Ball Aerospace and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are trying to determine the cause of detector degradation in the critical HiRise High-Resolution Imaging System on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that has forced managers to cut imaging operations by 50%.
Eurocontrol, NATO, military services in many nations and a variety of aerospace industry groups in Europe are pursuing greater access to civil airspace for UAVs, but one industry leader notes that these efforts are not unified.
Steven Lott has been appointed Washington-based regional director of North American communications of the International Air Transport Assn. He was deputy managing editor of AVIATION WEEK's Aviation Daily.
The FAA's expanded National Air Tour Safety Standards will require air tour operators to meet tighter safety requirements, which include providing enhanced passenger briefings before takeoff.
Lt. Gen John G. Castellaw, the Marine Corps deputy commandant for aviation and a self-described country guy from Crockett County, Tenn., sums up President Bush's $716.5- billion military spending plan in plain language. "There's a lot of bucks in there," he told a New York audience of investors. "But when you think about what we need to do, somehow it's never enough."
Harris Corp., a Florida-based infotech company, received a three-year, $66-million U.S. Navy contract for preproduction and test of the K u-band common data link Hawklink system for the MH-60R light airborne multi-purpose system helicopter.
MARKET FOCUS Aerospace executives like Bush's defense budget, but are wary of Congress 10 NEWS BREAKS Sea Launch's platform and mother ship returning to their home base 14 Ball, JPL trying to determine cause of detector degradation in Mars orbiter 15 Airbus unions drawing battle lines before unveiling of cost-cutting plans 15 Fare and load factor hikes improve fortunes of Big Seven U.S. airlines 16 Obituary for Southwest Airlines co-founder M. Lamar Muse 16
The White House approved creation of a unified combatant command for Africa in the Defense Dept. by the end of 2008. Various numbered air forces in European Command have had the assignment for many years, and have supplied cargo aircraft and surveillance, particularly for disaster relief. However, terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda have been using Africa for training, recruiting and fund-raising for the past several years. Insurgent groups have launched attacks in Algeria, Morocco and Somalia, and threatened other countries such as Kenya and Ethiopia.
Contract discussions are nearly complete for the sale of three Boeing 787-8s and two 737-900ERs to Azerbaijan Airlines. It would become the first carrier in the former Soviet Union to operate both types of airplanes.
Civilian operators at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite-control facility at Suitland, Md., have taken over F-17, the newest Defense Meteorological Satellite Program spacecraft, for operational use worldwide. Launched Nov. 4, 2006, it was the second mission carried by a Delta IV from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., and the first use of that new booster in a direct insertion. F-17 is the second Block 5D-3 built by Lockheed Martin for DMSP and includes a number of system upgrades.
Airline entrepreneur M. Lamar Muse died Feb. 5 in Dallas of lung cancer. He was 86. Muse co-founded Southwest Airlines and served as its first president and CEO from 1970-78 before resigning. Muse was responsible for much of Southwest Airlines' innovative marketing techniques, including flight attendants wearing hot pants and the carrier's "luv" theme. LUV remains the airline's symbol on the New York Stock Exchange. He was an early advocate of deregulation and together with his son Mike, later founded Muse Air, which was eventually bought by Southwest Airlines.
Anish Patel (see photo) has become vice president-business development and strategy for Circor Aerospace Products, Corona, Calif. He was a sales executive for Honeywell and Eaton Aerospace.
THE FAA IS AMENDING REGULATIONS GOVERNING the renewal of mechanics holding an Inspection Authorization (IA). Under current rules, IAs must be renewed every year but the new law would expand this to once every two years. The agency says the change will reduce administrative costs by 50% for both the FAA and the mechanic holding an IA.
The saddest and most frustrating aspect of the FAA's plans to adopt an Age 65 Rule for commercial pilots is about the pilots it won't cover--the ones who turn 60 during the period when the FAA bureaucracy is moving at a glacial pace toward the new standard.
Boeing could soon lose a vital piece of its C-130 Avionics Modernization Program. The U.S. Air Force has issued a stop-work order on upgrades of special operations C-130s, long considered the most urgent need. The move is seen as linked to cost and technical performance problems on the upgrade.
Rockwell Collins is expanding its footprint at Boeing by becoming the primary avionics supplier on the 747-8, building on its important role on the all-new 787. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based company will not only supply more of the avionics content on the 747-8 than it does on the 747-400, it will take on some responsibility for integrating subsystems. This doesn't mean it will be the lead systems integrator on the 747-8 cockpit--Boeing will retain that role.
Jim Ranghelli (see photo) has become executive director for business development for International Jet Management at Washington Dulles International Airport. He was an executive with Midcoast/Jet Aviation.
To submit Aerospace Calendar Listings, Call +1 (212) 904-2421 Fax +1 (212) 904-6068 e-mail: [email protected] Feb. 19-20--Asia Business Forum's Indian Airports Development Conference 2007. InterContinental The Grand, New Delhi. Call +65 (65) 368-676 or see www.abf-asia.co Feb. 20--Royal Aeronautical Society Capital Branch's Winter Lecture and Annual General Meeting. Speaker: FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey. Boeing offices, Arlington, Va. Call +1 (703) 739-6700 ext. 108.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Adlai Hardin has prohibited Comair's pilots from striking over planned $15.8-million cuts in pay and benefits, ruling on a management motion. Carrier officials say they will impose new contract terms at 11:59 p.m. Feb. 9 if no other agreement is achieved. Comair says the average pay reduction will be 11%.
Airlines are concerned that an ambitious effort to redraw Europe's airspace map is being hindered by states' reluctance to carve up their borders in the sky. If the countries can't get their act together, European leaders must step in and assert more control over the process, airline groups say. Rearranging airspace regions is considered an integral part of the larger Single European Sky (SES) initiative. All parties agree that the efficiencies promised by SES can only be realized by simplifying the complicated web of European aviation boundaries.
It may be summer before Airbus learns whether its sole remaining A380 freighter customer, UPS, stays committed to the program, but company officials see an opportunity in Cathay Pacific to shore up the struggling variant. The Asian carrier is expected to issue a request for proposals in the coming months for a large cargo hauler. The competition would pit the A380 against the Boeing 747.
