Air-India plans to operate 25 flights to the U.S. starting in December--an increase from 10 last winter. These include daily flights to New York JFK and Newark, six to Chicago and five to Los Angeles, pending the arrival of two new leased 777s. The carrier plans to launch flights to Lagos, Sydney, Beijing, Washington, San Francisco, Manchester and Seoul in June 2005. Bids for acquisition of 28 aircraft, including 10 long-range types and an option for seven more, closed recently.
Air Canada, flush from a much-improved third-quarter earnings report, is scanning the market for six used long-range aircraft, either Boeing 767s or Airbus A340s, to augment services to Asia and South America. Discounting reorganization and restructuring items, ACE Aviation Holdings Inc., parent of Air Canada, reported third-quarter operating income of C$243 million ($201 million). The net loss was C$81 million, compared to C$263 million a year ago. Revenues increased 12%, yield rose 4%, and unit cost was down 11% excluding fuel.
As the lame-duck 108th Congress flails its way toward adjournment, it appears that President Bush's reelection has settled the question of where the U.S. is going in space. It's going to Mars, via the Moon, just like Bush said it would Jan. 14. "Certainly in the last couple of weeks, any ambiguity about where we're going has been resolved," NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe says of the presidential policy statement, which he engineered. O'Keefe tells the Space Transportation Assn.
Charles F. Bolden, Jr., Russell W. Meyer, Jr., and Philip J. Trenary have been named by Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta to the FAA's Management Advisory Council (MAC). Bolden is senior vice president of Tech Trans International Inc. Meyer is chairman of the Cessna Aircraft Co., and Trenary is president/CEO of Pinnacle Airlines.
I have been an avid subscriber and reader since the early 1970s and although the stories about the aviation business are somewhat germane to my consulting business, the real reason I subscribe is for articles like "The Real Martians" by Craig Covault (AW&ST Nov. 1, p. 28). It is excellent coverage, and pictures like the ones from Mars make Aviation Week & Space Technology one of the finest technical publications in the world.
Michael Brasier (see photo) has been appointed executive general manager at the Los Angeles International Airport fixed-base operation of Mercury Air Centers Inc. He was general manager of the Burbank, Calif., facility.
It is good to see that serious improvement is happening to the space shuttle tank design and processing (AW&ST Oct. 4, p. 57). NASA might consider some planned failures, for instance, by building in a small pop-out piece so a larger chunk is not forced off the tank. The foam "divots" that have been duplicated in the lab and photographed at separation could have small tubes with pop-out plugs molded into each hollow with the foam. These could help avoid foam hits if some of the sealing fails.
Despite rising fuel costs, Gulf Air is on track with a three-year restructuring while making plans for an independent cargo division and a fleet expansion. Called Project Falcon, Gulf Air's restructuring aims for profitability in fiscal 2005 (AW&ST Dec. 15, 2003, p. 84). The only carrier in the Middle East to publish audited results, Gulf Air reported its best financial returns last year with a 12.1% increase in revenues, to $1.02 billion, up from $909.8 million in 2002. It had a 51% reduction in net losses.
R. James Budden has been elected chairman of the Washington-based Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group. He is vice president-operations for New Skies Satellites. Other new officers are: president/CEO, Robert W. Ames, Jr.; vice president, Greg Robb, senior director for service development for PanAmSat; vice president, Adam Edwards, manager of the Payload Operations Center for New Skies Satellites; secretary, Nigel G. Smith, director of satellite identification for QinetiQ; and treasurer, Chandi Amruthur, project manager/principal engineer for Intelsat.
With a freshly issued U.S. Transportation Dept. approval of renewed code-share authority, Continental Airlines and Air France notified the department that they plan to nearly double the number of points in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean to which Air France passengers could code-share on Continental flights from Houston and Newark. The carriers asked for a code-share authority two months ago (AW&ST Sept. 20, p. 15), received it Nov. 12 without opposition from competitors and filed their expansion plan Nov. 15.
On the other side of the pond, EADS has established the EADS U.K. Technology Masters Awards. Created to provide support to British students studying for an advanced degree in the fields of aerospace, space or systems, this year's six recipients were equally divided between two universities--Liverpool and Cranfield. Each student received 5,000 pounds ($9,292).
Egyptian investigators probing the crash of a Flash Airlines 737-300 into the Red Sea on Jan. 3 believe a confused flight crew was slow in understanding the aircraft's high bank angle, after an unscheduled autopilot disconnection. A final report, which is expected to list probable causes, is tentatively set to be completed by mid-2005.
The U.S. Navy has formally delayed the contract award for the VXX presidential helicopter decision which pits Sikorsky's VH-92 against the Lockheed Martin-led team offering the US101. Contract award is now projected to be Jan. 28.
India's Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle stands ready to launch the Edusat dedicated distance-learning communications spacecraft, a mission that has pushed the country's indigenous space program to a new level of accomplishment. With a second pad (visible in the background) at the Satish Dhawan Space Center ready for its first launch early next year, and signs that anti-proliferation sanctions may be easing, the Indian Space Research Organization hopes to begin competing in the launch services market soon (see p. 46). ISRO photo.
The Indian Defense Ministry report for the year ended March 2004 cites terrorism as the country's most immediate security concern. Because India is not a member of any military alliance, a certain independent deterrent capability is mandatory, says the report. The low-intensity proxy war has led to the Indian military becoming involved in homeland security and now the call is out for "a corresponding force structure." The need for a blue water naval capability for India to assure the security of her island territories is also requisite.
Pedro Cabanero (see photo) of Spain has been elected president of the Lausanne-Switzerland-based Federation Aeronautique Internationale. He succeeds Pierre Portmann. Cabanero had been president of the FAI General Aviation Commission and vice president of the parent body.
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Ian Longstreth has become vice president-sales and marketing for Messier Services America, Sterling, Va. He was sales and marketing director for Messier Services UK, Gloucester, England.
The Indian Space Research Organization has shortlisted instrument proposals from Bulgaria, Germany, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S. as candidates to use the 10-kg., 10-watt accommodation for foreign payloads on its Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission set for launch in 2007. A final selection is expected in December. Pulled from a field of 10 proposals, the finalists include an X-ray spectrometer from the U.K., a near-infrared spectrometer from Germany and a mini-synthetic aperture radar from the U.S. (see pp. 48-49).
TWO U.S. UNIVERSITIES WILL SOON BE TRAINING undergraduate aviation students in glass cockpit-equipped Piper Warrior III aircraft. Juan Merkt, who heads the Aviation Dept. at Ohio University in Athens, says all seven of the Piper Warriors his school is acquiring will utilize the Avidyne Entegra Integrated Flight Deck. Each cockpit will have primary flight and multifunction displays on the front panel. Merkt says these displays should greatly improve situational awareness.
Frederic C. Schwartz (see photo) has become vice president-military programs for Dallas-based Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. He succeeds Erich Smith, who is now senior vice president-program management and business development. Schwartz was technical director for the Joint Strike Fighter program for the U.S. Air Force.
James E. Goulka has been appointed CEO of the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center at Wheeling (W.Va.) Jesuit University. He has been president/CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Scottsdale, Ariz., and president of both the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture and Taliesin Preservation Inc.
The author of the Viewpoint in last week's issue (p. 90), who argued that the U.S. should procure the US101 for the VXX/Marine One presidential helicopter, has an indirect relationship to a member of the US101 industrial team. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. (ret.) Fred McCorkle serves on the board of GKN Aerospace Services. In May, GKN sold its 50% stake in helicopter maker AgustaWestland, a key member of the Lockheed Martin-led US101 team.
Richard A. Grenell has become vice president-corporate communications of the San Diego-based Titan Corp. He has been director of communications for John C. Danforth, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
