Leonardo Pereira, who as chief financial officer of Brazil-based GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes , has headed finance, controls and investor relations, will also oversee the technology, business development and strategic planning departments. Ricardo Khauaja has become vice president-customers, employees and management. He was head of management and personnel.
Kate Gebo has become vice president of corporate real estate for United Airlines parent UAL Corp. She succeeds Ajay Singh, who has been named vice president-business management in information technology. Singh, in turn, follows Praveen Sharma, who has become managing director of Mileage Plus finance, strategy and information technology. Gebo was managing director of procurement.
Airplane designer. Test pilot. Technology leader. Program manager. Any one of these job titles would distinguish an aerospace professional and earn the enduring respect of peers. Richard W. Taylor, however, played all four of these roles in the course of his 45-year career at the Boeing Co.
Dick Johnson (see photo) has been named vice president/chief scientist and Tim Farley (see photo) vice president-engineering of the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. , Savannah, Ga. Farley, who was director of project engineering, succeeds Johnson. Dan Nale (see photo) has become vice president of the Advanced Aircraft Programs Department. He was vice president for Mid-Cabin Programs and has been succeeded by Stan Dixon (see photo), who was the sector’s director.
Boeing wasted no time ramping up production rates on its 777 and 747 programs after Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh said there was “a very good chance” it would do so (AW&ST March 22, p. 43). Interestingly, Albaugh said it would happen in April. Instead, Boeing acted on March 19, two days after he spoke. There has been speculation the manufacturer might accelerate 737 production, which sits at 31 per month. But, so far, no word on that. The company told analysts the pickup in 777 build rates is being driven by increased demand in cargo and Asia-Pacific markets.
Europe’s air transport sector is headed for increased legal and labor turmoil as financial difficulties push airlines and employees to become even more adversarial. The fault lines run beyond the traditional divide between airline management and labor—carriers are also striking out against each other and cohesion within unions is fraying. The situation in Europe is particularly tense, with the economy still mired in the doldrums and fears of a deepening recession ever present.
At a U.S. Air Force Association symposium, senior officers look up at a big screen as the newest security threat flashes up. Instead of a stealthy aircraft, hypersonic weapon or spacecraft, everyone in the room stares into the unreadable eyes of a Chinese teenager.
The multinational Medium-Extended Air Defense System (Meads) is suffering from lackluster backing from its U.S. Army champion, but it may be able to survive due to the Pentagon’s strong desire to publicly prove it supports international programs.
Steven J. Smidler has been named senior vice president/chief operating officer of the Kaman Industrial Technologies Corp. , Bloomfield, Conn. He was executive vice president of the Lenze Americas Corp.
Triumph Group Inc.’s move to acquire Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. from Carlyle Group for $1.4 billion in stock and cash is certainly bold. The transaction, which is expected to close in July, would propel Triumph up the aerospace supply chain in one big step, bolstering its core aircraft systems and aftermarket services business with a major aerostructures provider for the Boeing 747-8, 777 and C-17, and Airbus A320 and A340.
London’s effort to bolster its space ambitions with the April 1 creation of the U.K. Space Agency (UKSA) is being limited at the outset by a lack of further funding to provide for a meaningful increase in program activity. Government and industry officials supportive of a larger U.K. role in space remain hopeful, though, that the shortcomings of the newly launched initiative will be rectified once electoral politics settle. The creation of the agency, and the government’s recognition, if belated, are also welcomed by the sector.
Stefan Hansen has been appointed CEO/chairman of the executive board of Lufthansa Systems AG , effective July 1. He will succeed Wolfgang F.W. Gohde, who has resigned. Hansen has been director of enterprise technology at Vodafone Deutschland and was head of Lufthansa Systems Network GmbH.
A second Gulfstream G250 super mid-size business jet joined the flight-test program on March 24 at Israel Aerospace Industries in Tel Aviv. The first aircraft has logged more than 70 hr. since flying in December. The 1,300-hr. flight-test program will involve three aircraft, and is on track for certification and first delivery in 2011, says Gulfstream.
Asked to define cybersecurity—or what the U.S. ought to do about it—the approximately 535 members of Congress would likely each provide different answers. The Pentagon, White House and other executive branch agencies have their own answers, too, and not even the country’s first cybersecurity czar, named by the president in late December, can evoke U.S. cybersecurity policy. Still, there is a growing consensus on one matter regarding cybersecurity: unified federal action is needed.
Regarding your Washington Outlook item “Lightning Strikes Again” (AW&ST March 15, p. 21), pull the plug on the Joint Strike Fighter program. We have proven the point that insanity can be defined by expecting different outcomes from the same behavior. The time is past due for a complete rework of the weapons system acquisition business. The repeated inability to deliver a system that works as anticipated at a predictable cost is amazing.
A sudden spike in the price of oil two years ago to nearly $150 a barrel highlighted the vulnerability of airlines to a cost over which they have little control. But they were not the only ones to feel the pinch. Every $10 rise in the cost of a barrel of crude oil adds $600 million to the U.S. Air Force’s fuel tab.
Asia-Pacific carriers saw a 16.9% increase in passenger traffic in February over 2009 and a 14% gain in revenues, according to the Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines. The average passenger load factors was 79.2%. Airfreight demand, measured in freight tonne kilometers, saw growth of 29.8%. AAPA Director General Andrew Herdman noted that for the first two months of 2010, airfreight demand has increased 33.5% and reflects both exports and imports.
The European Space Agency has set an April 8 launch date for its Cryo-Sat-2 ice-monitoring mission, whose precise measurements of variations in marine and land ice sheets will contribute to scientists’ understanding of climate change. The launch, initially set for Feb. 25 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, had to be pushed back because of a problem with the second-stage steering engine on the Dnepr rocket that is due to orbit the spacecraft. Engineers worried that there would not be enough fuel reserve margin for the mission’s highly inclined 88-deg.
Michael Kaplan has been appointed general counsel of Standard-Aero , Tempe, Ariz., and Chris Bodine vice president/general manager of its Augusta, Ga., facility. Kaplan was a member of international law firm Greenberg Traurig, while Bodine was one of the company’s crew chiefs. Pat Conroy has been named sales manager for Southern California, while Joe Brady has become leader of StandardAero’s Business Aviation Mobile Services, Tempe, Ariz. He was director of customer and field support for Honeywell’s Process Solutions Div.
Aviation Week’s Laureates were conceived more than a half century ago not just to recognize extraordinary achievements of individuals and teams in aerospace, aviation and defense, but also to help foster the leaders of tomorrow, many of whom can be found right now in U.S. military academies.
Two airlines in Africa, Kenya Airways and TAAG Linhas Aereas de Angola, have signed on for the Boeing Maintenance Performance Toolbox—a compilation of six tools in one suite of software products that can be tailored to specific needs. Kenya Airways intends to equip its Next-Generation 737, 767 and 777 fleets—the 737s and 777s will use three modules (library, authoring and systems); the 767s will use the library module only. TAAG intends to employ the maintenance tool on its NextGen 737 and 777 fleets, utilizing four modules—library, authoring, systems and structures.
A U.S. Air Force A-10 conducted the first flight of an aircraft fueled solely with a 50:50 blend of bio-derived and conventional jet fuel on March 25, from Eglin AFB, Fla. Previous test flights, by airlines, have used a 50% biofuel blend only in one engine. The hydro-treated renewable jet (HRJ) fuel burned on the almost 90-min. flight was derived from camelina plant oil. The U.S. Navy plans to flight-test a 50% blend of algae-based HRJ fuel in its F/A-18 Green Hornet from NAS Patuxent River, Md., on April 22.
Hawker Beechcraft is continuing it strong push in the Asia-Pacific region for the Hawker 4000 business jet by appointing Hawker Pacific Singapore as its first authorized service center for Southeast Asia. The Wichita, Kan.-based manufacturer has delivered its first Hawker 4000 in China and initiated a sales campaign in India. The Singapore facility holds 15 regulatory approval ratings, including those from the FAA, European Aviation Safety Agency, Civil Aviation Authority of China and Director General of Civil Aviation in India.
