Citing “relentless” decreases in air transport demand, Japan Airlines (JAL) predicts deepening losses for its 2008 fiscal year, ended Mar. 31, while All Nippon Airways (ANA) is using asset sales to stem its red ink. The JAL Group cites the “volatility of the economy” in the last quarter as reason to revise downward its forecast issued Feb. 6, when revenues of ¥1.98 trillion ($20.5 billion) were predicted. It now expects ¥1.95 trillion, compared to ¥2.23 trillion for its fiscal 2007.
France has placed a €220-million ($293-million) order for five more EC725 helicopters to ensure transport, search and rescue, and medevac capacity for Afghanistan and other overseas theaters. The order is part of a €2.4-billion stimulus package to underpin activity in the aerospace and defense industry. The EC725s, to be delivered from late 2010 to 2012, will complement 14 Caracals in service, three of which are in Afghanistan.
Lockheed Martin is to begin building MC-130J combat tankers for USAF Special Operations Command (SOC) after receiving a $15.8-million contract for configuration changes to six production-standard KC-130Js. MC changes, including a refueling receptacle, will be incorporated into KC-130J tanker/transports. The first MC-130J will be delivered in 2010 to begin replacing MC-130Es.
Boeing expects to receive the last major fuselage subassemblies for the first 747-8 in early May, clearing the way for final body join of the stretched freighter version at the end of June.
Steps already undertaken by the U.S. military and the world’s spacecraft operators probably will be sufficient to manage the growing problem of space debris. But that could change if there are more debris-producing events like the January 2007 Chinese antisatellite weapon test that shattered a defunct weather satellite and left a cloud of debris in orbit.
The Apr. 20 issue (pp. 8, 18 and 70) really underlines the “Collision Course” (AW&ST Apr. 6, p. 23) of competing strategies aimed at “controlling” global weather by attempting to regulate various gases and particulates.
The U.K., faced with continuing operational demand on its rotary fleets, is considering a re-engine program for all of its Lynx Mk9 helicopters, as well as postponing the type’s withdrawal from service.
Rob Maruster has been promoted to chief operating officer from senior vice president-airports and operational planning of JetBlue Airways , effective June 1. The current president/COO, Russ Chew, will become senior adviser, while CEO Dave Barger will also be president.
Dan Gibson (see photos) and Jim Oschmann have become vice presidents/general managers of the Systems Engineering Solutions and Antenna & Video Technologies units, respectively, of the Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. , Boulder, Colo. Gibson was director of his unit, while Oschmann was director of program execution for the Advanced Technologies and Products unit.
A Lockheed Martin F-35A airframe, AG-1, was delivered to the U.K. last week for structural testing at BAE Systems’ site at Brough, England. Testing will begin a 15-month evaluation period at major subcontractor BAE’s Structural and Dynamic Test Facility in July. The structural test work will examine the strength of the airframe, with the results feeding into plans for the aircraft’s flight envelope expansion. The airframe will be returned to the U.S. following the trials. Six static test rigs are involved in the system design and development phase of the F-35 program.
Jennifer Michels (Washington), Melanie Reffes (Montreal)
The 2003 epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) may have taught airlines they need a standard health emergency plan in place, but the swine flu outbreak is teaching them something new: They need consolidated, credible, country-by-country information.
Honda Aircraft has pushed back first delivery of its HondaJet by a year, saying “global aerospace industry business challenges” have delayed critical components for the conforming aircraft to be produced for FAA certification testing. First flight of the light business jet has been reset for January 2010, and first customer delivery delayed to fourth quarter 2011 from late 2010.
A new Chinese satellite launched Apr. 22 appears to be a dual-use bird with both civil and military applications. Xinhua news service says Yaogan VI is one of a series used for “scientific experiments, land resource surveys, crop yield estimates and disaster prevention and reduction.” Western analysts say the satellite may be intended primarily for military applications. Some in the Yaogan series have carried synthetic aperture radars, while others have had optical-imaging payloads.
There are increasing signs that as Airbus and Boeing define their next-generation short-to-medium-haul aircraft, they may bring to market quite different aircraft, even if both opt for an open-rotor engine design. Airbus is primarily interested in a rear-fuselage installation, driving engine makers to examine pusher open-rotor designs, whereas Boeing prefers wing-mounting, which necessitates a puller configuration, according to industry officials.
May 12-14—EBACE. Geneva. June 15-21—Paris air show. Sept. 23-24—MRO Europe. Hamburg, Germany. Nov. 2-4—A&D Programs. Phoenix. Dec. 2-3—A&D Finance. New York. Dec. 8-10—MRO Asia. Hong Kong. June 4—Business Aviation Security. Rosslyn, Va. June 16—Demonstrating the Value of Corporate Aircraft. New York.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. says it has enough information to start the decision-making process on an antitrust immunity application by Oneworld alliance carriers. This triggers a six-month deadline for a final ruling. Five airlines want permission to cooperate more closely on certain routes, and three—American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia—also want to form a joint venture to pool resources on transatlantic routes.
Northrop Grumman’s Bat line of small unmanned air systems is the UAS product line recently acquired from Swift Engineering, where it was known as KillerBee. Bat systems will have wingspans of 6.5 to 33.2 ft. Swift will continue to work on design refinement, flight test support and manufacturing. Product development will be managed by NorGrum’s Aerospace Systems.
If there is a cyberattack on the U.S., network specialists wouldn’t know where it came from, if it were really an attack or how to contain it. If the U.S. wanted to launch a cyberattack, there would be no policy to shape it, no laws to control it, and very little idea of its second- and third-order effects. That’s the opinion of group of high-level business, legal, scientific and military specialists who assembled a National Research Council paper “Technology, Policy, Law and Ethics Regarding U.S.
Blake Larson (see photos) has been named senior vice president of Minneapolis-based Alliant Techsystems/ president of ATK Space Systems and Mike Kahn Space Systems executive vice president, succeeding Larson. Kahn was executive vice president/general manager of ATK Launch Systems.
Seven astronauts are set to lift off next week on the final space shuttle flight to the Hubble Space Telescope, a mission delayed six months by a fortuitous failure on the orbiting observatory.
Articles in the Nov. 10, 2008, and Feb. 2 issues incorrectly listed the number of space shuttle flights at those points. STS‑119 was the 125th shuttle mission, and STS-126 was the 124th. The upcoming STS-125 will be the 126th shuttle flight.
Graham Warwick (Washington), Darren Shannon (London)
The unprecedented downturn in business aviation is starting to claim major casualties, but there are signs the market may be stabilizing after a frenzy of delivery defaults and order cancellations driven by the global economic crisis.
