Richard Bloch admonished the Delta pilots' union and airline management in highly unusual, impassioned remarks at the close of the hearing on Delta's 1113 motion to nullify the pilots contract (see main bar). Bloch is chairman of the three-member panel that by Apr. 15 is to decide, albeit reluctantly, on the motion. Following are excerpts:
Frank Brittain (see photo) has been named vice president-Washington operations for AAI Corp., Hunt Valley, Md. He succeeds Albert Barry, who is scheduled to retire. Brittain has been a member of the Washington office staff.
NASA's nuclear-powered Cassini probe continues to rack up spectacular images of the ringed planet Saturn and its many moons, but the Cassini imaging team has also put out the best color maps of Jupiter yet, as this South Pole view shows. Based on images collected Dec. 11-12, 2000, as Cassini approached Jupiter en route to its ultimate destination, the maps cover the entire planet with a peak resolution of about 75 mi. Overall, the imaging team used 36 images, collected hourly for 9 hr.
Financial analysts are wondering if recent selloffs by two of EADS's main shareholders signal declining hopes of buying a piece of defense contractor Thales to balance out its Airbus commercial business--and that rival Boeing Co. may be gaining a strategic edge in the civil aircraft business.
CAE Inc. has received contracts worth $33 million from EADS CASA and the Australian government to provide the Royal Australian Air Force's A330 tanker program with a simulator, mission systems trainer, new training facility and five-year support package. The simulator will be delivered to RAAF Amberley in 2009. The A330 beat out the 767 in the Australian tanker competition on the basis of more cargo-carrying capacity and the maturity of its hose-and-drogue refueling capability.
Embraer wants to improve the production flow on its regional jet line, and hopes the coming months will see start-up problems slowly fade into the background.
Sweden has taken delivery of the first two of 20 AgustaWestland A109 light utility helicopters that the country has ordered. The A109s, which are powered by Turbomeca Arrius 2K2 engines, will be used for surveillance, troop transport and emergency medical services.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes' delivery rates for the first quarter of 2006 jumped to 98 from 70 aircraft for the same period last year. The big surge came in 737s, which Boeing sold last year at a record pace. The company delivered 72 of that type through Mar. 31 compared to 54 last year. It also delivered more than twice as many 777s--17 this year versus eight last year. The last two 717s were delivered from the Long Beach, Calif., factory, plus four 747s and three 767s.
France's growing commitment to NATO out-of-theater operations will climb yet another notch with the introduction at year-end of a pair of command ships designed to lead large-scale allied force projection.
If the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is short of money to pay for keeping air travelers safe, then why not create a fee-based trust fund to finance security, asks Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens. The Alaska Republican vehemently opposes Bush administration plans to raise aviation security fees for airline passengers, noting "airline passengers are the only people in the country who pay for their own security."
The first rear-fuselage section for the A400M has been delivered by EADS Military Air Systems. Later this year, the company expects to add to that the first ramp door, an all-composite part. EADS recently displayed one of its ramp section product test specimens at the annual JEC composites show in Paris.
The U.S. Air Force is returning to proven program management techniques to fix a litany of next-generation space system cost and schedule problems. In the process, it hopes to rebuild credibility with Congress and the warfighter community.
Left in disarray by poor management decisions and conflicting requirements, the Pentagon's signals intelligence community is struggling to refashion its esoteric skills. Aging aircraft and the need to stay ahead of an increasingly sophisticated 21st century threat--which includes the latest wireless technology used by insurgents--are driving discussions among the services' top-level leaders.
Nahema, the NATO agency managing development of the NH90 transport/frigate helicopter, has qualified the TGEA tactical variant that is intended for the German army, clearing the way for the aircraft's entry into operational service. The TGEA includes specific features, mainly in the communications area. The German army units will be the first to receive the NH90, which has suffered from long delays, largely attributed to variances in national specifications (AW&ST Jan. 2, p. 30).
Airbus has revised the cabin for its A350 widebody, after early customer reviews indicated a desire for more expansive changes than the aircraft maker initially devised. Among the new features shown in a 12-meter (40-ft.) cabin mock-up at last week's Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany, is a more open design, including in the door area. The overhead bins (below, left) allow business-class passengers space for more than two standard roller-bags and economy passengers space for more than one.
Regarding the experimental orbital vehicle, I was a structures technology engineer on studies in the 1970s and '80s about developing a reusable orbital vehicle system with vehicles of varying payloads. Our team studied vehicles and orbiters that were launched from subsonic and supersonic carriers at various altitudes.
LinkAir Express is the latest newcomer to the Italian air cargo/parcel express market. The new airline, which will operate between Milan Linate and several other Italian destinations, will fly two ATR 42 twin turboprops, with a third to come in June. The privately owned company has signed a contract with DHL Express covering at least 50% of capacity. A code-sharing agreement is being discussed with Air One.
U.S. Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. a $3.035-billion contract modification for the system development and demonstration (SDD) of the CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter. The modification includes four SDD aircraft, one ground test vehicle, and associated program management and test support. The aircraft is expected to be finished by December 2015.
As a former wind tunnel engineer, the possibility of an "XB-70 like spaceplane carrier" (AW&ST Mar. 6, p. 48) was of interest. The artist's sketch of the mated version certainly would illustrate a challenge for the landing gear group. The spaceplane likely would have to be much smaller or flatter than was pictured to have any hope of being strut-mounted to a large mothership needing to take off from a runway with conventional landing gear.
The Japanese space agency (JAXA) is trying to ascertain the impact of a lower-than-anticipated apogee on the launch vehicle for a planned scramjet test. Hyshot IV successfully left the pad Mar. 30, but the rocket's maximum altitude was 30 km. (18.6 mi.) lower than planned. Telemetry showed the vehicle only reached an altitude of 290 km. rather than the planned 320. The launch was carried out by Australia's University of Queensland. The aim of the test was to look at the performance of a JAXA-designed scramjet combustor utilizing an advanced fuel injector.
The Who's Where column (AW&ST Mar. 27, p. 11) incorrectly reported the status of Capts. Mike Barger and Al Spain at JetBlue Airways. Spain is retiring as senior vice president-operations, while Barger will remain head of JetBlue University.
