Aerospace mergers and acquisitions activity has rebounded sharply from a downturn in 2003-04--with deal flow and prices hitting new highs--and conventional wisdom holds that there's a lot of runway left in the recovery. Aerospace and defense-related M&A totaled $31.6 billion last year, up from a low of $10.4 billion in 2003, and dealmaking remains on a robust pace this year, according to Jefferies Quarterdeck, a Los Angeles-based aerospace investment bank.
The program profiles below and on the following pages represent the collective brainpower, skill, determination and management effectiveness of the world's aerospace industry as it applies itself to the requirements of civil aviation. The programs are what the world's airlines can draw on and look forward to as they lay their plans and pursue a more profitable period than the one from which they are emerging. These programs are the present and, for the most part, the future of both industries.
The Bush administration gets higher marks for its space-exploration program than for meeting citizens' healthcare needs, coping with disasters or fighting the war on terrorism. A Gallup Poll commissioned by the Coalition for Space Exploration, an industry group, found 52% of those interviewed in August believed the administration was doing a "good job" in U.S. "leadership in space," versus 37% for the war on terrorism, 27% for disaster response and 26% for healthcare.
The first use of a DC-10 in an aerial firefighting role included two-way satellite tracking and communications links from Blue Sky Network of La Jolla, Calif. The company, 10 Tanker Air Carrier, employed the DC-10 over the past two months fighting wildfires in southern California. While maintaining a communications link to the cockpit, the Blue Sky Network allows ground controllers to view the aircraft's exact flight path for precise control of fire retardant drops.
Adm. William Fallon, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, says he's trying to improve military-to-military relations with China. One sign of progress, he says, is his access to the country. The Chinese allowed him to be the first U.S. military officer to sit in an FB-7 fighter, the same aircraft type that collided with a U.S. surveillance plane in 2001. Fallon says he's surprised it doesn't have a refueling probe and the cockpit has limited visibility.
Eurocontrol has completed validation testing of the Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control System. A-SMGCS aims to improve situational awareness of air traffic controllers so they can better detect and prevent runway incursions. Operational trials conducted at several major European airports, and combined real-time situations, showed A-SMGCS could lead to 50% fewer accidents.
Wayne Moni (see photo) has been named vice president-business development, sales and marketing for Rolls-Royce Defense North America of Indianapolis. He was director of business development for its research and development unit.
The United Arab Emirates is in talks with the U.S. to buy up to $752 million worth of short-range surface-to-surface missile systems. The foreign military sales deal under discussion would be for Army Tactical Missile System equipment, including 20 High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers, destined to augment the UAE's shorter-range, indirect fire support equipment.
Air France Industries will provide repair services for China Eastern Airlines CFM56-5C and CF6-80C2 engines operated on Airbus A340-300s and A300-600s, respectively. The CFM work will take place in France, while the CF6 work may be moved to a new KLM Engineering and Maintenance facility at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. Also, Air France Industries has signed a deal to support Vietnam Airlines' four A330s at Hanoi airport. The MRO provider and carrier already work together on the airline's six Boeing 777s.
The impending certification of the Airbus A380 and its subsequent service introduction will open a new chapter in the long history of the mega-transport. This one could override the hype and naysaying about the aircraft's attributes with the hard facts of airline acceptance, operational reliability and airport turn-times.
AirTran has put delivery of eight 737-700s on hold until as late as 2011, a move Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Scott Carson calls "an example of prudent fiscal management" to avoid forcing "growth and capacity in the system." The aircraft were set to arrive in 2007-08. Deliveries will now be pushed back to 2009-11 as AirTran scales back its growth strategy because of competition.
The U.S. Air Force is now using the Precision Airdrop System (PADS) to re-supply troops in Afghanistan. The system includes GPS that allows aircrew to steer the pallete once it is released from the transport aircraft. Drops can be carried out at altitudes up to 25,000 ft., miles from the intended landing zone. Planning System Inc., a subsidiary of British defense-technology company Qinetiq, developed the system.
In a bid to join its five major-airline competitors in the China market, US Airways asked the Transportation Dept. for authority to code-share to Beijing and Shanghai with United Airlines and beyond the gateways with Air China. Both carriers are Star Alliance affiliates. Noting that United, American, Northwest and Continental already operate to China and Delta code-shares across the Pacific with China Southern, US Airways says it needs to be able to offer China service to its customers.
With a strong product line and his company's sales rejuvenated, Scott Carson couldn't have asked for better timing to ascend to the chief executive's chair he assumed a month ago at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
New separation standards have been issued for the Airbus A380, ameliorating some of the initial recommendations that created a large bubble around the mega-transport and could have disrupted airspace management. En route, the A380 will be treated similarly to a Boeing 747 in spacing. On approach trailing of an A380, a heavy transport will have to add 2 naut. mi. to its current 4-naut.-mi. spacing, a medium aircraft 3 naut. mi. (to the current 5 naut. mi.) and a light aircraft 4 naut. mi. (to the current 6 naut. mi.).
The F-22's operational debut is winning fans, and the stealthy fighter is shaking off its reputation as a Cold War anachronism. In the recent Northern Watch exercises in Alaska, less-advanced fighters received situational awareness and targeting information from F-22 intelligence-gathering systems and long-range radar. Once the F-22s had expended their missiles, "they remained in the middle of the battle acting as [a stealthy] AWACS," says a Washington-based observer.
Bobbie Espitia has been named vice president-materials management of Aerospace Products International, Memphis, Tenn. He was vice president/controller.
In another China tie, Korean Air is opening four-times-weekly 737-800 services to Guangzhou, marking the carrier's first foray into southern China. The flights follow a bilateral services agreement signed in June between China and South Korea that already has prompted Korean Air to turn regular charter flights to Weihai into scheduled operations and open charter flights to Yantai and Dalian. In all, Korean Air serves 20 Chinese destinations.
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Didier Astic has become vice president-purchasing and Patrick Teixeira vice president-airline programs for Miami-based EADS Barfield. Astic was vice president-operations for Thales Avionics, while Teixeira was a consultant to airlines and aircraft manufacturers.
The Pentagon has approved the possible sale of 15 Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters to Colombia. The sale could be worth up to $303 million, if all options are exercised.
Intelsat is studying the effect on capacity of a "sudden and unexpected" anomaly on its IS-802 satellite, located over the Indian Ocean and African region at 33 deg. E. Long. After the Sept. 21 incident, the operator said it recovered control of the spacecraft, a Lockeed Martin 7000 series unit launched in 1997, and was moving customers to other satellites. A similar Lockheed satellite--IS-804--had a failure in January 2005, but Intelsat is unclear of any connection between the two incidents.
Bombardier is looking to India for the sale of about 50 regional jets in the next five years. The CRJ900 was presented to more than 12 future startups in Delhi and Mumbai as part of the company's three-week promotional tour to India, Europe and Japan. Air Sahara has seven CRJ200s in its fleet and startup Indus Air is to begin operations in October with two leased CRJ-200s.
FedEx Corp. will replace its Boeing 727-200 aircraft with 757-200s in the coming decade via a $2.6-billion purchase-and-modification program. The company expects to bring the new aircraft into service in 2008-16, "contingent upon identification and purchase of suitable 757 aircraft." FedEx had a fleet of 94 727-200s as of May 31--84 owned and 10 leased. It is to acquire 90 757s. Program costs for its fiscal 2007 ending May 31 will fit in the $3-billion capital expenses allocation. The two-engine 757 will carry more cargo than the three-engine 727 and cost less to operate.
