Arianespace has rescheduled the launch of Britain's first Skynet 5 military satellite communications satellite, initially set for mid-January, to the end of February. No reason was given for the slip, which moves the liftoff perilously close to the end-of-March initial in-orbit capability milestone that operator EADS Paradigm must meet under its contractual operations.
Stan Deal (see photos) has been named vice president for Asia-Pacific sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, covering Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, Thailand, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Rob Laird, who is now vice president-Greater China sales, will cover China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Philippines. Deal had been vice president-Commercial Airplanes sales and marketing operations. Laird was vice president-China sales.
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Midwest Airlines expects to boost capacity this year by 15%, which includes the addition of 15 50-seat Bombardier CRJs to be operated by SkyWest. Midwest signed a capacity agreement last month with Utah-based SkyWest to operate Midwest Connect service. Midwest General Counsel Carol Skornicka says the airline is buying SkyWest capacity so it can meet rising demand quickly.
To submit Aerospace Calendar Listings, Call +1 (212) 904-2421 Fax +1 (212) 904-6068 e-mail: [email protected] Jan. 10--Lean Aerospace Initiative Tutorial: "Leading Indicators for Technical and Programmatic Performance." Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Stratton Student Center, Cambridge. See http://lean.mit.edu Jan. 31-Feb. 1--Middle East Business Aviation's Airport Expo. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Call +44 (208) 391-0999, fax +44 (208) 391-0220 or see www.meba.aero
Nairobi-based Kenya Airways is acquiring three Embraer 170s under lease with GE Commercial Aviation Services (Gecas), with the first to be delivered in the second quarter. Kenya, which is expanding its network, plans to deploy the Embraer 170s on domestic medium-haul routes, replacing turboprops. All three aircraft will be configured in a single-class arrangement with 72 32-in.-pitch seats.
Boeing squeezed more orders into the final days of 2006 to close out a strong sales year. Qatar Airways, a launch customer for the 777 Freighter in 2005, ordered two more, raising the program's tally to 51 sales. Kenya Airways signed up for three 787-8s, raising its total to nine firm orders with four options. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines exercised options on three 737-800s, raising its fleet total to 29 aircraft. It also is buying four 777-300ERs, giving it 19 777s. Air New Zealand, Boeing's second 787 customer, has ordered four more, bringing its total to eight.
The Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is poised to resume testing this week and could fly as many as six times in January, launching a 12,000-hr. test program that will eventually involve three versions of the multirole fighter.
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise must expand its search for a takeover target in the aircraft leasing business, after Bank of China acquired Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (SALE) last month. The decision by SALE's former shareholders--including Singapore Airlines, Temasek Holdings and WestLB--was a blow for the ambitious Dubai venture. DAE missed its target of completing a transaction in the leasing business before the end of last year.
Ask Embraer's CEO-to-be, Frederico Curado, what has changed at the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer in the past 10 years or so, and he has a clear answer: "Just about everything." Curado was a part of a team led by his boss, Embraer CEO Mauricio Botelho, that achieved those changes. Botelho will step down in April, but continue as non-executive chairman for another three years before eventually retiring in 2010.
White House policy wonks are hard at work on details of the new national aeronautics plan Congress ordered in its Fiscal 2005 NASA authorization, with a research road map and infrastructure plan due by the end of this year. The Dec. 20 policy calls for work on new aircraft concepts, expanding the capacity of the air traffic system, helping keep U.S. aeronautics competitive in the global market, strengthening aeronautics cooperation within the government and with industry and academia, and stable funding for long-term foundational research.
Jon Beatty has become president of the International Aero Engines consortium, East Hartford, Conn. He has been vice president-operational commercial engines for IAE member Pratt & Whitney. Beatty succeeds Mark King, who will return to IAE member Rolls-Royce. Succeeding Beatty will be Mike Field, who has been vice president-sales, marketing and customer support. And following Field will be Bob Keady, who has been senior vice president-customer business for IAE.
Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says she wants to change the way Congress oversees the intelligence budget. One of the Democrats' first acts when they take control of the House this month, Pelosi says, will be creating a new oversight panel to check on the administration's budget for intelligence-gathering. The proposed Select Intelligence Oversight Panel would consist of members of the House Appropriations and Intelligence committees, and would operate as part of the Appropriations Committee.
Replaying a story that's been heard dozens of times in other countries, Thailand has built a costly new airport for Bangkok but is now having second thoughts about the strict policy of moving all the traffic there, as long planned. As usual, some airlines are pushing to get back to the cheaper old airport--in this case, Don Muang Airport, which has been almost deserted since the new Suvarnabhumi facility opened in September. It looks like the budget carriers might get their way, too.
Lee Cooper (see photos) has been appointed vice president-business development and Fred Darlington vice president-engineering and technology for the Raytheon Technical Services Co., Reston, Va. Cooper was senior vice president-business development for the Titan Group of L-3 Communications, while Darlington was director of the satellite communications product line for Raytheon Network-Centric Systems.
Jean-Yves Le Gall, CEO of Arianespace; Jean-Jacques Dordain, director general of the European Space Agency; Francois Auque, chief executive of EADS Astrium; and Yannick d'Escatha, director general of French space agency CNES, for bringing Europe's Ariane 5 ECA heavy-lift launcher to maturity, after a disastrous inaugural launch failure in December 2002.
Sometimes a company's worst enemy lurks inside its own walls--and so it was for Airbus in 2006. Recent dramatic events demonstrated clearly that complacency can undermine an organization while political interference can seriously aggravate corporate difficulties. The European airframer's image and outlook remain clouded as a result of last year's many-sided crisis. At the same time, the airline industry can barely contain its deep astonishment while assessing the A380 debacle and the A350XWB's delayed launch.
It was an unusual request for a busy auto executive, but Ford CEO Alan R. Mulally (left) was only too happy to talk about airplanes and his career at Boeing for our Person of the Year portrait, with Editor-in-Chief Anthony L. Velocci, Jr. (right) and Northern California Bureau Chief Michael Mecham (center), who reports on the airplane maker. Mulally joked that as much as Boeing is scrutinized by the press in Seattle, it doesn't compare with the amount of coverage he has received now that Executive Chairman William Clay Ford, Jr., has asked him to rescue the automaker.
NASA's Ames Research Center and Google will work together on large-scale data management, massively distributed computing and better human-computer interfaces under a new Space Act Agreement. The first collaborative projects between the new partners will focus on making the best use of NASA information already available on the Internet, including plugging NASA data into the popular Google Earth feature.
Since its creation in late 2002 as the third-largest Cabinet agency, the U.S. Homeland Security Dept. has rushed to secure the nation's borders and transportation system, patrol its waterways and assist disaster recovery efforts. But that sense of urgency, combined with "poorly defined requirements and inadequate oversight," has led to "ineffective or inefficient results and increased costs," says the department's inspector general.
Raymond H. Siegfried, 3rd, has been appointed vice president-business and general aviation markets and strategic resources for Nordam Group, Tulsa, Okla.
The NASA Johnson Space Center team that developed the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS), enabling space shuttle self-inspection and repair access. Kim Ess, OBSS project manager, coordinated development, while Andre Sylvester, the subsystem manager, led identification of sensor and boom options. Jim Siekierski, systems engineer, then coordinated the critical analytical evaluation of sensor capabilities with Neptec Inc.
After more than a year of contractual negotiations, Spain has finalized its deal to buy 45 NH90 transport helicopters. First deliveries are planned for 2010 in the tactical transport configuration. Spain also received a NH90 final assembly line at Albacete, which is to be opened this quarter. The Eurocopter Espana facility also will serve as sole supplier for the NH90 front fuselage. The Spanish requirements for helicopters of the NH90 type could reach 100 rotorcraft.
The Iranian government gets plenty of well-deserved criticism for operating Internet sites that promote radical Islamic views and preach hatred of the West in general (and the U.S., Israel and Jews in particular). Tehran also censors Western web sites to control access by the 7 million Internet users in Iran. Reporters Without Borders contends that Iran is creating digital borders to prevent its citizens from getting information from abroad, listing it among "Internet enemies" along with China, Egypt, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and Vietnam. However, the U.S.
