As CEO of EADS Astrium’s U.K. business, Colin Paynter offers a particular view of how the British government and military appreciation of space continues to grow, even if not always reflected by budgets. Since becoming chief executive, Paynter has worked to increase awareness of the value to the U.K. space sector—and to support and grow his own company’s U.K. business footprint. Closely involved in the ongoing government and industry’s Space Innovation and Growth Team, Paynter shared his perspective with London Bureau Chief Douglas Barrie.
Hawker Beechcraft has acknowledged that it notified its Machinists union local last week that it intends to close its Salina, Kan., facility that fabricates wings, spars and other subassemblies. The move was not entirely a surprise since CEO Bill Boisture said in an interview a month ago with the Wichita (Kan.) Eagle that the Salina plant would probably close. The company says a time line for the closing has yet to be determined. There are currently 240 employees in Salina, down from about 500 last year.
Kunpeng Airlines will be the latest Chinese airline to fall more directly under government control after the Henan provincial government agreed to recapitalize it this month. The investment is part of a broad trend in which Chinese provinces and cities are buying into airlines that, typically, are adopting the geographic name of their new government owner. In the case of Kunpeng, set up two years ago by Shenzhen Airlines and the U.S.’s Mesa Airlines, the new name will be Henan Airlines, state media report.
Europe’s main network and low-cost airline players will exit the current downturn in air travel with significantly altered operations and business plans, showing that two years into a financial crisis for the industry, these carriers seriously underestimated the need to adjust capacity and staff. The recent restructuring moves also signal that a meaningful financial rebound is still some time off.
Look for some kind of endorsement for space cooperation in the joint statement issued at the end of President Obama’s meeting this week with Chinese President Hu Jintao, including an invitation to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden to visit his counterpart in Beijing next year. But just who that counterpart will be remains to be seen. In negotiations with U.S.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. has created a federal advisory committee to study every facet of the industry and draw up a road map for moving the FAA’s NextGen modernization effort forward within one year. Secretary Ray LaHood, following a 5-hr., invitation-only meeting Nov. 12 with airline, airport, labor and consumer group representatives, and analysts, asked them to email three things to him: who should be on the panel, how many and what the top five agenda items should be. NextGen was the only subject the entire industry could agree on and support.
In his European Perspective column, Pierre Sparaco refers to the so-far unsuccessful effort to launch a program to replace the U.S. Air Force KC-135 tanker transport (AW&ST Oct. 19, p. 66). He also cites why this effort will continue to be fraught with disputes, so no one can tell when, if ever, the Air Force will receive new tankers.
Verification tests of the Boeing 787 side-of-body structural modification are set to begin later this month, following the completion of the upgrade on the first aircraft, ZA001, on Nov. 11. The modification involves installing new fittings at 34 stringer locations per aircraft, within the joint where the wing is attached to the fuselage, says Boeing. The company “remains confident the first flight of the 787 will occur before the end of the year,” adds Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of the 787 program.
L-3 Communications’ Link Simulation & Training will supply its Advanced Helmet Mounted Display (AHMD) on F-16 unit training devices. The AHMD provides 360-deg. field of regard of computer-generated “out-the-window” imagery. The helmet also supports night-vision goggle training and incorporates F-16 head-up display symbology. Plans call for L-3 Link to begin integrating the AHMDs on F-16 training devices at U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard installations in March 2010 and conclude in December.
A Chinese fighter of nominally the same technology generation as the Lockheed Martin F-22 will soon enter flight testing, while a jet airlifter larger than the Airbus A400M should be unveiled by year-end.
NASA and the European Space Agency have signed a statement of intent (SOI) for the Mars Exploration Joint Initiative (MEJI), a proposed string of cooperative lander and orbiter missions to the red planet intended to lead to a sample return. ESA’s science director, David Southwood, says the SOI marks joint acceptance of the architecture for the first two MEJI missions, planned under ESA’s ExoMars initiative. The first, set for 2016, would feature a European entry, descent and landing system (EDLS) and orbiter and a NASA-led orbiter payload.
Rather than waiting for the U.S. Army to flight-test the Fire Scout vertical-takeoff unmanned aerial vehicle (VTUAV), Northrop Grumman is investing heavily in a test program of its own. The company’s impatience may well pay off—when the Army finally makes a decision about air vehicles for its new Brigade Combat Team Modernization (BCTM) program, Fire Scout will be ready to go.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington)
Struggling Sea Launch is now assured of sufficient working capital to continue operations until its Chapter 11 reorganization is complete, following interim approval of debtor-in-possession financing by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
When Alaska Air Group CEO Bill Ayer rang the New York Stock Exchange opening bell on Nov. 10, he might as well have rung it to celebrate the end of a fantastic quarter for the airline. Alaska reported a third-quarter profit of $87.6 million, in a period when most U.S. mainline carriers bled red ink.
With two proposals in, the U.S. Air Force’s source selection for the 250-lb. Small-Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) moving-target killer is underway. This will be the first of potentially many fixed-price competitions for major Pentagon development contracts.
I am one of the West Coast-East Coast commuters Capt. (ret.) Ralph Omann mentions in his letter (AW&ST Oct. 12, p. 8) and worked under Omann when he was 777 assistant chief pilot.
The District of Columbia National Guard’s 121st Medical Company (Air Ambulance) is the first Guard unit to receive the U.S. Army’s new light utility helicopter, the UH-72A Lakota, in medevac configuration. An Aviation Week pilot flew this UH-72A, a militarized version of the Eurocopter EC145 light twin, to see how it compares with the long-serving UH-1 Hueys it is replacing (see p. 54). U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jon Soucy.
China’s specialist builder of large military and civil airplanes, Avic Aircraft, will become a publicly traded company by 2011, the company says, confirming that its restructuring as a more commercially viable enterprise is proceeding well. The company will acquire public shareholders by means of a backdoor stock market listing—that is, by injecting its assets into a subsidiary that is already listed.
Former NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak drew a year’s probation in a plea bargain on charges growing out of a bizarre incident in which she was arrested at Orlando (Fla.) International Airport after threatening a rival for the affections of fellow astronaut William Oefelein. The 46-year-old U.S. Navy officer pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary of a vehicle and misdemeanor battery, escaping more serious charges that including attempted kidnapping and burglary with assault. The judge sentenced her to two days in jail, with credit for time served.
British Airways and Iberia reached agreement Nov. 12 on a proposed all-share merger of the two airlines that would be completed in late 2010, assuming regulatory and shareholder approval and an economically satisfactory BA agreement with its pension trustees (see p. 47). Under the memorandum of understanding, a new holding company would own both carriers but maintain separate brands and operating companies. BA shareholders would own 55% and Iberia shareholders 45%.
The U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is beginning the process of defining airspace out to 2030, with industry-wide dialogue to begin in 2010. The CAA submitted its “Airspace for Tomorrow” guidance document to the National Air Traffic Management Advisory Committee late last month.
With the future of the U.S. human spaceflight program in limbo at a cash-strapped NASA and the space shuttle scheduled to retire next year, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) faces an uncertain future. At a roundtable discussion with Aviation Week editors in Washington, PWR President Jim Maser shared his ideas and frustrations about the nation’s space program and outlined a plan to reduce the company’s reliance on rocket engine sales by expanding into ancillary markets such as coal gasification, oil extraction and solar power.
Formal selection of a replacement for the Royal Air Force’s Nimrod R1 electronic intelligence aircraft continues to slip, with a decision not now expected until early 2010. BAE Systems’ offer of an MRA4-based development, however, has not received Defense Ministry support. A decision had initially been due in mid-2009, though this was moved back until closer to the end of the year. Ministry officials now say that a decision on Project Helix—as the R1 replacement program is known—will be taken in “early 2010.”
The U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Center’s (AEDC) J-2 Test Team has completed an extended test run of Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engine for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. The run, which continued uninterrupted for 52.5 hr., was primarily for altitude performance and qualification checks, according to John Kelly, Air Force manager for the project. The tests were in support of Initial Service Release (ISR) qualification of the Air Force F135 conventional takeoff and landing and the Navy carrier variants.
