The merger of government-owned Air India and Indian Airlines is likely to be completed within a year, according to Minister of Civil Aviation Praful Patel. The combined entity--a name has not been selected--will have a combined fleet of about 130 aircraft. However, the merger may well experience turbulence due to overstaffing at both airlines. The government is likely to face union protests regarding layoffs, just as it did in the modernization efforts at Delhi and Mumbai airports. That means the one-year merger completion period could be optimistic.
The growing dissension surrounding a 2004 airline accident in Egypt is troublesome: It clearly indicates that flight safety remains a highly emotional topic in some countries. National pride, cultural differences, attempts to give cockpit flight crews absolution or a negative attitude toward foreign investigators can seriously hamper investigation teams' efforts to impartially determine causes.
The letter from Lee Gaillard about the Airbus A380 wing test (AW&ST Mar. 6, p. 6) demands a response to what he describes as serious issues. Indeed, the serious issues are representations made in his letter.
To improve regional air connectivity, private companies in India will soon be allowed to develop airports in towns with populations of more than 250,000. The effort, in turn, is expected to promote air travel and boost the sale of regional aircraft. Embraer's managing director for the Asia-Pacific region, Bruce Peddle, says India's requirement in the 30-120-seat category is projected at 165 aircraft worth about $4 billion in the next 20 years.
Mr. Van Winkle, the Transportation Security Administration will see you now. The TSA is having trouble hiring and retaining part-time workers (see p. 40), but Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) wonders if the hiring process might be part of the problem. "We have a staffer in my office who actually applied for a part-time position with TSA back when he was in college.
The U.S.'s military services are dreaming up requirements for munition capabilities that are spurring some creative thinking among weapon system developers for new and updated designs. Both the Air Force and Navy are starting to sketch plans for future air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons, with the goal of filling niches that were left unaddressed during the last decade when the Pentagon undertook a surge of weapons-buying programs.
Frontier Airlines is now reorganized as a Delaware corporation as Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc. Officials say the reorganization is a practical step that provides it with new flexibility under Delaware law to respond to developments in these "tumultuous times." As examples, a company official says the new status will ease the way toward an acquisition, if that's the airline's intention, or in case it wants to set up a separate operation in Mexico to handle its operations there. Common stock began selling Apr. 3 on Nasdaq under the symbol FRNT.
Chineta K. Davis (see photo) has been named vice president of Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array programs for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Baltimore-based Electronic Systems Sector. She was vice president of the company's Norden Systems, Norwalk, Conn.
Chicago Midway Airport's application for FAA funding to install an EMAS or Engineered Material Arresting System has met with a "two thumbs-up" from the Air Line Pilots Assn. ALPA President Duane Woerth noted that runway overrun hazards have been a "particularly resistant" safety problem. EMAS materials, a combination of concrete and energy-absorbing substances, are laid in runway overrun areas, so the wheels of transport aircraft will sink into the surface. This allows aircraft to come to safe stops, generally with no major damage to the aircraft or danger to passengers.
Bill Strauss, Jay Apt, M. Granger Morgan and Daniel D. Stancil
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission began soliciting comments in December 2004 on proposed regulations that would permit the use of cell phones and other personal electronic devices (PEDs) on board commercial airline flights. Last summer, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure noted that "the FCC hopes to issue a final ruling in 2006, stating that its ultimate objective is to allow consumers to use their own wireless devices during flight."
Gretchen Burrett (see photo) has been appointed director of safety for U.K.-based National Air Traffic Services. She has been its head of safety and performance improvement. Burrett succeeds Fergus Cusden, who has become general manager of London Luton Airport.
Boeing recently sponsored a three-day conference in Seattle of Vietnamese and U.S. universities aimed at achieving international standards in Info Tech and aviation through curriculum and cooperative information exchanges and training programs. One agreement was to promote accreditation equivalency for engineering and technology through the Baltimore-based Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET).
Swiss International Air Lines is moving ahead in its ongoing financial turnaround, hoping this month's admittance to the Star Alliance will boost revenues. Swiss officially joined the biggest airline alliance last week alongside South African Airways (SAA). After the airline posted the fourth consecutive annual loss since its inception, Swiss CEO Christoph Franz pledged it will break even in 2006 and achieve its first-ever profit next year. In 2005, the carrier reduced operating losses to 14 million Swiss francs ($11 million) from 122 million Swiss francs.
Air Europe has exercised options for 16 Boeing 737-800s in a $1-billion order for delivery between 2010-14. The Spanish carrier plans to use the aircraft on routes to the Balearic and Canary Islands, and to other European countries and North Africa.
Boeing and the U.S. Air Force are in discussion about possibly adjusting the future-year C-17 purchasing profile to see if they can stretch out the life of the manufacturing line that could shutter soon unless the Pentagon or international customers don't buy more of the airlifters, indicates John Lockhard, president of Boeing's Precision Engagement and Mobile Systems Div. The goal would be to keep the line open at least as long as the Air Force debates the fate of C-5s.
French space officials worry that U.S. ground-safety concerns related to the design of the Proteus satellite bus could delay deployment of the U.S.-European Jason-2 oceanography satellite, possibly jeopardizing continuity with Jason-1. The Proteus bus developed jointly by the French space agency CNES and Alcatel Space Industries for Jason-1, which was launched in December 2001, met U.S. fire and toxic-hazards regulations at the time. But those rules have since changed.
China is completing assembly of a 132-ft.-dia. deep-space network antenna specifically designed to communicate with the Chang'e lunar orbiter set for launch next year. The antenna is located atop Mount Phoenix, a 6,600-ft. peak near Kunming. It will be used in connection with smaller dishes in Shanghai and northwest China to send and receive data during the Chang'e mission and to communicate with follow-on unmanned Chinese lunar orbiters and landers. The new antenna stands 148 ft. tall and weighs 400 tons.
Eurofighter officials are trying to exploit Norwegian unhappiness about workshare on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and have made an extensive offer of industrial participation should Oslo buy the Typhoon. EADS officials also are playing on the fact the U.S. may not export some JSF capabilities to other partners.
Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee aren't crazy about the Bush administration's Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) missile system. The Pentagon wants more than $1 billion in Fiscal 2007 alone for a system, lawmakers claim, that hasn't been operationally tested. The head of the Missile Defense Agency begs to differ. The agency hasn't "put it all together end-to-end," says USAF Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, 3rd, but the interceptor's booster, kill vehicle and other components have been successfully tested.
Gary Calvaneso (see photo) has been named vice president-marketing for Irvin Aerospace, Santa Ana, Calif. He was president of Advanced Innovations Marketing.
TAAG Airlines of Germany has agreed to pay Rockwell Collins a fixed monthly fee for two years to provide inflight entertainment services on its fleet of Boeing 777-200s and 737-700s. The avionics company's inflight entertainment services group, enCompass, will provide the service including design, audio and video licensing, usage analysis and technical support.
The air force has decided not to buy Ukrainian-Russian turboprop-powered Antonov An-70 transports, air force chief Gen. Vladimir Mikhailov says. Weight growth has driven the aircraft into a heavy-lift class, so the air force is losing interest. "Why should we acquire another heavy transport, we have a lot in our inventory," Mikhailov says. "We just do not need [the An-70]." The comments drew an immediate response from Ukraine. "It is high time for Ukraine to think about a new partner in this extremely important project," economic minister Arseny Yatcenuk says.
Air France will take delivery in early 2007 of the first Airbus aircraft line-fitted for use of onboard mobile phones. The A318 will conduct a six-month commercial trial for the service on short-haul flights within Europe and between Europe and North Africa.
Tom Anderson has become senior vice president-supply chain and LiveTV for JetBlue Airways. He has been senior vice president-technical operations. Holly Nelson has been promoted to senior vice president/controller from vice president and Tim Hickey to vice president-information technology operations from director of information technology. Todd Thompson has been appointed senior vice president/chief information officer.
Market Focus 10 Analysts see EADS stock selloff as sign of looming troubles News Breaks 16 EADS starts flight testing of refueling boom 17 Goodrich gets Boeing 747-8 drawings to begin work on landing gear 18 Operational, equipment upgrades on tap for Airbus single aisles World News & Analysis 22 U.S. military readies for more cuts, surprising number of adds 24 Separate aircraft, missile efforts loom for Long-Range Strike program
