The FAA needs to do a better job of overseeing its 13,400 designated representatives in the field, says a U.S. Government Accountability Office report released last week. These individuals are responsible for pilot flight tests, inspection of repairs, approval of designs for parts and the conduct of aeromedical examinations. Although the GAO found no safety problems, it faulted the agency for its inconsistent oversight and incomplete databases. The GAO report cited the high workload for designees and inadequate training for FAA monitoring staff.
A thorny debate finds French and German authorities at odds over the need to further consolidate the European aerospace and defense industry. For the French government, combining EADS and electronics giant Thales would create a world-class champion, generate substantial economies of scale and boost overall competitiveness. In contrast, Germany is far from being convinced by such a scenario and bristles at a French tendency to seek a commanding influence on the European scene.
Oliver Towers has been appointed London-based vice president-strategy for Smiths Aerospace. He has been seconded from Rolls-Royce to the U.K. Trade and Industry Dept. as project director for the aerospace innovation and growth team and was vice president-aftermarket for corporate and regional airlines at Rolls. Catherine Gridley has been named president of Smiths' customer services business, Clearwater, Fla. She succeeds Michael Steel, who will head the mechanical systems business. Gridley was president of customer services in the Americas.
The Pentagon is in the final stages of defining its new strategy in the long-running saga to replace U.S. Air Force KC-135 refuelers, while prospective competitor EADS is further closing the gap between it and rival Boeing. At the same time the tanker program claimed another casualty last week. Michael Sears, former Boeing chief financial officer, pleaded guilty to criminal wrongdoing, which was unearthed as part of a broader investigation into the then-proposed $23-billion lease of 100 Boeing KC-767s tankers for USAF.
U.S. space exploration managers and representatives of 18 other space agencies around the world have started groping toward ways to coordinate their work in an international space exploration program aimed at getting humans to Mars. It promises to be an arduous process. During three days of workshops here last week, officials from NASA's exploration systems office gathered information on their international counterparts' capabilities and plans, in an effort to meld them into their own work on the space exploration goals set by President Bush in January.
Swiss International Air Lines in the third quarter posted its first earnings before taxes. The SF20-million ($17-million) profit, up from losses of SF62 million for the same quarter of 2003, confirms the validity of the carrier's strategy and indicates that sustainable profit could be achieved next year, says a company official.
The United Arab Emirates is in discussions with the Pentagon to buy up to $135 million worth of Lockheed Martin/Raytheon Javelin anti-tank missile equipment--about 100 Javelin launchers and 1,000 missiles.
Canada's three largest airlines are deep in a court dispute over alleged corporate espionage. Canada's WestJet is being sued by rivals Air Canada and Jetsgo, which allege the Calgary-based low-fare carrier set up an espionage unit to gain proprietary information and use it in unfair competition.
Military planners are beginning to stake out positions for next year's major policy debates. For the U.S. Air Force, that means focusing on concepts, processes and strategies rather than individual programs, as service leaders approach the upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR).
At 73, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, India's 11th president, doubts he will be able to get to Mars before he turns 90. But the space and missile pioneer, widely respected throughout his country as a poet, spiritualist, educator, philosopher, writer and rocket scientist all rolled into one, sees no reason he shouldn't be able to get there.
The U.S. Air Force is contemplating an upgrade to the F-15's self-protection equipment to fix aging subsystem problems and fit the fighter into the service's emerging sensor-linking vision. Two separate but parallel efforts may be emerging--one championed by the Air National Guard and the other by the active-duty Air Force. However, the latter has struggled to garner funding, so the ANG could lead the electronic warfare initiative that's being targeted across the F-15 fleet, both for air-superiority and strike versions of the fighter.
When U.S. Air Force and Boeing officials first started trying to promote the idea of leasing up to 100 KC-767 tankers, they often suggested the arrangement would be a model for innovative business approaches.
The second annual Aviation Nation air show at Nellis AFB, Nev., offered glimmers of an event the U.S. aerospace and defense industry has sought for years: a domestic venue on a par with the Paris and Farnborough shows. However, reservations about future costs and security procedures that may restrict attendance by foreign customers are prompting "wait-and-see" assessments by some companies.
The lure of the 100-seat market has attracted the interest of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which has been working with Fuji and Kawasaki on a 30-50-seat regional jet, although market conditions are causing second thoughts. And the highly competitive 80-100-seat segment is also tight, as indicated by Brazilian manufacturer Embraer in its latest financial report.
Independence Air cured its default on progress payments under its 16-aircraft A319 order (AW&ST Nov. 15, p. 40) by negotiating a new delivery schedule. The carrier was to have taken 10 A319s in 2005 and six in 2006; it will retain the six in 2006, but slip the other 10 to 2007. Delivery of 10 A319s on lease remains on schedule for 2005.
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It may soon be possible to check in for a flight on a mobile phone once one is within reach of cell phone towers near an airport or on airport property. Sita Inc. and Siemens Business Services have teamed up to develop the software for cell phones that incorporate liquid crystal displays. Officials say it will be possible to display a seating map on the phone for seat selection. Once the process is completed, a bar code appears on the telephone. Passengers could use the bar code at a check-in kiosk to print out a boarding pass.
NASA postponed launch of its Swift gamma-ray burst detector until at least Nov. 20 from Nov. 17 to give workers at Cape Canaveral time to replace the Range Command-Receiver Decoder on its Delta II launch vehicle (AW&ST Nov. 8, p. 33).
Pakistan may buy more than 2,000 TOW-2A anti-armor guided missiles under a proposed $82-million Foreign Military Sales package with the U.S. Pakistan's existing TOW missiles are reaching the end of their shelf lives. Pakistan also has been using missiles heavily near the Afghan border. U.S. officials are concerned that it could take two years to get the replenishment TOWs to Pakistan.
I am disappointed that in "Status of Programs: Military Aviation" (AW&ST Oct. 18, p. 64) no military helicopters were mentioned. As a pilot who has flown Hueys, Cobras, Dolphins and Black Hawks, my definition of military aviation includes helicopters.
The Australian government will consider granting Singapore Airlines unlimited access to trans-Pacific routes between the east coast of Australia and the U.S. as part of its efforts to liberalize air services with Singapore. The two countries expanded bilateral links in September 2003, but did not sign an open skies agreement, as Qantas wanted the airline industry to recover financially before the deal was signed. The route is Qantas' most lucrative. United Airlines is the other carrier that has direct flights between Australia and the U.S.
The new propulsion system built by Boeing's Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power business unit of the Integrated Defense Systems has demonstrated its unique capabilities in design verification tests at Edwards AFB, Calif. The DACS (divert and attitude and control) system will provide maneuvering capabilities for the Missile Defense Agency's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) ballistic missile defense system, for which Lockheed Martin Corp. is the prime contractor.
Sylvain Allard has been named CEO of the Vancouver-based CHC Helicopter Corp. He had been president and succeeds Craig L. Dobbin, who will become executive chairman.
The Air Force may tweak some of its operations in Iraq. For instance, service chief Gen. John Jumper says USAF can provide still more tactical airlift and reduce the burden on convoys. Moreover, Jumper says the service is mulling a reorganization of its large unmanned air vehicle operations to make them more efficient; more than 450 UAVs, mostly small ones, are being used. A near-term priority for the Pentagon as a whole next year will be to come up with funding to pay for continuing operations.
