Short-circuiting an FAA rulemaking that likely would have stretched into 2009, Congress passed the Fair Treatment for Experienced Pilots Act, a bill to increase the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots to 65 from 60. The bill stripped Age-65 provisions out of the FAA reauthorization bill and put them in a stand-alone bill that passed both houses without opposition.
In Frances Fiorino’s article on her “glass encounter” with the Cirrus SR22 (AW&ST Nov. 26, p. 60), it was refreshing to hear an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) say that transitioning to glass-cockpit aircraft is about understanding the automation over “traditional” cockpit training.
Honeywell expects its aerospace sales to grow 5-7% in 2008 and profits, 9-13% compared to 2007. The outlook is driven by forecast strength in both the new aircraft market and the retrofit of existing aircraft, according to Honeywell. It expects airline flying hours to increase 5% next year. The forecast comes despite slowing rates of economic growth in the U.S. and Europe (expected to be 1-2% of gross domestic product in 2008). Emerging markets, however, are expected to continue expanding.
Japan and China will discuss launching charter flights between Tokyo Haneda and Beijing’s little-known secondary airport, Nanyuan. So-called charter services—scheduled services in all but name—already operate from Haneda and the secondary airports at Seoul and Shanghai. Pending completion of a current expansion project, Haneda cannot handle international flights unless they are designated as charter services.
The Australian government has begun flying an Airbus A319 to Antarctica, using a 4-km. (2.5-mi.) runway carved into the ice, in support of scientific operations on the continent. Despite the lack of friction, the aircraft needed only 1,000 meters (3,300 ft.) of runway on its first trial landing. One advantage of the aircraft is that it does not need refueling for its return flight.
The U.S. could get the backing of 20-25 countries if and when it launches a legal challenge against the European Union’s plan to include in an emissions trading system (ETS) all airlines operating within the EU, says International Air Transport Assn. Director General Giovanni Bisignani. Washington likely will start proceedings against the EU in the first half of 2008 over the yet-to-be-finalized airline/ETS plan, he adds, either through a challenge at the International Civil Aviation Organization or the World Trade Organization.
Articles and letters to the editor have reported objections to increasing costs for flight operations during high-demand times. The concept is not new. Airlines have charged lower fares for flights during low-demand periods. In the mid-1960s, I regularly flew between Seattle and Anchorage, Alaska. The fares were simple. A one-way ticket cost $99 during most of the day, but was $75 for night flights.
Canadian Space Agency officials expect at least a three-month slip in delivery of the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) and Tunable Filter Imager (TFI) for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), after design issues in the state-of-the-art instruments required the agency to seek parliamentary authorization for more money. Savi Sachdev, director general of space programs at the CSA, says the roughly $100-million project has hit a funding ceiling because detailed design has proved more difficult than anticipated.
Bruno Acklin has been appointed managing director/CEO of Lumics GmbH. of Berlin. He was director of the development of active components for JDSU, San Jose, Calif. Frank Laas has been named head of sales and marketing. He was head of worldwide sales for Limo.
Everyone likes to point fingers at the airlines and their role in airport congestion. They are easy scapegoats. Flights are late, and service is not what it used to be. However, let’s point the finger where it really belongs and that is at the FAA. The FAA has not kept pace with events in the airline industry. Did the FAA think traffic would never increase? Where are the new taxiways and runways?
ATR is boosting output to 80 turboprops per year in anticipation of continued strong demand for the aircraft type. The EADS/Finmeccanica joint venture this year is already implementing the first steps in the aggressive ramp-up, with plans to deliver 44 aircraft up from 24 in 2006. Output is to be ratcheted up further in 2009 to 75 aircraft before reaching the planned 80-turboprop level, says CEO Stephane Mayer.
Dallas Airmotive will open a new regional turbine engine facility at Washington County (Pa.) Airport, by the end of January. Initially it will provide hot-section inspections for Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprop and JT15D turbofan engines as well as repairs to the fan and power section of the JT15D and PT6A, respectively. Company officials say the facility also will provide field service support for aircraft using these engines and the Pratt & Whitney PW300 and PW500 powerplants.
Officials at Clifford Development say the company’s program to reengine the Cessna Citation II and SII business jets with Williams International FJ44-3A is scheduled to receive an FAA Supplemental Type Certificate early in 2008. Slated performance improvements for the Citation II include an increase of 21% in long-range cruise speed and a 29% extension of IFR range. Plans call for initial flight tests of the Citation SII to begin early next year, following airframe modifications.
Airbus and Boeing are now clearly in record territory for annual orders. Airbus holds the lead with 1,204 gross orders as of Dec. 1; Boeing had 1,146 net orders as of Dec. 11. The two manufacturers are also neck-and-neck in deliveries through November, with Airbus at 410 and Boeing at 407. This month is expected to yield more orders. For instance, DAE, which has committed to taking a total of 100 aircraft from both manufacturers, was hoping to close those contracts before 2008.
Lufthansa plans to buy a small fleet of business jets to service its Private Jet clients in the wake of the airline’s decision to end its affiliation with NetJets Europe after February 2008. The German airline is seeing strong demand for the premium service, with two-thirds of passengers using Private Jet to connect with Lufthansa or Swiss long-haul flights.
Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) will install VHF air-to-ground data link communication services throughout the country’s airspace system in partnership with SITA, which provides communications services for the air transport industry. GACA President Abdallah Mohammed Noor Rhaimy says the decision was made in response to recommendations from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to improve air navigation service in Saudi airspace.
A Pentagon contract award may bolster EDO Corp.’s bid to win shareholder approval to sell the company to ITT for $1.7 billion. EDO, the sole producer of the current generation of electronic bomb-jamming devices used to interrupt the detonation of roadside explosives in Iraq, was passed over on Dec. 7 when the Naval Sea Systems Command awarded three contracts to develop technologies that will underpin the next generation of bomb jammers. ITT, Northrop Grumman and Sierra Nevada Corp. received those contracts.
Officials at Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems say they could snag contracts in 2008 worth as much as $17 billion, an unprecedented sum. That is, if they win the contracts. Among the possibilities are the U.S. Air Force’s GPS III and Transformational Satellite (TSAT) deals, the latter of which is being considered for termination in the Fiscal 2009 budget proposal (AW&ST Dec. 10, p. 28). Additionally, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s GOES-R weather spacecraft and NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite systems awards are expected in 2008.
The space shuttle fleet is grounded until technicians find and fix a vexing problem with engine cutoff (ECO) sensors—a component that NASA now realizes has likely never worked throughout the 26-year history of the shuttle program.
The first stealthy, short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing version of the Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter—the F-35B—will be rolled out this week at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth facility. Meanwhile, the F-35A conventional-takeoff variant has completed its 20th flight. Air refueling testing starts soon. Also, BAE Systems has opened a facility in Nashua, N.H., to produce electronic warfare systems for the F-35 and F-22. The EW suites detect, analyze, evaluate and react to the electronics on enemy sensors and missiles.
U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, deputy commandant for programs and resources, says the service plans not to buy any fourth-generation fighters and instead will wait until the F-35 is ready for delivery. The Marines view the F-35 as the centerpiece for its future battlefield networking and electronic warfare system. However, Castellaw says the service wants a sensor and electronic warfare suite tailored to its needs.
Dale Burton, vice president-technology/chief technology officer for the Northrop Grumman Corp.’s Melbourne, Fla.-based Integrated Systems Sector, has been elected to the Washington-based National Academy of Engineering . Burton was elected for innovations and leadership in the development, testing and fielding of the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System as head of the Joint Stars engineering flight test system integration and flight test effort. As technical adviser to the Engineering Dept.
John Scannell has been promoted to chief financial officer from vice president-contracts and pricing of Moog Inc. , East Aurora, N.Y. He succeeds Robert R. Banta, who plans to retire as executive vice president/CFO. Banta will remain on the board of directors. Donald R. Fishback has been promoted to vice president-finance from corporate controller/principal accounting officer.
Ginny Carruthers has been named Washington-based director of government affairs for the Alaska Air Group . She was Alaska Airlines’ East Coast sales manager.
Derek Kerr, who is senior vice president/chief financial officer of US Airways, has been named Arizona’s Chief Financial Officer of the Year by the Arizona Chapter of Financial Executive International . The award recognizes Kerr’s commitment to the community and his professionalism and leadership at “Phoenix’s hometown airline.”
