Two Republican congressmen from north Texas, Sam Johnson and Jeb Hensarling, introduced legislation May 25 to repeal the Wright Amendment, the 1979 measure that limits mainline commercial service from Dallas Love Field to seven nearby states. Continuing its campaign to dump the restrictions (AW&ST May 16, p. 19), Southwest Airlines made its executive chairman and former CEO, Herb Kelleher, available to media the following day.
Jon Jones has been appointed vice president/deputy general manager of the Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems Co., El Segundo, Calif. He has held the same positions at Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz.
Assembly of the massive Boeing Sea-Based X-band radar for use with the U.S. missile defense shield is complete after officials installed its protective radome. The radome stands more than 103 ft. high and spans 120 ft. in diameter. The radar will undergo sea trials and exercises before entering service late this year. It is installed onto a former oil-drilling vessel and eventually will patrol in the Pacific Ocean.
Norwegian operator CHC Helicopter Service has placed its first Sikorsky S-92 with Norsk Hydro, one of Norway's major oil companies. A second S-92 is scheduled to begin flight operations this week. The helicopters are part of an order signed in spring 2004, and both are owned by CHC and operated under contract with Norsk Hydro, according to CHC. In addition, Sikorsky has a contract with Statoil for an S-92 that will be based in Kristansund, Norway, and begin operations this summer.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Michael A. Dornheim (Los Angeles)
Mountain climbers no longer hold a monopoly on scaling Mount Everest. Last week, Eurocopter revealed that an A-Star/Ecureuil AS350 B3 had touched down on top of the world's tallest peak, becoming the first aircraft to perform the daunting feat. The helicopter touched down for 3 min., 50 sec. on May 14--terrain at the top is not flat enough to permit a landing--culminating a six-month campaign to conquer the 8,850-meter (29,035-ft.) peak.
Kenneth H. Heintz (see photos) has been appointed corporate vice president/controller/chief accounting officer of the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. He was a senior executive with the Hughes Electronics Corp. and its DirecTV Group. Sandra Wright has been named vice president-financial planning. She was vice president/controller. And, Barbara Barcon has become vice president-financial process excellence.
Sveneric Persson, who has been president/CEO of the Finland-based Blue 1, an affiliate of SAS Scandinavian Airlines, has been appointed SAS' New York-based vice president-The Americas, effective Sept. 1. He will succeed Jorgen Hoe-Knudsen, who will retire.
The in-service date of the Tranche 3 Eurofighter Typhoon is being shunted further into the next decade, with aircraft unlikely to be on the flight line earlier than 2015-16. Production of the advanced version of the four-nation aircraft will begin no sooner than 2013. Political issues are impacting the timing of a Tranche 3 production run, which some previous plans had envisaged finishing by 2014.
In the Industry Outlook item "Future Cloudy for MU-2s" (AW&ST Apr. 25, p. 15), you state that "most [Japan Air Self-Defense Force] search-and-rescue (SAR) missions are carried out by helicopters." This tragic accident, the fourth involving an MU-2, has occurred even as the JASDF MU-2 fleet is close to being retired.
UNITED STATES Editor-In-Chief: Anthony L. Velocci, Jr. [email protected] Managing Editor: James R. Asker [email protected] Assistant Managing Editor: Michael Stearns [email protected] Senior Editors: Craig Covault [email protected], David Hughes [email protected] NEW YORK 2 Penn Plaza, Fifth Floor, New York, N.Y. 10121 Phone: +1 (212) 904-2000, Fax: +1 (212) 904-6068 Senior News Editor: Nora Titterington
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems President/CEO Thomas J. Cassidy, Jr,. (right) shows an MTS-B laser designator sensor on a Predator B unmanned aircraft to Business Editor Joseph C. Anselmo. During a day with Cassidy, Anselmo viewed a flight demonstration of a new Predator B at the company's flight operations facility east of Los Angeles. The two also spent time at the Predator production facilities in San Diego. Anselmo's profile of Cassidy and his company begins on p. 50.
Air-India reintroduced its service to Toronto this month after an eight-year absence. The thrice-weekly Boeing 777-200ER flight will operate on the Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham (England)-Toronto route. Air-India Chairman and Managing Director V. Thulasidas says this is the second long-haul flight to be introduced from Delhi this year; the first, inaugurated in March, operates via Dhaka and Kolkata to London. Beginning June 18, the carrier will launch three additional flights on this sector, bringing the total number of flights to the U.K. to 24 per week.
Led by Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the Georgia congressional delegation is raising questions about the Defense Dept.'s handling of the highly sensitive base closure process. The Pentagon says it can save billions by closing a number of bases and realigning missions at the remaining facilities around the country. A bipartisan Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission has begun a nationwide tour of hearings to collect input on the Pentagon's proposal.
Spacehab Inc. will work with Zyvex Corp., which specializes in molecular nanotechnology, to develop and test a micro-miniature mass spectrometer that could be used to monitor air quality in human spacecraft. Under a Space Act agreement with NASA, the two companies will develop a ground-based brassboard system that can be adapted for space applications.
Building new airports or high-speed rail lines between cities could be one solution to the growing problem of flight delays, according to a congressional auditor. Gerald Dillingham, director of civil aviation issues for the Government Accountability Office, says expanding capacity--not by building new runways or terminals, but entirely new airports--could help ease the growing crunch at the nation's airports. "The current rebound in air travel has been a significant factor in a resurgence of flight delays today," Dillingham tells the Senate aviation subcommittee.
The House Appropriations subcommittee responsible for NASA funding adds its voice to the chorus urging more attention to the dwindling aeronautics program. The science subcommittee boosts the agency's aeronautics line by $53.9 million in its Fiscal 2006 markup, bringing it to the $906 million enacted for Fiscal 2005. The Republican-led panel also calls on the White House to develop a national aeronautics policy to go with the space exploration policy President Bush introduced in January 2004.
Kevin Neels has become a principal and head of the transportation practice at the Cambridge, Mass.-based Brattle Group. He has been vice president of Charles River Associates.
Francois F. Dupont has been named New Delhi-based head of Thales International for India and the Indian subcontinent. He was group delegate for Thales in Malaysia and Brunei.
Does the emptying of our halls of government on May 11 because of the big bad Cessna 150 remind anyone else of the elephant fleeing in panic from the mouse? Can we balance the evacuation cost against the benefit? The airplane's maximum weight is 1,600 lb., its standard fuel capacity 26 gal., and it was at or near its maximum payload with the two people on board. It probably wasn't carrying a destructive munitions load.
Captive carry trials of the Paveway IV precision-guided bomb have begun on a British Royal Air Force Harrier GR7 aircraft. The Raytheon-developed weapon is due to enter service in mid-2007.
