NATO members will face critical equipment decisions in the coming months after a summit of the group's political leaders failed to resolve several key operational and modernization questions.
Union members have ratified variable-length contracts with Mesaba Airlines in hopes that a 15% cut in labor costs will preserve Mesaba's Saab 340 operations with long-time partner Northwest Airlines (AW&ST Nov. 27, p. 64). Contracts for the Air Line Pilots Assn., the Assn. of Flight Attendants and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. will be in effect for four years if the Saab fleet remains at 49 aircraft, but will lengthen to 5.5 years if the aircraft fleet increases to 79 aircraft or more.
Many aviation economists believe there are too many airlines with too much capacity plying their trade in the U.S. Consumers enjoy the resulting low fares in the short run, but in the long run, everyone suffers when airlines lose money. Much of the industry's five-year financial disaster is believed to have grown out of the market paralysis to which an overcrowded field contributes. Let markets rule, with fewer airlines the likely result, these industry observers conclude.
Cincinnati Inc. has sold four high-speed laser cutting systems this year exclusively for aerospace use. The latest system, the CL-707, features interchangeable 8 X 20-ft. cutting tables, which are twice the size of competing systems, according to the company. The CL-707 operates with a 5,000-watt GE Fanuc laser resonator that generates the cutting beam. It can slice through 18-gauge steel at up to 1,000 in./min. The U.S. Air Force has acquired one laser cutting system and has a second on order. Other buyers were not identified.
EUROCOPTER HAS SOLD AN EC135 AND ONE EC145 light, twin-engine helicopter to corporate customers in Poland, marking the first sales of each type in that country. Deliveries are scheduled early in 2007. In addition, Eurocopter is offering the EC135 for Poland's Ministry of Health project that calls for 23 helicopters equipped for emergency medical service.
BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON AFFILIATE AERONAUTICAL ACCESSORIES has received FAA supplemental type certification for "Hi-Visibility" doors for the Model 407 single-engine, turbine-powered helicopter. The modification kit, previously available to law enforcement agencies, is now an option for all 407 customers and replaces standard passenger, pilot and cabin doors with new doors that provide increased viewing area.
Sukhoi plans first flight of the Su-35 by August 2007, according to Chief Executive Mikhail Pogosyan. The aircraft is a derivative of the Su-27 Flanker with improved avionics, engines and weapons.
As if its struggling regional jet (RJ) business isn't trouble enough, Bombardier Inc. now faces questions about whether its corporate aircraft unit is losing ground to competitors. The company last week announced 57 new orders for such aircraft in the quarter ended Oct. 31, essentially even with the same period a year earlier and down 10 orders from the previous quarter, despite record demand for business jets (AW&ST Oct. 16, p. 28). "You clearly have lost market share," GMP Securities analyst Marko Pencak told company executives during an earnings call last week.
Britain will carry out fast-jet trials simulating the control of unmanned combat air vehicles from a single-seat combat aircraft within the next few months.
NATO is developing an expansive unmanned aircraft roadmap to overcome persistent material and operational shortfalls highlighted during recent operational deployments. The Flight Plan for Unmanned Aircraft Systems calls for an array of actions to be taken by the alliance and individual members, ranging from NATO acquiring its own system, to members buying high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) systems, to NATO improving frequency management to properly employ UAVs.
G. Scott Hubbard has received the Carl Sagan Memorial Award from the American Astronautical Society and The Planetary Society. Named for The Planetary Society's co-founder, the award is presented to a person who has demonstrated leadership in research or policies advancing exploration of the cosmos.
Jim Burin, Director of Technical Programs (Flight Safety Foundation, Alexandria, Va.)
Thank you for the article "Ways To Go" on the recent International Air Safety Seminar in Paris (AW&ST Nov. 6, p. 46). I would like to make one correction to the accompanying graph. As was highlighted at the seminar, the Flight Safety Foundation now uses the classification of "major accidents" to measure accident rates versus "hull losses." A major accident is one in which: *The aircraft is destroyed. *There are multiple fatalities. *There is one fatality and substantial damage to the aircraft.
South Korea has signed a $1.59-billion contract with Boeing to supply four airborne early warning and control aircraft, based on the 737 airframe, for the EX program. First delivery is scheduled for 2011 with the other three to follow in 2012. The primary sensor will be Northrop Grumman's Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array 360-deg. radar.
India is beginning to define its first Mars orbiter for launch as early as 2013 on its geosynchronous space launch vehicle. The small spacecraft, costing only about $70 million excluding the booster, would carry instruments to research the Martian atmosphere and subsurface, possibly including a radar. The mission's main significance at this point is probably India's intent to do it, rather than its explicit scientific goals. With this project, India joins China in defining new Mars exploration for Asia (AW&ST Nov. 27, p. 53). "Mars is emerging on our horizon.
An article about the use of 737-700s for the U.S. Navy's P-8A program (AW&ST Nov. 27, p. 78) should have said peak P-8A production rates per year will be about the same as commercial rates per month.
Reading Joseph C. Anselmo's article on program management failures (AW&ST Nov. 13, p. 45) and reader Hugo Beit's letter in the same issue (p. 7), I am surprised at the short term and selectivity of memories. I am sure Airbus richly deserves the castigation it is receiving from all and sundry for its program failure on the A380 (although the airplane itself will be certificated shortly).
Canadian satellite communications startup Ciel has filed nine applications for new orbital positions across several frequencies. The company submitted the applications in response to the largest call for proposals ever issued by the Canadian government. Ciel already has a slot at 129 deg. W. Long., where it plans to deploy its first dedicated spacecraft, Ciel-2, in late 2008.
The first two Hawk Mk 132 Advanced Jet Trainers for the Indian air force--66 were ordered in 2004--are entering final assembly before flight testing at BAE Systems in Warton, England. The contract includes ground-based training systems, associated support and interim pilot training at RAF Valley in Wales. Following major equipment fit and systems testing at Brough, England, the aircraft were transported by road to Warton where the wings will be fitted to the fuselages and the aircraft will undergo a series of tests prior to first flight.
Nora Moreno Cargie has become director of global corporate citizenship for Boeing's Chicago corporate headquarters. She succeeds Anne Roosevelt, who is now vice president of the company's overall global corporate citizenship function. Cargie was vice president-communications and development for Illinois Action for Children.
A large-scale test of unmanned aerial vehicles in an urban environment engaged a U.S. Air Force-Army-industry team of 20 in the deployment of three autonomous and coordinated UAVs that collected video data of ground targets. The team from the Air Force Research Laboratory deployed a small UAV, the BAT-III, at 500 ft. to conduct an aerial view, and two micro UAVs for close-range, detailed inspections. The test was carried out Oct. 23-26 at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, Ind.
Donald W. Campbell, a veteran Canadian diplomat and executive vice president at CAE Inc., recently began a one-year term as chairman of the Aerospace Industries Assn. of Canada. Campbell, 65, spoke from his office in Montreal with AW&ST Business Editor Joseph C. Anselmo about issues facing Canada's export-driven aerospace industry, the world's fourth largest after the U.S., U.K. and France.
The highly automated, advanced-technology aircraft of the 21st century demand a new, rigorous approach to training air and ground crews. The challenge is twofold: to create safe pilots, mechanics and air dispatchers, and to produce them in large numbers to meet the huge demand in fast-growing aviation regions of the world. Over the next eight pages, Aviation Week explores some of the efforts underway in the military, airline, maintenance and business-aviation sectors.
China Southern Airlines is encouraging passengers to go to the toilet before they board, to save the liter of fuel that it reckons as the cost of each airborne flush. The airline has also told staff to fill aircraft water tanks to only 60% of capacity to save fuel.
The Government Accountability Office calls for savings at the NTSB's "non-cost-effective" Training Center at Ashburn, Va. The center, which opened in 2003, was envisioned as a facility for accident investigators from around the world. However, even the NTSB's staff has trained externally, incurring expenses that deepen the center's losses. The GAO says the external training runs about $1 million a year; in Fiscal 2005, the center's costs exceeded revenues by $3.9 million.
American Science and Engineering of Billerica, Mass., has rolled out its second-generation, drive-through X-ray detection system for vehicle screening using backscatter X-ray techniques. The system can detect explosives, stowaways and other contraband. The driver can remain in the truck cab during the process. In other news, NATO has awarded a $13-million contract to AS&E to provide these systems to examine cargo, parcels, personnel and vehicles at security checkpoints.
