On the face of it, the European Commission's regulatory review of Ryanair's attempt to acquire Aer Lingus ought to be relatively straightforward. Led at the turn of the new century by then-Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio, the EC has embraced airline consolidation as inevitable and, perhaps, economically positive. Ryanair says its service and Aer Lingus's overlap on 17 direct routes, not a large number.
High-resolution radar returns from the Moon's poles strongly suggest that future lunar explorers won't be able to mine deep craters there for water ice to convert into oxygen and rocket fuel. The finding by U.S. and Australian researchers, if true, could have a dramatic impact on the lunar-surface infrastructure NASA is developing.
French defense exports for the year are likely to top the €4.11 billion achieved in 2005, with roughly €4 billion in orders already in hand, according to the defense ministry. It's the second year of growth after exports fell in 2003 to €3.4 billion Helicopter activities, such as NH90 orders and the U.S. Army decision to buy Eurocopter EC145s, dominate so far this year.
A coalition of airlines, companies, government agencies and aviation alphabet groups interested in alternative fuels are agreed on a name: the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI). Nearly 80 delegates attended sessions Oct. 23-24 in Atlanta sponsored by the FAA and Georgia Tech. They received updates of reports from the initial meeting last May and authorized a steering committee to begin the task of mapping out goals.
Virgin Atlantic Airways is deferring delivery of the Airbus A380 for the second time, but isn't canceling any part of its six-aircraft order. The airline has opted to push the handover date back to 2013, rather than taking the first aircraft in late 2009. Virgin says it can bridge the period by extending use of its Boeing 747-400s. Virgin expects that by the time it fields the A380, teething problems will have been resolved.
The first strike in Learjet's history ended last week when union workers approved a revised contract offer by parent company Bombardier. About 1,100 production and assembly workers in Wichita, Kan., walked off the job Oct. 2 after rejecting an offer for a 10% pay raise over three years. The new contract provides an 11% raise over three years, a $1,500 one-time bonus and higher pension and insurance contributions by Bombardier.
Liberalization of anachronistic airline-ownership rules would benefit both carriers and consumers, claims a British Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) discussion paper. While there has been progress in removing "arcane controls over market access . . . strict nationality-based controls on . . . ownership" continue to hamper development. The CAA argues that additional liberalization, accompanied by sensible prerequisites . . .
ONE ECLIPSE CUSTOMER, DAYJET CORP. OF DELRAY BEACH, FLA., is hiring captains for its operation expected to start up in Florida early next year. Bill Thomas, manager of flight standards, says the company plans to hire pilots with a minimum of 3,000 hr. (including 500 hr. in jets). Some of the captains being hired even have airline experience and have either retired early from financially troubled carriers or have passed the age of 60 and still want to fly. DayJet is gearing up under the leadership of airline pros such as Don Osmundson, vice president of flight operations.
Radar will begin making its transformation by year-end from the large, heavy device inside aircraft to large, thin arrays that become part of the wings of long-endurance unmanned vehicles or the skin of a high-altitude airship. Within a few more years, radar will be available in shapes that fit one-dimensional curves like reconnaissance pods or the fuselages of large, manned reconnaissance platforms. These include the E-10 surveillance aircraft, E-3 AWACS and RC-135 Rivet Joint (signals intelligence) follow-on designs.
MTU Aero Engines has upped its earnings guidance for 2006. The company now expects an operating profit of €310 million ($391 million), about €20 million more than projected and 33% better than last year. Revenue for the year is estimated at €2.35 billion, up 9% over 2005. Through the first three quarters, revenue stands at €1.75 billion.
Democrats' plans to make the war in Iraq their top priority in the next session of Congress could take the heat off some troubled defense programs--especially if the party regains control of the U.S. House or Senate. Ironically, if Republicans stay in power, military aircraft procurement and the Army's Future Combat System could come under greater scrutiny in oversight hearings that would divert attention from the war.
A SITA study of information technology trends predicts 2007-08 will be the period in which radio-frequency identification begins to make an impact in airline operations. By then, around 40% of airlines expect to use it for baggage tags. Because RFID tags have a higher incidence of accurate machine reads than bar-coded ones, they are expected to help reduce the number of misplaced bags, although there is widespread industry skepticism.
European researchers are increasingly confident they will be able to produce curved radar antennas that will give fighter aircraft better situational awareness and deliver crucial survivability enhancements. One of the most promising applications is giving fighter pilots the ability to see all around them by fusing data collected by radar apertures spread around the aircraft. It would allow pilots to see threats earlier and also guide missiles to targets behind them.
NASA is mounting an alternate effort to develop thermal protection system (TPS) materials to protect the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle during a return from lunar orbit, after having disappointing results from the primary development program. The agency said it will procure alternate TPS materials and enclosing structures for the high-speed lunar-return reentry. A draft RPF is due out Nov. 1, with the final expected Nov. 13.
Bob Jordan has become executive vice president-strategy, procurement and technology; Ron Ricks executive vice president-law, airports and public affairs; and Lori Rainwater vice president-internal audit for Southwest Airlines. Jan Marshall has been promoted to vice president-technology/chief information officer from chief development officer and Kerry Schwab to vice president/chief technology officer from director of application architecture.
The fate of the F-35 and F-22 may be linked to other high-profile programs. The Northrop Grumman/Raytheon MP-RTIP modular radar, designed for the Global Hawk and E-10 surveillance aircraft, suffered a funding cut, and the E-10 and its Wide Area Surveillance Radar (WASR) were zeroed. Although the E-10 won't be resuscitated, England has privately assured lawmakers that the overall radar program will be saved and the WASR will be put on older E-8 Joint Stars aircraft, whose radar has run into supportability problems.
Three North American airlines with large Boeing 737 fleets hope to improve spare engine productivity by as much as 30-50%, thanks to a new cooperative agreement organized by lessor Willis Lease Finance Corp. The arrangement will create a pool of CFM56-7B engines, which will be shared among American, Southwest and WestJet. Together, the three carriers have about 450 aircraft, which will be serviced by the new agreement. Willis has been working with the airlines for more than five years on this endeavor.
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Low-fare startup Skybus, based in Columbus, Ohio, has placed a first order for 65 Airbus A319s. The carrier plans to begin operations with leased A319s next spring. The seating layout and route structure have yet to be announced.
David Scott Orner has been appointed director, Antares Reis vice president, and Oliver Althoff, Andrea Zana and Alejandro Henriquez assistant vice presidents in the Aerospace and Defense Finance Group of New York-based CIT Aerospace. Orner will be responsible for originations in Eastern North America. He and Henriquez were executives at ING Capital. Reis will be based in London and responsible for originating and leading financial solutions for European aerospace and defense companies. He was assistant vice president at GE Commercial Finance.
Valerie I. Lang (see photo) has been promoted to assistant general manager of the corporate Chief Architect/Engineer Div. from principal director of systems engineering and acquisition at The Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, Calif.
With maximum commonality now assured, British and French military planners are beginning to discuss a structure for tying together their new aircraft carrier programs.
Questions about the position of an orientation antenna on the Progress resupply vehicle that arrived at the International Space Station Oct. 26 delayed hatch opening by a day and required a partial station powerdown, but posed no other major issues for either spacecraft. Controllers at Mission Control Center-Moscow didn't receive telemetry indicating one of five orientation antennas on the front of the Progress vehicle had retracted as required, raising concerns it might block the docking mechanism from achieving a solid seal.
Randy Nelson has become senior vice president-product development and engineering and David Bernstorf vice president-airworthiness, certification and technical engineering for the Raytheon Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan. Nelson was vice president-research and advanced technology for the Cessna Aircraft Co., also in Wichita. Bernstorf was a product development executive for the Beech Aircraft division of Raytheon.
Lufthansa is opting for Rolls-Royce Trent 700s to power its new Airbus A330s. Lufthansa is buying the A330s partially as a capacity bridge due to A380 delays. The first of the A330s is to be delivered in early 2008.
