The Wayne County Airport Authority said Nov. 6 it is lowering landing fees at Detroit Metro Airport by 28% for Fiscal 2007, and expects to issue $20 million in refunds to airlines when the books are closed on Fiscal 2006. The 2007 adjustment to $2.41 from $3.37 per 1,000 lb. of landed weight would save a Boeing 747-400 operator $220,000 a year if a 747 landed at the airport every day.
The incoming Democratic Congress is unlikely to cut defense spending in the near term, but in five years budgets will come under enormous pressure from a bipartisan force--baby boomers. In 2011, the wave of boomers born 1946-64 will start collecting Social Security and Medicare benefits, straining a federal budget already awash in red ink, says Forecast International analyst Richard Pettibone, speaking at Aviation Week & Space Technology's programs conference in Phoenix last week.
European low-fare carrier Sterling Airlines reported operating earnings of $20 million in the third quarter, a marked turnaround from last year's nearly $50-million loss. Year-to-date operating earnings remain in the red, but at $13 million are much lower than at this point in 2005. Earnings excluding restructuring charges for the year so far are positive. Overall profit is still elusive though: the carrier posted a net loss of $15 million in the first nine months.
Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Pa.), swamped in his bid to breach seniority and become House majority leader in the new Congress, will keep his seniority on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee and become its chairman next year. Backed by Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Murtha challenged the current Democratic Whip, Steny Hoyer, for next year's No. 2 job. But the party caucus honored seniority over its new leader's preferences, backing Hoyer 149-86. Hoyer lost no time affirming that Murtha will take over the defense appropriations panel.
Boeing designers are discussing a new family of single-aisle airplanes. The main question is whether the company should field two models--the first optimized for 100-130 seats and the second at 140-180 seats, says analyst Edmund S. Greenslet. The two aircraft would be "the only way to obtain a really good small airplane," he writes in the November issue of Airline Monitor. Yet there is doubt that the bottom end of that market is large enough for a dual-model approach.
American Airlines is completing inspections of 22 MD-80s affected by minor paint contamination in the fuel system. As of late last week, six airplanes remained to be inspected. The maintenance was ordered after tiny paint flakes from fuel cell cover plates caused the illumination of fuel filter clog lights in two airplanes.
Lockheed Martin Corp. employees in Orlando, Fla., and Fort Worth have received the Nova Award, which is the company's highest honor for individuals and teams. From Orlando, John Kemp, director of security for Lockheed Martin Shared Services, and Fred Ross, director of air mobility programs for Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training and Support, won the award in the leadership category.
Italy has received written assurances from the Russian space agency Roskosmos that it can launch its CosmoSkyMed radar constellation from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on the Starsem Soyuz launch vehicle, according to industry sources. An Italian decision to classify the dual-use system as a military payload, combined with arms-export agency Rosoboronexport's role as an intermediary in the sale, had jeopardized the launch because of Starsem working-rules barring defense payloads (AW&ST Oct. 23, p. 22).
The U.S. Navy has chosen L-3 Communications' Link Simulation and Training division to build as many as nine Forward Deployed Trainers (FDT) for the P-3C Orion. The FDT will allow crews deployed overseas to maintain proficiency in tracking targets over complex operating environments. The device will support training for crewmembers manning three acoustic and non-acoustic consoles, and is modular in design to allow for flexible arrangements in confined spaces. A PC-based instructor station controls the training exercises.
The British Defense Ministry is combining scheduled maintenance and upgrade of its Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft, under the Whole Aircraft Schedule Maintenance and Upgrade program being implemented by BAE Systems. The company began in October to bring 43 of the RAF's Tranche 1 aircraft up to the Block 5 standard. As part of the contract, the RAF is funding integration of a laser designator pod to provide the Typhoon with an air-to-surface capability.
THE "TOTAL AIRCRAFT INTEGRATION" APPROACH of the Eclipse 500 Avio cockpit was taken in cooperation with several other suppliers. Avidyne Corp. provides the primary flight and multifunction display hardware; Autronics (a Curtiss-Wright company) is responsible for the Avio Processing Center; Crossbow Technology Inc. provides the attitude and heading reference systems; and Harco Laboratories Inc. supplies the air data system. A Honeywell RDR 2000 color weather radar is standard, and an L-3 Stormscope WX500 is optional.
Airbus has completed crosswind testing with its A380 at the Keflavik Airport in Iceland. Six landings and five takeoffs were performed at above 40 kt.--the certification requirement is for them to be above 23 kt.--with gusts up to 56 kt. Certification of the A380 is targeted for mid-December.
Finmeccanica expects year-end earnings before interest and taxes to reach €840-860 million, management reports in its third-quarter results. The company's sales increased 14% in the third quarter and earnings were up as well. However, profitability fell sharply in a year-on-year comparison to €30 million compared to €73 million in 2005. The order book stands at about three years' worth of activity, at €34 billion against €32.1 billion at the end of 2005.
Tim St. Germain (see photos) has been appointed vice president-operations and Heather Simpson as Northeast U.S. sales director for Innotech Aviation of Montreal. St. Germain was director of completions for Berletex Inc. of Montreal, while Simpson has been Innotech's avionics estimator.
United Airlines is cooperating with federal grand jury investigations into passenger and cargo pricing practices and conducting its own internal investigation, according to a document filed last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 10Q filing describes United as a "source of information" in inquiries by the U.S. Justice Dept. and the European Commission related to surcharges included in tariffs for carrying cargo. However, the airline is cited in 90 class action law suits, which allege a pricing conspiracy, filed in U.S.
Space agency Roskosmos head Anatoly Perminov says an initial version of Parom, a planned reusable cargo follow-on to the Soyuz spaceship, could be launched in 2009. Designed for triple the upload capacity of Russia's Progress M, Parom would resupply the International Space Station, much as Europe's ATV and Japan's CTV (see p. 26). The vehicle could be developed in cooperation with the European Space Agency, depending on a feasibility study and funding to be made available in 2008.
John Parry has become vice president-finance/chief financial officer of Air T Inc., Maiden, N.C. He was CFO/treasurer of Empire Airlines. Parry succeeds John J. Gioffre, who will be retiring.
India's largest private carrier, Jet Airways, has been cleared by the U.S. Transportation Dept. to launch flights to the U.S. Jet has 10 Boeing 777-300ERs on order for long-haul operations and 10 A330-200s for regional flights as it pushes beyond its legacy as a domestic carrier. Jet has applied to India's Civil Aviation Ministry to operate to New York and San Francisco.
When the Homeland Security Dept. solicited this year for SBInet, a "virtual fence" of networked sensors, cameras and communications equipment along the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada, industry groups estimated the program could cost as much as $2 billion. But when the agency picked a team headed by Boeing in September, the three-year contract with three one-year options was for a surprisingly low $67 million--mostly to establish operational control over a 28-mi. stretch in Arizona.
Worldwide space industry revenues reached $180 billion in 2005, according to a new report from the Space Foundation. The figure included $110 billion in commercial activity and $70 billion in government-funded civil military space spending.
Aerospace supplier Zodiak expects continued growth in the coming year, but at a slower pace than the last two years. In the past year, aerospace activity grew 12.1%, excluding acquisitions. Sales including those through units acquired during the year were up 45.3% compared to last year. Total operating income in the previous financial year was up to €307.9 million, with net income increasing 33% to €163.2 million.
UPS plans to fully activate a new pilot domicile at Anchorage, Alaska, by May 2007, in an effort aimed at improving the carrier's Asia operations. Eighty MD-11 pilots will initially staff the domicile, according to UPS. The carrier has completed an expansion at Anchorage that included adding five ramp positions for a total of 11 parking spaces to accommodate its expanding fleet.
Participation in the Joint Strike Fighter will, for the next 50 years, fundamentally shape the air forces and defense industries of countries that sign up. It's hardly surprising, then, that governments are appraising their options carefully before committing to the next stage. If the Production Sustainment and Follow-On Development (PSFD) phase does not actually obligate signatories to buy the aircraft, it clearly signals intent.
Sagem/Bell Helicopter, Thales/ Boeing and EADS/Vertivision have been awarded one-year contracts to study the feasibility of using a common VTOL UAV design for French naval and army UAV requirements (AW&ST July 17, p. 119). The basis for the studies will be Boeing's Little Bird helicopter, the Bell EagleEye tiltrotor and Orka, a VTOL platform developed by Vertivision partners Eurocopter and Helicopters Guimbal.
