The FAA faces a leadership transition at a critical time for the agency. While there have been dramatic changes under Bush appointees Marion Blakey and Robert Sturgell, the next FAA administrator must confront unresolved issues ranging from fractured labor relations to aging facilities and uncertain funding.
But the House Armed Services Committee is still worried about potential cost overruns and schedule slips in the JSF program, as well as a projected shortfall in Navy and Air Force tactical aircraft. Those are just two of the issues the panel will monitor in the next two years, according to an oversight plan approved last week. Meanwhile, Pentagon acquisition chief John Young has received a Joint Estimate Team (JET) report on F-35 costs that has not been made public and isn’t likely to be.
Paris-based Euroconsult says that global government space expenditures hit a historic high of more than $62 billion in 2008 and predicts they will grow at a 4.5% per annum rate through 2012, despite the worldwide economic downturn. According to Euroconsult’s report Government Space Markets, Forecasts to 2017, this growth has been generated in part by an increase in outlays among established space powers, driven by security concerns.
Qatar Airways is looking for opportunities to speed fielding of its Boeing 787s. Delays in the program have pushed Qatar’s first deliveries out to 2013, but airline officials say they are looking for opportunities to pick up earlier delivery slots off the Boeing line.
The Air Force is planning to increase its annual purchase of F-35A Joint Strike Fighters in the upcoming Fiscal 2010 budget request. The service had planned to cap its buy of the single-engine stealthy fighters at 80 per year in 2018. But funds added to the program in the new budget will drive that annual rate up to 100, says Sue Payton, the service’s acquisition czar. “What has been typically happening is we have a decent ramp, and then we lose tails,” she says, because the money is taken away or diverted to something else.
Jan. 26-28—Canso Middle East Air Navigation Service Providers’ Conference: “Building ANSP Capability in the Middle East.” Le Meridien Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Call +31 (23) 568-5386, fax +31 (23) 568-5389 or see www.canso.org Feb. 11–15Society of British Aerospace Companies’ Aero India 2009. Yelahanka AB, Bangalore. See www.sbac.co.uk
China Eastern Airlines will cancel some international and domestic routes as part of a broad push to turn around its routinely loss-making business. Other measures include executive salary cuts and urging workers to take leave without pay. In all, 256 measures have been formulated, says board secretary Luo Zhuping. Restructuring of China Eastern has long been expected. The government is giving the airline 7 billion yuan ($1 billion) in new funding, but that money will be meaningless if the company continues to incinerate capital at its current rate.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is an outstanding pick as Person of the Year (AW&ST Jan. 5, p. 44). If allowed, he will proactively attack the problems plaguing the Defense Dept. including the fraud, waste and removal of incompetent civilian bureaucrats and some flag officers. Through Gates’s leadership, we can finally reduce the numbers of combatant deaths and injuries suffered each day.
The British government has given the go-ahead for development of a third runway at London Heathrow Airport, but mixed-mode operations have been rejected. A high-speed rail-link for the airport is also to be examined. The propect of a third runway at Heathrow has been a lightning rod for some environmental lobbyists, and the politically charged development is strongly opposed by many in the local Heathrow community. Both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat opposition parties claim they will abandon development of a third runway if elected.
CMC Electronics will develop its first integrated flight deck for business and regional jets and helicopters after receiving Canadian government funding for its five-year, C$149.4-million ($125-million) FronTier R&D program with Ottawa providing a repayable investment of C$52.3 million under its Strategic Aerospace & Defense Initiative. The cockpit is to be ready for aircraft entering service in 2013. Reduction of ownership costs is key, says Gerard Charland, vice president strategy and business development.
Despite record backlogs, aircraft manufacturers and their suppliers are issuing pink slips in order to reduce overhead to better position themselves should they be hit by a major industrial downturn in 2009. The bad news isn’t universal. Production workers, particularly those with specialized skills, are still being hired.
NASA is trying to figure out how to fit the Mars Science Laboratory’s (MSL) launch on an Atlas V into the heavy-lift rocket’s already crowded late 2011 launch schedule, and manage a possible conflict with another science mission. Development problems caused the ambitious MSL rover mission to miss its 2009 Mars launch opportunity and refocus on 2011. The Juno mission to Jupiter is on track for an August 2011 liftoff on an Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV), and MSL would go next, with launch windows in October and December of that year.
The government has temporarily eliminated an impact tax on commercial aircraft with fewer than 50 seats and an operational empty weight of less than 15 metric tons, starting Mar. 14. The nine-month hiatus follows a move last year to waive taxes on aircraft carrying more than 300 passengers and some business jets. Other aircraft categories, including regional jets, remain subject to the 20% tax.
In contracts valued at C$60 million ($43.3 million) Montreal-based simulator manufacturer CAE will design and manufacture five full flight simulators (FFS) and training devices for Continental, Air China and Shandong airlines. Continental has ordered Boeing 737NG equipment, including two CAE 7000-Series FFSs and an FTD slated for delivery this year at the carrier’s Houston training center. Air China and Shandong Airlines jointly ordered three CAE 7000-Series FFSs, two Boeing 737-800s and one Airbus A320.
As part of its fleet renewal plan, Gulf Air plans to field several slightly used Boeing 777-300ERs this year as part of a program that could see 13 new aircraft come into the fleet. The 777s would replace aging Airbus A340s. Gulf Air also is fielding new A320s this year. As part of its turnaround program—Gulf Air hopes to reach profitability next year—the carrier plans to unveil a new livery and add 2-3 destinations.
Lynn A. Dugle (see photo) has been promoted to president from vice president/deputy general manager of Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems , Garland, Tex. She succeeds Michael D. Keebaugh, who has retired.
Substantial procurements are in the pipeline following the Russian defense ministry’s completion of state trials on two helicopter types. A major upgrade program is also receiving the green light, as is initial work on a next-generation combat helicopter design.
The next-generation radar slated for use by the U.S. Air Force and NATO for ground surveillance missions remains on a “red” watch list of troubled programs as Air Force acquisition chief Sue Payton prepares to leave office. Also on this watch list is the B-2 radar modernization program managed by Northrop Grumman. “We think we solved some of [the] initial problems,” Payton tells Aviation Week. “We inserted the wrong O-ring, and then we were having coolant leak all over the [transmit and receive] modules” of the new B-2 radar system.
The House Armed Services Committee also plans to monitor cyberwarfare developments—and not a moment too soon, says Paul Kaminski, former Clinton-era defense acquisition chief and Obama team adviser. He says long development times are causing the Pentagon to “lose the recipe” for success and domination of key technology areas such as cyberspace. Cyberwarfare demands a development cycle of “less than weeks” instead the months and years now required to deflect network attacks.
The Swiss government has issued a new call for replacements for its F-5s. The document went to the Saab Gripen, Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon programs, the three contestants that underwent flight trials last year. The updated request for proposals asks for pricing for 22 aircraft and the number of aircraft Switzerland can get for 2.2 billion Swiss francs ($1.96 billion). The call for proposal reflects information from the flight trials.
The first of the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation missile-warning satellites has entered a critical test period at Lockheed Martin’s Sunnyvale, Calif., manufacturing facility. The Space-Based Infrared System geosynchronous (GEO-1) satellite is now undergoing the Baseline Integrated System Test (BIST), a series of trials designed to establish a baseline of satellite performance prior to thermal vacuum testing. A series of tests were added to this program after the Air Force found it cut too many corners on performance trials for the system prior to launch.
Dear Mr. Obama . . . Your administration faces major challenges, but rightfully acknowledges that job No. 1 is economic recovery. With that in mind, I’d like to raise an issue that impacts the economic success of the aerospace industry as well as our national security, and that we believe needs continued attention from policymakers: U.S. export control policies, laws and regulations.
Jerry Fish has been promoted to manager of the NetJets program from its Gulfstream G200 maintenance coordinator for Gulfstream Aerospace , Savannah, Ga.
