Space shuttle managers will consider delaying launch of the space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-117 mission for five days until June 13 as one option to be assessed in the flight's Launch Readiness Review at the Kennedy Space Center May 30-31. Holding to a June 8 launch target is also an option, but there is scant margin for making that schedule.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has used his first visit to Airbus in Toulouse to signal he wants changes in the EADS governing structure and is willing to inject government cash into the company as part of a capital increase operation. The issue is likely to be front-and-center next month when Sarkozy is to meet again with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. EADS is ruled by a careful balance of French and German interests, but that has also contributed to cumbersome management that is being widely blamed for inefficiencies.
Bombardier and Canadian aviation authorities continue to seek short- and long-term strategies to wipe out a growing safety threat--CRJ flap malfunctions. Canada's Transportation Safety Board (TSB) database indicates 20 flap failures were reported in 2005, 28 in 2006 and 24 in January alone. Most involved CRJ100s/200s. And the total might be higher: flap failure is not a required reportable occurrence under TSB rules. All of which suggests to the board that the frequency of failures is on the rise, and with it concern for safety.
Tony Charaf, senior vice president of Delta TechOps, has won the Nuts and Bolts Award in the airline category from the Washington-based Air Transport Assn. Eric A. Mendelson, president of the flight support group of the Heico Corp., won the award for the non-airline category. Charaf was honored for more than 30 years of service and contributions to the aviation engineering, maintenance and materiel industry. Mendelson was recognized for leading Heico's 2,000 employees in creating top-quality, cost-effective solutions for their airline customers.
Russia's federal space program will require a total of 26 fixed-base communications satellites, and a further 12 mobile communications satellites through 2015. The program also sees the introduction of the Express 2000 satellite bus, intended to allow Russian industry to compete effectively on the global communications market for the first time.
On May 19-20 the Chino Air Museum Planes of Fame held its 50th anniversary air show. In addition to the dozens of rare World War II warbirds, the only three flyable Lockheed P-38 Lightnings in the world performed during the air show. The trio included "Glacier Girl," the P-38 recovered in 1992 from under 268 ft. of ice and snow in Greenland. This P-38, along with seven other P-38s and two B-17s, made forced landings on July 15, 1942.
Lufthansa and TAM plan to spend the next several months exploring possible areas for closer cooperation. The first step is expected to be code-sharing on national and international flights. But there's also talk of the carriers coordinating their schedules and linking their frequent-flier programs.
Delta Air Lines is placing its second order in the past four months with Bombardier for CRJ900s. The latest addition will add 14 regional jets to Delta's fleet.
If all goes according to plan, Northwest Airlines executives will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on May 31 to mark the airline's exit from bankruptcy reorganization and the debut of its new stock under the ticker symbol "NWA." They're sure to receive a warmer reception on Wall Street than they're getting from employees.
Marc T. Henderson, who is media relations manager for the Miami-Dade Aviation Dept., has been elected president of the Greater Miami Aviation Assn. The following were elected as officers: first vice president, Dan Sullivan, senior vice president of FFC Services; second vice president, Benny Benitez, founder/CEO of the 94th Aero Claims Group; and third vice president, Steven Daun, technical director of sales and marketing, for Aeroservice.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), in the interests of air safety, is calling for the FAA to install carbon monoxide detectors in air traffic control towers. The move followed evacuations at the Washington Dulles control tower and New York terminal radar approach control center (Tracon) this month due to carbon monoxide leaks that debilitated several controllers on duty.
USAF Col. (ret.) David A. Carlson (Melbourne, Fla.)
I have always been in total agreement with George S. Kendall in that the KC-767 will have less infrastructure impact than the KC-30, and is the preferred technical choice (AW&ST May 7/14, p. 10). However, he misses my point that we need competition, and the KC-30 is the closest viable rival.
It's not hard to imagine the gloating--if not outright merrymaking--that might well be going on in the boardrooms and operations centers of U.S. legacy hub-and-spoke airlines these days. After years of restructuring and draconian cost-cutting, they're beginning to see light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.
Capt. Yves Enderle, Former Member (Eurocontrol Runway Safety Team, Brussels, Belgium)
Regarding your article on Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport (AW&ST Apr. 23, p. 58), how in the 21st century can planners design taxiway/runway crossings that are recipes for collisions? The location of taxiways to and from the planned third runway requires aircraft to cross Runway 01L/19R. The planned third runway should be linked with perimeter taxiways to the north and south that avoid crossing Runway 01L/19R by going around both of its ends. Let's hope these planners amend their construction plans for safety's sake.
SwiftAir, which contracts with major logistics operators such as DHL and FedEx, has leased a Boeing 737-300F from Dublin-based aircraft lessor AWAS. The airline's director general, Fredrik Groth, says the aircraft forms "the foundation of Stage-III-compliant freighter operations" and will allow the airline to keep expanding its freighter business. SwiftAir's fleet of 34 aircraft includes Embraer 120Fs, ATR 42/72s and Boeing 727-200Fs.
James Callan has been promoted to general manager for aerospace and defense from manager of global marketing, business planning and international sales for the rail business for the Timken Co., Lebanon, N.H. He succeeds Leong Fang, who has become vice president-sales and marketing in China.
French policy in defense, foreign affairs and air transport is likely to see some new directions, following key ministerial appointments on May 18. Both the defense and foreign affairs ministries went to people outside of President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative UMP party: defense to centrist-party member Herve Morin, and foreign affairs to socialist Bernard Kouchner. Analysts say this might mean these ministries' activities will enjoy a lesser priority than under former president Jacques Chirac.
Combat losses of rotorcraft in Iraq and Afghanistan are driving U.S. and European military officials to seek helicopter upgrades to alert pilots when they come under attack from small arms or rocket-propelled grenades. There's a strong urgency to improve pilots' awareness of when they are under attack. The first sign of trouble now is often bullets impacting the helicopter.
With summer air traffic delays expected to set a record for the second year in a row, the FAA acknowledges that long-term relief will depend on the not-yet-assured NextGen ATC system.
Gery Mortreux (see photo) has become executive vice president-maintenance and engineering of Sabena Technics' Brussels site. He was vice president- component maintenance for Air France.
Singapore's Changi Airports International will develop Vietnam's Phu Bai-Hue airport, the fourth busiest in the country. Changi says the deal is part of a Vietnamese government strategy to promote tourism in the airport's province, in the central part of the country.
As NASA wraps up six months of system-requirements reviews for its next human spacecraft, the Orion/Ares I combination, agency managers are starting to ponder how the vehicles could be used for science missions that wouldn't necessarily go to the Moon, or even be manned. Science chief Stern says his office is considering a workshop or other mechanism to get the word out to scientists on the capabilities of the new space "infrastructure" to visit asteroids or other near-Earth objects, and to find out what scientists really want to do.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada continues to investigate what caused the main landing gear of an Air Canada Jazz Bombardier CRJ to collapse during landing May 20 at Toronto Pearson airport. No injuries were reported among the 37 passengers and three crew on board the 50-seat regional jet. In January, the FAA issued an airworthiness directive calling for installation of an improved main fitting for the main landing gear (MLG) of certain Model CL-600-2B19 (Regional Jet Series 100 and 440) aircraft.
When Pratt & Whitney President Steven Finger talks about "balance" in the company's business plan, he has more in mind than the traditional military/commercial split.
