The Pentagon is expected to undertake another flight test of its missile defense system this week, in a Dec. 8-11 launch window. The much-delayed event--designated IFT-13C--features new engagement geometry, with the target to be launched from Kodiak, Alaska, rather than Vandenberg AFB, Calif. That could mean higher and more realistic closing speeds between the kill vehicle and target.
Top U.S. and European trade negotiators are set to meet this week for discussions that will address a range of disagreements, including the spat over subsidies each side alleges the other is giving to its commercial airplane industry, specifically and respectively to Boeing and Airbus. The meeting between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and new EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson comes just as the 60-day cooling-off period expires after filings both sides made before the World Trade Organization on aircraft subsidies.
Kimell Garland has been appointed treasurer and Scot Bealer vice president-worldwide sales of the Washington-based Universal Air Travel Plan. Garland was cash manager for US Airways and the Airlines Reporting Corp. in Washington. Bealer was national sales manager for Continental Airlines.
International air traffic increased 10.8% in October from a year earlier, but high fuel costs and intense price competition continue to batter airlines, the International Air Transport Assn. reports (see p. 54). IATA says the plummeting U.S. dollar is serving as an incentive for travelers to visit the U.S. and could bolster carriers that are redeploying capacity to international routes. But the association still expects the global airline industry to lose more than $4 billion this year.
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. May 24-25--Homeland Security Summit & Exposition. Washington.
Michael Swiatek has been appointed senior vice president for Asia-Pacific issues for the Washington-based Seabury Airline Planning Group. He was general manager of joint ventures for Air New Zealand.
EADS North America expects to break ground next month for a facility in Mobile, Ala., for the completion and delivery of EADS-CASA CN-235 Maritime Patrol Aircraft for the U.S. Coast Guard. The center also will serve as EADS' headquarters for that business and coordinate software upgrades for the medium-range, GE-powered aircraft. The Coast Guard may buy up to 20 CN-235s, which are produced in Spain.
Lt. Col. Jay Cossentine (see photo) has been named chief of the aeropropulsion systems test division at the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center, Tullahoma, Tenn. He was the center commander's executive officer.
Lisa Piccione has become senior vice president-government affairs for the Washington-based National Business Aviation Assn. She held similar positions at Delta Air Lines and the Airports Council International-North America. Piccione succeeds Pete West, who has resigned.
Senior U.S. and European trade negotiators are set to meet in Paris this week to discuss a wide range of topics that have the two almost at each others throats. The meeting provides newly installed European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick a rare opportunity and perhaps the last chance to smooth ruffled feathers and bridge differences in the debate over subsidies to Airbus and Boeing.
Latecoere executives see better times ahead for the commercial transport sector. Production rates are expected to inch up to "pre-economic crisis levels," generating new business opportunities for the global supply chain. The French aerostructures group, which has had long-term business links with Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier and Embraer, foresees robust growth for the next several years and is expanding its production capacity to meet the anticipated demand.
A pumped-up Canadian dollar, a struggling U.S. airline industry and weakening demand for 50-seat jets are converging to pummel Bombardier Inc. The Montreal-based manufacturer of civil aircraft and mass transit equipment last week scaled-back production plans for its 50-seat CRJ200 regional jets (RJs) for the second time in two months and announced plans to cut 2,200 jobs in its transit business as part of an ongoing restructuring.
The Pentagon inspector general says the Air Force unfairly rated an L-3 Communications bid for an F-15 Training Support Contract that eventually went to Boeing. The IG found that service officials didn't use the best tools to evaluate bids. The review was requested by U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). USAF disagreed with the finding, but concedes that some techniques to evaluate proposals weren't used. The service has committed not to extend the Boeing contract if there are more advantageous ways to meet the government's needs.
Pakistan's Aga Khan Development Network has taken delivery of the first of four AB139 helicopters that will be used in Central Asia as part of an extensive project to build three university campuses. The helicopters will be based in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; Dushanbe, Tajikistan; and Islamabad.
Peter Becker, CEO (Software Prototype Technologies, Burlingame, Calif.)
I note with resignation the item "Barrier to Entry" in Washington Outlook (AW&ST Nov. 8, p. 23). As a small technology concern, my company has found that attempts to do business with the Pentagon are institutionally thwarted by a combination of factors: *First is the cost and bureaucracy associated with General Services Administration scheduling.
John J. Tedone has been named assistant vice president-internal audit for the Kaman Corp., Bloomfield, Conn. He was director of finance-strategic marketing for Diageo.
Japan and Italy will cooperate on space-based Earth observation, space science and aeronautical thermodynamics under a new agreement between the Italian Space Agency and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Growing out of technical meetings in Tokyo last July, the agreement is part of a wider technical-cooperation pact between the governments.
Jeffery L. Emdee and Joanne H. Ostroy (see photos) have been promoted to principal engineer at The Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, Calif. Emdee will be chief systems engineer for the Atlas V launch vehicle program in the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Div. He was director of the Propulsion Dept. in the Vehicle Systems Div. Ostroy will work in the Integrated Systems Architecture Office. She was senior project engineer on the staff of the senior vice president-systems planning and engineering.
DELTA AIRELITE BUSINESS JETS IS EXPANDING its fleet in response to growth in charter operations conducted under its FAR Part 135 operating certificate. The company has added a Learjet 31A and a Hawker 700A. The Learjet will be based at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, and the 700A is located at Lunken Airport in Cincinnati.
Runway traffic jams are one of many problems airlines are tackling with a new urgency as they seek to curtail fuel consumption in the face of soaring oil prices. With some economists predicting any relief in oil prices will be short-lived, carriers are implementing innovative measures to generate fuel savings, drop by drop (see p. 54). For successful airlines, it's a matter of remaining profitable. For struggling carriers, it's a matter of life or death. Joseph Pries photo of traffic at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood (Fla.) International Airport.
James P. Fox has been named deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He was chief of staff for then-New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey.
Delta Air Lines pilots, 235 strong, opted for retirement Dec. 1, the day a 32.5% pay cut goes into effect. Of that number, 202 pilots are taking early retirement, according to the Delta unit of the Air Line Pilots Assn. Of the 99 pilots who retired Oct. 1, 71 were early retirements; of the 69 in November, 55 were early. A high number of early retirements could lead to shortage of crews and disruptions in operations.
Having swallowed hard at the billion-dollar "sticker shock" of ballistic missile defense, Japan's political parties, Finance Ministry and Defense Agency are headed for a compromise over the transformation of the country's defense forces.
Indonesia's Transport Ministry is investigating the cause of the Nov. 30 crash of Lion Air Flight JT583 at Indonesia's Solo-Adi Sumarmo Airport. The budget carrier's MD-82 was en route from Jakarta and overran the runway upon landing. As of late last week, the death toll, estimated to be 33 of the 153 people on board, had not been confirmed.
