A radical reorganization featuring new owners and fresh financing is likely to hasten Sea Launch’s exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and return to the market.
The U.S. government recently denied a request from visiting Brazilian officials to revoke the certificates of the two ExcelAire pilots whose Legacy 600 business jet and a Gol Airlines Boeing 737 collided on Sept. 29, 2006, over the Amazon jungle; all 154 people onboard the Gol flight were killed. Although damaged, the Legacy landed safely. The Brazilian group made its appeal during April meetings in Washington with the FAA, the State Department and the NTSB. But the FAA responded that there was insufficient evidence to revoke the licenses.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Venus Climate Orbiter, or Akatsuki, is due for launch at 6:44 a.m. (local time) on May 18 onboard a Mitsubishi H-IIA from the Tanegashima Space Center. Previously called Planet-C, the 500-kg. (1,100-lb.) spacecraft will study Venus’s atmosphere, with an emphasis on its unusual winds, sulfuric acid clouds and lightning storms. The mission also carries Ikaros, the thin-film Small Solar Power Sail Demonstrator project, which has a diagonal spread of 20 meters (65 ft.) and is to be powered on an interplanetary trip by photon propulsion.
The Jordanian government has announced plans to acquire an undisclosed number of Boeing AH-6i light attack and reconnaissance helicopters; the “i” version is the export derivative of the U.S. Army special operations AH-6 Little Bird. The helos are to replace about 30 AH-1 Cobras in Jordanian air force inventory.
Amy Butler (Washington and Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio)
As Defense Secretary Robert Gates steps up his drive for fiscal discipline at the Pentagon, Air Force officials are already searching for savings by scrutinizing their multibillion-dollar procurement and sustainment accounts.
A government-backed plan to merge electronics units at Paris-based Thales and Safran SA has fizzled, throwing a new wrinkle into Europe’s aerospace consolidation picture. The two companies had been in talks off-and-on for some time about combining operations that lack the size to be globally competitive. Discussions initially focused on creating a joint €1-billion ($1.26-billion) business in optronics (a field that includes laser range finders and infrared search-and-track systems).
Eastern European carrier Air Moldova plans to operate its first Embraer 190, delivered earlier this month, to European and Middle Eastern cities from its base at Chisinau (Moldova) International Airport. CEO Iulian Scorpan says the aircraft type is “the cornerstone of our development strategy, the right-sized aircraft to open new routes” and also complements the carrier’s narrow-body fleet. The 190 joins three Airbus A320s and one Embraer EMB‑120 now in service and, according to Airbus, is the first 190 to be configured in 114-seat single-class layout.
By March 2012, Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia plans to transfer its Kuala Lumpur operations and headquarters to a new low-cost-carrier terminal that will be built near the main terminal of the city’s international airport. The new facility will be able to handle up to 30 million passengers a year, double the capacity of the existing site. AirAsia has secured 76 aircraft parking bays at the future terminal, about twice as many as it has now.
Debra Wilcox has become senior vice president of Bye Energy Inc. of Denver and Bruce Gillit vice president of Bye Engineering. He was director of engineering services for AAI Acquisition Inc. (formerly Adam Aircraft Industries). John C. Knudsen, a partner in the aviation law firm of Byrne Knudsen and White in Denver and a former U.S. Navy the aviator, has joined the Bye Aerospace strategic advisory council. He was co-founder/president for government operations/general counsel of Adam Aircraft Industries.
Raytheon Co. received a $34.4-million contract from the U.S. Air Force to continue design work on the AGM-65E2/L laser-guided Maverick missile. This version will sport an enhanced laser seeker and new software. The contract specifically calls for developing, integrating and testing the munition’s guidance and control section.
Reader Steven D. Green’s letter hit the mark (AW&ST April 19, p. 9). I, too, am a product of both military and airline training. For many years I instructed in the U.S. Air Force and in the training department of a huge legacy airline for which I fly now. The cost-constrained military and airlines have honed training to a fine edge. It consists mostly of rote learning, practicing V1 cuts and reasonable recall of vast quantities of information from an often poorly assembled collection of manuals and written guidance.
Intelsat engineers continue efforts to disable the payload on Galaxy 15, which has been drifting away from its orbital slot at 133 deg. W. Long. since it went out of control on April 5 and is threatening to interfere with surrounding satellites. Work is being closely coordinated with SES World Skies, whose AMC 11, located at 131 deg. W., will be approached by the Galaxy satellite on May 23. SES executives say they are evaluating all possible maneuvers to mitigate potential interference, and are confident they will be able to minimize the impact.
The new British government did not waste any time in delivering a blow to U.K.’s air travel sector—nixing runway expansion while planning introduction of a commercial aircraft tax. The impact on defense will take slightly longer to begin to emerge. That the Defense Ministry will feel the budget squeeze is already being made clear by Secretary of State for Defense Liam Fox. Addressing staff on his first day last week he warned that “resources will be tight” and that the “organization and the structure” of the Defense Ministry will need to be re-examined.
Airbus and Boeing could boost narrowbody production ratesas a result of airlines’ growing interest in new aircraft and the renewed availability of commercial financing.
Key defense authorizers in the U.S. House have approved $18.5 billion for Navy and Marine Corps aviation programs in Fiscal 2011, with an additional $547 million above the Obama administration’s budget request for so-called unfunded requirements as listed by the armed services themselves. In marking up their early version of the Fiscal 2011 defense authorization bill, seapower and expeditionary forces subcommittee members endorsed all requested 206 aircraft, as well as more controversial efforts such as an alternative engine for the Joint Strike Fighter (see p. 21).
The first strike by shop-floor workers in 27 years at the last outpost for large aircraft manufacturing in Southern California will be a test of wills for Boeing’s C-17 program.
Chinese airport development is marching ahead at a furious pace, seemingly oblivious to the financial risk of millions of passengers switching to a massive high-speed rail network that is also under construction.
S. Pete Worden, who is director of the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., has been recognized by the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation for leadership in space exploration. Worden has written or co-written more than 150 scientific technical papers in astrophysics, space sciences and strategic studies. He also was a scientific co-investigator for two NASA space science missions. Earlier, Worden was a research professor of astronomy, optical sciences and planetary sciences at the University of Arizona.
Fears within the French defense community that the current five-year defense spending plan will be threatened by fiscal belt-tightening are likely to be confirmed by new cuts announced last week by Prime Minister Francois Fillon to help pay down France’s enormous public debt. Fillon said budgets for the next three years will be frozen, with no allowance for inflation, and that there will be no further economic stimulus funding.
Dan Crowley has been appointed chief operating officer of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics of Fort Worth, effective June 7. He has been executive vice president/general manager of the F-35 program. Crowley will be succeeded by Larry A. Lawson, who has been executive vice president/general manager of the F-22 program. Following Lawson will be George Shultz, who was the program’s vice president/deputy general manager.
Kidde Aerospace & Defense will supply the integrated fire and overheat protection system for Commercial Aviation Corp. of China’s C919 regional jet under a $250-million contract. Kidde, a Hamilton Sundstrand unit, will provide fire detectors for the engines and auxiliary power unit, wheel wells, cargo bay and lavatories, plus portable extinguishers.
Southwest Airlines plans to add its first two destinations in South Carolina in 2011, following an extensive lobbying effort from within the state. The carrier will begin service to Charleston International Airport (CHS) and Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) but has not unveiled a start date or schedule. Both cities were pushing to attract Southwest, and speculation over the carrier’s interest spurred state lawmakers to propose up to $15 million in incentives for low-cost carriers to serve South Carolina.
