Kevin J. Gould (see photos) has been promoted to CEO from vice president-operations and John Becker to president from vice president-engineering for Piper Aircraft Inc. , Vero Beach, Fla. Gould and Becker succeed James K. Bass, who has resigned from both positions.
The “Help Wanted” article (AW&ST Aug. 24/31, p. 58) points out problems not only with government procurement and contracting, but with a majority of small- and medium-sized companies. Qualified purchasing and contracting agents are in short supply when it comes to handling technical contracts.
Sikorsky Aerospace Services has delivered an upgraded version of the Helotrac RL maintenance management system software for the U.S. Army’s UH-72A Lakota light utility helicopter.
Despite industry pleas, the British Defense Ministry is continuing to whittle away at research and technology funding. According to Quentin Davies, minister for defense equipment and support, the “science innovation and technology budget” will amount to £439 million ($732 million) in 2010-11. This compares with £544 million in 2009-10 when calculated on the same basis, he told Parliament recently.
Cheryl L. Janey (see photo) has been appointed vice president-operations for the Civil Systems Div. of the Northrop Grumman Corp. ’s Information Systems Sector, Reston, Va. She was vice president-civil programs for the Harris Corp.
Delta TechOps has forged a three-year component maintenance contract with Taiwan’s EVA Airways and its subsidiary UNI Air via a partnership with Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corp. It provides maintenance for both EVA’s Boeing 747 and UNI’s MD-90 aircraft. Evergreen was familiar with TechOps, partly because it has maintained Delta Air Lines’ CF6-80C2B8F engines since 2007. This is the first 747 component maintenance deal Delta has secured since its merger with Northwest, which inherently expanded TechOps’ maintenance capabilities and global footprint.
USAF Lt. Gen. William L. Shelton has been appointed chief of warfighting integration/chief information officer in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force at the Pentagon. He was commander of the Fourteenth Air Force, Air Forces Strategic-Space, Air Force Space Command/commander of the Joint Functional Component Command for Space, U.S. Strategic Command, Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Lt. Gen. Daniel J. Darnell has been named deputy commander, U.S. Pacific Command, Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii.
Frankfurt airport operator Fraport is facing serious setbacks to its expansion plans, as night flights could soon be banned and the traffic downturn raises doubts over ambitious infrastructure projects.
The hard times besetting business aviation claimed two more victims recently. Embraer shuttered—temporarily, it says—its new, $10-million Executive Jet Services facility at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Conn. The 47,700-sq.-ft. center opened a year ago and was one of three new Embraer-owned centers in the U.S. supporting its business jet fleet. The company states that it hopes to reopen the facility sometime next year.
The Air Transport Assn. (ATA), which represents leading U.S. airlines, says it “remains in close contact” with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Transportation Dept. about actions the federal government is taking to combat the spread of the 2009 H1N1 influenza. ATA President James C.
The Pentagon appears to be embracing the use of fixed-price development contracts, raising questions among some industry executives about how much risk they will have to assume as they compete for Defense Dept. business.
Sustainable Oils has received a Defense Dept. contract to supply 40,000 gal. of renewable biojet fuel derived from camelina for certification testing by the U.S. Navy. The contract includes an option for a further 150,000 gal. Additonal biofuel contracts are pending from the Pentagon.
Dan Link (see photo) has been named vice president/general manager of Crane Aerospace and Electronics Burbank, Calif., facility. He served on the operational excellence team at the parent Crane Co. office in Stamford, Conn.
Not long ago China had no business aviation, but today there are more than 70 turbine-powered business aircraft based there. The fleet will further increase next year when Cessna delivers the three Citation Sovereigns ordered this month by the Civil Aviation Administration of China for flight inspection service. These will join the six Citation XLs, a Citation X and Citation VI already conducting airways calibration at all the country’s airports, including Hong Kong and Macau. In all, there are more than 20 Citations operating in China.
Public funding may prove crucial as the satellite sector strives to maintain growth in the face of the continuing economic crisis. Speakers at a Euroconsult conference here last week forecast that satellite sales will peak in 2011 and begin tailing off in 2012-13, although some manufacturers think the beginning of the down cycle could be a bit further out. Euroconsult said the growth cycle in fixed satellite service (FSS) demand peaked last year, posting a 9% jump over the previous year, but is likely to soften starting next year.
International Space Station crewmembers are preparing to grapple Japan’s first H-II Transfer Vehicle on Sept. 17, following launch of the unmanned cargo vehicle on the first try Sept. 10. A successful HTV mission is crucial not only for Japan, but also for the international space community that will make full use of its ISS resupply capability after NASA retires its space shuttle fleet.
Richard Deakin has been appointed chairman and Geoffroy de Ponteves chief financial officer of France-based ThalesRaytheonSystems (TRS). Deakin remains senior vice president of Thales’s Air Systems Div. De Ponteves was an executive in international business development and acquisition for the Thales Group. He succeeds Louis P. Laroche, who is now TRS’s chief operating officer for the U.S.
Richard K. Sylvester has been appointed vice president-acquisition policy for the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Assn. He was deputy director of acquisition management in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics at the Pentagon.
Safran’s purchase of the 81% share of General Electric’s Homeland Protection unit is complete, following the standard U.S. review regarding security concerns. The deal, announced in April, leaves GE as a minority partner in the joint venture with one seat on the board of directors. The transaction is part of a broader push by the French aerospace and defense company to further increase revenues from its already healthy security operations. Management has indicated that more acquisitions are possible.
In a major reshuffle of its leadership, Honeywell has announced that Tim Mahoney, former Honeywell Aerospace chief technology officer, has been named president and chief executive, replacing Rob Gillette, who is leaving to become chief executive of First Solar, a manufacturer of solar modules based in Tempe, Ariz. Mahoney was president of Honeywell’s Air Transport and Regional business unit. Kevin Moriarty has been named vice president and chief financial officer for Honeywell Aerospace, succeeding Bob Hau who will become CFO at Lennox International.
