China Southern Airlines says it was hurt by high fuel prices in the first half of the year but cut its losses compared to the same period in 2005. Operating revenue was up 2,760 yuan to 20.6 billion ($2.5 billion). Its loss was 825 million yuan, an 82-million-yuan improvement over 2005.
Two U.S. Air National Guard F-15s were scrambled at 9:18 a.m. EDT on Aug. 16 to intercept United Flight 923 from London to Washington, when a passenger became agitated and had to be restrained. Launched after one of the United pilots declared an emergency, the F-15s intercepted, identified and escorted the Boeing 767 to Boston Logan International Airport. Both F-15s were from the 102nd Fighter Wing at Otis ANG Base, Mass., and assigned as alert aircraft for North American Aerospace Defense Command, according to Norad officials.
A week after the Boeing 737-900ER's rollout, India's SpiceJet converted options on an order made at this year's Singapore air show for five of the new high-capacity single-aisle transports. Also ordered were five 737-800s, the next biggest size. Started with three leased 737-800s in May 2005, SpiceJet flies in a single-class configuration. It takes its -800s with the maximum 189 seats and will take the -900ERs with the necessary emergency-door exit options in order to seat a full load of 215 passengers. Deliveries begin late next year.
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Bowing to reality, the Transportation Dept. is abandoning plans to adopt in September its relaxed foreign ownership standards for U.S. airlines. The House and Senate each included measures to delay the rule in their Fiscal 2007 transportation appropriations bills, so approving the proposal for a review in October by European Union transport ministers was a non-starter. The Europeans have pressed for softer citizenship tests as a quid pro quo for ratifying the liberalized U.S.-Europe aviation agreement negotiated last year, but both the U.S.
Beirut International Airport is back in operation, with a Middle East Airlines aircraft landing there on Aug. 17. Most of the damage from Israeli air attacks was to the runway, which was repaired quickly, with the terminal and other infrastructure largely unaffected, says an international aviation official.
Thomas J. Kinton, Jr. (see photo) has been named executive director/CEO of the Boston-based Massachusetts Port Authority. He was the agency's aviation director. Kinton has been succeeded by Ed Freni, who has been director of aviation operations at Boston Logan International Airport.
In your article, "Wanted: ATM Leader" (AW&ST Aug. 7, p. 46), you state that Eurocontrol does not have legally binding authority similar to that of the FAA, and that such authority lies in the hands of the European Commission. You also say it is the EC's authority on which Eurocontrol may have to rely in order to compel all 25 EU member states to agree to the findings of the first Single European Sky ATM Research (Sesar) deliverable (D1).
Growing competition is spurring low-cost carriers to go beyond the tried-and-true formula of a single fleet type, point-to-point service and simple fare structures. LCCs are looking to "move up the ladder" to expand their markets and demanding nimble technology to accommodate changing business models. One of these carriers--Virgin Blue--has even come up with a new designation for itself: a "New World" airline.
BAE Systems completed tests on its Skylynx II unmanned aircraft system at the Yuma (Ariz.) Proving Grounds on Aug. 9. Key requirements including acoustic performance, endurance and payload capability for reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition missions were met. The aircraft, developed to support missions such as those critical to the U.S.
Lockheed Martin officials continue to express disbelief at the U.S. Army's reasons for eliminating the C-130J from the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) competition. They are so bemused that the company has filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) over the decision, which may have cost Lockheed Martin $1.3 billion in sales (for 33 Army aircraft) or as much as $5 billion (if the Air Force bought additional aircraft).
Aeronautics advocates, who will work for the House's lesser NASA funding cuts when Congress returns in September, are concerned that the administration is slashing budgets and redirecting programs before completing the national aeronautics policy ordered in last year's NASA appropriation. The interagency review, co-chaired by NASA and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, is being developed in a "very closed environment," says Michael Romanowski, Aerospace Industries Assn. vice president of civil aviation.
The Pentagon's burgeoning acquisition program threatens to make it more difficult to control other Defense Dept. costs, aides to the Senate Budget Committee believe. From September 2001 through June 2006, the number of programs expensive enough to be listed in the Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) increased 23%, to 87 from 71, and total costs more than doubled, to $1.6 billion from $790 million.
Thermal protection system (TPS) repair techniques that NASA has developed and checked out in space may one day bring a space shuttle home in one piece. But there will never be a guaranteed fix if the debris damage the agency expects to see from now until the shuttle fleet is retired becomes serious. If significant TPS damage is found during a future flight, "we would do what we needed to do and make a judgment on how confident we are about recovering the crew," says Wayne Hale, the shuttle program manager.
The U.S. is setting the stage for the next generation of explosives detection for checked and carry-on baggage with a "system-of-systems" approach that will use sensors in tandem.
Intelsat Ltd. reports second-quarter revenue of $310.5 million, with losses for the Bermuda-based satellite operator of $42.7 million. That was down from $53 million in the same period last year. For the first half of 2006, revenues totaled $591 million, for a net loss of $132.8 million. The results do not reflect Intelsat's $3.2-billion acquisition of PanAmSat in July.
When Capt. Matt Sisson has a bad day--say, a budget request gets raided or a prototype unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashes--the aviation program manager for the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization effort thinks of retired Capt. Frank Erickson and smiles.
Europe should support explosives research, particularly with an eye on liquids, says European Union ministers convening in an emergency session last week to discuss the purported terrorist plot to blow up transatlantic airliners. Moreover, the ministers called for a meeting of aviation experts to lay out further steps, and committed the EU to increase airport security standards in Third World countries.
Jade Cargo International is looking at placing another major aircraft order next year as part of its effort to become the biggest Chinese all-cargo airline. Jade started operations with a single new Boeing 747-400ERF earlier this month, just days after it was delivered. The aircraft is currently being used for three-times-a-week service from Shenzhen in the Pearl River Delta to Amsterdam, and a regional round trip to Seoul, South Korea. The airline is based in Shenzhen, a rapidly growing center focused on electronics and IT component manufacturing.
TSA officers found explosives residue in two containers of liquid in carry-on baggage at the Huntington, W.Va., Tri-State Airport on Aug. 17. Both the TSA and the FBI investigated the situation. The terminal was closed for several hours and then the matter involving one female passenger was turned over by the federal authorities to the West Virginia State Police. TSA officials declined to clarify whether the incident posed any threat to civil aviation.
Dennis J. Reed (see photo) has become vice president-operations of Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, El Segundo, Calif. He has been vice president/general manager of the unit's Advanced Products Center Dallas. He succeeds Richard B. Johnston, who has been appointed vice president-corporate operations at Raytheon headquarters, Waltham, Mass.
Regarding "Road to Recovery" on issues related to A380 wiring harnesses (AW&ST July 24, p. 27), it still appears interconnect cabling and wiring harnesses are handled as afterthoughts in the systems engineering and design process. Traditionally, cabling has had an adverse impact on endless projects. It will be interesting to see how Airbus moves to prevent these problems. Contained in the same article was the first reference I have seen to A380 wiring being made of aluminum as opposed to copper.
With 200,000 lb. of International Space Station hardware being readied, the shuttle launch site is the nexus for final U.S., Japanese, European and Canadian station hardware preparation by multinational teams.
