Fears that the upcoming presidential elections could compromise the ongoing French military modernization program are proving unfounded, although some big programs, notably a second aircraft carrier, still appear at risk.
DFW International Airport's first natural gas well will become operational this spring and start swelling non-aviation revenue. The airport already has collected $185 million in an initial bonus last October from Chesapeake Energy Corp., which entered into a long-term oil-and-gas lease agreement with DFW, which has 18,000 acres for natural gas exploration and production. It will receive an annual royalty of 25% of the value of natural gas produced there. DFW is also working on a 150-acre commercial development to boost non-aviation revenue.
David Abney has been promoted to chief operating officer from president of UPS International and has been named president UPS Airlines to succeed John Beystehner, who has retired. Alan Gershenhorn succeeds Abney as president of UPS International. Gershenhorn was Brussels-based head of operations of UPS Supply Chain Solutions in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
One of the features of the post-2001 airline environment in the U.S. has been the blurring of the boundaries between the traditional airline categories, and this trend shows every sign of continuing. Analysis of third-quarter cost data shows that while expenses for network carriers continue to decline, those for low-cost carriers (LCCs) are creeping upward--and some LCCs have effectively elevated themselves out of this category entirely.
A powerful new laser expected to expand greatly the ability of scientists to perform in-situ analysis of rocks is on its way to a 2009 rendezvous with Mars.
The Bush administration unveils its budget proposal for Fiscal 2008 this week, and both its context and content will carry risks and rewards for U.S. aerospace and aviation.
It may not have the heft of the proposed $4.8-billion sale of Smiths Aerospace to General Electric Co., but Esterline Technologies Corp.'s deal to acquire Canadian avionics concern CMC Electronics Inc. is another sign of supplier-level consolidation in aerospace, not to mention the growing role of private equity firms in industry mergers and acquisitions.
A week after Boeing said it would not use a wireless inflight entertainment system for the 787, that aircraft's launch customer, All Nippon Airways, opted for Panasonic Avionics Corp.'s eX2 system. A Panasonic official says the company was prepared to support either a wireless or wired IFE system. But he agreed with Boeing's assessment that wireless carries the greater risk in terms of regulatory approval and weight penalties (AW&ST Jan. 29, p. 21).
Jim Cameron has been named overhaul business unit manager and Bob Gurren manager of lean deployment, materials and OEM business for PAS Technologies Inc., Kansas City, Mo. Cameron was his unit's product line manager, while Gurren was manufacturing superintendent for the Formica Corp., Evandale, Ohio.
MARKET FOCUS Esterline deal for CMC continues supplier- level consolidation in aerospace 10 NEWS BREAKS AEDC placing kinetic-energy interceptors and kill vehicles in simulated orbits 16 EuroHawk wins contract from Germany to develop unmanned ISR aircraft 17 Boeing unveils cabin concepts for its 787 VIP 18 Airport to add cargo inspection proce- edure to baggage-screening system 18 Lockheed Martin's first Sbirs satellite finishes testing 20
Frederick G. Wasserman has been named to the board of directors of the Allied Defense Group Inc., Vienna, Va. He is chief operating and financial officer of Mitchell & Ness Nostalgia Co.
Patricia Garcia has become vice president-contracts for Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems, Garland, Tex. She was director of contracts for Raytheon Network-Centric Systems.
Japan Airlines Corp. is tackling a key cause of its unprofitability--its immense fleet of 70 Boeing 747s. Seeking higher yields and lower costs, the airline's 2007 fleet plan accelerates retirements of 747-200s and -300s as more -400s are converted to freighters. Long-haul routes, especially to Europe, are being slimmed down but the carrier, Asia's largest, is building up services closer to home, piling on flights to Asian markets such as China and planning to add more when new runway capacity becomes available in a few years.
David A. Fulghum, Amy Butler and John M. Doyle (Washington)
New U.S. military aircraft programs are again under siege, this time from within the Pentagon. The Army and Marine Corps have signaled their intention to push for more of the defense budget to pay for increasing their total manpower strength by 92,000 additional troops and replacing equipment used up by combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Svein Oppegaard, who is the head of Human Resources at SAS Braathens, also will be acting head of human resources for the SAS Group. He succeeds Bernhard Rikardsen, who has resigned as executive vice president.
The FAA says it's time to "close the book" on the Age 60 Rule--and open a new one that adds five years to a transport pilot's working life in the cockpit front office. The new book changing mandatory retirement age to 65 will not be a page-turner, but a long, slow rule-making process.
Lockheed Martin has won a $294-million contract to provide Lot 6 and 7 AGM-158A Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles to USAF. Work is to be completed by March 2008. Textron snagged a $92.9-million contract add-on to provide full-rate production of 291 (Lot 12) sensor-fuzed weapons, also for USAF, by March 2009.
An Alaska institution, Kulis Air National Guard base, is closing, a victim of the 2005 base realignment commission. The 176th Wing and its aircraft will shift to Elmendorf AFB at Anchorage. The active-duty 3rd Wing and the 176th will form an associate unit. The 176th's eight C-130Hs, three HC-130Ns and five HH-60s will be joined by an additional four C-130Hs. The two wings will form an active-duty and ANG associate unit equipped with C-17s. Yet another change will stand up the Air Force Reserve 302nd Flight Sqdn.
Despite very public threats that it would back out of a competition with Boeing to build refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force after the much-awaited request for proposals (RFP) was released, Northrop Grumman has seemingly backed off and is softening its rhetoric.
U.S. airline pilots might be careful what they hope for regarding the Age 60 Rule. There is good reason why the Air Line Pilots Assn. continues to oppose changes: a majority of its membership also is against it and one of a union's goals is to preserve jobs. Enhanced medical standards that would inevitably be part of an age increase might cost more jobs than they save. Any Part 121 pilot working today was hired under the condition of mandatory retirement at Age 60. It has always been the small minority making all the noise.
How would you be feeling, a few months prior to a premature and financially inadequate mandatory retirement, after being told for more than 25 years that your retirement compensation for--a job well done--was secure?
Europe is quietly tackling concerns about losing vital aerospace skills to other industries, but progress may be too slow to achieve research goals set by the European Union.
Clay Foushee has been named to the senior oversight staff of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee by the Democratic majority. He was a chief scientist/technical adviser at the FAA and a vice president of Northwest Airlines. Jim Coon has become chief of staff and Holly Woodruff Lyons aviation staff director for Republicans on the committee. Coon was staff director for the House aviation subcommittee and had been director of government affairs for Boeing, while Lyons was senior counsel for the subcommittee and a lawyer for the FAA. Rep.
A near-Earth asteroid or comet could be an early target for human explorers as NASA's exploration shops ponder using a hybrid of planned U.S. launch vehicles for the mission. The agency's Constellation Program at Johnson Space Center launched a study last fall on flying the Orion crew exploration vehicle to a rendezvous with a near-Earth object (NEO) for research and possibly sample return (AW&ST Sept. 25, 2006, p. 21).
