The Russian Space Agency and Aviaexport of Russia will help design, build and launch a small telecom satellite for the Iran Telecommunications Co., says an Iranian press report. According to Russian and Iranian sources, Russia's NPO PM will supply the bus and integrate the 12-transponder spacecraft, which is to be launched in 2006. German and French firms--thought to include Alcatel Space, typically the payload supplier on NPO PM projects--are also said to be involved.
OAG, the commercial flight listing service, and Lufthansa Consulting are cooperating on airline schedule planning, market evaluations and airport route development. The effort uses Lufthansa Consulting's Compass planning software as a tool to mine OAG data. They are analyzing specific airline markets for such factors as flight frequencies, elapsed times, connection types and passenger preferences.
Fred Bearden's sarcastic attack on the "fare war" (AW&ST Jan. 24, p. 6) is obviously a reference to Delta's recent announcement. Delta's move to simplify its fare structure, reduce nuisance fees, and eliminate Saturday-night-stay requirements, while capping last-minute ticket prices, is not merely a "fare war."
David P. Storch, who has been president/CEO of the AAR Corp., Wood Dale, Ill., is expected to become chairman later this year. He will succeed Ira A. Eichner, who plans to retire.
European legacy airlines must weather not only the current cyclical crisis, but also their structural one, the Assn. of European Airlines (AEA) warned after it revealed the first industry profit since 1998.
The U.S. and Germany are discussing upgrading a key component of the Patriot PAC-3 air and missile defense system. Germany supplies the lethality enhancer for the hit-to-kill interceptor. There's increasing interest in making the PAC-3 more effective against nonballistic missile targets, including aircraft and cruise missiles, which the upgrade would aim to address, says Mike Trotsky, vice president for air and missile defense systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
The Nigerian government says it concluded an agreement with China Great Wall Industry to build and launch a communication satellite next year. If confirmed, it would be the first export contract for the Chinese satellite industry. The government said the full value of the agreement, probably including ground segment and a spare spacecraft, will be $250-300 million. Nigeria already operates a small disaster-warning satellite, Nigeriasat 1, launched in September 2003.
The Homeland Security Dept.'s Fiscal 2006 budget proposal sets the stage for a pull-out-all-the-stops battle in Congress between airlines and the Bush administration over how to finance Transportation Security Administration operations at airports.
Northrop Grumman has established a new business--Directed Energy Systems--to speed the transition of high-energy lasers from laboratory experiments to battlefield weapons. The most advanced of these weapons are being designed to attack incoming mortar, rocket and artillery projectiles. Directed Energy Systems will be part of the company's Space Technology sector.
Swiss International Air Lines is considering expanding its long-haul fleet in spite of its continuing problems in the European network. The airline is studying the market for additional Airbus A340-300s that could be easily integrated into its existing fleet of nine A340-300s and nine A330-200s. Swiss would use the aircraft on current routes to the U.S. and Asia to increase frequencies as part of its strategy to serve business destinations daily whenever possible.
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As I follow with interest the numerous articles asking the question: "Whose vision is the right one? Boeing or Airbus?" I can't help but wonder why does only one manufacturer's vision about the future needs of airlines and passengers need to be right. Is Airbus' A380 555-plus seat high-volume hub-to-hub flights, or Boeing's 787's emphasis on long range and efficiency the answer? I think the answer can realistically be: both.
Lockheed Martin and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) have signed a technical assistance agreement at Aero-India in Bangalore. The agreement follows permission from the U.S. State Dept. for the two companies to share export-controlled data relating to the P-3C Orion airframe component design, manufacturing and overhaul. "We are also looking at showcasing the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, which can play a vital role in counterterrorism activities," Lockheed Martin Regional Vice President Dennys Plessas said. Meanwhile, the Indian navy is interested in P-3s.
Honeywell and Arinc/Telenor have concluded agreements with AltoBridge of Ireland to supply software for inflight personal cell phone communications. First systems are to be available by mid-2005.
It's time the aviation community, Congress and--especially--the Bush administration faced an obvious if unpalatable fact: you can't run the Federal Aviation Administration on $14 billion per year.
The Homeland Security Dept. wants to form a Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) to counter what Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Adm. (ret.) James Loy says is "one of the most dangerous threats we face." The President's Fiscal 2006 budget request calls for it to be funded by $227 million. DNDO's assignment is to develop and deploy an improved domestic system to detect and report attempts to import or assemble a nuclear weapon or transport fissile or radiological material for illegal use.
Michael Romanowski has been named vice president-civil aviation and J.P. Stevens vice president-space systems of the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Assn. Romanowski was assistant vice president-civil aviation. Stevens was vice president-special projects. Stevens continues as executive director of the Team America Rocketry Challenge.
FAA's $13.8-billion budget proposal for Fiscal 2006 shows two continuing trends, plus a reversal. First, as the agency's budget remains essentially flat (it is down 0.6% from Fiscal 2005), a steady increase in operating costs, driven largely by personnel expenses, still consumes a growing share of the total. Operations are up 6.4% in the new budget to $8.2 billion, counting $150 million for newly contracted-out work at flight service stations. In Fiscal 2005 the increase was 3%, to $7.7 billion (see table).
The National Institute for Aviation Research is expanding its role as a global player in research and development for the aviation industry by establishing new laboratories and programs aimed at testing and certifying advanced technologies related to safety and airworthiness.
Participation of U.S. military aircraft at Aero-India was bigger than ever, indicating a desire of U.S. manufacturers to increase their presence among Indian armed forces. Static displays were set up for the P-3C, KC-135, F-15E and C-130J, including about 50 aircrew and support personnel. The show recorded its largest turnout--more than 350 exhibitors from 30 countries. As for the U.S., the embassy said: "U.S. military participation . . . highlights the strength of the U.S. commitment . . . and demonstrates that U.S.
The U.S. military's leadership is "reasonably satisfied" with the proposed $419.3-billion Fiscal 2006 defense budget because it protects major modernization programs for another year and includes a 4.8% increase over 2005 while most other government spending is being slashed to reduce the federal deficit. However, the Pentagon's top civilians warn that these plans may change in the aftermath of the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) that starts this spring.
Spot Image is redefining its U.S. marketing approach and adding imaging resources around the world to meet booming demand for government services in Asia, the U.S. and Europe. One thrust of the Toulouse-based company's revised strategy, says Chairman/CEO Jean-Marc Nasr, will be to resume marketing imaging services directly to the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), instead of going through DigitalGlobe, its U.S. partner. "We have always had a direct channel to the NGA, we'll just reactivate it," Nasr said.
The Air Transport Assn. (ATA) loses no time in marshaling political forces to oppose the Bush administration's bid to increase passenger security fees in Fiscal 2006 (see p. 52). Within three days of the budget submission to Congress, the airline lobby assembles a press conference with representatives of nine alphabet groups, ranging from the Regional Airline Assn. and the Air Line Pilots Assn. (ALPA) to the Interactive Travel Services Assn. and the National Taxpayers Union.
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) Feb. 16-17--World Aerospace Symposium/Toulouse. Pierre Baudis Toulouse Congress Center, Toulouse, France. Apr. 19-20--MRO Military Conference. Also, Apr. 20-21--MRO USA Conference & Exhibition. Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, Dallas.
Jean-Claude Lepage (see photos) has been appointed chairman/CEO of the Snecma Group's Hurel-Hispano. He succeeds Christian Knapp. Lepage was chairman/CEO of Labinal and has been succeeded by Philippe Petitcolin. Knapp becomes chairman/CEO of Messier-Dowty, succeeding Louis Le Portz, who has retired. Christian Mari has been named chairman/CEO of Teuchos. He was Snecma vice president of research and technology and is succeeded by Alain Coutrot. Yves Charvin has become Snecma's corporate secretary.
