Snecma is downplaying a challenge from Pratt & Whitney to muscle into the lucrative spare parts market for the popular CFM International CFM56-3 engine, which Snecma builds with General Electric.
Susan J. Mertes has been named director of aviation infrastructure for the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Assn. She was director of federal relations and legislative counsel for the American Medical Group Assn. and had been an assistant City of Chicago corporation counsel covering aviation.
Ross Bogue has been named vice president/general manager for Boeing's 747/767/777 programs and the Everett, Wash., site. He succeeds Dan Becker, who plans to retire on Apr. 30. Bogue was vice president/general manager for Boeing Fabrication.
John Langevin has been appointed senior vice president/general manager of Jet Aviation's Teterboro, N.J., fixed base operation. He succeeds Michael Szczechowski, who is now senior vice president/general manager of aircraft management services in the U.S. Langevin was director of FBO services at Teterboro. Rogerio Marques has become vice president-marketing and sales and Luiz Gustavo Ribeiro marketing and sales manager for Jet Aviation in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Market Focus 11 JetBlue stock trading at premium, al- though loss seen for 2006 News Breaks 16 Inquiry boards being formed to de- termine cause of Proton M failure 17 Engine tests ramp up for A400M military transport 18 Soviet-era anti-satellite system seen as basis for satellite launcher 20 Pakistani airline takes delivery of the first Boeing 777-200LR 20 Snecma downplaying challenge from Pratt & Whitney on spares World News & Analysis
Mertz Hanberry has become finance director and treasurer and John Levell planning manager of Orlando, Fla.-based Meads (Medium Extended Air Defense System) International Inc. Both are on assignment from Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. Hanberry succeeds Collin Hiranaka, and Levell follows Ron Westbrook. Both have retired.
British defense technology company Qinetiq is attempting to arouse interest in unmanned aerial vehicles operation through a demonstration project at Parc Aberporth, Wales. The initial three-month program will showcase the utility of three classes of UAVs for commercial and government applications. Both rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft will be flown with 10-kg., 20-kg. and heavier air vehicles in a variety of roles. Potential missions include flood monitoring, pipeline surveillance, crop dusting, traffic management and coastal patrol.
Dassault Systemes of France is acquiring MatrixOne of Westford, Mass., a supplier of 3D modeling and product lifecycle management software, for $408 million. Boeing, Airbus and dozens of other aerospace and defense companies use Dassault Systemes software, including Catia.
Avian flu puts pilots and cabin personnel at risk of infection either in flight or during stops. In either case, treatment should be started within 48 hr. of exposure, although that could be difficult during layovers, warns the International Federation of Airline Pilots Assns. The group is calling on airlines to prepare plans for the potential pandemic. A report from the Finnish Pilots Assn.
Bruce Brody has become vice president-information security at Input, Reston, Va., and Paul Schmitz vice president of Input's Executive Program. Brody was chief information security officer, and Schmitz was federal sector vice president for Gartner's Executive Program.
Scott E. McHugh has been appointed senior vice president-business development for Houston-based Air Security International. He has been manag- ing director/CEO of Sky River Management and was the first federal security director of the Washington Dulles Region for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. Steven M. Kellner has been named quality control manager for the Intelligence Div. He has been regional security and intelligence director/global intelligence manager with International SOS and was superintendent of intelligence for the U.S. Air Force.
NASA has scuttled its planned Dawn mission to visit two of the largest asteroids in the Solar System, Ceres and Vesta, after an independent review came up with different cost estimates from those reached by the already-overrunning project. Formal notification of the decision was underway as Mary Cleave, associate administrator for science, was defending the agency's science program at a House Science Committee hearing against charges NASA has cut too many small space missions like Dawn (see p. 34).
The Netherlands National Airspace Laboratory (NLR) will help determine the future of Reykjavik Airport in Iceland. Reykjavik serves as an alternate destination in support of the country's Keflavik international airport and is one of a limited number of choices where the capital city could expand. The NLR is being commissioned to study options, including closure.
Unsettled labor contracts at Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines and their regional affiliates are complicating reorganization efforts under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, while generating considerable heat.
A report by the British Civil Aviation Authority and Office of Fair Trading on airport slot trading recommends the introduction of additional rules to reduce the risk of anti-competitive behavior. Proposals on the reform of European Union slot-trading regulations are expected later this year.
Raytheon Aircraft Co. has received FAA certification for the Hawker 850XP. The twin-engine business jet features winglets the company says increase range by 100 naut. mi. Other improvements include an 8% increase in time-to-climb and faster cruise speeds.
Northrop Grumman has won a $63.9-million USAF contract to provide APG-68(V)9 airborne radars for F-16 Block 52 aircraft flown by the Hellenic Air Force. Delivery of 33 systems will start in 2007. Seven countries have now purchased the radar as standard equipment.
It has won rave reviews from passengers for its leather seats, seat-back satellite TVs and friendly crewmembers. But low-cost carrier (LCC) JetBlue Airways has the dubious distinction of being one of the most negatively viewed airline stocks on Wall Street. Following a flat performance in 2005, shares in the New York-based airline have tumbled nearly 22% on the Nasdaq exchange since the start of the year.
The FAA is developing its plan for rolling out Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) nationwide over the next 20 years and the agency's Joint Resources Council is expected to review it for an investment decision this summer. FAA officials briefed members of the RTCA's Air Traffic Management Advisory Committee on the four-phase plan on Feb. 24. The first phase would focus on "ADS-B out" or the transmission of aircraft GPS positions to air traffic controllers on the ground.
Sighting reports from fighter pilots, civilian contractors and an Air Force security police officer provided enough information about a super-secret "black" spaceplane to develop a technical profile of the vehicle. Both manned and unmanned versions may have been test-flown and operated during the last 16 years.
Britain is pondering fundamental reform of its approach to defense acquisition, with a potentially far-reaching report to be submitted to government ministers this May. The study's spotlight falls on two ministry departments, the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) and the Defense Logistics Organization (DLO). One option certain to be considered is whether to merge the two.
The National Institute for Aviation Research's (NIAR's) Crash Dynamics Laboratory has certified its first seat for use in commercial helicopters (see photo). The customer, East/West Industries of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., specializes in designing and manufacturing seats and ejection seat subsystems. To meet demand for research and certification work, NIAR has installed a sled built by MTS Systems Inc., capable of testing seats across a wide range of g-force loadings to meet FAA regulations. Six new crash dummies have been added to the seven already in service.
Australian defense planners will be buying Lockheed Martin's stealthy, long-range Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile in its first international sale. Jassm will give greater survivability and lethality to the country's fleet of F/A-18s and replace its aging F-111 strike aircraft, which will retire by 2010.
