The cockpit voice recorder of the Russian Regional Airlines Antonov An-24 twin-turboprop that crashed earlier this month, killing 28 people on board, shows no sign of any unusual activity in the runup to the accident. The data recorder was badly damaged by fire after the aircraft impacted, and efforts to extract data are still continuing. The An-24 crashed Mar. 16 with 45 passengers and seven crewmembers, about 3 mi. from its destination, a small airport at Varandei in the far north of Russia.
At the age of 79, Bernard L. Schwartz is plotting a comeback. For three decades, Schwartz's name was golden on Wall Street as he built the former Loral Corp. into a defense electronics powerhouse, displaying an uncanny ability to outmaneuver business rivals and make money at every turn. But his biggest bet ever, selling off the company's military units in 1996 to focus on space telecommunications, proved to be a major miscalculation.
Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines expect to harvest merger benefits over the next few years, but pledge to continue restructuring Swiss and redefining Lufthansa's European strategy for the near term. As expected, Swiss and Lufthansa's boards of directors, as well as Swiss shareholders, last week approved the Lufthansa takeover proposal that sees Swiss become part of the Lufthansa Group and a member of Star Alliance. By the time the deal was announced, 83% of the Swiss shareholders were willing to sell their stakes to Europe's No. 2 airline.
Roselee Roberts has been appointed professional staff member for the U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee's subcommittee on space and aeronautics. She was director of legislative affairs for Boeing.
In what it calls the first significant order for single-aisle aircraft since the Sept. 11, 2001, downturn, Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprises says it will diversify its portfolio by ordering 20 Boeing 737-800s for first delivery in fourth quarter 2006 and 20 options. SALE Managing Director and CEO Ron Martin said the order, which is expected to become formal within two months, reflects a strong recovery in demand for leased aircraft during the past 18 months and represents a logical diversification from a fleet tilted to Airbus in the single-aisle market.
Delta Air Lines plans to begin Atlanta-Moscow nonstop service on June 1, using Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. Delta is the only U.S. carrier offering service to Russia and now operates daily New York JFK-Moscow flights. Russia's Aeroflot offers services to New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Seattle from Moscow. In 2004, the Russian market saw a 23% increase in international passenger traffic over 2003.
USAF's Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass., expects to issue a draft request for proposals for the Air and Space Operations Center Weapon System Integrator contract, which could be worth as much as $2 billion. Under this contract, the Air Force plans to standardize 17 air operations centers around the globe. Those centers direct military activity in a particular region. Center officials last week met with industry during a two-day session to discuss the project scope and technical requirements.
Safety violations by Japan Airlines pilots, including misdirections on active runways, were seen as serious enough to push Toshiyuki Shinmachi into the chief executive's job ahead of schedule.
John Gross (see photo) has become director of operations for the Hannibal, Mo., facility of the Watlow Electric Manufacturing Co. He was lean-manufacturing manager for GDX Automotive.
The U.S. Navy's multi-mission maritime aircraft now has a designation--the P-8A--and, possibly, a name--the Poseidon--although the latter is still subject to change. In addition, Boeing is promising to move up by one year the initial operation capability date of 2013 (when a training system and one squadron are operational). The program is now nine months into an eight-year development process. Boeing has obligated itself to IOC by Sept. 30, 2012, says Jack Zerr, the company's vice president for multi-mission maritime aircraft (MMA).
Roy J. Bostock and Jeffrey G. Katz have been nominated for seats on the board of directors of the Northwest Airlines Corp. Alfred A. Checchi will be resigning from the board. Bostock is former chairman/CEO of advertising firm D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles Inc. and now is a principal of Sealedge Investments. Katz is former chairman/ president/CEO of Orbitz Inc. and a former president/CEO of Swissair.
Northrop Grumman snagged a pair of U.S. Air Force contracts: A $27.9-million add-on to modify 12 C-130H aircraft with the large aircraft infrared countermeasures (Laircm) system; another $16.8 million is to provide Laircm support, spares and training.
Former Snecma and Sagem officials have a nice "branding" challenge ahead. Put the newly chosen name for the combined company, Safran, into any major search engine, and there's no hint of the multibillion-euro aerospace and high-technology operation. The company divisions fare better, since the likes of engine maker Snecma Moteurs retain their identities.
The Swedish National Space Board has agreed to take a 3% share in Pleiades, a submetric optical imaging system to be launched in 2008-09 by French space agency CNES. Pleiades is designed to ensure high-resolution continuity with the Spot network, in which Sweden has a 4% share. The SNSB will design Pleiades' onboard computer and contribute data reception and processing as well as satellite telemetry and command capabilities. Also participating in Pleiades will be Belgium, another Spot partner (4%), Spain (3%) and Austria (0.5-1%).
ITT's $48-million contract from USAF to upgrade the B-52H/J's countermeasures suite to ALQ-172(V)2 status will add situational awareness, memory, reliability and other enhancements considered crucial for the aircraft's new mission of electronic attack.
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Tony McKinnon has been appointed senior adviser at the New York-based Seabury Group in the travel and travel technology areas. He was retired president/CEO of Amadeus North America.
Speculation continues to grow that there may be only one bidder for the concession to deploy and operate Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system. The public-private partnership responsible for selecting the concessionaire has once again put off selection of a concessionaire, and many players believe ultimately the Galileo Joint Undertaking, as the partnership is known, will request a joint bid. Finmeccanica Chief Executive Pier Francesco Guarguaglini said the decision should be read as "a clear signal to find common ground," according to Italian press reports.
Some airline officials are expressing mounting anxiety that the largely harmonious relationship they and Airbus have enjoyed on the A380 could sour, although there are no signs yet any buyers are wavering in their commitment to the project. The A380 customers are watching aircraft developments closely, as they prepare to take the giant step of introducing the 555-seat jet into their fleets. The airlines and Airbus have been working together to define even small details of the aircraft ever since the project's inception.
Robert Burke (see photo) has been named vice president-advanced mission programs for the Northrop Grumman Corp., Redondo Beach, Calif. He has been a program manager at the company's Space Technology sector.
Martin Schaaf has been appointed executive director of the commercial airline pilot training program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla. He was general manager and director of technical training at the Miami training center of Boeing subsidiary Alteon.
USMC Col. Mark Bircher has been nominated for promotion to brigadier general. He is assistant chief of staff of the New Orleans-based 4th Marine Aircraft Wing.
He may not have had much time to clean out his office, but recently departed Boeing Co. chief Harry C. Stonecipher is leaving a nice welcome gift for whoever takes his place: a very big pile of money. Boeing ended 2004 with more than $6 billion in cash and marketable securities, and that was after the company invested $4.3 billion to shore up its pension plan, repurchased $752 million worth of stock and raised its dividend twice.
