Prospects appear to be brightening a bit for some of Europe’s aerospace suppliers, but others worry about the sustainability of Airbus and Boeing production rates. And there are omens that defense may be softening. Several companies have moved to improve earnings guidance in recent days. For instance, Saab, which had been predicting flat growth, now says it expects sales for the year to be up 5%.
Britain’s military will be limited to handling only additional small-scale contingency operations in the near term as a result of the effect of prolonged operations in Afghanistan. The Defense Ministry is presently circulating internal guidance—some of which is classified—intended to provide planning and procurement support through the period until a Strategic Defense Review is completed in around 12-18 months.
If today was the day President John F. Kennedy issued his unprecedented call to send an American to the Moon within a decade, could the U.S. aerospace and defense industry still do it? Perhaps, but there is enough doubt to warrant apprehension, according to an informal poll recently of high-ranking industry members. The question does not come down to one of technology or even money, but of the ability by industry and its government customer to lead and deliver on their promise.
German air force Tornados deployed in Afghanistan are now operational with the RecceLite intelligence collection pod. The German government bought two of the systems to improve airborne intelligence-gathering and augment film-based pods that the Mazar-e-Sharif-based Tornados had been using. The air force says it should be able to use RecceLite for change detection and thereby scout for bombs placed by insurgents.
A deep crisis related to aviation safety is souring relations between Air France’s 4,100 pilots and their managers. Mistrust and suspicions are rampant. And if the discord is not defused quickly, it could seriously disrupt the airline’s business strategy, which is already being pummeled by a negative economic environment.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and 34 senators sent a letter late last week to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) urging passage of full FAA reauthorization by the end of this year. The last FAA funding authorization expired in September 2007 and since then, the agency has limped along under a series of short-term resolutions, hampering its ability to plan and execute long-term programs, not the least of which is NextGen. The letter notes FAA reauthorization would fund rural and metropolitan airport work.
The NASA administrator will skip a space shuttle launch for a visit to Japan this week to continue a round of discussions with the agency’s international partners about possible future joint ventures in space. Charles Bolden, who has met with senior Russian and European space officials, plans talks with Keiji Tachikawa, president of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Tachikawa also will join Bolden at Tokyo University on Nov. 17, when the NASA chief is scheduled to give a presentation on “U.S.
Pratt & Whitney is poised to start test runs of the first full-size geared turbofan (GTF) core for Bombardier and Mitsubishi’s new airliner projects, amid signs of growing interest in reengining studies for the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737.
Airbus Executive Vice President for Programs Tom Williams says the pressure on airlines to maximize performance has changed the rules on shake-down flights for new aircraft. Airline engineering teams are no longer taking several days or even weeks to check out a new airplane before approving it for revenue service. “Customers want very high reliability from day one,” he told Aviation Week’s A&D Programs Conference in Phoenix. Or even “minute one,” he added.
Nov. 21—FltOps.com Pilot Safety Symposium and Job Fair. New York LaGuardia Airport Marriott. Call +1 (800) 538-5627 or see www.fltops.com/jobs. Nov. 25—NAV09 Conference and Exhibition. Imperial College, London. Call +44 (207) 591-3130, fax +44 (207) 591-3131 or see www.rin.org.uk/ Nov. 25-27—University of Westminster Aviation Seminar: Air Transport Economics and Planning. London. Call +44 (207) 911-5000 ext. 3344, fax +44 (207) 911-5057 or see www.westminster.ac.uk/transport
Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg says the Ottawa-based operator has decided not to exercise an option to fund a Canadian payload on ViaSat-1, a high-speed Internet satellite to be orbited in early 2011, although it will continue studying other potential contributions, such as gateways. Telesat already is committed to providing the orbital slot for ViaSat-1 and operating the spacecraft, and its Anik F2 spacecraft provides Ka-band broadband capacity for WildBlue, which was acquired by ViaSat last month.
The U.K.’s Mantis medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) demonstrator has completed a series of test flights using the range at Woomera in Australia. The first flight was made Oct. 21, but was only revealed Nov. 13. Several mission-representative trials have since been carried out, marking the culmination of Phase 1 of the Mantis program, which has now been concluded.
An F-22 program engineer fired by Lockheed Martin in 1999 has filed a whistle-blower suit claiming that the company covered up problems with the Raptor’s stealth coatings by adding hundreds of pounds of additional material to reach the U.S. Air Force’s signature standards. The suit asks for government reimbursement of $50 million for each of the 187 aircraft built. Darrol Olsen claims the company falsely certified the coatings from September 1995 to June 1999, says the Associated Press.
The new Star Alliance addition, Continental Airlines, is relocating operations at Paris Charles De Gaulle and Barcelona El Prat airport terminals to improve connections with other alliance members. Last week, Continental—which offers a daily Boeing 767-200ER service between Barcelona and Newark (N.J.) Liberty International Airport—moved to El Prat’s new Terminal 1. This week, the carrier plans to move to Paris CDG’s renovated Terminal 1.
A state bank will tide Japan Airlines over with bridge loans to keep it running until it is permanently restructured financially and operationally. The government says it will arrange for the loan, although it does not say how much money will be extended. The short-term financing has been expected, since the government has previously said JAL is too big to fail. Legislation to force a cut in JAL pension payments also will be considered.
The International Astronautical Federation and the Mineseeker Foundation have teamed up to study standoff landmine-detection techniques with space and airborne systems, in the hope of launching a commercial service by mid-2013 that can detect individual mines. Set to begin in January, the study will look for ways to meld remote-sensing, telecommunication and geo-localization technology to help war-torn regions clear contaminated areas to speed redevelopment.
U.K. Royal Air Force crash investigators are in El Centro, Calif., examining the wreckage of an AW101 Merlin HC3 medium helicopter that crashed at a nearby airfield being used for night landing exercises. Three of the crew sustained injuries in the mishap, which occurred early on Nov. 9 at Holtville, Calif. The aircraft, which fell on its side after a hard landing, was one of four Merlins deployed to El Centro for Exercise Merlin Vortex, a four-month pre-Afghanistan-deployment training program that is due to be completed this month.
France has approved the purchase of a further batch of 60 Rafale fighters, bringing the number on order to 180. The aircraft will include items from the so-called Post-F3 standard, notably an active, electronically scanned array antenna and an improved self-protection suite. Delivery dates were not given, as they will depend on France’s success in placing Rafale on the export market.
U.S. experts doubt China can field a new fighter with F-22-like capabilities within 10 years, an event predicted by Gen. He Weirong, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force deputy chief. But while replicating the F-22 seems improbable, fielding an F-35-like aircraft (with larger signature and less aerodynamic performance) could be a threat to the U.S. if thousands of them are built, says a U.S. military pilot with F-22 experience. “Even a fourth-generation fighter, when pitted against 187 F-22s in large numbers, will eventually wear [the stealth fighters] down,” he says.
NetJets Aviation confirmed last week that it intends to furlough as many as 495 of its pilots in January after a memo on the cuts was released by the pilots union, NetJets Assn. of Shared Aircraft Pilots. Back in April, NetJets management and the union launched a “joint preventive measures campaign,” which gave pilots a menu of voluntary options to avoid furloughs, including early outs, long-term and personal leave, and reduced schedules.
With its modern glass cockpit, twin-engine safety and performance, and reduced noise and vibration, the Eurocopter UH-72A Lakota provides a chance for U.S. Army National Guard units to at last catch up with the advances made in light utility helicopters.
Boeing hopes to fly its ScanEagle Compressed Carriage (SECC) unmanned aircraft by December after dealing with technical problems that forced it to scrap plans for a summer flight. The compressed carriage version is an air-launched evolution of the Insitu ScanEagle program, which Boeing acquired. It also draws on the company’s experience gained during the Air Force-funded Air Dominator project and its precursor, the Persistent Munition Technology Demonstrator.
Iridium reported growth in subscribers and commercial revenue for the third quarter of 2009, offsetting continued weak subscriber equipment sales and a drop in net income due to the company’s acquisition on Sept. 29. The third quarter saw 16.1% growth in total subscribers and 23% in commercial services, which tallied $43.9 million in the third quarter versus $35.7 millionin the year-ago period. Net income dipped 11.2% to $15 million from $16.9 million in the third quarter of 2008, which was in part a reflection of acquisition-related expenses totaling $12.3 million.
With a U.S.-Japan open-skies deal on the horizon, airlines in the two countries already are maneuvering to take full advantage of a liberalized market. If an open-skies agreement is signed in December as expected, U.S. and Japanese carriers will be quick to apply for antitrust immunity to form closer joint ventures on Pacific routes. This has become a major factor as Japan Airlines decides whether it should stick with American Airlines and the Oneworld alliance, or join Delta Air Lines in SkyTeam.
India’s dilemma with trainers is not going away. Charges and counter-charges are being made over why government defense manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) has delivered only five of the 25 Advanced Jet Trainer Hawk Mk. 132s it promised by year-end.
