The British government has released its first “National Security Strategy” aimed at identifying various threats faced by the country and implementing policies designed to counter terrorist activities.
The Air Force isn’t taking Boeing’s protest of the tanker contract sitting down. The service’s lawyers have asked the Government Accountability Office to dismiss some of Boeing’s claims outright. Boeing lost the $35-billion refueler award to its rival, a Northrop Grumman/EADS North America team, in late February. The GAO is reviewing Boeing’s contention—including two supplemental items filed after the Mar. 11 protest—that the Air Force award was unfair.
Airbus, up against a tight schedule to hit this year’s A380 delivery target, hopes to log an important milestone on the road to program recovery this week.
El Al Israel Airlines reported on Mar. 27 that revenue rose 16% in 2007 versus a year earlier to $1.93 billion, and net profit for the year reached $31.7 million compared to a $33.9 million loss the year before. Load factors reached 85%, and seat availability increased 2%.
Fuscomp, an aerospace composite materials research project sponsored by the French government, is scheduled to begin Apr. 16 at Tarbes in southern France. The program, which is part of the country’s aerospace competitiveness activity, will be funded at €9.3 million ($14.3 million) with 68% of that amount coming from the government. The goal is to demonstrate development of a composite fuselage for the Socata TBM850 business aircraft using the vacuum infusion process. Different materials will be evaluated during the four-year program.
P. Douglas McKeen has been appointed senior vice president-labor relations for United Airlines . He was head of human resources, communications and labor relations for Astar Air Cargo. McKeen succeeds Pete Kain, who will be retiring July 1 as vice president-labor relations. Succeeding McKeen at Wilmington, Ohio-based Astar is Kenneth (Rob) Miller, who was promoted to managing director from director of employee relations.
After more than 25 years of effort, the International Space Station is rapidly approaching the point President Reagan envisioned in 1984 when he declared it would be a place where nations could “follow our dreams to distant stars, living and working in space for peaceful, economic, and scientific gain.”
Ted Christie has been promoted to senior vice president from vice president-finance and Heather Iden to vice president/controller from director of corporate accounting and financial reporting for Frontier Airlines . Elissa Potucek has been named vice president-treasury and budget. Matt Henry has been promoted to vice president/general counsel from senior corporate counsel. He succeeds David Sislowski, who is now senior vice president/general counsel/secretary of the Midwest Air Group Inc.
Air Berlin is scheduled to receive the first of 10 Bombardier Q400s by year-end, with the remainder to be delivered in 2009. The turboprops will replace Fokker 100 jets operated by Germania for Air Berlin, and will be leased for service in the Air Berlin network. The airline holds options for 10 more Q400s.
One of Iberia’s biggest shareholders, Spanish bank Caja Madrid, has signaled it wants British Airways to put forward concrete commercial agreements to achieve a link with the Spanish airline. BA recently increased its stake in Iberia to 13.15% from around 10%. Management for Caja Madrid, which holds more than 20%, indicates that if talks with BA don’t progress in the next few months, the bank may approach Lufthansa to build a bridge with Iberia. Lufthansa has expressed interest in the Spanish carrier, largely because of its attractive transatlantic routes.
Once more, France’s transportation strategy remains firmly one-sided when broader, bolder initiatives should be considered. Airports complain about competition from TGV high-speed trains and their growing share in the domestic market, while Air France has expressed concerns about the future of several city pairs.
The Australian government is looking for savings in Defense Ministry administration worth A$1 billion ($920 million) a year that it could put into frontline forces and their equipment.
Boeing may enter Denmark’s F-16 fighter replacement competition with a bid based on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the Danish defense ministry says. Discussions with the U.S. aerospace company are ongoing to determine whether such a move would have merits for both sides, says Lt. Col. Anders Rex Christensen of Denmark’s new fighter aircraft project office. The talks with Boeing follow a decision late last year by Eurofighter to suspend its bid from the Danish (and Norwegian) competition, leaving just Lockheed Martin’s F-35A and Saab’s Gripen Next Generation as candidates.
More turbulence is rocking Airbus. The inability of Airbus parent EADS to sell off three German facilities is causing upheaval with industrial plans for the A350XWB. Airbus will have to carry more work on its balance sheet, and consequently pay a higher development bill. Although EADS officials note the company has ample cash to finance higher costs for the A350 program, it aimed to use that money to make a mid-size acquisition in the U.S. this year.
The chief of naval operations, Adm. Gary Roughead, says he won’t have any EA-18G Growlers to spare for the U.S. Air Force’s air expeditionary forces when the EA-6B Prowlers retire in 2012. But Air Combat Command chief Gen. John Corley thinks there’s still negotiating room with the Navy. “I’m confident all the services forces will contribute whatever is necessary . . . to make the joint force successful,” he says.
Pratt & Whitney has installed the Goodrich flight inlet and nacelle systems to prepare for the next round of ground-based testing of its geared turbofan (GTF) demonstration engine. Tests at P&W’s facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., are scheduled to begin next month. The GTF engine uses a PW6000 core and has logged 130 hr. in the test cell. The second phase will center on the engine’s performance, acoustics and nacelle validation. In related news, the FAA has issued supplemental type certificates to P&W to make certain parts for CFM-56-3 engines.
A U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer operated the first supersonic flight fueled by a 50-50 blend of synthetic fuel and petroleum, on Mar. 19. Pilot Capt. Richard Fournier detected no difference in performance, comparing it to flights using a 100% JP-8-fueled, GE F101-powered aircraft. The crew completed a full complement of maneuvers at low speed and in the supersonic regime over White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The Air Force intends to certify its B-1B fleet for the 50-50 blend by early 2011 and plans to rely on domestic sources for fuel.
WorldSpace has received a Swiss license to operate hybrid space- and land-based digital audio radio services (DARS). The company already has a license in Italy and expects to add four more this year for the DARS service, to be introduced next year using its Afristar satellite. WorldSpace reported a net loss of $169.5 million in 2007, up from a loss of $128.6 million. The decline reflected a decrease of 3,478 subscribers in the fourth quarter, mainly in Europe and India.
Large fractions of modern passenger aircraft are made of composite materials. When they outlive their usefulness, they will face a disposal problem similar to that of the Trabant, the automobile inexpensively manufactured in East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Trabant had body panels made of Duroplast, which was composed of recycled cotton or wool embedded in phenolic resins and not considered possible for recycling or safe burning. Perhaps a similar fate awaits expired 777s and other aircraft built with composites.
Andrew Broom (see photo) has become director of media and public relations for the Hawker Beechcraft Corp. , Wichita, Kan. He was director of public relations for the Eclipse Aviation Corp., Albuquerque, N.M., and had been manager of operations for the General Aviation Manufacturers Assn. in Washington. Honors and Elections
Alaska Airlines is replacing its manual cargo tracking system with a scanner-based one that provides near-real-time information on the location of shipments. Once a package is scanned, the information is uploaded through a data management system to the company’s web site, alaskaair.com, where customers can access it. The system is in place at 80% of stations for Alaska and its sister carrier, Horizon Air. Full deployment is expected in May.
Boeing and Fuji Heavy Industries are building and testing a redesigned center wing box for the 787 to counteract structural weaknesses believed to have been encountered during validation and certification testing of the unit last year.
The military is still learning from the shootdown of an ailing satellite last month. For starters, “we didn’t predict an explosion,” says Rear Adm. Brad Hicks, the Navy’s manager of the Aegis air and space defense program. In fact, there was a huge one. Moreover, the targeted “hyzdrazine tank did burn for tens of seconds. [The impact] also created smaller pieces than we had predicted. What’s still up there [is so small that] it is not showing up in the debris field.” Hicks says the dead satellite was not stable.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Pierre Sparaco (Paris)
Latecoere hopes to conclude a deal for two French Airbus plants by mid-year in a move that would triple the size of the French aerostructures specialist overnight.
The U.S.’s top regional carrier in aircraft departures, topping 600,000 in 2007, SkyWest Airlines is bracing for a year of unknowns. It achieved first place by providing local traffic feed for major airlines (see p. 44). Largely a Bombardier CRJ operator, SkyWest will take delivery of 18 CRJ700s and four CRJ900s through 2010. Its parent, SkyWest Inc., is on the lookout for expansion opportunities now that the performance of Atlantic Southeast Airlines, acquired from Delta in 2005, meets expectations. SkyWest photo.
