Commercial aerospace stocks have taken a battering in recent months as investors fret that the financial woes of U.S. airlines could ultimately trigger a steep drop in demand for new aircraft. But B/E Aerospace, the world’s leading supplier of aircraft seats and other cabin interior products, isn’t seeing signs of a slowdown. The Florida company, which has a strong presence in both the new aircraft and aftermarket segments, reports that first-quarter orders continued to outpace deliveries, pushing its backlog to a record $2.3 billion amid a 51% earnings gain.
High fuel prices and an inability to raise additional capital has forced U.S. all-business-class carrier Eos to cease operations and into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. That’s a fate U.K. rival Silverjet has been able to avoid thanks to a $25-million infusion from an unnamed investor from the United Arab Emirates; the white knight has promised another $75 million.
A Brazilian investment fund has signaled it may bid for Alitalia, just as Italian banks indicate readiness to support an “Italian” team to try to save the struggling carrier. Meanwhile, the airline has lost a legal battle to retain control of Volare. A €1-billion ($1.56-billion) legal battle continues between the Milan airport authority and the airline.
Bulgaria has signed on to the European Defense Agency’s effort to streamline defense procurement in Europe. The voluntary regime is meant to open most defense procurements to competition within the subscriber states, knocking down walls that historically protected national industries. The nearly two-year-old effort has seen some results; more than 260 competitions have been run under the liberalized terms, according to EDA.
Predator UAV and A160 rotorcraft designer Abe Karem has unveiled his concept for a 110-120-seat civil tiltrotor, the TR53 AeroTrain. The design uses Karem’s patented optimum-speed tiltrotor technology and is similar in size to the demonstrator proposed for the U.S. Army-led Joint Heavy Lift program. Powered by two Rolls-Royce AE1107Cs, the TR53 would take off vertically at 120,000 lb. gross weight, and cruise at Mach 0.6 at 35,000-41,000 ft. over 200-1,000-n.m. stage lengths.
Lockheed Martin has completed the Baseline Integrated System Test phase on its first Space-Based Infrared System satellite bound for geosynchronous orbit in a late 2009 launch. This testing sets a baseline for performance of the ballistic missile early warning system that will be used for upcoming environmental testing. Next up is integration of the satellite’s solar arrays, deployable light shade and thermal blanks, and preparation for acoustic and pyroshock testing.
International Space Station Expedition 17 will leave its Soyuz lifeboat docked where it is, while a Russian State Commission investigates why the two previous Soyuz vehicles malfunctioned on reentry. Other ISS operations could be affected as well.
Citing an “urgent need,” Pentagon acquisition czar John Young says the Defense Dept. will need to modernize its fleet of HC-130 and MC-130 aircraft. He instructs the Air Force to pull together an acquisition strategy for 68 aircraft by December. The HC-130 is used by Air Force Special Operations Command to refuel its helicopters; the MC-130 is used to covertly insert and retrieve forces. And, there’s already money in the Pentagon’s tight budget for the program. Young has authorized $75.2 million for Fiscal 2008 advance procurement of six of the specialized HC-MC-130Js.
Eight Smiths Detection Advanced Threat Identification X-ray Systems (Atix) have been installed at Albuquerque (N.M.) International Airport. The system, already in use in the U.K., captures multiple views of carry-on baggage in a single sweep in normal throughput time, increasing an operator’s ability to detect potential threats, according to Smiths Detection.
Paul Van den Eynden has been appointed senior manager for airport safety and operations in the Montreal office of Airports Council International . He was director of safety management systems for the Calgary (Alberta) Airport Authority.
George K. Muellner, who is president of Advanced Systems within Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, becomes president on May 15 of the Reston, Va.-based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), for the next year. He will be succeeded next year by AIAA President-elect David W. Thompson of the Orbital Sciences Corp. Other officers will be: vice president-elect for finance, A. Tom Smith of ATS Solutions Inc.; vice president-elect for publications, Michael B. Bragg of the University of Illinois; vice president-elect for standards, Wilson N.
Wayne Newton has been promoted to managing director of station operations from director of station operations in California and Todd Sproul to managing director of operations support from head of airport affairs in the Corporate Real Estate Div. for Alaska Airlines . Joe Sprague has been appointed vice president of Alaska Air Cargo. He was vice president-inflight services and has been succeeded by Ann Ardizzone, who was managing director of customer experience.
Rolls-Royce has begun ground testing of its BR725 turbofan, which is designed to power the twin-engine Gulfstream G650 business jet. The engine ran up to 80% of its 16,100-lb.-thrust rating and met performance criteria, says Rainer Honig, BR725 and future programs project director for Rolls-Royce corporate and regional engines. Rolls plans to build five ground-and eight flight-test BR725s, which is the latest evaluation of the BR700 family. Rolls says this version boasts 4% better specific fuel consumption, a 4 dB.
A slot shortage at London Heathrow is likely to be a major obstacle for years to come as airlines try to exploit liberalized traffic rights between Europe and the U.S. while expanding long-haul operations at the critical hub.
A new Lehman Brothers report that predicts oil prices could fall to $70 a barrel by 2010 must be music to the ears of airline executives. Lehman says record prices that are throttling airlines are a “bubble” that will burst as global demand cools, supplies rise and investors stop driving up crude futures as a hedge against inflation and a falling dollar.
The European Space Agency’s Herschel infrared observatory is another step closer to an autumn launch with the Planck cosmic background observer following completion of the spacecraft, including its advanced cryostat and 3.5-meter (11.5-ft.) silicon-carbide telescope. Technicians mated the observatory’s sunshield and solar arrays to the cryostat and service module on Apr. 11, and attached the ultra-lightweight 320-kg. (706-lb.) telescope—which will be the largest to be flown in space—on Apr. 16.
British airframe structures specialist GKN Aerospace received a $400-million follow-on order from Lockheed Martin for engine nacelles for its C-130J Hercules tactical airlifter. The five-year award runs from January 2009 through December 2013. GKN expects to produce around 10 nacelles a month in this time. The company has, so far, manufactured almost 700 nacelles for the C-130J, a figure that is anticipated to nearly double by 2013. GKN has been involved in the C-130J since the outset, and has been the sole source for the integrated nacelle.
Tests at the Mount Hopkins Observatory in Arizona this summer could validate a new technique for finding extrasolar planets on the same scale as Earth. Developed at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics with input from experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the device uses extremely short pulses of laser light, in combination with an atomic clock, to make measurements accurate to one part in a trillion of the light coming from distant stars.
Two of Asia’s big maintenance, repair and overhaul specialists are joining with Spirit AeroSystems to establish a composite and metal bond component repair station in China. Spirit, which builds 737 metal alloy fuselages and composite 787 cockpit and nose sections for Boeing, will work with Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Co. (Haeco) and its subsidiary, Taeco Aircraft Engineering Co. (Taeco) of Xiamen, China, home of the Boeing Converted Freighter program for 747-400s. When the 787 proved to be a big hit among China’s airlines—they’ve ordered 60 —Haeco Director P.K.
An Embraer ERJ 145XR, operated by Delta Connection carrier ExpressJet Airlines, flares for landing at Los Angeles International Airport’s Runway 24 Right. Major airlines have been shifting more of their domestic flying to regional partners in the past year to cut costs, while keeping feeder traffic coming into the main hubs to connect with increased international flying. The Regional Airline Assn.
The European Commission has approved the sale of airport slots between airlines. The secondary market has been particularly active at some of Europe’s busiest airports (see p. 58), but until now there was ambiguity in the European Union over whether the activity was legal.
SRA International has made a conscious decision to branch out from its role as an information technology and back-office supplier to the Defense Dept. and the FAA by agreeing to acquire ATC equipment maker Era Corp., a supplier of Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast and multilateration systems. SRA President and CEO Stanton D. Sloane says his company’s systems integration and software development skills will complement Era’s ATC products and allow the two to pursue integrated ATC systems contracts.
The Senate Armed Services Committee’s $542.5-billion Fiscal 2009 baseline defense authorization bill includes almost $500 million to buy more F-22s—or to shut the manufacturing line down. But the measure wouldn’t fund any additional C-17 airlifters, even though the Air Force puts a high priority on cargo lift. Paired with the Bush administration’s $70-billion place-holder supplemental request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the total defense authorization package comes to $612.5 billion.
