The FAA has certified the Cessna Citation CJ2+, paving the way for initial customer deliveries. According to Cessna, the entry-level business jet is approved for single-pilot IFR flight and features a Collins Pro Line 21 avionics package and a number of other improvements--such as higher payload and the ability to climb to 45,000 ft. in 34 min. at maximum takeoff weight, EGPWS and electronic charts.
Foundering Alitalia could be out of money and luck by year-end, although the government has cast a last-minute lifeline to try to keep the struggling carrier afloat. By September, Alitalia still had 300 million euros ($357 million) on hand, but at its current spending rate that won't last long. In fact, weak peak-summer-season revenue couldn't help reduce the carrier's soaring debt, which stood at 1.7 billion euros at the end of August.
As most of the world approaches the traditional year-end holiday season, terrorist blasts that killed more than 30 people on the Indonesian resort island of Bali have slowed peak-season reservations from Europe to Southeast Asia. The Oct. 1 bombings followed a deadlier attack in October 2002 that killed more than 200 people and took an estimated $2.3 billion out of the local economy. Within a day of the Oct. 1 bombings, travel agents in Singapore reported a 50% cancellation of reservations to Bali.
It says as much about the state of the U.S. airline industry as it does about Europe's. But it is Air France-KLM that has become the first air transport company to be named part of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, a grouping that comprises the top 10% of the largest 2,500 companies in the Dow Jones Global Indexes. While their U.S. counterparts are mired in financial problems, major European airlines are doing relatively well, given the high fuel costs and strong competition.
Rod Eddington, who served as chief executive of British Airways for five years, plans to return to his native Australia in January. He recently gave a valedictory at the Aviation Club of the UK, from which this is adapted.
The FAA is evaluating the safety of the Mitsubishi MU-2 after noting a recent rise in accidents and issued a related announcement on Oct. 3, a day before KMGH-TV in Denver began airing an investigative story on the crashes. KMGH-TV, like Aviation Week & Space Technology, is a unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies. The television report cites 11 accidents in 18 months that resulted in 12 fatalities. The turboprop aircraft is used commercially to fly checks and other time-sensitive cargo in the U.S. overnight.
Iberia has inked a new financing package for A340-600s under which it will put two in service under a so-called Spanish Operating Lease (SOL). The SOL package involved the airline, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Caja Madrid. The two financial institutions are underwriting the debt for the leaseholder, Madrid Leasing, which itself is co-owned by Caja Madrid and Mapfre, another Spanish financial organization. The aircraft lease will run 12 years, with Iberia holding options to buy the aircraft. Iberia and the banks took nine months to craft the deal.
International air transport, by tradition the most glamorous of travel in the most dazzling of aircraft, has become the most profitable segment of the airline business as well, especially for the six major U.S. airlines offering the service (see p. 44). Beset at home by severe price pressure from lower-cost competitors, the Big Six are looking at all their operations to reduce their own costs even as they turn to long haul for the long run. The big international carriers in Europe and Asia are less affected by domestic/short-haul competition.
NASA is holding open the option for a servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope in the face of pressure from the White House Office of Management and Budget. Administrator Michael Griffin has instructed the Space Operations Mission Directorate to reserve a Hubble flight as it works out NASA's response to an OMB request for data on possible savings from one-shift-a-day shuttle processing (see p. 31). The agency already dropped plans for an untested robotic servicing mission in favor of another shuttle visit.
Ask executives of six of the biggest U.S. airlines why they are increasing their international capacity so much, and you'll get an answer a lot like Willie Sutton's explanation of why he robbed banks: because that's where the money is. Beaten down by continuing losses in domestic service, these carriers--American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways--see several attractions in operating between the U.S. and the popular business and leisure destinations in Europe and Asia.
In the early 1980s' beginning of the LHX light helicopter program, the Army, to broaden competition beyond companies with tiltrotor experience, backed off its performance requirements and imposed weight and power restrictions that a tiltrotor couldn't meet (AW&ST Sept. 19, p. 38). The Army got a good, but less capable design that 20 years and billions of dollars later came to nothing. Ironically, the Army allowed the weight and power requirements to grow to the point where a much more effective tiltrotor would have been viable.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Michael Mecham (San Francisco)
Boeing's drive toward modularity in the 787 has arrived in the cabin with its selection of Thales as the first recommended supplier of an inflight entertainment system in a passenger cabin designed from scratch to be fully wireless.
Heli-Dyne officials anticipate a rise in demand for the company's products during the next 24 months as emergency medical services, law enforcement and corporate operators replace aging aircraft and modify airframes.
Robert Wall and Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Douglas Barrie (London)
A400M development appears to be moving beyond "flight idle," with milestones nearing and contracts about to be inked. First run of the aircraft's Europrop International TP400-D6 engine is now scheduled for the end of this month, eight weeks later than planned. Key A400M subsystem selections--some considerably delayed--are also being lined up.
First flight of China's Hongdu L-15 jet trainer is tentatively scheduled to come before year-end. The prototype was rolled out at the end of last month. Hondgu, part of China Aviation Industry Corp II, plans to build three prototypes of the twin-turbofan L-15. The Chinese air force has yet to publicly commit to the purchase of a new jet trainer. The L-15 is in competition with the FTC-2000. The L-15 is the latest iteration of China's J-7 design, which is based on the venerable MiG-21. Series production could begin in 2007.
Eaton Corp. plans to purchase the aerospace division of PerkinElmer Inc. for $333 million, with the transaction expected to close before year-end. The Beltsville, Md.-based division produces sealing and pneumatic systems for large commercial aircraft and regional jets, and employs 950 people. It reported sales of $150 million and pre-tax profits of $35 million for the 12 months ended June 30. Less than a month ago, Eaton announced plans to also acquire U.K.-based Cobham plc for $270 million.
Airbus is making progress in boosting A380 production around 2010. John Leahy, chief operating officer for customers, says that efforts so far have yielded three more production slots.
Computer network attack, high-power microwave weapons and combat lasers are now being touted as key warfighting components of the U.S. Army's new brigade combat teams. These units are being restructured for next-generation warfare that is at least partially focused on finding and attacking fast-moving, insurgent or terrorist groups that rely on sophisticated, low-power communications devices for command and control.
USAF Lt. Col. (ret.) Jack Allavie is one of the five test pilots to be named to the City of Lancaster, Calif., Walk of Honor for 2005. The others are Dick Thomas, USAF Maj. Gen. Wilbert D. (Doug) Pearson, Jr., the late Wallace A. Lien and Edward T. Schneider. Allavie was the B-52 launch pilot for the first and subsequent flights of the X-15 rocket plane. Thomas, a pioneer in the field of stealth technology, led the Northrop work and flew the first flights on Tacit Blue, an experimental aircraft designed as a concept demonstrator for stealth missions.
USAF has determined that a fatal June 22 U-2 crash in the United Arab Emirates began with the inflight failure of the power takeoff shaft. The aircraft, assigned to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, Calif., was returning from a reconnaissance mission in the Iraq/Afghanistan area. The failure was followed by instant loss of power to the accessory drive, which triggered loss of hydraulics, generators, cockpit lighting and displays as the aircraft was in a descending turn below 3,500 ft. for a night landing.
U.S. aerospace employment has begun to see a modest recovery, but a rebound in revenues has yet to translate into more jobs in Canada. While the Canadian aerospace industry has seen its sales increase more than $1 billion from a trough of C$20.5 billion ($17.3 billion) in 2003, employment has held steady at 75,000, down from a peak of 90,000 in 2001. Peter Boag, president of the Aerospace Industries Assn. of Canada, says one reason is that Canadian companies are finding ways to operate more efficiently.
Peter Challan has become vice president-Washington programs for the Harris Corp., Melbourne, Fla. He retired last year as an FAA senior vice president.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington)
European space leaders think relying on a single space transportation system for a future international exploration initiative is a bad idea, and are considering support for a Russian concept that could serve as an alternative, if need be.
Dan Smith, president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, Tewksbury, Mass., has been inducted into the Ancient Order of Saint Barbara, to recognize his contribution to the air defense community. The order is an honorary military society of the U.S. Air Defense Artillery Assn.
