The board of management of Brazil's financially struggling airline, Varig, has opted for a rescue plan presented by TAP Air Portugal. It calls for Varig to sell stakes in the VEM engineering and maintenance and VariLog logistics and cargo operations to TAP, to generate $62 million that can be used to satisfy immediate cash demands and continue operations. Moreover, Brazil's National Economic and Social Development Bank, in addition to external investors, will inject capital to the airline.
Canada's busiest airport, Toronto Pearson International, on Nov. 1 opened 10 additional gates at the new Terminal One. They will help "significantly reduce" the numbers of passengers who now require busing to gates at the infield terminal, according to the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, the Pearson operator. The airport handled almost 29 million passengers in 2004, and forecasters predict that number will grow to 50 million by 2020. In 1998, Toronto Pearson launched a massive 10-year redevelopment program.
Boeing expects to offer a best-and-final offer in mid-November on a three-year contract to 12,096 engineers and 5,672 technical workers represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (Speea) at Boeing's commercial aircraft factories in Washington State, Utah, Oregon and California. The two sides entered negotiations last week. On Nov. 8, Speea will enter separate negotiations for 785 engineers at Boeing's Wichita, Kan., facility. The current contract expires Dec. 1 for all but the Wichita workers, whose agreement expires Dec. 5.
The mystic art of electronic warfare and the battle against improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq are interfering with each other as both struggle to operate within a cocktail of electromagnetic confusion.
Sitting in a conference room surrounded by his top managers, Goodrich Corp. CEO Marshall Larsen watched a nightmare unfold as he discussed his company's third-quarter earnings in a conference call with analysts late last month. The aircraft landing gear and brake supplier's profits were up 22% from a year earlier, and orders are surging at the company's key customers, Boeing Co. and Airbus. But a TV screen on the wall showed Goodrich's stock price heading south--dramatically.
JetBlue Airways has chosen CAE to build one full-flight simulator for the Embraer 190 jet transport and two flight training devices, one for the 190 and the other for Airbus A320 aircraft. The simulators will be installed at JetBlue's training center in Orlando, Fla. In addition, Shanghai Eastern Flight Training Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines, has ordered one full-flight simulator for an A320 and an integrated procedures trainer for the Boeing 737 NG series. Both simulators will be installed in Pudong, Shanghai, in the autumn of 2006.
Following Northwest Airlines' lead two weeks earlier, Delta Air Lines is turning to U.S. Bankruptcy Court proceedings to force what it hasn't been able to negotiate--new cost concessions from its Air Line Pilots Assn. unit.
In the Pentagon, stars on a uniform are supposed to stand for action, and the Air Force is adding a star to its general officer billet for public affairs to "better inform the American public about its engagement in the global war on terrorism and to support the nation." Chief of Staff T. Michael (Buzz) Moseley is placing a major general in charge of what is billed as an "integrated" communications capability. Some officers grumble that the Air Force has gotten short shrift on Iraq war coverage compared with the Army and Marine Corps.
The traveling public is increasingly wondering whether "facilitation" will ever make a comeback as the ultimate goal of the airline industry. Back in the day, this buzzword was bandied about by industry leaders as a facile way of indicating that the passenger was everyone's Number One Priority.
BlastGard International Inc.'s BlastWrap was recognized for an award based on its BlastWrap material, which mitigates the explosive power of a bomb by reducing the blast effect, extinguishing the fireball and capturing fragmentation. The company is working with the U.K. Ministry of Defense in product-testing BlastWrap as a way to package live ordnance to protect against sympathetic detonation. And the company is working with the U.S. Marine Corps to test the material's ability to protect the undercarriage of vehicles against land mines.
The new active electronically scanned array radar being installed in F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, and soon the EA-18G Growler, is the first to have a longer range than the AIM-120 Amraam. The Raytheon radar's capability was demonstrated late last month at NAS Point Mugu, Calif., during a shoot arranged by the Navy's AESA development program. Plans are to fire an Amraam while maneuvering and at progressively longer distances from the target. While range numbers have not been released, goals are to push engagement ranges toward 100 naut. mi. from 40 naut. mi. or less.
Under a new missile defense agreement with the U.S., Japan will deploy an X-band radar system that will bring it the advanced targeting discrimination technology needed to detect slow-moving, stealthy cruise missiles, besides the ballistic missile threats it already is planning to meet. The pact, signed Oct. 29 at a meeting of top U.S. and Japanese defense and foreign affairs officials in Washington, is part of a defense package that will see a drawdown of U.S. forces in Japan even as joint planning by the two militaries grows closer.
Building wider runways for simultaneous landing operations may be one way to ease flight delays, proposes R. John Hansman, MIT professor of aeronautics and astronautics. Runways could be 500 ft. wide and aircraft equipped with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) could fly in formation to landing, he told a conference at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., late last month. Wider runways may be the only way to improve airport acceptance rates, he says.
H. David Walker has become senior vice president-sales and marketing for Spirit AeroSystems Inc., Wichita, Kan. He was a corporate vice president at Vought Aircraft, overseeing international programs.
Green Hills Software Inc., a technology leader in operating systems and software development tools for safe and secure systems, was chosen for a Product Breakthrough Award based on its work with Honeywell. The aerospace manufacturer chose the company's Integrity-178B real-time operating system for its work on the 787 fly-by-wire system it is building for Boeing. Honeywell had used its own operating system for prior flight control projects, but chose Integrity-178B because it was written around more up-to-date industry standards and the latest processors.
The U.K.'s National Air Traffic Services has won a 20-year contract to provide air traffic management services to Bristol International Airport. This is the 16th airport contract won by NATS, which is expanding its ATM business. The tower and approach control services will be provided by 41 controllers, engineers and support staff who currently work at the airport.
Bulldozers are digging ground for the $15-billion modernization of Chicago O'Hare International Airport, but a federal judge has prohibited any work on land owned by two suburban cities and at an historic cemetery. Judge David Coar of U.S. District Court in Chicago issued a temporary restraining order banning work at the three sites through Nov. 14. He plans to hear arguments on that day from expansion opponents who seek a preliminary injunction to halt the modernization.
Artist's illustration of a proposed supersonic business jet under development by Aerion Corp. depicts the design in its latest configuration, following modifications made during the past 12 months. Aerion officials are confident they can bring an SSBJ to market by 2011, but a CEO's dream of flying faster than the speed of sound over land and sea faces serious technical and regulatory hurdles before it can become a reality (see p. 68). Illustration by Infusion Design/Aerion Corp.
Turkey has extended the time for bidders to respond to a 52-helicopter request for proposals until next year. Bids are now due Mar. 15 for the 20 utility helicopters for Turkish land forces, six for the navy, six for air force combat search and rescue, and 20 for the forestry service.
Swiss International Air Lines has begun to retire its Saab 2000 turboprops, as part of a realignment of the carrier's operations to return to profitability. The first of the aircraft was withdrawn from service at the end of last month, and the rest of the fleet should be phased out by year-end. Regional service is being consolidated around an all-Avro regional jet fleet.
A traditional hub-and-spoke network may offer an extensive system of routes and destinations to passengers around the country, but it may also prevent network airlines from cutting their structural expenses to the level enjoyed by point-to-point carriers. A new analysis by the Aviation Week Group's Aviation Daily and partner Eclat Consulting shows that cost to handle passengers in a hub-and-spoke-dominated system is as much as 45% higher than in a point-to-point system, a disparity that costs airlines billions of dollars annually.
Stephen Lee Ching Yen has been appointed non-executive chairman of Singapore Airlines, effective Jan. 1. He will succeed Koh Boon Hwee. Lee is managing director of the Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank and Great Malaysia Textile Manufacturing Co.
Henry Vanderbilt, Executive Director (Space Access Society, Phoenix, Ariz.)
Jim Hillhouse is mistaken (AW&ST Oct. 17, p. 6). Space Access Society has not recommended any specific technical approach to the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE).
Pakistan International Airlines has agreed to buy seven ATR 42-500 turboprops from the Franco-Italian aircraft maker. The $100-million deal brings ATR's 2005 order book to 70 aircraft. PIA will use the aircraft to replace F-27s. Deliveries are to commence in May and continue into 2007.
Diane P. Murray (see photos) and Karen Evans, both executives for the Northrop Grumman Corp., have received 2005 National Women of Color Awards for managerial leadership and personal achievement. The awards and related conference are an initiative of Baltimore-based publisher Career Communications Group. Murray is chief information officer for Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems Sector in Reston, Va.
