its 900th aircraft to Brazil’s TRIP Linhas Aereas in Toulouse on Sept. 9, continues to evaluate plans for an all-new successor to its ATR family, which debuted a quarter of a century ago in 1985.
SES Chairman/CEO Romain Bausch says SES-Eutelsat joint venture Solaris Mobile is revisiting the business case for mobile satellite service (MSS) to Europe. Solaris was selected last year along with Intelsat to provide MSS to the 27 European Union countries using an S-band payload on Eutelsat’s W2A spacecraft. However, a solar panel failure on the satellite, launched in April 2009, has forced the company to limit its ambitions to trial service while it weighs options for an alternative source of capacity.
Robert J. Conyers has become director of safety management for Baldwin Aviation , Hilton Head Island, S.C. He was manager of general aviation safety at Global Aerospace.
Global demand for pilots and maintenance personnel is set to increase dramatically, but the demand is concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region and other emerging economies. A shortage of skilled and qualified labor is already evident in some countries in these growth regions. Philippine Airlines canceled dozens of Airbus A320 flights in July and August after 27 of its A320 captains and first officers resigned suddenly to join other airlines. And Garuda Indonesia cannot expand its low-cost carrier Citilink due to personnel shortages.
Aviation professionals who happened to see the recent Green-related report on the transportation sector by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)—an independent, nonprofit organization—must have been more than a little disheartened by what they read. As a scorekeeper and data house for carbon emissions and climate change information coming from businesses worldwide, CDP lumped all forms of transportation together—road, rail, sea and airlines.
The British Parliament is taking issue with the unfolding Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR), asserting that a flawed process could lead to poor decisions.
International Space Station prime contractor Boeing will continue to provide sustaining engineering for the orbiting laboratory through Sept. 30, 2015, under a five-year, $1.24-billion contract extension from NASA. The company will also help NASA and its international partners evaluate whether the ISS primary structure can continue to operate through the end of 2018, as the U.S. Congress appears likely to extend ISS funding at least through 2020.
Alexander L.W. Snyder (see photo) has been named vice president/general counsel/secretary of the Hawker Beechcraft Corp. , Wichita, Kan. He was associate general counsel for corporate and commercial matters and chief counsel for mergers and acquisitions for Koch Industries, also in Wichita.
Prospects for a settlement of the U.S.-European Union dispute over large commercial aircraft subsidies remain elusive in the wake of the World Trade Organization’s latest ruling.
Mitsubishi Aircraft has begun making production drawings for its MRJ regional jet and confirms that the aircraft is on schedule for a first delivery in the first quarter of 2014. First flight is due in the second quarter of 2012.
As approval for use of biofuels in aircraft approaches, Solazyme is already producing renewable jet fuel from a range of biomass sources using algae. The fermentation process feeds the algae with sugars produced from feedstocks ranging from switchgrass to municipal waste. Oil is extracted from the algae and turned into jet fuel. Cover photo by Solazyme.
The Marine Corps’ determination to reach initial operational capability of the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in late 2012 looks increasingly untenable. The F-35B will miss initial at-sea testing scheduled for next March because of delays in clearing the vertical-landing envelope. The delays have been caused by aircraft reliability issues and weather at NAS Patuxent River, Md.
Long endurance for unmanned aircraft is being transformed, with 100 hr.—five days aloft—as the new yardstick against which future systems are being measured.
I’ve been covering development of laser weapons for three decades, and the cycle described in the Leading Edge column (AW&ST Sept. 6, p. 18) has been going on since the laser was developed. Solid-state lasers were the first choice for high-energy lasers, but early ones were only 1% or so efficient and couldn’t dissipate the heat load. Then there were gas, gas dynamic carbon-dioxide and hydrogen-fluoride chemical lasers.
Faltering economies may have taken the heat off global warming as a political issue, but the pressure is still on aviation to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions if it wants to grow. Despite the financial turmoil, and the failure to reach a global agreement on climate change in Copenhagen in December, airlines remain committed to their plan to achieve carbon-neutral growth from 2020 through a combination of fleet renewal and upgrades, operations and infrastructure improvements, and biofuels.
Asia Broadcast Satellite expects a management buyout led by the Permira private equity fund to lead it to the top of the fragmented Asian fixed-satellite service (FSS) market.
The problem with turning points, in business or personal life, is that you often are not aware of them until months or even years after they happen. Nonetheless, I’m going to declare that the Sabre Travel Network launch of its Air Total Pricing product on Sept. 17 is a turning point for the selling of airline fee-based ancillary services.
The South African Air Force hopes to quickly initiate its transport and maritime patrol fleet modernization program, although serious budget pressures and a range of competing demands could impose a modest pace.
Four companies will launch as many as 70 space missions over the next 10 years under an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract worth as much as $15 billion overall. NASA selected Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Orbital Sciences Corp., Space Exploration Technologies and United Launch Services for the NASA Launch Services II contract, which calls for launching payloads of at least 550 lb. to an orbit of at least 124 mi., at 28.5-deg. inclination.
Joseph Ford has been named general manager of AAR ’s Aviation Worldwide Services (AWS) subsidiary Presidential Airways. He was executive vice president of AWS. Steve Peckham has become general manager of AWS subsidiary STI Aviation. He was vice president of U.S. Army and rotorcraft programs for Wood Dale, Ill.-based AAR’s Government and Defense Services Group. Thomas Howell has been appointed AWS’ vice president-quality and safety at AWS.
Orbital Sciences Corp. reckons it may be able to recover use of Galaxy 15, the Intelsat spacecraft that went out of control and fell silent on April 5, ostensibly from a solar flare incident. OSC Chairman/CEO David Thompson tells an industry gathering in Paris that simulations and ground testing indicate recovery is possible, but warns that there is little hard data to go on.
In just five years, the aviation industry’s decades-long reliance on petroleum-based fuels has been turned on its head. The future lies in fuels from sources that range from animal fat to microalgae. But with the technology in hand, the question now is whether biofuel producers can raise the investment needed to launch commercial-scale production.
Stuart Kupfer (see photo) has become vice president-hospitality for Jet Aviation U.S. , Teterboro, N.J. He held a similar position at XJet World Services’ fixed base operation in Denver.
