Israel's flag carrier El Al plans to roll out a new strategy midyear, bolstered by a five-year profit high in 2004 and growth in traffic. Although profit growth continued last year, reaching $33.1 million, it was constrained by high fuel prices and a strong shekel-to-dollar exchange rate that hurt the airline, particularly in the fourth quarter.
Terry Wesley-Smith has been named general manager of the Jeppesen facility in Canberra, Australia. He was general manager of Pilatus Australia Pty. Ltd.
Boeing has selected Diehl of Germany to supply the cabin lighting system for its 787 as part of its policy of globalizing the supplier chain. The system will feature solid-state light-emitting-diode technology to provide lower maintenance costs and longer intervals between unscheduled repairs.
In the race to connect aircraft passengers to the Internet at higher speeds and lower cost, Arinc is gearing up to capture a major share of the business jet market with its K u-band SkyLink service, which starts operations this month.
Chris A. Davis has been appointed to the board of directors of Dallas-based Aviall Inc. She is chairman/CEO of McLeodUSA Inc. and a former member of the board of the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.
British big-ticket procurements may be safe--at least for the next two years--but the Defense Ministry is being forced to slow, or defer, acquisitions.
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.
James Gidlow has been appointed worldwide sales development manager and Scott Warne sales development manager for the U.K. for London-based Air Cargo Partners Worldwide.
The playing field in the regional jet market is continuing to evolve, and Embraer is betting that it has a near-term advantage with key milestones looming for its 170/ 190-series aircraft. The Brazilian manufacturer expects relatively flat deliveries in the near term--roughly 145 aircraft in both 2005 and 2006, after placing 148 last year. Those two years should also see a steady rise in revenue, as the share of deliveries of lower cost ERJ 145s drops to 15% in 2006 from 60% in 2004. The family of 70-95-seat airplanes will then dominate.
Thai Airways International has begun nonstop services from Bangkok to New York JFK International Airport. The first 17-hr., 8,711-mi. flight is set for May 1. Thai will use the Airbus A340-500 in a three-class configuration of 215 seats.
Laurie Marshall (see photo), an aerospace engineer at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, has been selected to receive the 2005 Golden Torch Award as Outstanding Woman in Technology of the Year from the National Society of Black Engineers. Most recently, she was chief engineer for the third flight of the X-43A hypersonic vehicle in November 2004.
I was pleased by the VXX decision and upset by two letters in response (AW&ST Feb. 21, p. 6). Ron Kollmansberger doesn't think it is a good idea to have the President fly on critical components built abroad, while Michael L. Ivins guesses about what could happen if a foreign government gets into disagreements with the U.S. and stops shipment of critical components and so halts the VXX fleet.
First flight has been completed for the Saab JAS 39 Gripen's reconnaissance pod. The SaabTech-developed device uses the Recon Optical CA270 medium-altitude electro-optical/infrared camera and an L-3 Communications digital memory unit. Fielding of the system will allow the Swedish air force to replace its JA 37 Viggen reconnaissance fighters.
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. (ret.) Patrick Hughes has been appointed vice president-homeland security and Greg Henson vice president-homeland security operations for New York-based L-3 Communications. Hughes was assistant secretary for information analysis in the U.S. Homeland Security Dept. Henson was vice president-business development for the Harris Corp.
Following a year-end rush of new inflight entertainment system business, Thales is bullish about prospects for the IFE market, which had been in the doldrums since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The company--an IFE leader, along with Matsushita and Rockwell Collins--received more than 100 million euros ($130 million) in IFE orders last year, most of it in the last quarter, and expects to exceed 300 million euros this year.
David Sprechman, president/CEO of GlobeCast America, has been named Teleport Executive of the Year by the Washington-based World Teleport Assn. The award honors industry leadership in the development or operation of satellite communications services. Sprechman was cited for having restructured operations and diversified his company's portfolio beyond traditional teleport uplink services to include content management and applications for DTH, cable and broadband IPTV, enterprise media, retail and digital cinema, sports and news, and government communications.
Bell-Boeing won a series of Navy contracts to provide $44.9 million, $37.4 million, $33.6 million, $8.7 million and $9.8 million in various types of spares for MV-22 and CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft.
NASA has pushed the envelope way on out there--literally--with its first two Centennial Challenges prizes for new space technology. By offering a total of $400,000 in prize money for four competitions, the agency hopes to spur development of advanced materials for tethers strong enough to support a space elevator, and for remote power transmission techniques to drive elevator cars all the way to orbit.
The Pentagon has approved low-rate initial production for up to 40 Sikorsky UH-60M helicopters for the Army. The Army expects to purchase more than 1,200 of the Black Hawk helicopters to handle a variety of missions. Citing only a 13% cost difference between the new purchases and upgrading old helicopters, the Pentagon decided to abandon plans to refurbish the existing fleet.
The Bush administration has embarked on a series of technology investments designed to greatly enhance the warfighting capabilities of U.S. military forces. At the heart of its strategy is a belief that if U.S. forces have better capacity to access, share and interpret vital information in a timely fashion, that will translate into big gains in military effectiveness.
PanAmSat Corp. has given Space Systems/Loral a contract to build Galaxy 18 for delivery in 2007. SS/L is now building Galaxy 16 for delivery next year. A hybrid, Galaxy 18 will carry 24 C-band and 24 K u-band transponders and is to have 10 kw. of power over a 15-year lifetime. It will operate from 123 deg. W. Long. to serve the contiguous U.S., Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
The common view of the Middle East may be one of unending conflict, but Dubai-based Emirates Airline is expanding so rapidly that it's pressing Boeing to make larger airplanes. The carrier took delivery of two 777-300ERs last week and will acquire 30 by late 2007, including 26 on lease. Ten are to be delivered this year--four under a lease from International Lease Finance Corp. and six from General Electric Commercial Aviation Service. Emirates already flies a mix of 21 777-200/-200ER/-300s--making it one of Boeing's largest 777 operators.
Britain's National Air Traffic Services will close the West Drayton air traffic control center, near London, in October 2007, as part of its consolidation process. Operations staffers will be moved to the Swanwick center.
French research minister Francois d'Aubert says his country plans to boost space spending at a slightly higher rate during the second half of the decade, to 1.5% from 1% per annum, to reinforce an upward trend that began last year following an agency overhaul. The national program budget line was 676 million euros in 2004. European Space Agency contributions are to remain stable at 685 million euros a year under the spending plan that is to be finalized this month.
Cessna Aircraft Co. plans to begin systems and taxi tests of the prototype Citation Mustang business jet next month in preparation for first flight this summer, followed by certification and deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2006.
