British Airways is renewing for 10 additional years an engine maintenance contract originally signed a decade ago with the General Electric Co. Under the contract, valued at $2.3 billion, GE's Nantgarw, Wales, facility will perform an estimated 800 overhauls or repairs on the carrier's Rolls-Royce RB211 and CFM56-3/5 engines.
After the company emerged from bankruptcy, the common stock of Loral Space & Communications began trading on the Nasdaq national market last week. The company issued 18.7 million shares, which opened at $29.10.
The European Aviation Safety Agency has issued a type certificate for the Turbomeca Arriel 2S2 helicopter engine, which will power Sikorsky S-76++ heliocopters. FAA certification is slated for mid-month. The first engine is to be delivered early next year.
One thing missing from the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) effort to redesign the U.S. air traffic control system over the next 20 years is the participation of air traffic controllers, and current contract talks between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. are the reason.
Airbus is still evolving major structural elements of its A350 twin-widebody as it moves toward the quickly approaching design freeze milestone early next year. The latest set of iterations now emerging aim at reducing drag, boosting speed and better positioning the aircraft maker's newest product offering in the competition against the Boeing 787.
China's decision to wield its economic muscle by placing a massive aircraft order with Airbus has provided a timely boost for the European aircraft maker. But the long-term implications of the deal are not yet clear. By next July, Airbus expects to complete an economic feasibility study to determine whether it makes sense to establish a narrow-body final assembly line in China. The prospect of A320-family aircraft being put together in China was announced as part of Beijing's decision to buy 150 of the aircraft type for six of its airlines.
While not exactly on a par with the 1993 dinner between then-Defense Secretary Les Aspin and a small group of defense-industry chiefs--a.k.a. the Last Supper--a dinner meeting on Nov. 5 between Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England and six defense company CEOs nonetheless provided ample food for thought, if not indigestion, industry insiders say.
What began as a one-of-a-kind collaboration between the Defense and Commerce Depts. to develop a single polar-orbiting weather satellite system is shifting to an effort to mitigate a coverage gap in weather data and contain program cost, which has swollen at least 50%. The timing is bad for development problems with the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (Npoess), as politicians in Washington are trying to find a way to clean up the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina and prevent widespread disaster in the future.
While catching up on recent issues, I looked at the Earth's shrinking north polar cap, read about the changing face of Mars and learned how that planet's south polar cap has shrunk in recent years. Could there be a common denominator for both planets' polar ice caps shrinking during the same period? If both planets have experienced warming recently, then could it be solar warming instead of global warming?
Lufthansa's archrivals in the German domestic and leisure markets are gaining strength through closer cooperation and pose a renewed threat for the network carrier's European operations. DBA, formerly British Airways subsidiary Deutsche BA, and Air Berlin last week said they are beginning to cooperate more closely in marketing and sales. The two airlines will link their respective web sites, on which they offer one another's flights. Air Berlin has a similar arrangement with Austrian low-fare airline FlyNiki, in which it holds a 25% stake.
The Master Executive Council of Delta Air Lines' Air Line Pilots Assn. unit voted unanimously Dec. 8 to conduct a strike authorization vote among the membership. Delta asked U.S. Bankruptcy Court last month to reject the current contract so it can impose $325 million in annual cuts, adding to the $1 billion per year the pilots agreed to last year. The court hasn't ruled, and if the question remains unresolved through Dec. 16, bankruptcy law allows the company to impose the cuts unilaterally.
David Pritchard, Canada-United States Trade Center (State University of New York at Buffalo)
In the editorial "I Dream of Genie" (AW&ST Nov. 14, p. 66), you showed symptoms of "offshoring deficiency disorder." You failed to mention that 90% of the Boeing 787 is outsourced, even after the U.S. government gave Boeing $1.8 billion in NASA money for the High-Speed Civil Transport program to develop the U.S. industrial base. Also, the technology transfer from Boeing to Japan with the 787 wings shows that U.S. taxpayers are indirectly subsidizing the Japanese aircraft industry.
Mitsubishi Electric Corp. has signed a contract with the Indian Space Research Organization to develop and manufacture a lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery for the Insat series of satellites for long-distance telecommunications, radio and television program distribution, meteorological and Earth observation, and data relay. One of the Insat platforms will be configured with the Japanese Li-ion battery to provide full payload power requirements of 2,500-5,000 watts during eclipse.
The loss of a C-130K Hercules in Iraq is pushing the British Defense Ministry to address intelligence failings, change low-flying tactics, and consider modifications to its transport fleet. The ministry last week released the formal Board of Inquiry report into the loss of Hercules XV179 and the 10 people on board. The aircraft was being flown from Baghdad International Airport to Balad on Jan. 30.
Boeing has completed a series of MH-47G demonstration flights for the U.S. Air Force at Nellis AFB, Nev., in support of its bid for the Air Force Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR-X) Program. With USAF and Boeing pilots using the special operations version of the Chinook Helicopter, the flights included a series of hovers over land and water to evaluate downwash effects as well as the aircraft's capability to retrieve downed pilots, rescue injured air crewmembers and other CSAR mission scenarios.
Aerospace historian Jay Miller of Fort Worth has received the Third Annual Harry B. Combs Award from the Dayton, Ohio-based National Aviation Hall of Fame. He was cited for his research that resulted in two volumes of The X-Planes. The award was established to support aviation history research and preservation efforts and is underwritten by a grant from Combs, who was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1996.
Bad as it was, the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season could have been worse. Data from Earth-observing satellites originally launched to monitor long-term climate trends improved forecasters' predictions of the paths and intensities of the violent storms, and more improvements are coming from the same sources.
Although the European Union is taking steps to remove barriers to defense competitions across borders among the 25 member states, the directive now being put forward won't go far enough, its authors acknowledge. The commission next year plans to issue a directive to restrict the use of the so-called Article 296, which allows governments to basically avoid non-national competitors in defense procurements.
European armaments agency Occar has issued a contract for the HAD version of the European Tiger attack helicopter, a new multirole version outfitted with higher-power engines, IFF equipment, improved ballistic protection and an air-ground missile capability. Work on the HAD, which is intended for Spain and France, began early this year under an instruction to proceed issued on Dec. 8, 2004.
An "ideal" NASA competition for the first commercial vehicle able to send humans into orbit would offer $200-300 million in prizes, with first-, second- and third-place awards to promote more technology development.
With Boeing Co. planning to increase its commercial aircraft output by 36% next year, CEO W. James McNerney is dead set against turning up production another notch, fearing that his suppliers would not be able to keep up. Executives on the front lines of the supply chain say such restraint is well advised.
Michael Mecham and Frank Morring, Jr. (Fukuoka, Japan)
There seemed to be no letup in natural disasters this year. They ultimately proved to be a greater worldwide threat to life than war. As relief and disaster experts respond, they are finding new ways satellites can help them.
BOMBARDIER'S SKYJET INTERNATIONAL CHARTER program is expanding its presence in the Middle East to include Pakistan through an alliance with regional operator Princely Jets. The alliance provides travelers in Pakistan with a single source of jet transportation that can fly anywhere, anytime, according to Bombardier. Princely Jets is the second partner added to Skyjet recently, following Royal Jet Group in November. Skyjet's partners in the region also include ExecuJet Middle East, Bexair and Cirrus Aviation that together offer 16 business jets for travel.
GoJet Airlines, the Trans States Holdings subsidiary that has been operating Bombardier CRJ700s for United Airlines Express since October, is seeking U.S. Transportation Dept. authority to expand into Canada and Mexico. GoJet, formed last December and certificated in August, has six CRJ700s, expects to take delivery of four more through January 2006 and holds options and financings for another 20 aircraft.
