Marc Kaplan (see photo) has been appointed vice president-investor relations of the Raytheon Co. , Waltham, Mass. He was vice president-strategic planning for the defense and intelligence segment of Textron Inc. and had been its director of investor relations.
Digital Audio Radio Services (DARS) pioneer WorldSpace has filed for bankruptcy protection in an attempt to regroup so that it can begin offering DARS service in Europe next year. The Chapter 11 reorganization, which will include a 90-day $13-million “debtor-in possession” financing facility, will seek to raise funds to repay senior secured and convertible notes, either by restructuring the company or by winding up its assets. An initial $2-million payment was authorized on Oct. 22.
Iridium Satellite, a pioneer of the universal mobile phone, is introducing a model that is smaller, has a brighter display and features programmable international codes for dialing, improved short messaging services and e-mail capabilities. With their ability to access satellite transmissions anywhere, handsets have traditionally been bulkier and sport more pronounced antennas than consumer phones. The new handset is notably lighter, smaller, and has a retractable antenna supplied by Sarantel Ltd.
As NASA celebrates its 50th anniversary, I have mixed feelings as to whether I should rejoice in the accomplishments or lament in the missed potential. Since the Apollo program, NASA has suffered from congressional indifference and a lack of presidential leadership. While there have been tremendous successes, the U.S. now has a space program in search of a mission as NASA engineers struggled to overcome technical challenges on shoestring budgets.
Critics continue to opine that the U.S. airline industry needs to be re-regulated. In a sense, the formidable issues facing the industry have generated an odd sentimentality about resurrecting economic regulation of the airlines. Some critics believe that government needs to play a more active role in determining how airlines price and distribute their product, and even where, how often and what size airplanes they should fly.
Thales has achieved Level D certification of the first Sichuan Airlines Airbus A320 simulator in China. The full-flight simulator (FFS) will be installed at the airline’s new training center at Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. It is part of a more than $20-million contract awarded to Thales this year. The deal includes another FFS and a Thales formation system trainer (TFST) device. The two new Level D FFSs are equipped with Thales’s new eM2K, a six-degree-of-freedom electric motion system that uses hydraulic mass compensation and transmission.
The four-star commander of USAF space forces says he supports, and actually proposed, a pause to the Transformational Satellite (TSAT) in order to avoid missteps in the jam-proof communications spacecraft program that brought massive cost overruns and delays on other efforts.
Croatia Airlines has signed a firm contract with Airbus to acquire four A319s powered by CFM International CFM56-5 engines. The cabin is designed to seat 132 in two-class configuration, and the aircraft will be operated on the carrier’s European and domestic networks. Croatia’s flag carrier will add the four A319s to the eight A320-family aircraft already in operation.
NASA is expanding research into fiber-optic strain and deflection sensors to include potential applications in monitoring spacecraft heat shields and shape sensing in composite aircraft skins.
Business aviation accidents would be reduced with improved runway safety and crew resource management training, and an awareness of the risks of human fatigue, NTSB Chairman Mark V. Rosenker told the Bombardier Safety Standdown last week at Kansas City, Mo. For example, runway safety could be improved by the FAA requiring that Oct. 21 warnings of potential collisions/incursions be supplied directly to flight crews. In the cockpit, on-demand air taxi flight crews might be required to receive resource management training.
Sidney E. Anderson has been appointed chief financial officer of the Hawker Beechcraft Corp. , Wichita, Kan. He has been vice president-finance and treasury for Hamilton Sundstrand.
Speculation has begun on who would replace NASA Administrator Michael Griffin, should the next President desire a change at the space agency. Former astronaut Sally Ride’s name has come up on both candidates’ lists. But Chirinjeev Kathuria, an Indian-born, Chicago-based physician and technologist who made his fortune in medical equipment sales, is reportedly also on Obama’s shortlist.
Douglas Barrie (London), Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Robert Wall (Paris)
Leaders of Europe’s top aerospace companies are asking their governments to help them weather the economic downturn, and some are considering following Airbus’s lead in curtailing production goals.
While Pentagon officials won’t take credit for the trend, “It is clearly dangerous to be an Al Qaeda leader even in . . . the tribal areas of Pakistan,” says one senior official. “A number of them seem to have been taken out recently.” Although denying any increase in U.S. operations on the Afghan side of the border with Pakistan, he allows that “there’s a continuous effort to go after any and all destabilizing influences.” Moreover, the Pakistan military has stepped up operations in the past two months.
Southwest Airlines reported its first quarterly loss in more than 17 years and says it could cut capacity by as much as 6% in 2009—a dramatic change for the perennially growing carrier. The airline says its $120-million third-quarter loss—which followed 69 straight quarters of profits—is the result of more than $200 million in accounting-required mark-to-market adjustments of the future value of its fuel hedging portfolio, which was driven down by the oil price decline.
Chantal Dorange has become Madrid-based director of corporate communications for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Fakher Daghestani Dubai-based director of corporate communications for the Middle East, both for Boeing . Dorange was communications director for Spain and Central/Eastern Europe. She succeeds Charlie Miller, who is now vice president-international corporate communications. Daghestani was senior regional operations director with public relations agency ASDA’A.
The French government plans to streamline its defense program, with an eye toward meeting current and emerging threats, despite heavy criticism and the potential impact of the global financial crisis on future tax revenues.
The continuing global financial crisis will only sharpen congressional attention on missile defense programs that work, while increasingly ostracizing those that don’t, predicts a key congressional insider. Robert Soofer, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s professional staff on the Republican side, jokingly advises a Heritage Foundation audience: buy stock in the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System and sell your shares of the Airborne Laser.
Lockheed Martin was awarded a $39-million, U.S. Navy contract add-on for modifications to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that incorporates operational system changes. Much of the work will be done by Raytheon and BAE Systems, which specialize in advanced avionics, radars and electronic warfare efforts.
A document floating around the Pentagon, awaiting approval, contains the short list of bases under consideration as a home for the new, stealthy F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Pared down from 41 contenders, the finalists are: Eglin AFB, Fla.; Eielson AFB, Alaska; Hill AFB, Utah; Moody AFB, Ga.; Mountain Home AFB, Idaho; and Shaw AFB, S.C., according to Air Force officials, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Air Force Magazine. Just as Tyndall AFB, Fla., is the training base for the F-22, Eglin is being eyed as the training base for the F-35.
Aeroflot last week confirmed its interest in acquiring one-half ownership of CSA Czech Airlines, now fully owned by the Czech Republic. The official tender is to be made public in November, with completion of the sale expected in first quarter 2009. Aeroflot is negotiating with a local partner to gain control of ownership, as non-residents of the European Union cannot own more than half of a European airline, according to the Moscow-based carrier.
EADS made a compelling case for its U.S. Air Force tanker offering and won with “extra points” with its KC-45 solution based on a larger aircraft. Boeing addressed the letter of the contract and provided a platform to meet those needs. A new request for proposals will see Boeing offer a 777-based aircraft, but this would ignore and invalidate the original requirements. Splitting the award and having two tankers, each optimized for different missions, makes the most sense but has inherent inefficiencies.
In the next two months, JetBlue Airways and Cape Air plan to enlist a second group of airline-career minded students into the year-old “Gateway” program, which provides structured training and real-time experience that could lead to a JetBlue job interview. The program is a partnership between JetBlue, Cape Air, the University of North Dakota (UND) and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU). So far, 41 pilots from UND and ERAU have been accepted into Gateway.
Oil prices are down about 50% since July, and analysts are starting to talk about the U.S. airline industry returning to profitability next year. But demand for air travel is weakening, and the global financial crisis has made it much more difficult to secure financing to buy new jets. These and other divergent indicators are making it difficult to gauge how hard Boeing Co., Airbus and their suppliers will be impacted by the deepening economic downturn.
