Biometric identity and smart card companies are forging ahead with Registered Traveler business plans even as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) downgrades the program as a priority and a former supporter, Air Transport Assn., claims it's no longer necessary.
Maneuvering over contract talks between the FAA and National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. (Natca) has led to a split between the union and the new Air Traffic Organization, led by FAA COO Russell Chew. In a letter to Chew on Nov. 30, Natca President John S. Carr writes he was furious about events that month. Carr notes Chew appeared with FAA Administrator Marion Blakey at a press conference on Nov. 28 to join in a call for sending the talks with Natca to mediation.
Adventurer Steve Fossett will take off from the Kennedy Space Center in the Scaled Composites/Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer aircraft no earlier than Feb. 7, after the Chinese government delayed plans for a Feb. 1 takeoff by denying overflight rights until after the Chinese New Year. Fossett hopes to set a new solo unrefueled flight distance record of more than 26,000 mi. (AW&ST Jan. 30, p. 38).
Guy Buyst has been appointed executive vice president-sales and customer services for LMS International, Leuven, Belgium. Buyst was chief commercial officer of Base.
The first "green approach" was flown into Stockholm's Arlanda airport on Jan. 19 by an SAS Boeing 737-600 after it down-linked its 4D trajectory to air traffic controllers from the Smiths' flight management system.
Wes Goode, Jr. (see photo) has been appointed vice president-airport systems in the North American Airport, Post and Parcel Div. of FKI Logistex, Frederick, Md. He was an executive with the U.S. Postal Service.
How do senior Pentagon leaders currently assess China as a military threat? "China is an emerging world superpower, and we want to constructively work with them . . . across a number of regional issues [and help] them along that path to making what we view is the right sort of choices," says Giambastiani, Joint Chiefs of Staff vice chairman. That will mean insisting China not build aircraft carriers and other offensive weapons seen as key elements in projecting its military might on others.
EADS North America plans to expand its facilities at Golden Triangle Regional Airport, Columbus, Miss., if it wins the U.S. Army's Light Utility Helicopter competition. The expansion is expected to add up to 250 new jobs. EADS is offering the twin-engine UH-145--a modified version of the commercial EC 145--for the LUH role. American Eurocopter (an EADS subsidiary), Sikorsky and Westwind Technologies have teamed to build, modify and support the helicopter.
J. Dorrance Smith has become assistant Defense secretary for public affairs. He was a media consultant to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies and a senior media adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad.
6-8 Correspondence 10-11 Who's Where 15 Industry Outlook 17 Airline Outlook 19 In Orbit 20-22 News Breaks 23 Washington Outlook 48 Inside Business Aviation 49 Arrivals 60-62 Contrails 63 Classified 64 Contact Us 65 Aerospace Calendar
Researchers at John Carroll University's Lighting Innovations Institute in Cleveland have developed amber-colored eyeglasses that, they say, will help travelers reduce jet lag. The spectacles, similar to sunglasses, are designed to block the blue component in white light that suppresses the hormone melatonin. The institute recommends wearing the glasses prior to a trip to help the body adjust its circadian clock to the new time zone by getting the proper flow of melatonin. More details are available at http://www.lowbluelights.com.
Priya Bendale has been promoted to vice president-engineering from manager of research and development, and Brent R. Barker to vice president-sales and marketing from government business development manager, for Interface Displays and Controls, Oceanside, Calif.
Mike Conrad has been named vice president-sales and customer services for the Aircraft Service International Group, Orlando, Fla. He was Western U.S. regional vice president-operations. Conrad has been succeeded by Anthony Mazza, who was Western U.S. senior director of customer operations for DHL Express.
NASA is still working toward a May window for the next space shuttle test flight, three years after the loss of Columbia forced development of in-orbit repair techniques for the delicate thermal protection system on the orbiter. The STS-121 mission will see space-suited astronauts test mechanical plugs and putty-like filler on test articles in the cargo bay that later will be subjected to simulated reentry temperatures in arc-jet tests on the ground. A space-walker also will ride on the end of the new 50-ft.
Douglas Barrie (London), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
European missile manufacturer MBDA's industrial footprint in the U.K. will be determined in the coming months as the company awaits a fundamental decision from the British government.
Anne Esposito has become executive vice president of Baldwin Aviation, Hilton Head, S.C. She was vice president-airports for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn.
Herbert John Shaw, a pioneer designer of fiber-optic gyroscopes widely used in aircraft, missiles and spacecraft, died on Jan. 20 in Palo Alto, Calif. He was 87.
USAF has named Lockheed Martin to run the $2-billion, 10-year program to build the ground infrastructure for the future Transformational Satellite system. The system is expected to provide the interface between the high-capacity spacecraft and the Pentagon's global information grid. The system should enter service around 2014.
European missile manufacturer MBDA is in discussions with at least two potential customers for the ship-launched version of its Marte MK2 air-to-surface missile. Interest in the Marte MK2/N is such that MBDA has already carried out a significant amount of design work for the necessary modifications. The helicopter-launched Marte MK2/S has a maximum range of greater than 16.2 naut. mi. It is already in operation with the Italian navy on its SH-3D helicopters, and has been qualified on the EH-101 and NH90.
Steve Chalmers has been appointed vice president/general manager of the Lighting Systems Div. of the Goodrich Corp., Charlotte, N.C. He was the company's vice president-Airbus.
PRATT & WHITNEY HAS AGREED TO SUPPLY PW6000 engines for the Airbus A318 Elite--a corporate version of the A318 airline transport, and becomes the latest in Airbus's product line of business jets to compete with Boeing's BBJ series of twin-engine 737s. The engines have a thrust range of 18,000-24,000 lb. and will feature a number of upgrades to reduce costs of operation, according to Pratt & Whitney.
Rockwell Collins continues to deliver and support its eTES in-flight entertainment system (IFE) for use on new and existing wide-body airline aircraft, but it does not plan to invest in a new system with the type of functions and architecture needed on the Airbus A380, A350 and Boeing 787. Thales is supplying a new system for those aircraft. Rockwell Collins President and CEO Clay Jones told financial analysts the company will continue to invest in the narrow-body IFE market "because that fits more in our long-term goals."
