Petr V. Balabuev, the former head of Ukraine's Antonov design bureau, died on May 17 after a long illness. He was 76. After graduating from the Kharkov aviation college in 1954, he began his career in Kiev in the aerospace sector and took part in the development of almost 100 aircraft models and modifications, including the Antonov An-124 Ruslan super-heavy airlifter. In 1984, Balabuev became head of the design bureau, a post he held 21 years.
Southwest Airlines--far and away the success story among U.S. airlines during the early-2000s economic downturn, terrorism shocks, disease scares and war--is approaching the end of a remarkable financial adventure that has fueled the past several years of its continuing profitability.
Mobile Satellite Ventures has ordered launches for two high-power L-band satellites that Boeing is building for the operator's planned mobile wireless service. International Launch Services (ILS) was tapped for a 2009 mission on a Proton/Breeze M vehicle flying from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Sea Launch Co. will launch a second satellite in 2010 from its floating pad at an equatorial position near Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean.
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The Pentagon is trying to figure out how to judge the effectiveness of weapons that don't blow up targets or smash them on impact. To focus that effort, the Air Force has renamed its Air Intelligence Agency, headquartered at Lackland AFB, Tex., the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency. Organizationally, the agency will move from Air Combat Command to the deputy chief of staff for ISR(A2), currently Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, and it will be considered a field operating agency.
The U.S. Senate Commerce Commit- tee has approved a four-year FAA reauthorization bill without controversial user fees. The bill leaves in place current taxes and fees paid by airlines and their passengers, including the excise tax on tickets. The measure, if enacted, would phase out the airlines' $0.43-per-gal. fuel tax over five years while more than doubling business-aviation fuel taxes to $0.491 per gal.
Critical weeks lie ahead for EADS and its aircraft maker Airbus. The European aerospace giant's long-term fortunes have much resting on how a number of political, labor and industrial issues are resolved this summer.
The U.S. Army is planning to take a crawl-walk-run approach to fielding a new tactical signals intelligence system after having learned a host of lessons from the Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) program termination in 2005.
Oil-rich Kazakhstan plans to use some of its extra cash to upgrade its 87,000-member military with the latest space technologies, including space-based communications, navigation and mapping gear.
Scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) hope a technique they developed to generate the first map of an extrasolar planet can be applied to map Earth-like planets around distant stars, once the James Webb Space Telescope is operational. The planet known as HD 189733b is anything but Earth-like--it is a hot gas giant orbiting a star slightly smaller and cooler than the Sun that lies 60 light years away toward the constellation Vulpecula. But with 33 hr.
Astrium indicates the first of three U.K.'s fifth-generation Skynet military communications satellites, launched on Mar. 11, has entered service. The company says it fully met an obligation to bring the unit into operation by Apr. 24 under a £3.6-billion ($7-billion) 20-year contract with the U.K. government (AW&ST Mar. 19/26, p. 112).
Emirates is shaking up the Middle East airline market, and creating strong pressure on carriers in Europe (p. 50). And with Emirates' huge spending power, buying 47 A380s and taking delivery of one new long-haul aircraft per month, Airbus and Boeing also must listen when Emirates speaks. Rival, big-name Middle East carriers are trying to keep pace, while others are looking to make their fortunes through other avenues, such as low-fare service. Ted Fahn photo.
MBDA has completed qualification trials for its MM40 Block 3 antiship missile. The last firing, on Apr. 28, included a littoral attack trajectory from more than 160 km. and more than double the overall range of the existing missile--two of the features of the upgrade.
Colleen C. Barrett, president/corporate secretary of Southwest Airlines, has been named the 2007 winner of the Tony Jannus Award, which is given by the Tampa and St. Petersburg (Fla.) Chambers of Commerce. The award commemorates Jannus as founder of the world's first scheduled airline, which began service with daily round trips between Tampa and St. Petersburg on New Year's Day 1914.
Inmarsat reported a 16% jump in revenues to $140.8 million for the first quarter, and a 24% surge in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The Broadband Global Area Network, which entered service last year, generated revenues of $7.1 million in the first quarter and recorded 9,842 subscribers, reflecting strong demand for land-based and aeronautical services.
Clay Jones, who is chairman/president/ CEO of Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has won the James Forrestal Industry Leadership Award from the National Defense Industrial Assn. The award recognizes close working relationships between government and industry toward meeting national security requirements.
Indonesian commercial aviation shows little sign of slowing its rapid expansion, despite two crashes this year and criticisms of the industry's safety record. State airline Merpati is boosting its fleet by 25% with the lease of 10 Boeing 737-300s. The Indonesian franchisee of Malaysia's Air Asia says it is also getting extra 737-300s from a U.S. lessor, saying it will receive one a month from June to October. That will give Indonesian Air Asia a dozen -300s.
After years of checking the names of only U.S.-bound air passengers against a government watch list, Canadian carriers will soon have to check the identification of everyone flying into, out of or across Canada. Starting June 18, the Canadian government will issue its own "No Fly" list of names of people considered a threat to air travel. Carriers will screen passengers' names against the list through a secure online system. If a passenger's name matches one on the list, the airline must check with Transport Canada to determine if he or she can board the flight.
Turkey will be reviewing bids from Boeing, Bombardier, EADS and Gulfstream to supply its new command-and-control aircraft. Additionally, the defense ministry says the bidders list for a new basic trainer include Aero Vodochody, Alenia Aermacchi, Cessna, Cirrus, Diamond Aircraft, EADS, Morovan Aviation and Shinyoung Heavy Industries.
Eurocontrol can't wait for a 2020 makeover to solve the near-term need for more airspace capacity, so it has launched a planning program to squeeze every ounce of capability out of current ATC systems across Europe.
A German air force reconnaissance Tornado suffered a hard landing at Mazar-e-Sharif while returning from a surveillance mission over Afghanistan, in an embarrassing setback for a deployment that is controversial back home. The aircraft and reconnaissance equipment were damaged. Germany has deployed six Tornados to bolster NATO intelligence-gathering.
The present comparative health of Europe's aerospace sector is reflected in the latest figures from the British government's "Value Added Scoreboard." The numbers, compiled by the Trade and Industry Dept., indicate a 15% growth in the sector, with the top 10 companies in the U.K. recording increases in business. The value-added approach is about measuring "how wealth is generated," says Norman Price, an industrialist with the Department. The top four companies in the U.K. sector, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Smiths and Qinetiq, all reported increases of 16-23%.
Boeing's seven-year effort to begin selling its C-17 military transport on the commercial marketplace is at best on the back burner and at worst in peril unless the U.S. Air Force acts quickly for a new buy. Based on the Air Force's existing orders and possible foreign sales, the Long Beach, Calif.-based C-17 production line will extend through 2009. With a two-year window for long-lead parts, Boeing officials say they need a commitment from the Air Force as soon as possible to preserve the supply chain and personnel to continue C-17 production.
International Air Transport Assn. March traffic results show a 7.8% increase in international passenger traffic demand compared with the same month in 2006, with load factors high at 76.4%. IATA says strong economies are driving the demand for business and leisure markets. Middle Eastern carriers, which since 2001 have increased their global traffic share to 8% from 5%, continued double-digit passenger growth in March with a 20.4% year-over-year increase. Freight traffic's 12-month growth pattern remained "sluggish" at 2.3% for the month (see p. 44).
Test flights on Rolls-Royce Trent 1000s are about to begin, and next month the engine maker will ship the first of the 787 engines to Boeing to support the new twin-widebody's planned first flight in August. The flight test data will be a key component in the validation of the engine design as Rolls prepares to start building the first turbofans for 787 lead customer All Nippon Airways. Assembly of those powerplants is to start early next year, says Dominic Horwood, director of Boeing programs at Rolls-Royce.
