Capt. J.R. Baker has been elected chairman of the Master Executive Council of the America West Airlines unit of the Air Line Pilots Assn. He was vice chairman and has been succeeded by First Officer John McIlvenna. First Officer John Jurik was reelected secretary-treasurer.
Greg Russell (see photo) has been appointed CEO of Airservices Australia, effective July 19. He has been chief operating officer of Athens International Airport and was director of aviation at Sydney Airport.
A pair of new broadband satellite projects are gathering steam. Inmarsat says it will begin limited service May 28 with the Inmarsat 4 mobile broadband satellite it launched in March. Initial operation will involve shifting existing lower-speed digital data and voice offerings to the new spacecraft, providing unbroken coverage across the Indian Ocean region for the first time. Inmarsat's 432 Kbps.
Richard Nightingale of the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory in Palo Alto, Calif., told the American Geophysical Union meeting last week in New Orleans that a Jan. 20 solar flare produced the most intense burst of solar radiation in five decades. The flare, which occurred at 2 a.m. EST, tripped radiation monitors around the planet and scrambled detectors on spacecraft.
Once again I had to read a letter about how a $10-per-ticket fee to pay for missile defense systems on all commercial aircraft is "no big deal" (AW&ST May 9, p. 8). I would like to give a breakdown of what the $10 really totals. My airline flies roughly 200,000 passengers per day. Ten dollars per passenger would add up to $730 million per year, or $7.3 billion over 10 years. It seems like every week someone writes about another fee that the airlines could pay. The problem is, nobody is doing the math.
Sources in Brazil say the country's recent decision to put its future fighter program on hold resulted from a full reconsideration of its combat aircraft strategy that will redefine and redirect the requirement. Now, officials say, the air force is seeking to acquire used F-16A/Bs, Mirage 2000s, Gripens, MiG-29s, Su-30s or even F/A-18Cs to beef up its existing fleet. Earlier plans to acquire additional Mirage 3s appear to have been abandoned.
James Dauterman has been named vice president-sales and contracts, and Billy Hankinson and Lee Richards regional sales directors, for Cleveland-based Flight Options.
EasyJet recorded a pre-tax loss of 31 million pounds ($56.4 million) for the first half of the year, largely due to high fuel costs, which now account for 18% of the low-fare carrier's cost base. Revenue increased 26% compared to the same period last year, so in relative terms the loss was less than last year's. Despite higher fuel costs, the airline reduced the total cost per available seat kilometer by 5.4% to 4.02 pence.
At a recent congressional hearing, the U.S. Air Force's chief of staff was asked how many Predator unmanned aerial vehicles his service would need in the upcoming fiscal year. "We're going to tell General Atomics to build every Predator they can possibly build," replied Gen. John P. Jumper, referring to the small San Diego company that developed the aircraft.
South Africa's Grintek, which is now owned by Saab, has taken a 25% stake in Pretoria-based CyberSim, a command-and-control software development company. BAE Systems also holds a 25% stake.
Greg Olson, a New Jersey electronics magnate, has resumed training to become the third space tourist to fly on a Russian Soyuz capsule after clearing a medical hurdle. Olson, president and CEO of Sensors Unlimited Inc., was disqualified for spaceflight last year because of an unspecified medical condition that has since cleared up. He returned to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center outside Moscow to continue training after a recent reevaluation.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Andy Nativi (Genoa)
Boeing's first KC-767A tanker, destined for the Italian air force, has made its initial flight as a fully equipped aerial refueler and will soon leave on its first trip to Europe and display at the Paris air show.
World News Roundup 18 Asian low-cost carrier, aircraft leasing firm order Boeings 737s 19 Logan Airport to host mock transoceanic hijacking exercise World News & Analysis 24 Radar for E-10 has been designed to jam cruise missile electronics 25 KC-767A flies with all its refueling equipment, starts year of testing 27 Contractors for collaboration on high-altitude-observation UAV 28 USAF investing billions in ICBM up- grades, but not in security helos
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) issues a stern but puzzling warning at a House aviation subcommittee hearing into whether foreign aircraft manufacturers are engaging in unfair competition. "Don't ever try to stop a hearing that I announce," Mica says, wagging his finger in reproof. There's only one problem: No one at the hearing seemed to know who or what he was reproving. Rep. Jerry Costello (Ill.), the panel's senior Democrat, asks if Mica was referring to anyone "on our side of the aisle." "No," says Mica, "in fact you've been most cooperative . . .
Passengers traveling between New York JFK Airport and Amsterdam Schiphol may get a glimpse of future border control procedures. The U.S. and Dutch authorities are planning a test to speed the processing of individuals by relying on biometric data. The trial was announced during a visit to the Netherlands by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. During the trip, Chertoff also suggested that a broader approach to screening using biometrics is needed. He acknowledged differences on how to assure privacy, but urged that those be overcome.
Russell Hulstrom has been named Melbourne-based vice president-international and Jan Haasjes as Apeldoorn, Netherlands-based business development manager for Europe for the Rannoch Corp., Alexandria, Va.
Robert Wall and Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Andy Nativi (Genoa)
Increased cooperation both within and outside the European sphere is boosting the continent's efforts to accelerate development of unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities.
Several thoughts came to mind when I read that Administrator Michael D. Griffin has decided that NASA personnel should handle the systems engineering and integration function for its exploration initiative.
Chuck Imhof has become managing director-Greater New York Div. and Jim Carter managing director-Eastern Div. for American Airlines. Together, they are succeeding Tom Gleason, who is leaving the company.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems is poised to enter the jet age. The company's propeller-driven Predator aircraft has won wide notice for helping the military and the CIA hunt down and fire missiles at Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan, the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. Now in production is the Predator B, a larger, faster and much more lethal follow-on that has not yet been deployed in large numbers.
Two new U.S. satellites went into orbit last week--one to deliver weather data worldwide in conjunction with Europe's Eumetsat organization, and the other to provide direct broadcast service (DBS) in the U.S. First up was the NOAA-N weather satellite, built by Lockheed Martin and designated NOAA-18 when it reached its polar orbit. Liftoff from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on a Boeing Delta II came at 6:22 a.m. EDT May 21. NOAA-18 is the first of two U.S. satellites that will work with Eumetsat Metop polar orbiters to provide all-day global coverage under a 1998 agreement.
"You're grounded"--the FAA so informed the pilot of the Cessna 150 that penetrated Washington's no-fly zone and led to the evacuation of thousands at the White House, Capitol and Supreme Court. The FAA on May 20 issued an Emergency Order of Revocation of Hayden Lowery (Jim) Sheaffer's airman's certificate for his May 11 trek into forbidden territory.
The recent mating of the wing and fuselage for the F-35 paves the way for installation of the aft fuselage and empennage this summer as the Lockheed Martin-led team looks ahead to first flight of the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter in August 2006.
