As passenger and freight activities plummet and borrowing costs have increased dramatically in recent months, the business outlook for airports is quickly deteriorating. And industry officials suspect there is more bad news ahead. The developments in the last few months have seen airports shift from being hot properties in which banks clamored to invest to authorities struggling to find money for even small infrastructure efforts.
Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major, the Indian air force’s chief of the air staff, says a few introduction-into-service “problems” with the latest batch of the BAE Systems Hawk advanced jet trainer have been resolved. Availability problems arose from spares issues. Negotiations for procurement of a further batch of 57 Hawks, including 17 for the navy, are taking longer than expected to conclude.
Things have started to come together for the Royal Air Force’s Sentinel R Mk 1 airborne ground surveillance aircraft. Having completed their first operational deployment in support of combat forces recently, Raytheon on Feb. 10 handed over the first and last of the Airborne Standoff Radar aircraft.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy last week used a tour of the Middle East to try and generate interest in exports for the Dassault Rafale fighter. In Kuwait, Sarkozy said a deal for the sale of 14-28 Rafales is in the works and could be completed before year-end. Kuwait once was a Mirage F1 customer, but now operates Boeing F/A-18s. Rafale was also on the agenda during Sarkozy’s stop in Oman. Rafale is the only Western-built, in-production fighter without an export order.
House lawmakers are rushing to finish work on their version of the FAA reauthorization bill, but they concede their urgency could be in vain if the Senate drags its heels as it did last year. The House plans to pass the FAA bill before the end of March, when an authorization extension expires. The House passed the same bill in the previous session, but it lapsed in the Senate. Aviation subcommittee Chairman Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) notes the reauthorization effort is two years behind “because of inaction by the Senate.” Rep.
French armed forces have taken official delivery of the SIDM interim medium-altitude UAV, nearly three years after its scheduled introduction into service. The French have deployed the SIDM to Afghanistan, where EADS will provide logistics support.
As an old Navy guy once exposed to the intricacies of strategic planning, I am put off by the trend that has crept into military strategic planning that places technical feasibility on the forefront of strategic planning and not threats.
South Korea is laying the ground-work for a more independent combat aircraft capability by launching a program for a domestically developed air-combat model and associated simulators.
As commander-in-chief, you face new strategic and operational priorities, urgent requirements and the need to balance capabilities for irregular and conventional wars. Your decisions on force structure, funding and program priorities will determine our ability to defeat enemies, support allies and save American lives. Timing is critical, as are affordability and credibility. Separate from strategic choices on Iraq and Afghanistan, you face three immediate sets of decisions:
Boeing expects a ruling this year on the long-running legal battle over the cancellation of the U.S. Navy’s A-12 stealthy attack aircraft. The aircraft maker is party to a legal battle against a 2007 ruling by the U.S. Court of Claims that sided with the government over the 1991 cancellation of the program. The Pentagon, under then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, canceled the A-12 for cause after finding the program was behind schedule and over cost.
Thales Alenia Space’s Italian unit expects to sign a contract by the end of the first quarter to supply pressurized cargo modules and other elements to Orbital Sciences Corp. for NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. OSC was selected along with SpaceX in December to deliver cargo to the International Space Station after the U.S. agency’s contract to use Russian Progress vehicles expires in 2011.
A last-of-its-kind liftoff delivered the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s NOAA-N Prime polar-orbiting weather satellite to space Feb. 6 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Launch of the 3,130-lb. Lockheed Martin spacecraft on a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320-10C from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex-2W came at 2:22 a.m. PDT.
European airlines are facing unexpectedly high regulatory hurdles in their efforts to consolidate, as the European Commission (EC) seeks to push through major concessions to keep competition intact.
Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) will provide Bombardier Aerospace with materials and structural testing as well as certification work for the Learjet 85 business jet under development. John Tomblin, NIAR executive director, says the institute will be responsible for testing and evaluating composite materials leading to FAA certification of full-scale components using the Composites and Advanced Materials Laboratory that specializes in developing low-cost manufacturing processes using thermal, mechanical and analyses tools.
A slowdown in the narrow-body jet segment and signs of a collapse in the high-margin business aircraft market are reverberating across the aerospace industry. But senior executives at Rolls-Royce plc are confident the London-based company can continue to grow revenues in 2009 and maintain profits at last year’s level. They believe a projected 18% increase in defense revenues, to more than £2 billion ($2.84 billion), will help offset weaker earnings from civil aircraft engines.
Civilian and military controllers are checking out four spacecraft after the first Ariane 5 mission of the year, on Feb. 12. Liftoff of the Ariane 5 ECA from the European launch site near Kourou, French Guiana, came when the launch window opened at 7:09 p.m. local time. The big rocket was clearly visible well into its ascent in the dark sky. On board were the SES New Skies NSS-9, Eutelsat’s Hot Bird 10 and the twin French Spirale optical early warning microsatellites. All four satellites deployed nominally over the ensuing 33 min. The New Skies NSS-9 weighed 2,230 kg.
With two Superjet 100 regional jet prototypes in flight trials and two more undergoing final assembly, Sukhoi says it has joined the fuselage of the first customer aircraft in preparation for delivery to Aeroflot this year. The two remaining flight test aircraft are now being fitted with systems. They should join the test program this year. Flight trials now have reached more than 300 hr. on more than 90 flights.
The French government and Sagem have carried out the first test firing of a 125-kg. (275-lb.) version of the AASM bomb, from a Mirage 2000N aircraft at the defense ministry’s Biscarosse test range. The drop, from high altitude against a target “several tens of kilometers away,” involved only INS-guidance and met accuracy projections, according to Sagem. The weapon marries the AASM guidance kit (combining inertial navigation and GPS and a range augmentation system) with a Mk. 81 bomb body. The air force has already operationally deployed the 250-kg. version.
In-the-red airline Merpati and its parent, the Indonesian government, are asking Xian Aircraft of China to cut the price and quantity of 15 MA-60 turboprop airliners that the carrier ordered in 2006. They are also seeking more favorable guarantees from the supplier, including a commitment to buy back the aircraft. Deliveries of Merpati’s MA-60s were suspended after the first two units arrived, because the airline failed to make payments.
ICON Aircraft, a start-up manufacturer of light sport aircraft based in Los Angeles, has completed initial flight-testing of its prototype amphibious ICON A5 airplane. The two-seat aircraft, which has an estimated base price of $139,000, flew 27 flights and is scheduled to enter a second phase of testing aimed at refining aerodynamic and handling qualities that will continue until the end of this year, says Kirk Hawkins, company CEO. The A5’s airframe incorporates folding wings, an emergency parachute system and “automotive-style cockpit,” according to Hawkins.
Australian regulators have added four airlines to the list of carriers accused of cargo price-fixing. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says Air France, KLM, Martinair and Cargolux illegally imposed freight fuel charges between 2003 and 2006. Fines have been agreed at a combined A$6 million ($3.96 million) for Air France and KLM, and A$5 million each for Martinair and Cargolux. However, the final penalties will be determined by the court. A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 16.
NASA managers are sharpening their pencils to come up with a plan for spending the $1 billion in new Fiscal 2009 money the agency will get under the compromise economic stimulus package Obama is expected to sign this week. While lower than the $1.3 billion in the Senate-passed version, officials believe they can generate roughly 7,000 “new or preserved” jobs with the aeronautics, Earth science and cross-agency spending contained in the bill.
Lockheed Martin delivered the second of three test C-5Ms, complete with a new propulsion system, to Dover AFB, Del., on Feb. 9. The C-5M Super Galaxy is expected to have higher reliability than the C-5As and Bs now in service, some of which are only available for missions 50% of the time. The U.S. Air Force plans on modifying all of the aircraft by 2016.
K-Max manufacturer Kaman Aerospace’s efforts to rebuild its helicopter business are among the issues spotlighted in a special report on the challenges and opportunities facing the rotorcraft industry on the eve of its annual showcase, the Heli-Expo show in Anaheim, Calif., Feb. 22-24 (see p. 44). Randy Simonneau photo.
