Airbus has struck a deal with the Mexmil Co. of Santa Ana, Calif., to distribute spare parts. It is the first agreement of its type for Airbus and aims at reducing the spares supply chain for its products.
Continental Airlines is pushing expansion in Asia. It has applied to the U.S. Transportation Dept. to fly non-stop from Newark to Shanghai as of March 2007, using a 283-seat Boeing 777. Separately, Continental says it will use 777s to fly a nonstop polar route from Newark to New Delhi this fall. As of May 11, Delta Air Lines will be the first U.S. carrier to serve two Indian cities, Mumbai and Chennai. Northwest Airlines also serves Mumbai. Neither its flight nor Delta's is nonstop.
Discoveries are being made as the Cassini spacecraft orbits Saturn, both about the planet itself as well as the moons and rings that circle it. The Imaging Science Subsystem is one of the main instruments on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory craft, and its cameras are providing pictures that are both pretty and scientifically rich.
On the heels of the U.S. Transportation Dept. announcement that granted the four U.S. cargo carriers additional rights to fly to China in 2006, Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta visited UPS Apr. 2 to tout the benefits of opening international markets to American companies. "Opening skies is the best way to open new opportunity right here at home," Mineta said. "I will continue to fight for open skies," referring to his planned visit to India in mid-April to sign an air services agreement.
Industry, health and government leaders in the U.S. are determined to win at germ warfare and are marshalling forces to prevent outbreaks of infectious disease. "With the potential of dramatic economic losses, caused either by viruses--or terrorists with viruses--a proactive posture rather than reactive posture is an absolute necessity," cautioned John L. Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House aviation subcommittee, at an Apr. 6 hearing on the topic.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants the NTSB investigation of the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 reopened. His concerns stem from the Mar. 6 incident in which the rudder of an Air Transat A310 separated in flight and the FAA's and and its European counterpart DGAC's subsequent mandate for detailed rudder inspections (AW&ST Mar. 28, p. 41). The Nov. 12, 2001, crash of Flight 587 killed 265 people when the entire vertical assembly separated during the A300-600's climbout from New York John F. Kennedy International Airport.
With a Sept. 30 deadline for tax-free leasing of aircraft fast approaching, Indian carriers are facing tough choices because they can't find enough aircraft to meet expansion plans. Airline officials estimate the industry needs to lease 35-40 aircraft this year, but few are available at expected prices. Widebodies are most in demand. Startups in particular are concerned that the timing of their expansion plans will be thrown irremediably off.
Spain's National Aerospace Technology Institute (INTA) has agreed to participate in France's Pleiades dual-use submetric optical imaging system, to be launched in 2008-09 by French space agency CNES. INTA will supply a dedicated ground segment for Spain, which is taking a 3% stake in Pleiades.
Robert F. Weinberg has been appointed to the board of directors of the New York-based Sequa Corp. He is president of real estate management and development firm Robert Martin Co.
Robert Gallamore and Michael Gorman have joined Boston-based Charles River Associates as senior consultants to its Transportation Practice. Gallamore has been director of The Transportation Center and professor of managerial economics and decision science at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Gorman is president of MFG Consulting and an assistant professor at the University of Dayton (Ohio).
Michael A. Taverna (Paris and Salon de Provence), Robert Wall (Paris)
Europe is getting serious about research and development spending in a bid to close the gap with its global economic rivals. The latest move is an aggressive R&D proposal put forward by the European Commission. Coupled with other technology projects emerging in recent months--and new industry-government initiatives aimed at making such efforts more efficient--Europe could be on the verge of providing itself with a much stronger technology base.
Meanwhile, Spain is again sending signals that it covets an enhanced role in Airbus. Officials at state holding company Sepi, which owns Spain's current 5.4% stake, declined to say how much it is seeking, but noted that "it would tend toward 10%."
McCain says he may seek a congressional subpoena of Lockheed Martin officials to get detailed information about rising costs of the C-130J cargo airplane. McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services air-land subcommittee, says he asked the company's CEO, Robert Stevens, for more detailed pricing information "and he said he would get back to me." But Stevens "hasn't bothered to further communicate," McCain says after a subcommittee hearing.
The International Space Station Expedition 11 crew, set for liftoff Apr. 15 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, is to perform two extravehicular activities--one in Russian and the other in U.S. spacesuits, a unique combination that points up different national space-operating styles. The outgoing Expedition 10 commander, astronaut Leroy Chiao, addressed the differences in an e-mail exchange from the ISS with Aviation Week & Space Technology.
Plans by Russian Space Communications Co. (RSCC) to deploy five new-generation Express AM series telecom satellites by the end of 2005 took another step toward realization with the Mar. 29 launch of AM 2 by a Proton K booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The spacecraft, built by Russia's NPO PM and equipped with a payload of one L-band, 16 C-band and 12 K u-band transponders supplied by Alcatel Space, was launched to an orbital slot at 80 deg. E. Long., where it will reinforce RSCC's position in Siberia and Central and Southeast Asia.
USAF is asking BAE Systems to further upgrade the small UAV-based Lightweight Modular Support Jammer and wants the company to assess options for a networked electronic attack battle management system. Upgrades to the jammer, including tying it into the Advanced Threat Alert and Response digital receiver, are to be flight-tested at Nellis AFB, Nev., against real threats. The work signals a potentially larger role for BAE in USAF's emerging electronic attack mission.
French press reports suggest Alcatel is ready to give a green light to a long-stalled merger of the naval systems of Thales, in which Alcatel owns a 9% stake, and government-owned naval shipyard DCN. However, the reports say Alcatel wants Thales to agree to subsequently place its naval activities under DCN control, giving DCN, and not Thales, a key role in future European naval system consolidation.
The U.S. Marine Corps is getting a new aviation chief. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has named Maj. Gen. John Castellaw as the next deputy commandant for aviation. Castellaw has been U.S. Central Command chief of staff. He will succeed Lt. Gen. Michael Hough.
THE FAA HAS ISSUED A NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING that would require increased recording times for cockpit voice (CVR) and digital flight recorders (DFDR) installed in business aircraft. The proposal also would mandate increased recording rates for specified DFDR parameters, physically separate the CVR and DFDR units and require improved reliability of the electrical power supply. If adopted, the rule would affect business aircraft operators flying under FAR Part 91 and Part 135. The FAA has set Apr. 29 as the deadline for comments.
Raytheon hopes its unsolicited proposal to the U.S. Air Force for a Space Radar demonstration can be the company's foot in the door on a larger follow-on program expected to be worth billions of dollars. The surprise move, disclosed here last week, could allow Raytheon to get back into an arena in which it had been shut out. The company previously failed in its bid to be one of two industry teams competing for the future Space Radar contract. Lockheed Martin is said to be interested as well.
Lockheed Martin Astronautics has received a $125-million contract to manufacture aft fuselages, wing leading-edge flaps and stores management systems for the Mitsubishi F-2. The contract also covers wing boxes and avionics, and avionics support equipment. The contract raises the total number of F-2s supported by Lockheed Martin to 76 aircraft.
U.S. Air Force officials in the Pacific are expecting to fold the 13th Air Force into a new, standing air operations headquarters at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. The new center will oversee all air activity in the Pacific, except for South Korea, which will continue to be handled by Osan AB there.
Virgin Blue is increasing its fuel surcharge on domestic flights to A$19 ($12) from A$10 per leg and to A$35 from A$20 on the carrier's international arm, Pacific Blue.
Alexey Komarov (Moscow), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
A Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) industry/airline team is attempting to restart manufacture of the giant Antonov An-124-100 cargo carrier--one of the rare, Soviet-era aviation products that finds ready demand in global markets. Aviation industry and airfreight officials from Russia and Ukraine met in Moscow in late March to analyze the feasibility of resuming An-124 assembly and draw up a business plan for approval by the two governments, without which the restart cannot be envisioned.
