Michael Allouche of Israel Aerospace Industries’ Malat Div. is among the seven winners of the Catherine Fargeon Award from the Paris-based Unmanned Vehicle Systems (UVS) International , in recognition of his contributions to the work being undertaken in EUROCAE WG73. The award recognizes promotion of the insertion of unmanned aircraft into non-segregated airspace and/or the general promotion of the future use of unmanned aircraft.
Charles Pineo has been promoted to executive director/chief operating officer from vice president-business development/director of sales and marketing of The UND Aerospace Foundation of the Odegard School at the University of North Dakota . Associate Prof. Kimberly Kenville has become graduate program director for the Aviation Dept.
In 1962, between two election defeats, Richard Nixon wrote a memoir entitled Six Crises. It wouldn’t be a bad title for a book on the airline industry today.
An online business travel network has created interactive Travel Lounges to keep members abreast of who could be on the same flight, a tool that could prove useful to both travelers and crew. Members can sign up for free and use multiple tools geared toward business travelers from restaurant guides to entertainment forums. Pick the airline on which you’re traveling and add upcoming trips. If there are members going to the same destination, you will be sent an automatic e-mail alert. One click on “Sky View” displays who is in what city and attending what tradeshow.
F. Suzanne Jenniches, sector vice president and general manager of the Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Baltimore-based Government Systems Div., has received the Chair’s Award from the American Assn. of Engineering Societies for her “continued advancement of the engineering profession.’’ She is credited with leading the association’s transition to a member- and program-focused engineering organization.
The U.S. and partner nations have a smorgasbord of weapons they have aspirations to put in—or on—the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Few of these from the partner nations, if any, will make it into the Block 4 program that is now being hammered out, and at least some will eventually fall by the wayside completely.
Low-fare carriers Vueling and Clickair will become a stronger force in the Spanish air transport market after agreeing to a long-expected merger. The two airlines will comprise the third largest group in Spain after Iberia and Spanair. But they will become a particular threat to Spanair, as Iberia will hold a 45% stake in the new entity. The company will keep the Vueling brand and will continue to be based in Barcelona. Vueling will have a fleet of 45 Airbus A320s operating 300 daily flights on 112 routes.
Robert Crandall’s comment about airline labor rates being “far more generous than those for comparable skills in other industries” caused me to gag on my Hamburger Helper. I have a master’s degree, type ratings in four transport aircraft, flown for a major airline for 22 years and make less than a city bus driver. Crandall needs a grip on reality.
EgyptAir has become the 21st member of the Star Alliance. It is the second airline in Africa to join the alliance after South African Airways. Star’s 22nd member is expected to be Air India.
Boeing has teamed with a Canadian company to develop a commercial heavylift aircraft that combines a 300-ft.-long neutrally buoyant airship with four Chinook rotor systems to lift a 40-ton payload over 200 mi. Calgary-based SkyHook International is paying Boeing’s helicopter division in Philadelphia to design the JHL-40 and build two prototypes for Canadian and U.S. certification in 2012. Privately owned SkyHook will be the only customer, and plans to set up an operating division to offer heavy-lift services to the energy, forestry, mining and construction industries.
Boeing has set July 14 for the first flight of the 777 Freighter, the sixth model to the twin-engine series. Chief test pilot Suzanna Darcy Hennemann is expected to have the 766,000-lb. aircraft in the air for about 3 hr.
The International Federation of Air Line Pilots Assn. (Ifalpa) is urging the French ministry of justice to drop charges of involuntary manslaughter in the 2000 crash of Air France Concorde Flight 4950. Ifalpa last week labeled the charges as “fundamentally flawed,” arguing that to file such charges, prosecutors must demonstrate there was “intent to cause harm or a disregard for a high probability that harm would occur.” As there is no evidence of such intent in the accident investigation records, the charges are without foundation, concludes Ifalpa.
Ken Eiken has become vice president-sales and Tony Queenan vice president-speciality product sales for Houston-based Universal Avionics . Eiken was director of sales and service for Jeppesen, while Queenan was senior director of sales for Arinc Direct.
USN Lt. Cdr. (ret.) Jay Shower (see photo, p. 32) of El Cajon, Calif., has received the FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award to recognize his achievements as a career pilot in the Navy and civil aviation. The award recognizes pilots who have demonstrated professionalism, skill and aviation expertise by maintaining safe operations for 50 or more years. Shower’s name will be added to the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award Roll of Honor located at FAASafety.gov
Air Vice Marshal Mark Skidmore has become air commander Australia , succeeding Air Vice Marshal Mark Binskin, who has been promoted to air marshal and chief of the Air Force. Skidmore was air director general in the Joint Operations Command.
Joseph DeMartino, who has been vice president-programs for the GKN Aerospace Services Structures Corp. , Cromwell, Conn., also will be chief operating officer.
Kim Doering (see photo) has been named vice president-Huntsville (Ala.) operations for the United Space Alliance . She was deputy program manager for the space shuttle at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Boeing will take a pre-tax charge of around $250 million in the second quarter to cover further losses on its 737-based Wedgetail airborne early warning and control program for the Royal Australian Air Force. Blaming subsystem development issues on the electronic-warfare and ground-support systems, and the need for additional time for integration testing, Boeing says the first two aircraft will be delivered with interim capability next July, four months later than scheduled. All six aircraft with full capability will be delivered in 2010.
Will Simmons has been appointed director of customer management and business development for charters for Epps Aviation at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in Atlanta. He has been an Epps captain.
Lim Kim Choon, director general/CEO of Singapore’s CAAS, is among new members of the executive committee of the Brussels-based Civil Air Navigation Services Organization . Others are: Hank Krakowski, chief operating officer of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization; and Emanuil Radev, director general of ATSA of Bulgaria. Neil Planzer, Boeing vice president-air traffic management strategy, was elected an associate member.
As airlines clamor for more efficient aircraft, Airbus and Boeing are digging deep into their research and technology bases to see what new ideas may be nearing prime time. Strong candidates include active laminar flow control technologies and fuel cells. Both companies have already performed a series of laboratory and flight tests in these areas, and the coming years should see another burst of activity as engineers try to mature these technologies for commercial application.
Michael T. Strianese Title: President and CEO, L-3 Communications Age: 52 Birthplace: Brooklyn, N.Y. Education: Holds a degree in accounting from St. John’s University and is a certified public accountant. Experience:
Rolls-Royce is partnering with British Airways to test and demonstrate “credible and sustainable” alternative aviation fuels, and will issue a request for proposals for candidate fuels to oil companies and other development agencies this month. “We want to do a very serious, good scientific study, and we’re asking anyone with a credible aviation fuel to take part in this program,” says Ric Parker, director of research and technology.
Jim Sponnick (see photos) and Mark Wilkins have exchanged positions at the Denver-based United Launch Alliance . Sponnick was Atlas program vice president and has become Delta product line vice president, succeeding Wilkins.
