Kathleen Karelis has been named senior vice president/general counsel/ corporate secretary for New York-based L-3 Communications. She was a senior partner in the Washington law firm of Jenner and Block.
Regarding Virgin Atlantic's plan to tow its Boeing 747-400s to runways to reduce CO 2 emissions (AW&ST Dec. 11, p. 15), it will be interesting to hear how the landing gear tolerates the stop and go forces required on about 800,000 lb. of aircraft. Are we to visualize that the tractor drivers are taking ground control taxi instructions while watching wing clearance and crossing active runways? The mind boggles picturing a line of jumbos, trunk-to-tail with their minders awaiting their turns to perform.
France has released a request for proposals to evaluate the ability of vertical-takeoff-or-landing and fixed-wing vehicles to meet unmanned aerial vehicle operational requirements. The evaluation will follow recent contracts aimed at determining the feasibility of using a common VTOL UAV design to meet common army and navy requirements (AW&ST Nov. 20, 2006, p. 18).
Robert Wall and Michael A. Taverna (St. Cloud, France)
A French-led effort to develop a stealthy unmanned combat air vehicle is set to move into high gear as engineers begin to prepare detailed definition of the Neuron demonstrator.
Defense officials from Germany and Italy apparently have managed to curb cuts to their cooperative development of the Medium Extended Air Defense System (Meads), which includes the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor and sensor systems for a theater defense capability. During the Pentagon's Fiscal 2008 budget talks, the Army was considering a $250-million Meads cut from Fiscal 2008-13, which would delay deliveries of the system.
Flight Simulation Co. at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is buying two Boeing 737NG and two Airbus A320 Level D full-flight simulators from Canada-based CAE. The order is valued at C$52 million ($44.2 million).
David Butler has been appointed senior vice president-administration and human resources for the Mesa Air Group. He was chief human resources executive for Arizona State University.
Vietnam Airlines is one of 53 state companies that will sell shares to the public this year, the government says. The airline says it transported 6.8 million passengers in 2006, nearly 1 million more than a year earlier, with load factors of 71.9%. Profit for the year was 304.5 billion dong ($18.9 million) on revenue of 17,500 billion.
Struggling Asian carrier China Eastern Airlines is relaxing restrictions on ownership of its shares, opening the way for another carrier, probably Singapore Airlines, to buy a stake in the company and offer much-needed management help. The move may give Singapore Airlines (SIA) some of the beyond rights that it is always hankering for, connecting China with the U.S., though at the risk of putting money into a money-losing business that could be quite a challenge to reform.
The Czech Civil Aviation Authority has issued an airworthiness review certificate for the Ibis Ae270 utility aircraft, says Aero Vodochody, which designed the turboprop single in partnership with AIDC of Taiwan. The certificate, for aircraft No. 0006, clears the aircraft for type training and aerial work, permitting commercial operation to begin. European Aviation Safety Agency type certification for the Ae270 was issued in December 2005.
Doncasters, the British specialist engineering group, is looking to make a major acquisition in the U.S. aerospace manufacturing sector as it aims to bolster its position in the American market. The company is intent on growth in its traditional aero-engine metal components business, and in further expanding into the aerostructures business.
Korean Air is aiming for a 14% rise in operating profit to 640 trillion won ($685 million) this year, helped by a predicted 4% rise in revenue to 8.6 trillion won. "It is difficult to paint a rosy picture for next year with volatile factors like oil prices, but next year will be the year for Korean Air to step up efforts to become a major global player," a company official tells Yonhap news agency.
France will join a select group of nations, including the U.S. and Russia, that possess a homegrown naval cruise missile capability, following issuance of a full-scale development contract last week.
Steve Hixson (see photos) has been named vice president-advanced concepts; Timothy J. Frei vice president-intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance business development; and Brian Chappel vice president of contracts, pricing and programs business management, all for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Space Technology Sector, Redondo Beach, Calif. Hixson was director of one of the sector's programs directorates, while Frei was the sector's director of engineering operations.
Not all hubs are created equal, and the industry needs to take a fresh look at the definition of a hub because data reveal vast differences across the U.S. airlines. By measuring hubs differently from the government's methodology, some airlines may lose their long-held claim of having some of the largest hubs in the U.S.
Robert Manelski, director of the Operations Center for Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle, has been selected to receive SAE International's Marvin Whitlock Award. This award recognizes technical contributions related to the operational availability of aircraft, and commemorates the late Marvin Whitlock, senior vice president-maintenance for United Airlines.
Ball Aerospace will build the second-generation commercial Earth-imaging WorldView 2 satellite for DigitalGlobe, set for launch late in 2008. The Boulder, Colo.-based spacecraft manufacturer is already at work on WorldView 1 for DigitalGlobe, with launch scheduled by the middle of this year, and it also built the company's QuickBird spacecraft in orbit now. ITT is building the high-resolution sensor for the new spacecraft, which will be designed to deliver as much as 950,000 sq. km. (366,800 sq. mi.) of 0.5-meter (1.6-ft.) resolution imagery a day directly to customers.
Pemco World Air Services has entered into a new contract with Iceland's Bluebird Cargo to convert two Boeing 737-400s to freighter configuration. Pursuant to Pemco's 2005 partnership pact with Xiamen-based Taikoo Aircraft Engineering Co. and Taikoo Aircraft Engineering Co. of Shandong (Staeco), the work will take place at the Staeco facility in Jinan, China. "We see the 737-400F as a natural next step in our fleet, which now includes five 737-300s," says Bluebird Cargo CEO Thor Kjartansson.
Eclipse Aviation Corp. delivered the first Eclipse 500 very light jet to David Crowe and Jet Alliance, co-owners of the twin-engine, six-seat airplane on Dec. 31. Crowe says he plans to use the jet (front in photo, with the six other aircraft being prepared for delivery) chiefly for recreation, but Jet Alliance, based in Westlake Village, Calif., will operate the aircraft to "serve a growing list of clients," according to Eclipse President and CEO Vern Raburn.
Apparently the F-22 Raptor, the newest aircraft in the U.S. Air Force inventory, isn't the Cold War anachronism its detractors thought it would be. In fact, evidence to date suggests the stealthy fighter is worth more than skeptics expected.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace, already the world's largest third-party maintenance, repair and overhaul business, is targeting rapid growth and reckons it can achieve it without damaging its superb profitability. The company is developing a growth strategy based on its global spread of facilities and on packaging services as so-called total aviation support--doing almost everything for an airline except flying the aircraft and selling the tickets.
Continental Airlines expects a "modest loss . . . excluding special charges" for the fourth quarter of 2006, compared with the small profit forecast earlier by some analysts. Unit costs will be "in line with [the company's] most recently provided guidance," the carrier said, so the culprit was revenue. Continental estimates that consolidated and mainline unit revenue increased year-over-year 4.1-4.4% and 5.5-6.5%, respectively. The carrier will finish 2006 solidly in the black--its nine-month profits totaled $448 million operating and $370 million net.
