Bill Whitlow has been promoted to president from vice president of the Marlton, N.J.-based Aviation and Maritime Services Div. of L-3 Communications. Whitlow succeeds Tom Brennan, who has retired.
You can now register ONLINE for AVIATION WEEK Events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or call Lydia Janow at +1 (212) 904-3225/+1 (800) 240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada Only) Oct. 17-18--MRO Asia, Shanghai. Oct. 29-31--A&D Programs, Phoenix. Nov. 6-8--MRO Europe, Milan. Nov. 28-29--A&D Finance Conference, New York. PARTNERSHIPS June 18-24--Paris air show. Sept. 24-28--International Aeronautical Congress, Hyderabad, India.
Air France-KLM is embarking on a new round of fleet renewal and efficiency improvements, in a bid to stay ahead of rising costs and continue improving its underlying financial returns.
Avion Aircraft Trading will buy eight rather than just six Airbus A330-200Fs after placing four aircraft already with Icelandair Cargo. The increase in the order size was agreed to during final contract talks. Avion Aircraft takes delivery of the first of its A330s in 2010. The deal brings Airbus's firm orders for the freighter to 14. Avion Aircraft has not decided on an engine.
Russia's Irkut Corp. has rolled out the first two of a batch of 18 Sukhoi Su-30MKM two-seat multirole fighters for the Royal Malaysian Air Force. An initial batch of six aircraft will be delivered to Malaysia no later than July. The Su-30MKM differs from India's Su-30MKI mainly in that the Israeli-supplied systems of the latter are replaced. South Africa's Avitronics, for instance, provides the laser-warning system for the Su-30MKM. A further six Su-30MKMs will be delivered by the end of this year, with the final batch to follow in 2008.
Talk comes freely from all corners on how to deal with global warming (AW&ST Apr. 16, p. 28). Those who argue for squeezing the air transport industry, and its travelers and cargo generators as part of the solution, are focused on the perceived inequities between the haves and have-nots, which air transport seems to highlight. In doing so, they forget some of the reality of air transport and carbon emissions:
John Douglass, the face and head of the Aerospace Industries Assn. for nine years, plans to retire at the end of the year, AIA announced May 24. Douglass became well-known to reporters for his annual industry briefings and media advocacy skills, along the way being oft-cited on aerospace and defense industry issues inside Washington's Beltway. AIA has grown its regular membership to 103 from 52 under his tenure while expanding the Supplier Management Council to 172 members from 24.
Engineers from Alliant Techsystems and NASA are evaluating the results of a 2-min. ground test of a four-segment Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM), both to validate its continuing performance on the space shuttle and evaluate it for its role on the planned Ares I crew launch vehicle. The 2-min. test generated an average thrust of 2.6 million lb., and was considered a success.
Thomas MacAleavey has become Shannon, Ireland-based chief executive for engine leasing for AerCap Holdings. He was senior vice president-worldwide sales and marketing for U.S.-based Willis Lease Finance Corp.
Alloy Surfaces Co. Inc. has received a $20-million addition to its British Royal Air Force contract for infrared countermeasures. The order is for Special Materials Decoys, metal wafers which emit primarily in the infrared rather than the visible spectrum. The "ASD BOLIR" flares are for use with Bol countermeasures dispensers. This contract extends production through 2012 at Alloy Surfaces' Bethel Township, Pa., facility. Alloy Surfaces is a subsidiary of Chemring Group PLC of the U.K.
Australia will join U.S.-Japanese research on ballistic missile defense but won't host an anti-missile system on its soil. The Liberal-National government, however, plans to buy at least three destroyers equipped with the U.S. Aegis defense system and is considering whether to equip them with the RIM-161 Standard Missile 3, which can intercept medium-range ballistic missiles. The Labor opposition says it would support such a move.
A heavier debt load for Qantas will probably be the biggest result of the failed private equity bid for the company by a consortium that included Texas Pacific Group and Onex Corp. The Australian airline says it will "conduct an extensive review of capital management strategies over the next few months," with CEO Geoff Dixon adding that the company needs to take A$3.5 billion ($2.9 billion) in cash out of its balance sheet to avoid becoming a takeover target again.
The European Union and European Space Agency member nations, through Europe's new Space Council, have endorsed a common space policy, and approved the adhesion of Eumetsat as a permanent observer on the Council. Eumetsat will operate the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) network, the next big joint EU-ESA space undertaking. The European Commission endorsed the common space policy last month (AW&ST Apr. 30, p. 30).
The Global Terrorism Database, billed as the world's largest unclassified database of terrorism attacks, is now available online for general use by researchers, policy-makers, media and the general public. The database was developed by Start, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, based at the University of Maryland, with funding from the U.S. Homeland Security Dept. The database includes 80,000 terror incidents from 1970-2004. Start plans to update the database through 2007 within the next 12 months.
Gulfstream is considering the launch of a supersonic business jet demonstrator in time to convince regulators in 2013 that the skies can be opened to day-to-day, overland SSBJ operations. While a program decision has not been made, Gulfstream appears ready to go it alone (with some partners at the system level), while many of its rivals are either remaining on the sidelines or looking for government support to launch similar efforts.
Skybus passengers heard more than the safety tutorial from flight attendants when the Columbus, Ohio-based carrier inaugurated Airbus A319 service last week to the Los Angeles suburban airport at Burbank. The jingling sounds of commerce were in the air.
Miniaturized electronics using increasingly smaller voltages are key to packing more capability into advanced aircraft, sensors and communications networks--but they're on a collision course with nature. In addition to solar flares and radiation belts in space, these advanced devices are threatened by new electronic pulse weapons, bursts of microwaves from powerful new radars and proliferation of small nuclear weapons.
Bill Brodegard has become senior engineer for certification for Chelton Flight Systems, Boise, Idaho. He was director of technical services for the Avidyne Corp.
Refining a decade's experience in making airplanes on a moving assembly line, Boeing is using a unique set of shop-floor tools to speed the wing and body joins and the installation of systems, gear and engines as it pursues a pace-setting standard for 787 production.
The government of Gibraltar plans to start construction of a state-of-the-art, 20,000-sq.-meter (215,200-sq.-ft.) air terminal on "The Rock" in October that it aims to complete at the end of 2008. The current terminal, according to Gibraltar's chief minister, Peter Caruana, is "totally inadequate" for Gibraltar's needs and "as a building, is well past its shelf life." Gibraltar Airport, which is located near the border of Spain, has a single 6,000-ft. Runway 9/27 and is served daily by Iberia and GB Airways (operating for British Airways).
Carlos Suarez has been named head of EADS' Military Transport Div./chairman of EADS CASA, effective July 1. He will succeed Francisco Fernando Sainz. Suarez has been head of the division's military derivative programs for Airbus platforms.
Time is running out to enter Aviation Week & Space Technology's Annual Product Breakthrough Award competition. Four awards will be presented for best new or enhanced product/service; one each to Large, Medium, Small and Start-Up entities (AW&ST Apr. 2, p. 17). The deadline is June 29. Winners will be announced at the AVIATION WEEK Aerospace & Defense Programs Conference in Phoenix on Oct. 30. Contact [email protected]
I have been with the KC-135 maintenance staff for 12 years in Oklahoma and have seen a lot of changes. In the last few years, I have seen management move toward the lean improvement process. The size of management has doubled along with the number of analysts who are trying to iron out the wrinkles as if this were a new airplane. There are now fewer mechanics as repairs to the old KC-135 tankers have been grow- ing more complex and time-consuming.
USAF Maj. Gen. Wendell L. Griffin has been named Air Force chief of safety/commander of the Air Force Safety Center, Kirtland AFB, N.M. He has been director of Global Reach Programs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition at the Pentagon. Griffin will be succeeded by Maj. Gen. David S. Gray, who has been commander of the USAF Expeditionary Center of Air Mobility Command, Ft. Dix, N.J. Gray, in turn, will be followed by Brig. Gen. Kip L.
