Meanwhile, Lufthansa's Private Jet service, created to feed first- and business-class passengers into Lufthansa airline hubs in Munich and Frankfurt using NetJets' Bravo and Excel fleets, also is planning to move into Russia. It will use Falcon 2000s and Hawker 800s, and plans to operate up to 10 flights a day and add about 25 customers a month. The network expanded into the U.S. last month through an agreement with N.Y.-based charter operator BusinessJet Class.
Lyal H. Bauer of Rockwell Collins Commercial Systems of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is among the four company employees who have been named Rockwell Collins Engineer of the Year. They received the Arthur A. Collins Award, which recognizes engineers and scientists for technical service to the company, their profession and the community at large. Two other honorees are: Roy W. Berquist of the Engineering and Technology Div. and John T. Nielson of Government Systems. James B.
India's first military facility abroad is expected to become operational by the of end of the year in Aini, about 6 mi. northeast of the Tajikistan capital of Dushanbe (AW&ST Nov. 24, 2003, p. 17) where a squadron of MiG-29s will be stationed. Three hangars are under construction. The Indian air force is training Tajikistan air force personnel under a 2002 defense cooperation agreement. India is also scheduled to retrofit Tajikistan's Soviet-era fighters.
SAS Group saw first-quarter losses increase to 1.1 billion Swedish kronor ($157 million) from 1 billion kronor the year before. Performance was hampered particularly by weakness at Spanair, because the Easter travel period fell in April, and costs associated with Blue1's expansion.
Italian efforts to develop critical technologies for future reusable or semi-reusable launchers are slated to take a major step forward in the coming weeks with first drop tests of a demonstration vehicle.
The U.S. Air Force has demonstrated flexibility in bringing its new information distribution and connectivity skills to non-warfighting situations, says Lt. Gen. Michael Peterson, the service's chief information officer. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, 10 small UAVs were dispatched to New Orleans to assess damage and locate survivors. However, the FAA did not let the unmanned craft fly in the helicopter-congested area. Instead, USAF operators sawed the wings off the UAVs and taped six of the UAVs to the landing skids of manned helicopters.
Italian engine maker Avio generated a 5% revenues increase last year to 1.28 billion euros, but still ended the year with a net loss of around 110 million euros. Avio is working on reducing its debt, which stands at 595 million euros. Avio's order book has grown 52% to 3.6 billion euros, with a positive cash flow of 135 million euros.
MBDA has conducted a test firing of the vertical launch Mica air-defense missile from a ship. The system adapts the infrared-guided air-to-air Mica for ground- or ship-based applications, serving as an adjunct to longer range air defense systems, including the naval Aster system. The test firing took place at the missile launch test facility (CELM) on France's west coast and used a production-standard Mica. It intercepted a sea-skimming target at a range of 10 km. (6.2 mi.). The missile used a lock-on after-launch engagement scheme.
The music is still playing loudly in the game of alliance musical chairs and is not expected to stop anytime soon as the groups make changes and additions and push to line up partners in China, India and the Middle East.
Brad Beakley has been named vice president-reservations and inventory services and Tom Trenga vice president-revenue management of US Airways. Beak- ley was managing director for revenue management, while Trenga was managing director for revenue management.
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.
