Given the recent coverage of light sport aircraft (AW&ST July 23, p. 48) I would like to hear that there is a Normal or Utility Category version of the Cessna SkyCatcher on the drawing boards, with something like a 1,600-lb. maximum gross weight. That would yield a “useful” useful load given the weight of today’s students, instructors and fuel needed to go somewhere with a reasonable reserve.
The British government will buy a sixth Boeing C-17. The airplane is scheduled for delivery in late 2008 or early 2009. It will be based, with the other five C-17s, at Brize Norton AB. The U.K. is using its strategic airlift fleet heavily to support troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Alitalia’s board has put off a decision on a new industrial plan until the end of the month to allow newly named CEO/Chairman Maurizio Prato to review the airline’s situation. Prato takes over from Bernardion Libonati who stepped down after efforts to sell Alitalia collapsed. Prato’s charter is to avert a financial demise of Alitalia, while trying to revive prospects for a sale. The airline is maintaining €612 million in cash, with debt having come down slightly to €1 billion.
Qantas’s Jetstar no-frills airline is looking at adding 6-10 Airbus A321s to its fleet, even though budget carriers almost always avoid such large single-aisle aircraft because of their long turnaround times (AW&ST June 11, p. 22). Chief Executive Alan Joyce says A321s with up to 220 seats would bridge the gap between its current domestic aircraft, the A320, and the wide-body twins of its long-haul operations, currently A330s.
The Pentagon is considering options to rebuild up to $600 million into the Joint Strike Fighter program management reserve for development. A government official calls the problem a “debacle.” A program source, however, says the discussions taking place in the Pentagon are not an emergency. “No one’s hair is on fire.” One option to recoup the cash is to eliminate building up to two test aircraft and disburse testing across the remaining assets; the program includes 21 aircraft for ground and flight test.
British Airways and Korean Air have agreed to pay massive fines for charges of price-fixing levied by U.S. and British legal autorities. British Airways agreed to penalties totaling $547 million ($300 million in the U.S. and $247 million from the British Office of Fair Trading). The total is less than the more than $700-million provision British Airways had taken, and therefore shouldn’t further affect financial results. (BA was to issue first-quarter financial results Aug. 3.)
The NTSB, in the wake of the Comair Flight 5191 probe, is seeking to improve flight deck takeoff procedures and airport surface markings, as well as install moving map displays in an effort to improve runway safety. At the final hearing on July 26, the NTSB determined human error as the probable cause of the Aug. 27, 2006, crash at Lexington (Ky.) Blue Grass airport that killed 49 of the 50 people on board.
The Mayor of Elizabeth, N.J., says the town’s government may sue the FAA to block implementation of the New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia Metropolitan Area Airspace Redesign’s final environmental impact statement. He says the redesign will have a “significant negative noise impact on the entire City of Elizabeth.”
Thank you for your balanced coverage of the proposed purchase by ATA Airlines parent Global Aero Logistics Inc. of World Holdings Inc. (AW&ST July 23, p. 13). The cockpit crewmembers of the carriers involved (ATA Airlines, World Airways and North American Airlines) are indeed concerned about the relationship and would like to offer a more detailed explanation, but a clarification is in order.
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise’s $1.9-billion acquisition of aviation service providers Standard Aero and Landmark Aviation from the Carlyle Group has been completed. DAE also named Paul Soubry, Jr., as president and chief executive officer.
Bids are in from Lockheed Martin and Boeing teams for a secure, global wideband network—the Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT)—that the U.S. Air Force says could be worth $15 billion over the program’s lifetime. A contract award by the Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing at the Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles is expected in November.
Regarding your editorial “FAA Funding Changes: Need a Business Case First” (AW&ST July 16, p. 86), I couldn’t agree more with the title’s premise. However, there seems to be an attempt to link the need for an “actionable blueprint” with the idea that a new funding mechanism is not required for implementing the blueprint. Both are essential. Arguing that the present funding system has worked well says nothing about whether the same method is appropriate for the future.
Northrop Grumman received a $6.1-million contract increment from the Army’s Communications-Electronics Command for development of its All-Terrain Radar for Tactical Exploitation of Moving Target Indicator and Imaging Surveillance program.
Mark Rabinowitz (see photo) has been named vice president/treasurer of the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. He will succeed James L. Sanford, who plans to retire at the end of the year. Rabinowitz has been vice president/assistant treasurer.
Libya has awarded a €3-million contract to AleniaAermacchi to restore to service a first batch of 12 SF-260WL primary trainer aircraft. The complete overhaul of airframes, systems, engines and propellers will be carried out locally, in partnership with Libya’s Liatec. Aircraft overhaul is to take 12 months, and should commence by year-end. Libya bought several hundred SF-260s to employ in several roles, including counter-insurgency operations, but after an international arms embargo was imposed due to Libya’s status as a pariah state, few of these remained operational.
U.S. civil UAV operations are literally heating up, as NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center readies its Ikhana to fly over wildfires and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration embarks on an effort to use UAVs in support of weather forecasting and global warming research.
Sukhoi design bureau has changed its top-management structure, with the general director slot held by Mikhail Pogosyan being abolished. Sukhoi’s top executive now is Igor Ozar, the former deputy general director for finance.
As NASA begins to shift its focus from low-Earth orbit to exploration of the Moon and beyond, its next underwater spaceflight analog mission will simulate lunar-surface operations instead of activities on the International Space Station (ISS). Three astronauts—Nicholas Patrick, Richard Arnold and Satoshi Furukawa of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency—and Christopher Gerty, a systems integration engineer on the Constellation Program, will take the plunge Aug. 6 on the 13th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (Neemo 13).
Richard Addi (see photo) has been appointed chief financial officer of Exostar , Herndon, Va. He held a similar position at the Rolls-Royce/Science Applications International Corp.’s venture Data Systems & Solutions.
Northwest Airlines agreed with the Air Line Pilots Assn. (ALPA) to pay overtime (a 50% premium) for pilots flying more than 80 hr. per month starting Aug. 1. In addition, pilots who have perfect attendance from Aug. 4-Sept. 3 will receive incentive pay equal to 15% of eligible earnings. The tentative agreement on this and other contract issues and work rules is subject to ratification by the Northwest ALPA Master Executive Council. The airline had to cancel about 500 flights in late July and pilots have been blaming this on inadequate pilot staffing.
The third Global Hawk UAV has arrived in U.S. Central Command to support growing intelligence collection demands in Iraq and Afghanistan. The high-flying aircraft made a stop at Andersen AFB, Guam, on its way, completing its first ever operational deployment from its home at Beale AFB, Calif. The trip also marks the first-ever landing of the Global Hawk at Guam, a location that will begin to house Pacific Command’s Global Hawks once they are delivered starting in 2009.
Giovanni Bisignani, head of Italian space agency ASI, has been named to head ELV, the Avio-ASI joint venture in charge of developing Europe’s Vega light launcher. Bisignani, who joined ASI in April, has been spearheading a drive to launch design of a higher-power version of Vega, perhaps in cooperation with Germany. ELV also confirmed Vega would make its inaugural launch in the first half of 2008, and said it’s close to concluding a contract with operator Arianespace for the first 10 launch vehicles.
Pratt & Whitney has received FAA certification for its first parts manufacturing approval (PMA) part for the CFM56-3 engines that power second-generation Boeing 737-300/400/500s. Pratt received permission to manufacture high-pressure turbine shrouds in competition with the factory-authorized HPT shrouds from CFM International. Pratt’s Global Materials Solutions (GMS) unit intends to produce 48 PMA parts for the venerable CFM56 series, an industry best-seller.
