With the ink on an accession agreement with TAP Air Portugal barely dry, Star Alliance is already gearing up to add new partners and expand joint operations. TAP became the alliance's 16th member on Mar. 14, and is set to be joined by South African Airways early next year (AW&ST Mar. 21, p. 43). Three European regionals--Adria, Croatian Airlines and Blue One--are also on the roster. The next addition, says Star Alliance President Jaan Albrecht, is likely to be Air China, although the timing is largely driven by deliberations in Beijing.
French and German industry leaders are urging approval of a package of projects to continue critical work on restartable cryogenic engine technology and maintain vital launcher engineering know-how. Industry officials have cautioned that, with development work on the Ariane 5 ECA heavy-lift launcher, Automated Transfer Vehicle and M51 ballistic missile nearing an end, and funding for a new-generation Ariane 5 ECB cryogenic upper stage about to run out, Europe's ability to maintain critical launcher engineering expertise may soon be at risk.
The German army has taken delivery of its first Tiger attack helicopter in UH-Tiger support configuration. Like the initial French HAP unit, which was handed over in late March, the German aircraft is earmarked for the Franco-German pilot training school in Le Luc. Deliveries were cleared following the resolution of software problems that had delayed final acceptance for months.
The launch of a $1-billion secret National Reconnaissance Office spacecraft from Cape Canaveral on board a U.S. Air Force Titan IVB will be postponed indefinitely. This is due to problems with ground fueling equipment and reported concerns by the Canadian government that the launch, to a high-inclination orbit, could drop booster stage debris near oil platforms near Newfoundland. The flight was planned originally for Apr. 11.
Boeing and Northrop Grumman have completed the preliminary design review for the Space-Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) pathfinder satellite. With SBSS, the Air Force intends to launch a satellite capable of providing intelligence on other orbiting spacecraft as part of a space control program. Under the program, the companies are expected to deliver a satellite containing a visible sensor and a ground segment. Launch is set for 2008.
Lockheed Martin, Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are reaching key milestones for the launch of the 4,800-lb. Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) toward Mars in mid-August. The Lockheed Martin Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle for the flight has been delivered to Kennedy from Denver by a Volga-Dnepr Antonov An-124 freighter (see photo). In a separate flight, the same aircraft was used to deliver the mission's Centaur upper stage. The big cargo hauler landed on the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at Kennedy.
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) Apr. 19-20--MRO Military Conference. Also, Apr. 20-21--MRO USA Conference & Exhibition. Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, Dallas. May 10-11--Net-Centric Operations Conference 2005. Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington. May 24-25--Homeland Security Summit & Exposition, Washington.
The writers of the "Birds and Blues" articles (AW&ST Mar. 21, p. 44) present a clear case for the fact that excellence does not just happen because you adopt a catchy phrase or mission statement. It is achieved and maintained only by dedication, execution and the willingness of everyone in the unit not just to be accountable, but knowledgeable, in everything they do.
German travel giant TUI has acquired a 50% stake in New Delhi-based agency Le Passage to India Ltd., with a view toward setting up a joint tour operation and catering to European vacationers in India. TUI recently entered the China market.
The space shuttle Discovery is carrying some 300 waivers to technical specifications as it enters the home stretch of its planned return to flight next month. There were about 6,000 waivers in place when Columbia crashed.
A second Yak-130 prototype has joined the test program after making its first flight on Apr. 5. The Russian air force selected the twin-engine jet to replace aging L-39 trainers for its advanced training/light attack aircraft requirement.
Italy's aerospace and defense giant Finmeccanica heads into the second phase of its restructuring plan bolstered by predictions of double-digit revenue growth in the next two years.
All three of the Pentagon's big advanced tactical aircraft programs are safe from elimination under budget constraints in the near term, the senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee believes. Sen. Carl Levin (Mich.) says he doesn't think Fiscal 2006 cutbacks in the F/A-22 Raptor program signal a consolidation of the Raptor, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet projects.
John W. Booher (see photo) has become vice president-strategic planning for the Nashua, N.H.-based Information and Electronic Systems Integration Sector of BAE Systems North America.
China Eastern Airlines is to launch a passenger service to Moscow beginning in May. The airline will fly four or five times per week from Shanghai to Moscow's Domodedovo Airport.
Keep the inflight cell phone ban--that's the vote of 63% of 702 participants in a poll sponsored by the Assn. of Flight Attendants-Communication Workers of America and National Consumers League. Between Mar. 28-Apr. 2, Lauer Research Inc. interviewed the mix of frequent and occasional fliers. Results released Apr. 7 found that 78% believed cell phones might distract passengers from hearing life-saving instructions in an emergency.
Canadian Auditor General Sheila Fraser in a report to Parliament last week pointed to weaknesses in air transportation security among other flaws in the implementation of a 2001 anti-terrorism initiative by the government. The $1-billion acquisition and installation of explosives detection systems at Canada's airports and increased hiring of air security inspectors are being implemented, the report says. And while the screeners are checking passengers and bags without any major problems, Fraser says there are no system-wide performance standards.
A pair of projects to permit airline and business aviation passengers to use cell phones in flight appear to be moving closer to their objective. Last week, OnAir, a joint venture of SITA, Airbus and Tenzing, revealed at the Aircraft Interiors Exposition in Hamburg, Germany, that it had selected the Airbus facility at nearby Buxtehude to develop and certify an onboard cell phone system for commercial use. The move reflects Airbus' desire to expand its role in defining cabin configuration (AW&ST Apr. 4, p. 46).
NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSN. PRESIDENT ED BOLEN says remarks made by FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey and other agency officials at the annual FAA Forecast Conference held recently in Washington hinted at the possibility of another campaign aimed at collecting user fees from general aviation. Later, during a panel discussion on general aviation, Bolen responded to Blakey's concerns and questioned whether an attempt to impose user fees on the industry is justified.
As if they haven't suffered enough, here's a thought to make airline CEOs shudder: oil at $105 a barrel. It's possible, according to a new Goldman Sachs report, which says oil supplies are so tight that one major disruption in production could trigger a "super spike" in prices. The last such spike occurred in 1979-80, when they climbed to what would be nearly $90 a barrel in today's dollars.
The contest for the NTSB seat vacated this month by Carol Carmody is dividing Massachusetts Democrats, roughly between Sen. Edward Kennedy and everybody else. Sen. John Kerry and the Massachusetts House delegation support Paul McCarthy, a former Delta Air Lines captain who chaired the Air Line Pilots Assn. accident investigation board and was the primary interface between ALPA and the NTSB. A letter from 32 House Republicans also circulates on Capitol Hill on McCarthy's behalf.
Now that measures to control airline congestion at Chicago O'Hare Airport will continue through this summer and into the fall, the FAA is ready to nudge the facility one step closer to a stable high-density operating regime. In a rulemaking launched Mar. 25, the agency proposes a "blind-auction" system for the sale and purchase of landing opportunities at the busy midwestern hub, and it is considering use-or-lose provisions as well.
Inmarsat says it has deployed two key elements on its first EADS/ Astrium-built Inmarsat 4 broadband satellite, which was launched on Mar. 11. The elements were a Northrop Grumman AstroMesh deployable reflector and Snecma PPS350 plasma thrusters. The spacecraft is expected to enter service later this spring.
India will launch Italy's Agile satellite as the sole passenger on its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) early next year. The first of the Italian Space Agency's Small Scientific Missions, Agile will scan one-fifth of the sky for gamma ray sources in the 30-MeV.-50-GeV. range. India will receive $10 million for the launch, according to G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
