George K. Muellner (see photo) has been appointed president of Boeing Advanced Systems, Long Beach, Calif. He was vice president/general manager of Boeing Air Force Systems.
The Irish Aviation Authority, the LFV Group in Sweden and Naviair in Denmark have signed a purchasing agreement with Thales ATM to facilitate upgrades to the Eurocat air traffic management systems now operating in all three nations. The so-called Coopans agreement will allow the three air navigation service providers to achieve the key objectives of the Single European Sky initiative by working together to meet new operational needs, sustain support for their systems and reduce lifecycle costs.
David Turnbull (see photo) has been named Hong King-based chairman of Alico Group Asia of Australia. He was chairman of Cathay Pacific Airways and of its parent Swire Pacific Ltd.
SEATTLE-BASED NAVERUS HAS JUST SIGNED AN AGREEMENT with the Center of Aviation Safety Technology (CAST), a research and development center run by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), to lay the groundwork for extensive rollout of required navigation performance (RNP) procedures in China over the next five years. CAST will provide Chinese airlines with the Naverus RNP availability forecast service.
France has an extra 5.5 million euros ($6.6 million) to spend on space missions, thanks to savings in overhead and administrative fees, cost reductions at the European spaceport in French Guiana, and payment of the final installment on past debts, says the French space agency CNES. There are plenty of uses for the funds. In the area of Earth observation, engineers will begin studying an air pollution sensor called Sifti and Swimsat--a wave spectrum and sea state experiment--that could be run with China.
In a strategic move that could stimulate the spread of satellite navigation, Airservices Australia and Honeywell Aerospace have agreed to develop two types of ground-based augmentation systems for sale to airports and ATC authorities.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. says operations have returned to full capacity following settlement of a strike by Teamsters Local 1150. A new, three-year contract has been ratified that addresses health care and other issues.
Eurocopter has set up a subsidiary in Russia to improve aftermarket activities in the local market, where 35 aircraft are now in service. To help support the wholly owned affiliate, known as Eurocopter Vostok (Russian for "east"), the EADS unit intends to create a network of regional maintenance centers in partnership with local companies. A Moscow base will be established to be followed by sites in St. Petersburg, Tyumen in Western Siberia and Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East.
Qantas and Air New Zealand and subsidiaries Jetstar and Freedom Air have agreed to consolidate their network, schedule, pricing and market initiatives for trans-Tasman Sea operations. Both carriers operate five daily flights between Auckland and Sydney. Those flights will be reduced to a collective seven or eight. Opposition from regulators had blocked the deal since it was first tried in 2003, but growing competition--led by Emirates and Pacific Blue--has increased capacity by 40%.
After waiting three decades for enabling technology to catch up with its design ideas, GE-Aviation is deeply embedding itself in composite materials as a next-generation answer to making engines quieter and cheaper to own and operate.
You can now register ONLINE for Aviation Week Events. Go to www.AviationNow.com/conferences or call Lydia Janow at +1 (212) 904-3225/+1 (800) 240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada Only) Apr. 25-26--MRO Military, Phoenix. Apr. 26-27--MRO USA, Phoenix. May 16-17--MRO Military Europe, in conjunction with ILA air show, Berlin. Sept. 19-21--MRO Asia Conference & Exhibition, Xiamen, China. Oct. 24-26--MRO Europe Conference & Exhibition, Amsterdam.
The union representing the bulk of German air traffic controllers is warning potential investors in the DFS air navigation service to prepare for bitter opposition from its members, and is hinting at strikes to come. The labor group blasted an Apr. 7 decision by the German parliament to approve the sale of 74.9% of the service, with the government retaining the rest. The partially privatized organization would be overseen by a new Federal Supervisory Authority for Air Navigation Services that would be compliant with European Union Single Sky rules.
Varig appeared to be on the brink of collapse late last week, after a Rio de Janeiro labor court seized some assets of the financially struggling Brazilian airline. The assets are to be sold to avert the grounding of South America's biggest international airline. Varig has been operating under bankruptcy protection since last year, but has recently failed to pay fuel and landing fees. It also did not make contributions to its pension fund. Seventeen of the carrier's 71 aircraft already are grounded, as Varig has not been able to pay for required maintenance.
Ghana International Airlines is embroiled in a dispute between shareholders and government officials after the carrier's top management was fired. The government owns 70% of the airline, which was created in September 2004 after predecessor Ghana Airways ran into financial trouble.
Thomas W. Horton has been appointed executive vice president-finance and planning/chief financial officer of the Fort Worth- based AMR Corp. He was CFO before becoming vice chairman/CFO of AT&T. Craig S. Kreeger has been named senior vice president-international and C. David Cush senior vice president-global sales. Kreeger has been London-based vice president-Europe and Pacific Div. and Cush vice president/general sales manager. They collectively will succeed Peter J. Dolara, who is planning to retire as senior vice president-Miami, the Caribbean and Latin America.
NASA has a lot of new concepts for lunar exploration, after running a rush competition for a piggyback payload to take advantage of an extra 1,000 kg. on the 2008 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission (see p. 26). The dual-impact plan to look for water ice was one of 19 proposals, including a single-shot Jet Propulsion Laboratory impactor; a water-seeking "hopper" proposed by Goddard Space Flight Center that would descend on jets to a permanently shaded crater floor, and a microsatellite proposed by Ames Research Center that would complement the LRO instrument suite.
Connexion by Boeing President Laurette T. Koellner, 51, has been tapped by CEO James McNerney to become president of Boeing International Relations, succeeding Thomas R. Pickering, 74, a former career diplomat who is retiring May 1 after five years in the post. Koellner, who became president of Connexion in December 1994, will join the Boeing Executive Council and be stationed in Washington. Stanley Deal, 41, Connexion's top salesman, will succeed Koellner. The retirement of Pickering is being accompanied by that of Rudy F.
Market Focus 12 Embraer conforms for standards for public U.S. companies News Breaks 20 Boeing near closing deals with Chinese carriers for 80 NG737s 21 Dassault completes cold-weather trials for Falcon 7X business jet 21 Varig teeters on brink after court seizes some assets 22 Raytheon Aircraft delivers 300th T-6A trainer to U.S. 23 Controllers raising JCSAT-9 telecom satellite to geostationary orbit World News & Analysis
India's first air cargo hub will be established at the Nagpur airport in central India. Aviation Minister Praflu Patel said business incentives, including tax holidays, will be advanced to attract national and international airlines. Private companies are to be invited to buy or lease land for their operations and encouraged to form joint ventures for cargo terminals.
U.S. airline traffic reports for March suggest that financial results for the first quarter will turn out to be considerably improved over those of a year ago.
Gulf Air is streamlining its operations through an outsourcing of maintenance and a flight operations review that could see its fleet shrink from four types to two. The maintenance shift follows the withdrawal of Abu Dhabi as one of its owners, leaving the governments of Bahrain and Oman in a partnership. As a result, the carrier will now run a twin-hub strategy from here and from Muscat in Oman, reflecting its bi-national structure.
British Airways saw premium traffic increase 10.1% in the first quarter, with overall load-factors inching up 0.1 points to 73.1%. But with the Easter travel season falling in April this year (it was in March last year), BA believes premium traffic will suffer slightly during that period. Ryanair and EasyJet should see much stronger April traffic as a result. Even without Easter, the two low-fare carriers posted strong year-over-year growth for March.
John J. Cronin has been named president of Minneapolis-based Alliant Techsystems' Mission Systems Group and corporate senior vice president. He was president of U.K.-based Raytheon Systems Ltd.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. has completed structural coupling tests of the first pre-production F-35A and begun ground vibration testing. The vibration checks are expected to induce loads and movements on flight control surfaces and measure responses. First flight is scheduled for autumn.
