Shrugging off high oil prices, huge losses in the U.S. airline industry and stiff competition from rival Airbus, Boeing Co. is forecasting a sharp rebound in its commercial aircraft deliveries, bolstered by sales growth outside North America and healthy demand from low-cost carriers.
NTSB investigators are working to determine how and why a Canadair Challenger 600's takeoff roll terminated in a fiery crash into a warehouse. On Feb. 2, the pilots of the Canadair Challenger 600-1A11 filed an IFR flight plan from Teterboro (N.J.) Airport to Chicago Midway airport. Two flight crew, one flight attendant and eight passengers were on board when the flight received clearance for takeoff at about 7:17 a.m.
U.S. Air Force leadership is being assured by senior Pentagon officials that the infamous decision that detailed tens of billions of dollars in projected cuts was primarily an exercise and that "everything is still on the [bargaining] table." The December holiday "surprise" cut, planned clandestinely by a small group of senior Pentagon civilians, amounts to nearly $60 billion and is largely dictating the shape of the 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) which, in contrast to years past, has been the product of months of study and analysis.
The British Defense Ministry is investigating the loss of a Royal Air Force C-130K Hercules, and all 10 personnel on board, in Iraq on Jan. 30. The aircraft was being flown on a short internal trip to Balad when the fatal incident occurred. The crash site was near the town of At Taji, which is 16.8 mi. northwest of Baghdad. The Hercules was normally based at RAF Lyneham, which is the base for all of the RAF's C-130 squadrons. The Defense Ministry is awaiting the outcome of the inquiry before commenting further.
The last piece of Intelsat's privatization has finally fallen into place. Investment group Zeus Holdings Ltd. closed a $5-billion deal to acquire the global communications satellite operator Jan. 28. The acquisition, the last step in Intelsat's transformation from a consortium of government-owned satellite operators into a private company, hit a snag last month after the sudden failure of the Intelsat 804 spacecraft (AW&ST Jan. 24, p. 19).
Lockheed Martin has snagged a $59.3-million contract modification to provide C-5 AMP production lot III upgrade kits with work to be completed by December 2007. The company also won an $11-million addition to its contract to perform in-country depot-level maintenance at Naval Station Mehran Karachi on two Pakistani Navy P-3s. Work is to be completed in April 2006.
The impressive 2004 rebound in international traffic shouldn't mean industry complacency--with the costs of fuel and air navigation services, the challenge of turning traffic growth to profits lies ahead.
Transport logistics group Australian Patrick Corp. has launched a $1.54-billion offer for Virgin Blue to gain "a clear majority stake," setting the stage for a possible spat with major stockholder Richard Branson. Patrick holds a 45.95% stake in the budget carrier and is offering $1.48 per share in cash for the shares it does not own. Virgin Blue had said last month its net profit would be around 15% lower than the previous year. Extra capacity and competition from Qantas startup Jetstar are said to have resulted in loss of business.
When Delta Air Lines restructured its fares, other U.S. legacy carriers followed suit. Now, American Airlines has taken another step: It is guaranteeing to its online customers the lowest fares available on mainline, American Eagle and American Connection flights. The airline is awarding 1,000 frequent flier miles for each round-trip ticket purchased and not charging online booking fees.
Wanna be a pilot when you grow up? Or, maybe a doctor, teacher or astronaut? No matter the choice, higher education is critical in realizing any career goal--and that's precisely the focus of Southwest Airlines' Adopt-A-Pilot program the airline has just launched nationwide. In 1997, Southwest, in conjunction with the U.S. Education Dept., started the education/mentorship program at schools in the carrier's destination cities.
Donald W. Morgan has been named vice president/chief financial officer of RAE Systems Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif. He succeeds Joseph Ng, the company's former chief financial officer, who has resigned. Morgan has been CFO of Larscom Inc.
Two Okinawans received compensation for trauma suffered from the crash of a U.S. Marines CH-53 helicopter near the Futema airfield last August. The helicopter struck a building on the Okinawa International University campus. In the past, compensation has been awarded for actual losses or damages, but never for mental suffering. U.S. Forces-Japan has apparently agreed to a settlement, but the amount is unknown. Under the Japan-U.S. bases agreement, the U.S. would bear 75% of the cost, Japan the rest.
Melvin J. Carraway has been appointed federal security director at Albuquerque (N.M.) International Sunport Airport, Tim Burke at Savannah (Ga.)/Hilton Head (S.C.) International Airport, Dereck Starks at Spokane (Wash.) International Airport and Thomas G. Russell at Missoula (Mont.) International and several other airports in that state. Carraway was superintendent of the Indiana State Police. Starks was deputy assistant FSD for screening at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
An old joke about two hunters being chased by a bear has relevance to the situation of the U.S. "legacy" airlines during the past few years. The bear is getting closer and closer to the hunters and shows no sign of tiring. "It's no use," gasps one of the hunters. "There's no way we can outrun this bear." "You don't understand the situation," says the other hunter. "I don't have to outrun the bear. All I have to do is outrun you."
Despite unfavorable exchange rates and the competition's counterattacks, Eurocopter expects continued growth in the next few years. According to Chief Executive Fabrice Bregier, by 2006, the Franco-German manufacturer's annual revenues will increase to nearly 4 billion euros ($5.2 billion), up from 2.7 billion euros in 2004. However, the expansion will be generated by military deliveries, not civil sales, he predicts.
A high-stakes requalification flight for Europe's Ariane 5 ECA booster is planned for Feb. 11, carrying a Spanish government telecom satellite, XTAR-EU. The 10-metric-ton launch vehicle has been grounded since a failed inaugural flight in December 2002.
The Italian air force's first 767 tanker is having its aerial refueling boom installed at Boeing's Wichita facility, one of the advanced steps in a plan that includes an official rollout by month's end and a flight to France by mid-June, where the aircraft is to be on display at the Paris air show.
A HeliFlite Shares Bell 430 flies over New York. The commercial helicopter industry is forecast to grow only slightly this year as high fuel and insurance costs are expected to hurt operators and hamper expansion (see p. 56). Key issues facing both operators and manufacturers in 2005 include tort reform, decreased operating costs, increased security requirements and the need to redesign the National Airspace System to better accommodate rotary-wing aircraft. Bell Helicopter Textron photo by Sheldon Cohen.
Inmarsat may become the latest satellite operator held by private equity firms to go public again. "We are watching public equity markets and we'll be opportunistic, but we have no timeframe," said Chairman/CEO Andrew Sukawaty. The company will wait until the launch of its first Inmarsat I-4 satellite on Mar. 10, he said, before making a decision. A block of 52% of Inmarsat stock, acquired in late 2003, is held by Apax Partners and Permira Advisors. PanAmSat and New Skies have already announced equity offers to take advantage of currently favorable market conditions.
U.S. aerospace companies continued to roll out impressive quarterly earnings last week, bolstered by strong Pentagon spending. Northrop Grum- man Corp. said fourth-quarter 2004 sales increased 10% from the same period a year earlier to $7.8 billion. Quarterly net income rose 31% to $294 million. Raytheon Co. reported fourth-quarter sales of $5.7 billion, up 12%. Net income rose 20% to $245 million. L-3 Communications Holdings said its fourth-quarter 2004 sales increased 29%, to $1.9 billion. Quarterly net income grew 21% to $119 million.
A recent editorial said the U.S. should buy from the most appropriate supplier, regardless of the country of origin (AW&ST Dec. 13, 2004, p. 86). The Defense Dept. clearly has the right to do so. It's time to extend the same flexibility to NASA. The International Space Station has been hobbled by our inability to procure the additional Progress flights that could easily have supported a three-person crew for the past two years, not to mention the additional Soyuzes that could have long ago allowed an increase in the station crew to six.
A NATO ministers summit in Nice this week has the goal of accelerating efforts to rebuild bridges across the Atlantic, while underscoring France's redefined place within the alliance. The ministerial gathering--the first of any kind since 1983 to be held on French soil--will be informal, with any decision-making to be left to a gathering of heads of state later this month in Brussels, when U.S. President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet with alliance leaders, including French President Jacques Chirac.
As it continues its drive toward making just three families of commercial airplanes, Boeing will decide by midyear whether to drop its flagging 767 or build the stretch 747-400 as a niche competitor to the Airbus A380. In the next week or so, the company also will decide whether to sell its Wichita, Kan., facility, the company's largest commercial airplane factory outside Washington state. Wichita produces 737 fuselages and will make the 787 nose and forward fuselage. It has been for sale for the past year.
Boeing started flight-testing a Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System for the weapons systems officer in the back seats of the U.S. Navy's F/A-18Ds and -Fs. The system would allow either flight crewmember to designate a target by looking at it, putting an aiming cross over it and pressing a button that registers the data on the other crewmember's helmet visor. Currently, it is hard for one crewmember to talk the other onto a target. The idea is to reduce to seconds from minutes the time needed for them both to confirm they are looking at the same target.
BOMBARDIER HAS DELIVERED TO A U.S. CUSTOMER a Challenger 300 business jet assembled and completed at its facilities in Montreal. The airplane was the first to roll out of the company's new integrated manufacturing center, which combines final assembly, interior completion and exterior painting for all Challenger 300s.
