Lufthansa and TUI have agreed to merge their low-fare carriers Germanwings and TUIfly. The group aims to harmonize schedules in mid-2009. Separately, Lufthansa is calling its new cargo affiliate AeroLogic. Ownership is split between the German group and DHL and is focusing on Asian routes.
The article “Alitalia Takeover Talks” (AW&ST Jan. 7, p. 37) was a great review of the confusing Alitalia (AZ) situation. But I found it counterintuitive that with the proposed revamp of the AZ route network, the focus is on Rome so Milan’s only AZ flights to North America would be through New York. This January’s timetable showed AZ service from Milan to Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York, Newark and Toronto, while Rome surprisingly had only flights to Newark. Presumably, Milan’s heftier business traffic is the reason for flights to more North American gateways.
Airbus keeps shifting to the right the prospective in-service date of an A320 replacement, but company engineers are starting to more clearly define the technologies they favor for the new design. The aircraft, being worked on under the A30X label, will not feature a radical new configuration, says Louis Gallois, CEO of Airbus-parent EADS. Instead, the layout will be driven largely by the engine technology that Airbus selects.
British Airways is trying to head off any attempt by U.K. airport authority BAA to delay the introduction of tighter “customer service quality targets” at Heathrow. Last week, the Civil Aviation Authority held hearings on the BAA airport tariffs review. British Airways is seeking improved performance from the airport operator to help support the carrier’s push to improve punctuality at Heathrow.
The Boeing-National Reconnaissance Office imaging radar spacecraft that failed shortly after launch creating a falling debris risk indicates that trouble within the NRO Future Imagery Architecture (FIA) program has spread to the radar side of the highly secret project. The debris could impact anywhere between 58.5 deg. N. and S. Lat. in late February or early March.
NASA’s plan to put an outpost at the Moon’s south pole may need reevaluating after detailed mapping data comes in from the fleet of lunar orbiters in operation or on the way. Early radar interferometer data collected with the Goldstone Solar System Radar in California shows the terrain around the Shackleton Crater at the lunar south pole is much more rugged than previously understood, with peaks in the 6,000-meter (19,685-ft.) range and slopes as steep as 25-35 deg.
AirTran Airways’ recent push into the Milwaukee market is just the first phase of its ambitious expansion plans for this year, as the low-cost carrier continues to defy the industry’s conservative growth trend.
Snecma is entering the final phase of testing on a core demonstrator that is expected to provide the French engine maker with an entree into the business jet market.
Bombardier is planning to increase output of its regional jets to levels not seen in five years, in response to a sharp rebound in orders as it begins production on its new 100-seat CRJ1000. The company’s assembly line outside Montreal has just ramped up production to one jet every four days from one every five. Plans call for output to reach one aircraft every three days by September, matching the previous regional jet (RJ) production peak in 2003, when Bombardier was still filling orders placed before the industry’s post-2001 downturn.
USAF Lt. Col. James Kromberg flew the production prototype F-35A Lightning II on Jan. 30, becoming the first military pilot to fly the Joint Strike Fighter. Kromberg flew the airplane on its 26th flight from Lockheed Martin’s facilities in Fort Worth. He flew the F-35 to 12,000 ft. and checked handling qualities at up to a 15-deg. angle of attack.
Boeing’s KC-767 conducted its first night refueling mission Jan. 26, including 11 contacts with an F-15E as well as transfer of fuel midair. A platform headed for Japan’s self-defense force carried out the mission.
British Defense Ministry officials and European industry executives are expressing reservations over the latest A400M schedule, with some worrying it could mean further slippage of in-service dates. Already the Royal Air Force has again had to revise its withdrawal plan for the C-130K, that the A400M will replace.
The Pentagon is adding funding in its Fiscal 2009 budget for a project to boost electro-optical (EO) surveillance in Iraq, but debate continues about which solution will ultimately be the best for the requirement. An undisclosed sum was recently added to the forthcoming budget, which will be sent to Congress Feb. 4, via the Intelligence Program Decision Memorandum (IPDM), according to Defense Dept. officials. The IPDM, a classified document, is assembled annually and outlines funding changes for intelligence programs under the Pentagon’s purview.
By most financial measures, 2007 was a very good year for Boeing. Net income was up 84% from the previous year on an 8% gain in sales. Cash flow grew 28%, to a record $9.6 billion, and debt was pared by 14%. Two years of record commercial aircraft orders have pumped up backlog by 60% to a record $327 billion—the equivalent of five years of revenue. And those orders are dispersed globally, lessening the company’s reliance on the shaky U.S. airline industry.
There’s an old adage that when the wagons are circled, remember to shoot outward. As self-evident as the folksy advice might seem, it has been soundly ignored by some people within the U.K. space science and particle physics community in their increasingly testy spat with Britain’s recently formed Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).
A noncash write-down by Deutsche Post World Net Jan. 23 of Express America’s fixed assets of about €600 million ($882 million) raises questions about the profitability of the delivery giant’s U.S. operation. The German post office says it expects the U.S. division to make “consistent progress in underlying profit,” and it is estimating 2009 earnings before interest and taxes of between €900 million and €1.1 billion. Wilmington, Ohio-based ABX Air Inc. provides two-thirds of the U.S.
A new Boeing-Lockheed Martin team is hoping to unseat B-2 manufacturer Northrop Grumman as the incumbent bomber provider to the U.S. Air Force. Last week, the companies made public their collaboration to compete for the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation bomber work, but what exactly they will be building is yet to be decided.
Bruce Bunevich has become Great Lakes marketing manager for Universal Avionics , Tucson, Ariz. He was sales manager for Chelton Flight Systems and has been director of international sales for Avidyne.
The U.S. Air Force couldn’t keep a lid on this forever. Though not released officially by USAF, the first photos of an F-22 and Russian Tu-95 Bear bomber during an intercept have surfaced. They began to show up last week on the Internet, and Aviation Week & Space Technology received them from a source. USAF officials acknowledge another Raptor pilot snapped photos during the intercept. Shown is an F-22 off the coast of Alaska, flying close to the Bear.
The European Commission in mid-year is expected to name a system architect to help it implement the Sesar future air traffic management system for Europe. Bids are due next month.
Feb. 13-14American Helicopter Society International, The Redstone Chapter and the Product Support Committee Technical Specialists’ Meeting: “Condition Based Maintenance.” Von Braun Civic Center. Huntsville, Ala. See www.vtol.org Feb. 20-21—Shephard’s Defense IT ’08 Conference, London. Also, Mar. 17-19—Shephard’s Search and Rescue Conference and Exhibition 2008. Bournemouth (England) International Center. Call +44 (162) 860-6979, fax +44 (162) 866-9789 or see www.shephard.co.uk/events
Boeing captured a $116-million U.S. Air Force contract to provide more than 4,000 Joint Direct Attack Munition tail kits for delivery in 2009-10. An option provides for deliveries through 2015 that could bring the total to $590 million.
B/E Aerospace has been named the passenger and crew oxygen system supplier for the Airbus A350XWB. The initial contract is worth $125 million. B/E also supplies the oxygen system for the rival Boeing 787.
British defense officials say they’re finally close to awarding contracts on two core projects—the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft and the next-generation aircraft carrier. But the broader procurement outlook—including the Eurofighter Typhoon—is much more challenging. The Defense Ministry is in the final throes of Planning Round 2008, with significant cuts or delays to some major projects now inevitable. The carrier program and the replacement tanker, however, appear nearly secure.
