Congress isn't buying the Transportation Dept.'s latest bid to shrink Essential Air Service (EAS) subsidies for airlines that serve small communities. The Bush administration proposed that in Fiscal 2006, EAS receive only the $50 million from FAA overflight fees mandated by Congress in 1996, eliminating a general-fund appropriation that added about $52 million this year. The House Appropriations Committee says this is "unrealistic," noting that the department asked for more money this year because several communities were at risk of losing air service.
Curt Armbruster has become director of security for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Information Technology Sector, McLean, Va. He was director of security for the sector's TASC business unit.
Robey Lal has been named country manager in India for the International Air Transport Assn. He has been a member of the board of the Airports Authority of India.
Despite industry skepticism about the past year's Transportation Security Administration Registered Traveler pilot programs, the private-sector operator of the newest version, at Orlando, Fla., believes it will prove the concept quickly.
The National Transportation Safety Board's goal of preventing fuel tank explosions is laudable, but its proposed solution misses the mark, as discussed in "NTSB Urges Fuel Tank Action" (AW&ST July 11, p. 43). Inerting fuel tanks is not a practical solution for the real threat. The fuel itself already has been formulated to provide protection from a lightning strike or a random spark. The real threat of a fuel tank explosion comes from a missile or a bomb.
The prototype of an armed reconnaissance variant of Kazan Helicopters Ansat light utility helicopter was shown for the first time at MAKS 2005. The Ansat 2RC has a tandem cockpit. The front cockpit displayed at MAKS was a mock-up. Kazan is touting the reconnaissance/attack version to potential customers. Russia has selected the trainer version as a light trainer helicopter.
Nav Canada, the air navigation service provider in Canada, says the traffic it handled grew by 4.5% in May and 6.3% in June compared with the same months a year ago. For the fiscal year that ends Aug. 31, traffic is up 5.2%.
More than 90 nations and states have banded together in 16 regional organizations to provide safety oversight and implement ICAO's standards and practices. The nations and states delegate oversight functions to these organizations but retain final authority. Fully Functional ACSA (Aeronautical Safety for Central America Agency): Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua *COSCAP-SA (South Asia): Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Delta Air Lines' $425-million agreement to sell Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) to SkyWest Inc. may keep the third-largest U.S. carrier out of Chapter 11 reorganization, but its prospects are highly uncertain and, at best, its brush with bankruptcy will be the closest yet.
U.S. finance and leasing company CIT Group is buying $2.2 billion worth of Airbus aircraft, including a commitment to take five of the yet-to-be-launched A350-800s. The firm order portion covers 24 A320-family aircraft, which would be delivered in 2007 and 2008. The A350s, the order for which will have to be firmed after the expected program launch next month, would be delivered in 2012 and 2013.
British Aerospace's Chairman Dick Olver's plea for lifting U.S. technology controls begs the question, what can BAE Systems bring to the table (AW&ST July 25, p. 66)?
James F. Pitts (see photo) has been appointed corporate vice president of the Northrop Grumman Corp. of Los Angeles and president of its Baltimore-based Electronic Systems Sector, effective Oct. 1. He will succeed Robert P. Iorizzo, who will retire. Pitts has been vice president/general manager of the sector's Aerospace Systems Div.
Pending flight tests of directed infrared countermeasures on commercial aircraft will help the Homeland Security Dept. determine whether military laser systems can be modified for airline operations.
MIG will re-christen its MiG-29M/M2 the MiG-35, at least for its entrant into India's fighter competition. The aircraft will feature the three-dimensional thrust vector nozzle now being trialed on the MiG-29M OVT. The MiG-29M OVT first flew in 2003, and a full-scale flight test program is underway.
Aviation security and safety is all about protecting travelers and serving the needs of a global economy, but as the attacks of 9/11 showed, terrorists can lurk in the crowd of people boarding planes. So as safety officials work to improve a good record as air traffic increases, security officials seek to balance efforts to keep bad people and bad things (explosives and weapons) off aircraft. Special report begins on p. 52. Photo by Dynamics Graphics Inc.
Brian See (see photo) has been promoted to vice president-mission assurance for Alliant TechSystems, Edina, Minn., from president of ATK Mission Research.
In your editorial on the future of cell phones in flight, you were so right to say the industry should tread carefully on this subject (AW&ST July 18, p. 58). I spent close to 40 years in the aerospace industry and traveled to what seemed like most of the companies. These flights were between 30 min. and 14 hr. The last thing I needed was someone on a cell phone near me. I spent the time eating, working on my laptop or snoozing. A cell phone conversation would have interfered with them all. However, I have a solution.
Commercial airports just won't learn and so we have the Air France Flight 358 runway overrun. When I served in the U.S. Air Force, at every Strategic Air Command base that I was stationed, the runways were equipped with a simple aircraft arrest system. It consisted of two huge anchor chains on both sides of the runway connected by a spring-loaded arrest wire lying across the runway that was triggered by the tower (it could just as well be triggered in the cockpit) if controllers saw a potential overrun problem.
Leadership of NASA's Science Mission Directorate will have a strong Earth sciences bent following appointment of two veterans in the field to top positions, while the Space Operations Mission Directorate will see continuity in key roles. Administrator Michael D. Griffin named two-time astronaut Mary Cleave to be associate administrator in charge of the science directorate, and Colleen Hartman as her deputy. As expected, he also appointed International Space Station Program Manager William H. Gerstenmaier to replace William F.
Continental Airlines is on a pilot hiring spree, topping the list of seven of the 15 U.S. major carriers that have added to crewmember ranks this summer. Continental hired 60 pilots in July and plans to hire an additional 60 this month, 44 in September and eight per week thereafter, based on a recent survey by FLTops.com, the pilot career web site. Two pilots recently recalled by Continental came from JetBlue Airways, which hired 32 pilots in July and plans to add 58 in August. Other carriers that are in the hiring mode are AirTran, FedEx, Southwest, UPS and Alaska.
Clair Frankson has joined Volga-Dnepr's international sales team, based at London Stansted Airport. She was senior operations controller for Gold Air International.
The letter by Peter Trapp was comical. To hammer inexperienced pilots due to their incompetence is typical of our bureaucracy. In the same issue you reported in "A Glass Act" (AW&ST July 25, p. 53) on a Middle Tennessee State University program in which pilots from Day One become systems operators "light years from traditional training" to "meet or exceed current Practical Test Standards at an affordable price," where they earn an integrated private pilot/instrument license.
Remington Technologies' Eye Ball R1 is a 360-deg. wireless mobile display system designed for tactical law enforcement operations. According to the company, it can be used for surveillance, as well as for search and rescue, ceiling and attic investigation, and stairwell or hallway clearing. The device can be rolled, tossed or dropped, lowered by a wire, or attached to a pole or spike. It has near-infrared illumination up to 9 yd., captures video up to 25 yd. and audio up to 5 yd. Streaming video can be transmitted up to 200 yd. The omnidirectional camera rotates at 4 rmp.
An article on p. 20 of the Aug. 15 edition misstated a participant in an upcoming Australian unmanned aerial vehicle demonstration. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems will participate.
