The U.S. Postal Service has awarded a four-year contract to ABX Cargo Services to manage the postal hub at Indianapolis. The contract, valued at $17.7 million, is the third awarded this year by USPS to the subsidiary of ABX Air, an air carrier based at Wilmington, Ohio. The other new USPS-ABX contracts are in effect at Memphis, Tenn., and Dallas. ABX is compensated at a firm price for its fixed costs and receives an additional amount based on the volume of mail.
In a move to bolster its military network-centric business, Rockwell Collins acquired IP Unwired Inc., an Ottawa-based company that provides advanced communications and networking technology for challenging wireless environments. Terms of the all-cash deal were not disclosed. IP Unwired has annual revenues of $3 million.
Swiss International Air Lines is adding two Airbus A321s and an A320 to its fleet in the spring to increase feeder service for the added long-haul capacity coming online in November, when two additional A330-200s enter its fleet. The Airbus single-aisle aircraft are being taken on a lease basis. The carrier already operates five A321s and 14 A320s, as well as seven A319s and 35 BAE Systems Avro RJ85/100s.
The U.K. military is continuing to develop concepts for reducing sensor-to-shooter timelines under the rubric of its network-enabled capability. During a recent trial, defense technology specialist Qinetiq used the Cursor-on-Target project to demonstrate tactical communications in a "networked" joint air-land environment. The test centered on the rapid transmission of information from intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms to a Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 strike aircraft.
Launch of the twin NASA Stereo 3D solar imaging spacecraft from Cape Canaveral on board a Boeing Delta II will be delayed another month, until at least Oct. 18, following a determination that the vehicle's second stage must be removed from the vehicle on Launch Complex 17A for additional checks. There are concerns that a portion of the Alcatel Alenia second-stage propellant tanks were milled too thin during original fabrication in Italy, which had already forced a last-minute delay from August to September.
A 737-800 with 7-in. video monitors mounted in the back of every economy-class seat and 9-in. monitors in the arms of business-class seats has been delivered by Boeing to Jet Airways of India. The airline is the first carrier to opt for a new in-seat video entertainment system on Boeing next-generation 737s. Two other airlines have ordered the new option.
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. technicians have completed assembly and testing of the Next Generation Satellite (NextSat), a "target" spacecraft for the Orbital Express on-orbit autonomous servicing mission. NextSat will be shipped this week to Cape Canaveral, where it will be mated with the Astro servicing or "chase" satellite and prepared for launch on an Atlas V. Boeing Advanced Systems, the Advanced Technology Demonstration Program's prime integrator, is building Astro.
Marshall Byrd has been appointed vice president/general manager of Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, Newtown, Pa. He succeeds Ted Gavrilis, who is retiring. Byrd was vice president/general manager of Lockheed Martin Michoud Operations in New Orleans.
Ladislao Pazmany, the aeronautical engineer who designed a series of light airplanes beginning with the PL-1, died Aug. 21 from Parkinson's disease. He was 82. Born in Hungary, Pazmany grew up in Argentina before moving to California in 1956. He worked for Convair and later for McDonnell Douglas. Pazmany's PL-1 first flew in March 1962. Intended for the experimental amateur builder, it was followed by the PL-4. He also designed to PL-9--a 3/4-scale version of the German Fieseler Storch that flew in 1997, and the Cloudster--a powered glider built for aviation pioneer T.
Innovative Power Solutions (IPS) is developing a small, lightweight generator capable of delivering megawatts of electrical power for airborne and space applications. Spurred by a small business research contract from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, the company developed a patented method for cooling every wire in the generator's rotor, allowing closer contact with heat sources. IPS uses flat wire instead of round conductors and winds the wires edgewise, "similar to how a slinky toy looks," says Scott Jacobs, an IPS official.
How did airline stocks fare during the busy summer travel season? It depends which side of the Atlantic you're looking at. In Europe, airline shares turned in stellar performances. At the start of June, EasyJet plc and Air France-KLM were up an anemic 1% for the year. By last week, they were posting year-to-date increases of 35% and 31%, respectively. Shares in British Airways, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Ryanair Holdings also notched impressive gains.
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has effectively kicked off what's expected to be a multiyear, $15-billion investment spree with the acquisition, along with partners, of maintenance, repair and overhaul provider SR Technics.
Northrop Grumman was awarded $5.87 million in acknowledgment of the delay and disruption costs to its Global Hawk development contract that were required by acceleration of the U.S. Air Force's fielding strategy. The service needed more of the large, high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft for intelligence-gathering demands of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq and the war on terrorism.
New services and replacement satellites in the commercial satellite communications business are improving the outlook for transponder pricing and satellite orders, but growing competition means pressures on hardware suppliers will persist.
Daniel Shurz has been named vice president-network planning for Air Canada. He was senior director for airport operations. He succeeds Benjamin Smith, who is now president/CEO of Air Canada Vacations. Charlie McKee has become vice president-marketing. He was senior director of strategic marketing.
Air France plans to install Boeing Class 3 electronic flight bags (EFB) on its 42 777s plus 13 on order. Air France partner KLM has equipped 13 of 18 777s with the systems. The system is available on all of Boeing's in-production aircraft and is standard on the 787. The aircraft manufacturer has sold 850 of the systems. UPS plans to equip its more than 100 757s and 767s with Boeing's EFB plus eight new 747-400s.
During the last 15 years, regional airlines have, often reluctantly, been competitively forced to select cramped regional jets rather than more economically sensible turboprop aircraft due, in part, to a widespread but mistaken perception among passengers that airplanes with propellers are less safe.
President Bush's nominee to be transportation secretary--Mary Peters, a former Federal Highway Administration chief--will bring enthusiasm for congestion pricing to the FAA's current LaGuardia Airport rulemaking and next year's legislative initiative on demand management at the nation's most crowded airports. Bush passed up two higher-profile possibilities, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey and Deputy Secretary Maria Cino, but he didn't sacrifice Washington smarts or a market-based approach to transportation.
Alliant Techsystems raised its earnings guidance slightly and announced it will spend another $300 million to shore up its pension plan, which is underfunded by nearly $500 million. The company also plans to repurchase $100 million of its shares.
TELEPHONICS CORP. WILL SUPPLY a digital audio intercom system for USAF B-52H bombers under a contract with $5 million set aside for development and an additional $20 million for production, which is set to start in 2009. This is part of the Boeing B-52H Combat Network Communications technology program.
Glenn Cothran has been named general manager of the Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., facility of Stevens Aviation. He held the same position at Nashville, Tenn. Cothran succeeds Don Doty, who is now depot projects manager at the Pensacola, Fla., facility. Succeeding Cothran at Nashville is Randy Smith.
Confronted with a seven-year delay in its original procurement plan, the British Defense Ministry is exploring leasing up to 50 medium-lift helicopters for a 10-year period or stretching the service lives of types already in the inventory. Buying a replacement for the Royal Air Force's Puma had originally been anticipated to coincide with its withdrawal in 2010, with the Sea King Mk4 to follow shortly thereafter, in 2012. Funding "challenges," however, have meant the service entry of the replacement has slipped to 2017-20.
Russian combat aircraft manufacturer MiG could have a prototype of a lightweight fifth-generation fighter ready as soon as 2010, building on classified design work it has been carrying out for several years. The MiG design, sometimes known within the company as the Light Multifunction Frontal Aircraft (LMFS), is to provide a successor aircraft in the class of the MiG-29 Fulcrum.
The National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System's (Npoess) command, control and communications (C 3) segment has completed acceptance testing, clearing the way for trials of sensors for risk reduction. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for Npoess, a military-civil weather satellite system, and Raytheon is building the C 3 piece.
SES Global says the launch of AMC-14 will be delayed until early 2008 as engineers study a possible payload reconfiguration. It would allow the satellite to serve a new K u-band slot at 77 deg. W. Long. that is owned by a Mexican joint venture, QuetzSat, which was set up by SES's Americom unit and Grupo Medcom last year. If agreed by EchoStar, which owns the satellite, this plan would allow AMC-14 to occupy that slot until a dedicated satellite, Quetzsat-1, is ready. Quetzat-1 was to be ordered toward the end of this year.
