Ryanair is warning of tougher times in the next 12 months, as Europe's largest low-fare airline expects higher costs and lower fares. CEO Michael O'Leary predicts profits to grow by only 5% in the fiscal year ending Mar. 31. "This is the most bearish we have been for a number of years," he says. "We have signaled in the past couple of months that the market is soft. Passengers are facing significantly higher taxes and charges, and I think that is having a dampening effect on growth."
Prospects may be increasing for a potential Engine Alliance bid to power the Airbus A350XWB, as talks have stalled between the aircraft maker and General Electric over a powerplant offering. The move comes while Airbus is revealing other A350 details, including a highly aggressive production plan, which signals that it is banking on an order rate not unlike the strong uptake Boeing has seen with the rival 787.
Rolls-Royce Corp. has acquired rights to use a coating invented by Iowa State University researchers that helps turbines stand up to the heat in jet engines. The bond coating will be applied to turbine blades made of nickel-based superalloys, which, though designed for strength, need help withstanding metal temperatures approaching 2,100F inside the hot section of a jet powerplant, says Brian Gleeson, a materials science professor at the school.
Clay Jones has been Rockwell Collins's only CEO since it was spun off by Rockwell International less than three months before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The company, one of the big three avionics suppliers along with Honeywell and France's Thales, has about $4.3 billion in annual sales equally split between commercial and military and boasts some of the industry's highest profit margins. In an interview at Rockwell Collins's headquarters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Jones, a former fighter pilot, talked with AW&ST Senior Business Editor Joseph C.
Turning its back on the Bush administration's go-slow approach on the environment, Boeing is taking a hard look at alternative fuels and eyeing a green flight demonstrator to support future commercial aircraft programs. Addressing reporters here on May 9, Bill Glover, managing director for environmental strategy at Boeing Commercial Aircraft, said the skepticism with which the company had until recently greeted alternative fuel plans has eroded as technologies have advanced and regulatory pressures have grown, particularly in Europe.
To submit Aerospace Calendar Listings, Call +1 (212) 904-2421 Fax +1 (212) 904-6068 e-mail: [email protected] June 18-24--Paris air show. Le Bourget. See www.paris-air-show.com June 25-27--International Quality and Productivity Center's "Utilization of Space Application: Geoinformation, Satellite Communication, Space-Based Reconnaissance, Situational Awareness, Space Technologies." Melia Hotel, Berlin. Call +49 (30) 2091-3330 or see www.iqpc.com
The Canadian Transportation Agency has granted a license to Oasis Hong Kong Airlines to begin operating a Hong Kong-Vancouver route beginning June 28. The carrier intends to offer six-times-weekly nonstop service with three Boeing 747-400s it acquired from All Nippon Airways. Oasis already flies daily to London and is seeking approvals for European and North American routes, including Cologne/Bonn and Oakland, Calif.
The White House wants NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to come up with alternative ways of acquiring climate data, to be funded starting in Fiscal 2009, rather than simply reinstating instruments removed from the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System for budget reasons. Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Marburger tells the House Science subcommittee on energy and environment that operational weather sensors were kept in the restructured, reduced-cost satellite program because of Defense Dept.
NASA Ames Research Center, home of NASA's Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) facility, has chosen the IBM System p575+ supercomputer for the agency's future supercomputing needs, including environmental studies, spacecraft design and atmospheric research. The system, which is being installed at NAS, has a peak performance of approximately 5.6 teraflops and will augment the Columbia system, which is ranked eighth fastest in the world.
European aerospace industry officials say the proposed European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will cost €4 billion ($5.4 billion) per year--or more than the European airlines' annual combined profits. That figure, derived by Ernst & Young and York Aviation, is higher than initial estimates.
Rolls-Royce has shipped the first set of Trent 1000s to Boeing for use on the first-flight 787 aircraft. The next major milestone is first flight of a 747 testbed from Waco, Tex., that has been fitted with one Trent 1000. The aircraft is supposed to fly soon after encountering delays. Ten engines are expected to support the 787 flight-test campaign. The powerplant has a thrust range of 53,000-75,000 lb. Rolls-Royce has won contracts (firm and options) for engines on 179 787s. General Electric provides the rival powerplant, and has a larger market share.
Following the 9/11 attacks, critics complained that U.S. intelligence services and law enforcement agencies didn't share information or act with dispatch when suspicious activity came to their attention. In short, they failed to "connect the dots." Now, we learn of another failure to connect the dots. And this time there was only one dot--Atlanta lawyer Andrew Speaker.
CAE opened its business aviation training center June 7 near Morristown (N.J.) Airport. The CAE Simuflight Northeast Training Center will be the base of entitlement training for the Dassault Falcon 7X, as well as the Falcon 900 EX EASy, Falcon 2000EX EASy, Gulfstream IV and Sikorsky S-76. CAE has announced plans to expand the center to 12 simulator bays from six and to add other platforms including a fully convertible Gulfstream G450/G550 full-flight simulator.
Marvin L. Ruthenberg has been appointed vice president/chief operating officer of Seaplanes of Key West, Fla. He was president/CEO of Seaborne Airlines, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Regarding your story "Blame It on Nixon" (AW&ST Mar. 19/26, p. 82), the two Hughes HS376 communications satellites were not "stranded in low orbits by apogee kick motor failures" but by McDonnell-Douglas third-stage PAM motor (nozzle) failures that resulted in failure to achieve transfer orbit. The motors were actually used to reposition each spacecraft for recovery by the space shuttle. I was the Aerojet program manager for the apogee motor.
Astrium has been awarded a contract from Hispamar, a joint venture of Hispasat and a Brazilian telecom operator, to build a second Amazonas satellite. The 5.4-metric-ton, 12-kw., 64-transponder spacecraft will be orbited in 2009 to 61 deg. W. Long.
NASA and the FAA are combining resources to satisfy a long-time goal of the flight-test community--establishing a common database for flight-test safety available to all via the Internet. The idea for a one-stop shopping database has been around for years, says Bart Henwood, the project's data manager and aviation safety manager at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, Calif. The Society of Experimental Test Pilots tried to establish such a databank, but sustaining it isn't easy.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is studying the State Dept.'s backlog in considering export licenses of sensitive technology, says Anne Marie Calvaresi Barr, director of GAO's acquisition and sourcing management unit. Some 10,000 export license requests have accumulated in recent years, according to government and industry officials.
In a move to cut corporate information technology costs, EADS has decided to establish a company-wide information management organization. The European aerospace and defense giant expects to slash its information systems costs by 20% with the new structure, largely through generated efficiencies and by outsourcing. EADS notes the IT move follows a similar integration of human resource structures. Job cuts should not result, although some personnel will need to relocate, the company states.
John W. Hayes has become director of maintenance for the aircraft charter and management divisions of Dallas-based Business Jet Access. He was director of maintenance/manager of quality assurance at the Savannah, Ga., operations base for NetJets International.
The airline industry wants to clear the air about its efforts to leave a smaller carbon footprint after coming under increased attacks from politicians and green groups on its global environmental impact.
Israel's Rafael missile company has rolled out a new version of the SkyLite B mini-UAV. It has a range of more than 21 mi., endurance of up to 3 hr. and a secure digital data link. SkyLite can operate in winds of up to 30 kt. and in rain, autonomously track a moving object and provide high-resolution images with accurate targeting data.
In the Pentagon's latest round of program reviews, one effort stands out as the problem child--the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, a stealthy cruise missile being produced by Lockheed Martin. Six hundred Jassms are now fielded, but tests continue to undermine Air Force confidence in the reliability of the weapon.
Philippine Airlines has exercised two purchase rights and increased its order for 777-300ERs to six aircraft. In addition, it will lease two -300ERs from GE Commercial Aviation Services as it increases flights from Manila to the U.S.
