How did AirTran Airways do in the third quarter? It's a matter of perspective. On the one hand, the fast-growing carrier logged record passenger volume, load factors and revenue, but fuel costs left it with a small loss for the summer months. On the other hand, it did better than the same quarter of 2004, even though fuel cost much more, and it believes capacity reductions will strengthen yields in the eastern U.S. throughout 2006. "We're a little upbeat here," CEO Joe Leonard said Oct. 27.
Two Thai Airways International aircraft were involved in mishaps on Oct. 26. An Airbus A340-600 with 253 passengers on board blew two tires on landing at Melbourne, Australia, in high winds. No one was injured. An A300-600 with 240 passengers on board skidded off the runway at Bangkok Don Muang Airport after touching down in heavy rain. There were no injuries.
Don't let naysayers with a bully pulpit sidetrack Performance-Based Logistics. PBL may be the Defense Dept.'s best hope of keeping increasingly complex weapons systems operational while ensuring military contractors don't lose their shirts supporting this national security imperative. PBL isn't rocket science, but the best ideas often aren't.
Europe's Venus Express mission has been postponed because of contamination under the payload fairing of its Starsem Soyuz/Fregat booster. The mission is now set for launch on or about Nov. 9.
You can now register ONLINE for Aviation Week Events. Go to www.AviationNow.com/conferences or call Lydia Janow at +1 (212) 904-3225/+1 (800) 240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada Only) Nov. 8-10--MRO Asia, Suntec City, Singapore. Nov. 14-16--A&D Programs & Productivity Conference, Phoenix. PARTNERSHIPS Nov. 10--Spanning the Globe of Airline Labor & Employment Law: A Workshop for Aviation Professionals. Crowne Plaza Hotel, New York JFK Airport.
Jazeera Airways, a privately-owned, start-up carrier in Kuwait, has accepted the first of four Airbus A320 transports and is preparing to launch low-fare service to destinations in the Middle East late this month. The A320s are configured for 185 seats in a single-class arrangement and are powered by CFM International CFM56-5 engines.
Brian Lash (see photo) has been named vice president-client relations for Midwest U.S. aircraft management customers for Cincinnati-based Executive Jet Management. He was an aviation consultant/assistant to the chairman of Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopoulos Inc. in Boston.
Gen. Hajime Massaki (left), chairman of the Joint Staff Council, sat for a rare interview at Japan Defense Agency headquarters in Tokyo Oct. 15 with Asia-Pacific Bureau Chief Michael Mecham (center) and Senior Space Technology Editor Frank Morring, Jr. Speaking through an interpreter (back to camera), Massaki outlined the new military command structure that Japan is adopting to bring it more in line with the approach taken by the U.S., its major ally in the tense region (see p. 37).
Jean-Marie (Jim) Pogu has been named senior vice president-marketing and sales for Aerospace Products International Inc., Memphis, Tenn. He was director of sales and marketing for the Hardware Products Group of Honeywell.
U.S. negotiators have accepted a Japanese proposal to build part of a helicopter runway inside Camp Schwab in Okinawa. This paves the way for the closure of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma AB. Noise complaints, fear of crime and congestion were long-time complaints against Futenma operations.
The history of the aerospace industry in the 20th century provides a good lesson for industries that are wondering what to expect in the 21st century. In the 20th century, breakthroughs in aviation created the opportunity to move people and goods efficiently over very great distances. As a result, the aerospace industry boomed, both in the U.S. and in other countries. Bill Gates has referred to aviation as the "World Wide Web of the 20th century." It was the aerospace industry that led the way to the flattening of the modern world.
Recognizing the political problems that a nuclear bunker-busting weapon presents, and the near impossibility of approval for its operational use, Washington-based researchers say the Defense Dept. is exploring a new approach. The Pentagon is looking at the feasibility of high-power microwave (HPM) bomb designs to attack deeply buried and hardened targets.
British politicians and industry executives are trying to forge a fundamental long-term Joint Strike Fighter maintenance and support partnership with the U.S. The British gambit aims to secure "sovereignty of operation" on its 80-150 Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) requirement, for which it plans to buy the JSF. Ken Krieg, U.S. undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, met earlier this month with Peter Spencer, the British procurement chief, and the JSF was high on the agenda.
Both the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Aerospace Research Agency (JAXA) are working on small capsules to bring scientific samples and other high-value cargo back from the International Space Station once the U.S. space shuttle retires in 2010. Without the capacious shuttle cargo bay to return samples to terrestrial laboratories, the scientific value of the microgravity conditions on the ISS would be greatly diminished. ESA alone expects an annual down-mass requirement of more than 600 kg.
Air New Zealand has doubled its order for Boeing 787s by taking an additional two Rolls-Royce Trent 1000-powered aircraft in a deal valued at $260 million at list prices.
U.S. defense spending in Fiscal 2005 exceeded $500 billion, more than seven times that of its closest competitor. Trailing in a distant second was China, followed by Russia, France and Japan rounding out the top five big spenders. Militaries are investing in fewer new programs as their Cold War fleets age, and maintenance, repair and overhaul has emerged as a lucrative venture.
NASA has delayed the launch of a pair of cloud-observing satellites until Nov. 7. Calipso, jointly funded by French space agency CNES, and CloudSat, a cooperative effort with the Canadian Space Agency, were to be orbited by a Delta II booster from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
The NASA Stennis Space Center in Mississippi is resuming space shuttle main engine (SSME) firing tests that were suspended in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. A 520-sec. SSME test Oct. 25 continued the certification of an advanced health monitoring system (AW&ST July 11 p. 56). Meanwhile, the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are completing clean-up of minor damage from Hurricane Wilma, which struck on Oct. 24.
Northwest Cargo, the largest freighter operation among U.S. major passenger airlines, is adding its considerable capacity to the SkyTeam Cargo alliance, which includes Aeromexico, Air France, Korean Air, Delta Air Logistics, Alitalia and CSA. In 2003, without Northwest and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines participating, the alliance produced revenues of nearly $6 billion. KLM joined the alliance last year after its merger with Air France. Northwest's 8,700 daily cargo flights will boost capacity. Its 14 Boeing 747 freighters will improve services to East Asia.
Scientists are optimistic that ESA will approve a further two-year extension for the Integral gamma-ray observatory. Launched Oct. 17, 2002, for a nominal period of 26 months, the observatory's gamma-/X-ray and optical payload is already in an extended phase and is still making important discoveries. For example, working in combination with ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory, Integral found the first direct evidence of X-ray emissions from the massive black hole at the center of our galaxy.
It's not easy being on top of the world. Sometimes there's nowhere to go but down. Just ask Aviall Inc., one of Wall Street's hottest aviation plays this year. Aviall, which sells aircraft replacement parts made by original equipment manufacturers, announced a 13% increase in third-quarter sales from a year earlier, to $334 million, and a 37% hike in earnings. The market's response: a sell-off that sent the company's stock price tumbling about 15%.
Top-ranking Royal Air Force officers were confronted with an unpalatable truth--billions of pounds short for combat aircraft maintenance--they faced cutting the Tornado GR4 fleet by 40%.
Frederick L. Ricker (see photos) has been appointed vice president and deputy for programs, David L. Ryan vice president/program director for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System, James M. Myers vice president-sensors and payloads and Stuart T. Linsky vice president-satellite communications, all for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Space Technology sector, Redondo Beach, Calif. Ryan has been succeeded by Myers, who in turn has been succeeded as vice president-satellite communications by Linsky.
Production of Japan's largest indigenously developed defensive system, the F-2 close air support fighter, validates Japan's ability to produce source code for the aircraft's fly-by-wire control system. It also has given Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) hands-on experience in working through difficult composite design and production problems that will serve it well as it undertakes the commercial assignment of producing composite wingboxes for the Boeing 787.
Overstretched communications lines to ground units supporting NATO missions in Afghanistan and other external theaters of operation will soon receive a welcome boost from a new French military communications satellite.
