As Etihad continues with its fleet expansion, the Abu Dhabi-based carrier says operations should increase 15% to top 7 million passengers with revenue reaching $3 billion, up from $2.5 billion last year. Etihad has taken delivery of three new aircraft this year and eight more are to arrive as the airline increases its fleet to 52 units by year-end. Another Airbus A320 is due this month, followed by an A340-600 in August and another in September. One more A320 is due in October, November and December each.
Their production slowed, workforces slashed, products and reputations besmirched, and giddy forecasts turned into fiction, the battered and bruised makers of business aircraft are beginning to express cautious optimism that the current market downturn may be changing direction.
Peter Koch, who has been managing director of Swiss European Air Lines, has been appointed CEO of Swiss PrivateAviation . He will be succeeded by Andreas Thurnheer.
Lockheed Martin and Sensis have won competitive contracts to develop prototypes of USAF’s next-generation long-range radar, which will replace the TPS-75 transportable air surveillance radars now deployed. Lockheed Martin has been awarded $24.9 million and Sensis $21.9 million for the 20-month technical development phase of the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar program. After each builds a prototype mobile phased-array radar, the two teams will compete for a four-year development contract.
The expert panel set up to review human spaceflight options for the Obama administration will be working within the new Fiscal 2010 budget request, which trims more than $3.1 billion from exploration accounts after 2011. Former Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine said May 8 the panel he is to chair will start with an examination of the Ares I/Orion crew vehicles now in development to replace the shuttle after it is retired in 2010, and probably won’t generate many different options. “So there’ll probably be a couple of options,” he says.
Beijing is shoveling yet more money into loss-making China Eastern Airlines, with a 2-billion-yuan ($294-million) allocation to the carrier’s parent company. The government had previously given 7 billion yuan to the airline, which says it needs the latest wad of money to reduce its financial strain. The total allocated is less than the 13.9 billion yuan that China Eastern lost last year, although trading conditions may be better this year.
Paul Gregory (see photos) has been named vice president-investor relations, Gaston Kent vice president-finance and Bernard McVey vice president/chief information officer of the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. Gregory was vice president/chief financial officer of the company’s then-Space Technology Sector. He succeeds Kent. McVey was vice president/chief financial officer for then-Information Technology Sector.
Sagem says the French army has field tested a new tactical terminal intended to allow ground troops and forward observers to directly receive and transmit images acquired by sensors on unmanned aerial vehicles. The unit, known as ERS-RVT (for End Reception Station-Remote Video Terminal), comprises a terminal and man-portable transmitter/receiver designed to supply real-time high-resolution displays of geo-referenced images and digital maps. It also provides feedback from previous missions, along with threat assessments.
Hit by “uniquely harsh business conditions” spilling over from fiscal 2008, JAL Group expects its ordinary loss to reach ¥25.9 billion ($269 million) in fiscal 2009, which began Apr. 1. The group says it expects international travel to decline from last year’s levels due to “unremitting sluggishness in demand” and a decrease in yield as fuel surcharges fall along with the price of fuel. Operating revenue is expected to drop ¥203.1 billion from 2008’s level, which, at ¥1.95 trillion, was 12.5% lower than for 2007.
Steven Barnoske (see photo), formerly director of tactical missile programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, has been named president of Meads International , Orlando, Fla. He succeeds Jim Cravens, who is retiring from Lockheed Martin.
Amy Butler (Washington), Michael Bruno (Washington)
The U.S. is increasingly pushing Israel away from an Arrow 3 system for its own missile defense against Iran, and Washington is proposing a land-based version of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System’s Standard Missile-3 for the Middle East ally instead. Without U.S. funding, it will be difficult to continue the Israel Aerospace Industries and Boeing Arrow 3, which is what Israeli officials had preferred.
The sustained drop in traffic and yields is driving Iberia to implement further restructuring measures—and quickly, with the airline signaling it is ready to take further steps should the declines accelerate. The severe downturn has also further slowed merger talks between British Airways and Iberia. The two airlines still have not formally set the equity stake each will receive in the joint company or unveiled planned cost savings from the combination.
Eurocopter is introducing a new version of the EC145 equipped with an interior that approximates business jet comfort levels. The interior, dubbed Stylence, features technologies to dampen noise along with anodyzed metal and carbon fiber inserts, visible aluminum structures, leather seats and other equipment to “provide fully equipped inflight offices,” says Eurocopter.
The market downturn has delivered an unexpected benefit to Dassault Falcon Jet, according to President/CEO John Rosanvallon. It is helping the company reduce a bottleneck in deliveries at its completion facility in Little Rock, Ark. The jam, which has particularly affected the 7X, was due mostly to the FAA’s imposition of new data validation criteria that require many more burn tests on various combinations of materials. But engineering and production ramp-up issues have also been factors.
Tommy Brazie, vice president/director of space control and missile defense for ITT Space Systems, Rochester, N.Y., has been inducted into the Purdue University Reserve Officer Training Corps Hall of Fame . He held leadership positions in U.S. Air Force space acquisition and operations at the National Reconnaissance Office and Space and Missiles Center. Brazie was the space architect for NRO programs, as well as ground architect for another set of NRO satellite programs.
Former astronaut and retired USAF Gen. Thomas Stafford has received the Wiley Post Spirit Award from the Oklahoma City-based Wiley Post Commission, in recognition of his achievements. Also, local aviation pioneer Otto Hess has won the first Oklahoma Aviation Lifetime Achievement Award. Stafford has flown six rendezvouses in space, logged 507 hr. in spaceflight and flown 127 types of aircraft. The 90-year-old Hess is a retired pilot and owner of two aviation businesses.
The British Defense Ministry and BAE Systems have quietly shelved efforts to negotiate a long-term partnering agreement, which was a central element of the 2005 Defense Industrial Strategy’s approach to sustaining the aerospace sector. The discussions are believed to have ended two months ago. Instead the ministry says it “has decided to take a broader perspective of the sector in recognition of the changing industrial and economic climate. A sector-wide strategy and implementation plan is being developed to set the context for any future long-term arrangements.
The Qantas group’s low-fare affiliate, Jetstar, looks set to benefit from the current traffic downturn by profitably gaining market share over legacy competitors, including Qantas Airways.
On June 3, Kuwait startup Wataniya Airways plans to inaugurate five-times-weekly service to Damascus, Syria, with an Airbus A320 expected to be delivered this week. The addition is part of a network expansion that includes a new route to Amman, Jordan, and added frequencies to Beirut and Cairo. At the same time, Wataniya’s parent company, Kuwait National Airways (KNA), reported a loss of 1.7 million Kuwait dinars ($5.9 million), which was entirely due to the launch of the carrier and a new terminal at Kuwait International Airport.
Airbus has confirmed earlier Rolls-Royce reports that the thrust ratings for the TrentXWB engines for the A350 twin-widebody have increased as a result of a spike in the airliner’s weight. The thrust ratings have increased 1,000 lb. across the A350 family to 75,000 lb. for the -800, 84,000 lb. for the -900 and 93,000 lb. for the -1000.
Increasing demand for persistent surveillance is driving renewed interest in airships, with their use by U.S. forces in Afghanistan likely in the near term and research underway to exploit their advantages and overcome the disadvantages in the longer term.
Lilian Brayle (see photo) has been appointed vice president-customer services for Messier-Dowty International , Velizy, France. He was managing director of Turbomeca Australasia.
Daniel P. Raymer (Playa del Rey, Calif.), President, Conceptual Research Corp. (Playa del Rey, Calif.)
It is not correct to call the Korean T-50 Golden Eagle a “highly modified derivative of Lockheed’s F-16” (AW&ST May 4, p. 8). I was privileged to play a small role in its development, conducting an extensive two-day design review just prior to configuration freeze, and saw firsthand the excellent and original work done by the T-50 team.
Edward Petkus has been named vice president-product development and engineering for the Hawker Beechcraft Corp. , Wichita, Kan. He has been acting vice president-engineering.
