Etihad Airways appears to prefer discounts on future orders over cash compensation for the delay in Airbus A380 deliveries. "We are looking at the benefits on future orders," CEO James Hogan told Bloomberg News, implying that Etihad will go with Airbus in its next expansion phase. The airline has placed orders for four A380s, the first of which was due to arrive in 2009.
THE CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE has just selected Era Corp. and HITT Holland Institute of Traffic Technology of the Netherlands to install an Advanced Surface Movement Guidance Control System for Changi Airport. Era will provide the multilateration and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast sensors plus the vehicle tracking units, while HITT will provide its display and processing system. Era has deployed a total of 1,000 ADS-B sensors in 20 nations.
It's official: U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command has its own force of unmanned Predator strike and reconnaissance aircraft. Twenty-one MQ-1 UAVs, along with support equipment and crews, were transferred from Air Combat Command. Another seven UAVs will be delivered to AFSOC after depot maintenance is completed this month. That will let AFSOC simultaneously operate up to six orbits or combat air patrols in several theaters.
European Union transport ministers this month have committed to include aviation in the EU's emissions trading scheme (ETS), and to ensure that no barriers result from a September meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization. The U.S., other countries, and airlines have looked to the ICAO gathering to address the issue of aviation and pollution, but ministers from the EU countries are determined that any agreement arrived at in September should not block ETS plans.
Raytheon officials say they've been able to demonstrate significant advances in efficiency and output of solid-state lasers in the laboratory that show potential for space-based applications such as imaging and spectroscopy.
A little bad weather and a big computer problem turned June 8 into the worst day so far in 2007 for U.S. airline delays. The thunderstorms weren't abnormal but the computer problem magnified them and created delays of its own. A computer in Atlanta that processes flight plans failed early Friday, and when the FAA rerouted the work to a computer in Salt Lake City, that computer became overloaded because of the high volume. The FAA resolved the computer problems by 11 a.m.
Regarding your article "Record Delays Loom" (AW&ST May 28, p. 54), to place all blame for projected delays on an anticipated ATC system is pure nonsense. Do the FAA and Air Transport Assn. really believe the air traffic problems can be laid solely at the feet of the ATC system? Even to the most casual observer, the "legacy carriers" have been reducing capacity since 9/11 in a drive to lower costs and improve profit margins.
Chris Pratt (see photo) has been promoted to director of marketing and strategic planning from director of marketing for BBA Aviation's Engine Repair and Overhaul organization in Dallas.
USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Michael M. Dunn (see photo) has been appointed president/CEO of the Arlington, Va.-based Air Force Assn., effective July 1. He will succeed Donald L. Peterson, who will be resigning. Dunn has been president of the National Defense University in Washington.
Key Pentagon tactical and strategic laser weapon systems face vital testing periods in the second half of this year to prove they are moving closer to combat-caliber, but funding and policy questions remain developmental dark spots. While contractors aim to demonstrate they can shoot down Stinger missiles in midflight with tactical lasers or that an Airborne Laser (ABL) on board a modified jumbo air freighter can take out a ballistic missile, company and military program officials are engaging law- and policy-makers to ensure funding.
Your "Turning Up the Heat" editorial complains a lot about Natca behavior but doesn't make any suggestion of how to fix that long-running nuisance. Turn ATC over to the U.S. Air Force. It would be considerably cheaper and a great deal more reliable. You may think that's ludicrous. What's really ludicrous is the way Natca is whiplashing the ATC system and those who depend upon it. Controllers are playing games with aircraft and their occupants to pressure their demands. It's just not reported. We need a Natca housecleaning a la Reagan.
The U.K. and Belgium may be close to joining the Franco-Italian Athena-Fidus broadband satellite system, French officials say. France and Italy recently signed a letter of intent to go ahead with detailed design and development of the encrypted but unhardened and non-jam-protected system, which will support military operations and provide unencrypted capacity for welfare and government traffic. Belgium and the U.K. are each interested in one of the satellite's 6-8 spot beams, representing about 12-13% of the €220-250-million ($292-332-million) system cost.
A NASA Engineering and Safety Center peer review of Crew Exploration Vehicle reentry heating and aerodynamics work finds that critical areas lack the sufficient "risk management processes." These guide decision-making in developing hypersonic-reentry thermal and aerodynamic advancements necessary for the CEV. As the ongoing repair and reentry issues with STS-117 illustrate, the NASA reentry-analysis process needs to include ongoing assessment capability even as the program enters its last three years of life.
Trite but true: It isn't the offense, it's the coverup. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), chairman of the House Science subcommittee on investigations and oversight, and the ranking minority member, Republican stalwart F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (Wis.), asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales June 14 to investigate and possibly prosecute NASA General Counsel Michael Wholley for obstruction of justice in destroying video records of an Apr. 10 meeting between Administrator Michael Griffin and the staff of NASA Inspector General Robert Cobb.
Angela K. Owens has been appointed president of the Fort Worth-based American Airlines Federal Credit Union. She was the airline's general auditor and had been the credit union's senior vice president-community relations and financial services.
I fly for a Part 121 carrier, and have recently turned 60. One might argue that I'm fortunate to have a flight engineer seat to move into, given the current admonition of front-end flying beyond 60. I have belonged to the Air Line Pilots Assn. since our pilot group voted for ALPA representation some years ago, but therein lies the rub.
Malaysia's Fly Asian Xpress, an AirAsia affiliate that plans long-haul services as AirAsia Long Haul, has shortlisted Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce to supply engines for 15 Airbus A330s it has on order and option.
Strong demand is prompting Cathay Pacific to increase its daily services to New York and San Francisco to twice daily in the fall. Delivery of new aircraft will allow the Hong Kong-based carrier to respond to the demand.
Europe's air transport sector is heading toward the next step in its ongoing reshuffling, following SAS Group's announcement of a major shift in corporate strategy. The airline's new CEO Mats Jansson last week said SAS plans to focus on its core market in Scandinavia and sell units such as Spanair, BMI and Air Greenland. The carrier is also considering pulling out of units such as ground handling or maintenance.
With the possibility that North Korea, Pakistan and/or Iran may possess both ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads before long, and that these devices could make their way into the hands of extremists, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency is dusting off analyses of what damage a nuclear attack could do. Researchers conclude that a single 10-50 kiloton weapon detonated 60 mi. or more in space would knock out all unprotected low Earth orbit satellites in months, possibly weeks.
More than a generation ago, Turkey, Pakistan and India were developing their aerospace industries, trying to find a place in a global economy that hadn't taken shape yet. In a bipolar world where, for the most part, you did business with one superpower but not with both, they seized opportunities where they could find them. South Asia's aerospace and defense companies, tortoises among Western hares, persevered.
Maria Sulej (see photo) has been appointed manager of sales and marketing for Cudahy, Wis.-based Ladish Co.'s Polish subsidiary ZKM Forging. She was assistant to the managing director.
French military officials are exploring new Rafale tactics and whether to tweak the fighter's upgrade plans after a year of operational experience with the multi-role version, including its first combat assignment.
Mary Armstrong has become vice president of Chicago-based Boeing's Environment, Health and Safety Group. She was president of Boeing's Shared Services Group.
