Low-fare carrier Frontier Airlines has firmed up its contract with Airbus for six new A320s. The Denver-based airline also is converting four existing A319 orders to A320s, and four other previously ordered A319s to A318s. Ten A320s are scheduled for delivery in early 2008 through 2010; the A318s will be delivered next year.
REPRESENTATIVES FROM AIRLINES, ATC, business aviation and avionics suppliers tell FAA Administrator Marion Blakey that the business model for the Next Generation Air Transportation System will be risky if equipage mandates are involved. For example, some airlines voluntarily installed controller-pilot data link communications (CPDLC) and then the FAA canceled the program, the officials noted at the Apr. 28 meeting on the expected cost of NGATS.
KINETIC AVIONIC PRODUCTS LTD. OF LONDON HAS SOLD about 2,000 of its SBS-1 receivers that can track aircraft transmitting ADS-B and Mode-S transponder signals and show their altitude and identity on a laptop computer in a radar-like display. When ADS-B signals are involved, the data set includes the precise GPS information on the aircraft's position. The SBS-1 costs just 500 pounds ($920) and consists of a small antenna and a processing unit.
Market Focus 8 Sales of business aircraft, larger region- al jets buoy Bombardier News Breaks 14 MBDA test fires vertical launch Mica air-defense missile from ship 15 Ebace turnout reflects growth of busi- ness aviation in Europe 15 U.S. transportation official wins AW&ST's Pogue Award 16 Latest prototype of Chinese FC-1 includes aerodynamic changes 16 Former pilot astronaut William Readdy joins AW&ST as editor-at-large
Your article on protections for our domestic capability to produce specialty metals for the U.S. defense community did not address the reason why these measures are important (AW&ST Mar. 13, p. 24).
Boeing Business Jets has booked six additional orders, bringing to 108 the total sales for the product line that's been in existence for 10 years. The bulk of the sales--95--have been regular BBJs plus 13 BBJ-2s. Boeing is awaiting its first BBJ-3 order.
Airbus has signed a contract with Frontier Airlines for the sale of six A320s. The carrier also is converting four A319 orders to the A320, with another four A319s swapped for A318s. The A320s are to be delivered in 2008-10, and the A318s next year.
The European Aviation Safety Agency hopes to complete an update of its user fees and charges by year-end, with the goal of fully covering certification costs no later than in 2008--current fees fall around 5 million euros short.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. ordered nine Star Alliance airlines to produce more information before it considers their application to expand their antitrust-immunized operations and add Air Canada to them. The order granted much but not all of the information requests from four U.S. opponents--American, Continental and Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines--but did not address whether standards the department applied in denying last year's SkyTeam application would come into play with Star.
Northwest Airlines pilots' ratification of a 5.5-year contract by a margin of 63.42-36.58% reflects a split in the ranks, largely between senior and junior members of the Air Line Pilots Assn. unit.
The latest problems in finding an appropriate jamming platform (AW&ST Apr. 10, p. 25) continue to illustrate the inability of the Air Force to correctly determine threats or use available capability.
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The NTSB's findings in two 2004 accident probes could lead to man-and-machine improvements on the flight deck, from better trained pilots to retrofit of a 2-hr. cockpit voice recorder.
In a navigation equipment decision that could reverberate for decades, the FAA plans to install 400 Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast ground stations and retire more than 125 ATC radars by 2014.
John Elbon has been named vice president and program manager for Houston-based Boeing Space Exploration's Constellation. He succeeds Chuck Allen, who is now vice president-Boeing business operations at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. Elbon was International Space Station vice president and program manager. He has been succeeded by Joy Bryant, who was Space Exploration chief engineer. Bryant, in turn, has been succeeded by Joe Gernand, who was deputy program manager and chief engineer.
Alvin S. White, the North American Aviation test pilot who made the first flight of USAF XB-70, died Apr. 28 in Tucson, Ariz., after a brief illness. He was 87.
Lufthansa Technik is integrating the supply of components, spare parts and consumables for airline networks through central component and supplies depots. The aim is to "go beyond the shipping address" to put Lufthansa personnel on site "working side-by-side" with airline maintenance staff to improve the dispatch reliability of their aircraft, said Senior Vice President Uwe Mukrasch during Aviation Week's MRO conference here last month.
Mark T. Esper has been appointed executive vice president-defense and international affairs for the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Assn. He was director of national security affairs for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).
Two NASA astronauts and a cosmonaut making his second long-term visit will make up the 14th expedition to the International Space Station, beginning in the fall. Michael Lopez-Alegria, who has visited the station on two of his three space shuttle missions, will join Expedition 3 flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin for a September Soyuz flight to the ISS. Lopez-Alegria will command Expedition 14, and Tyurin will again be flight engineer. They will be joined by NASA's Sunita Williams, a first-time astronaut, when she reaches the station on shuttle mission STS-116.
For long-range spying, Northrop Grumman is developing a new S-band active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar intended for installation on a next-generation ship that will specialize in watching foreign missile launches and other weapons testing. Cobra Judy ships have carried out that surveillance and ballistic-missile, data-collection mission for decades, but they will soon give way to a replacement ship.
Singapore Airlines expects to start thrice-weekly service to Milan and Barcelona July 19 with Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, increasing its weekly flights to Europe to 81. SIA's executive vice president for marketing and regions, Huang Cheng Eng, says the two cities' large business and leisure markets will heighten SIA's presence in the Mediterranean.
USMC Cols. Jon M. Davis and Robert S. Walsh have been nominated for promotion to brigadier general. Davis is commanding officer of Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Sqdn. 1, Yuma, Ariz. Walsh is commanding officer of Marine Aircraft Group 31, Beaufort, N.C.
Eutelsat has selected EADS Astrium to build Hot Bird 9, a 64-transponder K u-band satellite to be launched in 2008 to its big 13 deg. E. video neighborhood. It was the third satcom win for Astrium this year.
L-3 Communications Wescam received an order from Keystone Helicopter to provide four MX-15i electro-optical and infrared systems for installation on Sikorsky S-92 search-and-rescue aircraft. The aircraft will be provided to Canadian Helicopter Corp. for deployment to the U.K. to support maritime operations there.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin is off to India this week to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Indian Space Research Organization covering U.S. plans to mount two instruments on India's upcoming Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter. Griffin will tour ISRO space facilities in Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram and on Sriharikota Island, which should get him in shape for his trip to China this fall. NASA, through the State Dept., is still working out details of the visit, including the exact dates.
