U.S. Air Force officials are pressing an investigation of its acquisition system by identifying 11 programs worth more than $33 billion as among those in which former Air Force official Darleen Druyun made the final selection of a contractor.
I found James K. Coyne comments self-serving. As one of the "suckers" who pays the bills every month through aviation gas tax and landing fees, his question ". . . forced to schlep in from distant airports or squeeze into overcrowded Airbuses, will these political high-rollers feel like citizens or suckers?"
Airbus and Boeing have updated an upset recovery training aid and distributed it to 900 commercial airplane customers worldwide. The training aid was originally prepared by a team of industry and government safety experts in 1998. Larry Rockliff, vice president of training for Airbus North America, says the update's aim is to enhance existing programs and use a standardized training approach to help reduce loss-of-control accidents. LOC is still the leading cause of fatal accidents, he notes.
The intent to secure and bolster a genuine military space capacity is emerging as a key element in the Chinese armed forces modernization program. Senior Chinese industrialists underscore the desire to narrow the gulf between the country's present capability and that of nations such as the U.S. and Russia, as well as the European Union. They also identify space as a fundamental arena for future military resources.
As part of its Turnaround Plan, American Airlines has adopted an old practice of focusing aircraft types at key hubs. Boeing 737s are being concentrated at Miami International Airport, and MD-80s at Chicago O'Hare and at growing Dallas/ Fort Worth International. As aircraft go, so do pilots, flight attendants and maintenance crews--and expected efficiencies. In a similar way, Continental Airlines simplified its operation in the early 1980s, resisting the temptation of schedulers to operate all aircraft types through a hub, even if only once a day.
World News Roundup 22 Boeing in 7E7 supplier agreements with three French companies 27 ScanEagle UAV logs more than 1,000 flight hours in Iraq 27 Inadequate testing of Type 88 missile system update haunts Mitsubishi 28 DHL moving European hub to Leipzig, Germany, from Brussels 30 Mitsuo Toshimitsu dies, was former president of Japan Airlines World News & Analysis 34 Innovative supply-chain practices trickling into aerospace industry
Patrick E. Allen has been appoint- ed senior vice president/chief financial officer, effective Jan. 1, of Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He succeeds Larry Erickson, who will be retiring. Allen has been vice president/controller of Rockwell Collins' Commercial Systems unit.
The increasing globalization of the aerospace supply chain offers enormous opportunity to cut costs. But there are plenty of pitfalls along the way. Low-cost labor in emerging markets is a natural attraction for major aerospace contractors looking for ways to wring out cost savings. "A number of companies are looking to find shops in China, India and Eastern Europe that can meet the requirements of the FAA," says Steve Palagyi, who directs the aerospace practice at management consultants PRTM in Dallas.
Singapore Airlines has reached an out-of-court settlement of 12 lawsuits stemming from the Oct. 31, 2000, crash of a 747-400 during takeoff at Taiwan's Chiang Kai-Shek airport. As a typhoon approached, the aircraft entered a runway under construction where it struck equipment, resulting in the deaths of 83 of 179 people on board and injuries to another 57.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Douglas Barrie (London)
Rows over finance and function threaten to blight a key meeting on the European Galileo satellite navigation system next month. Galileo is to be a key topic during the next European Transport Council meeting in December, but critical issues still need to be resolved. The emerging threat of a spending cap on the demonstration phase is proving contentious, while the system's military utility remains troublesome.
Wavestream has developed a K a-band Grid Amplifier, which is now in beta test and targeted at Wideband Gap Filler Satellite communications applications. With surveillance capabilities such as synthetic aperture radar, Flir and hyperspectral imagery driving data rate requirements to at least 274 Mbps., amplifiers with more that 15 watts of output power are required.
I enjoyed reading the Viewpoint by James K. Coyne, even though the situation he describes is sad (AW&ST Oct. 18, p. 74). I hope his suggestion for a 10-day trial program for the use of Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) by business and general aviation aircraft will become a reality, but I am not optimistic. The federal government is irrational in too many ways, and this is but one.
S. Michael Scheeringa, who has been chief operating officer, also will be acting CEO of Cleveland-based Flight Options. He succeeds John P. Nahill, who has resigned.
The U.K.'s Transport Dept. and BAA are conducting trials at London Heathrow Airport with Rapiscan Secure 1000 backscatter X-ray imaging equipment that detects non-metallic weapons and plastic explosives hidden on a passenger's body. BAA is owner and operator of seven U.K. airports. Hawthorne, Calif.-based Rapiscan tested its equipment in 2002 at Orlando (Fla.) International Airport, according to a company spokesperson.
Air cargo has developed its own kind of language. FedEx, UPS and DHL are leading "integrators"--they integrate all aspects of pickup and delivery of packages and freight from door to door. Only integrators operate traditional hub-and-spoke operations, as FedEx does at Memphis, UPS at Louisville, and DHL in the U.S. at Wilmington, Ohio.
Isn't history interesting. First it was Boeing, using derivatives of the 737 and 767 to compete against the newer technology A320 and A330 family, and losing market share. Now it is Airbus, trying to use A330 derivatives to compete against newer technology 7E7. I predict the same market results. What goes around comes around.
Todd Stoner has been appointed vice president-sales and marketing, Mike Everhart director of distribution and channel management and Dennis Racine director of marketing and customer leadership for Textron Lycoming Engines, Williamsport, Pa. Stoner was a sales executive at Aventis and founding manager of San Diego-based Santarus. Everhart was an executive in quality assurance, materials, customer service and operations, while Racine was promoted from marketing manager.
Northrop Grumman and Boeing have teamed to compete for development of NASA's proposed Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), a space shuttle replacement that likely would take a modular approach to delivering humans to the Moon and eventually Mars. Under an agreement between the two companies, Northrop Grumman will lead the team through the first phase of the competition, with Boeing acting as major subcontractor as NASA demonstrates the basic CEV can operate safely with humans in low-Earth orbit.
Roger L. Frasca and Pierre Cauchi expressed their frustration over French and other European Union country financial support for the manufacture and sales of Airbus products (AW&ST Sept. 27, p. 8). I would like to add my vote against current policies.
The art of the airport hub is changing. The basics--feeder routes funneling passengers from small to larger airports--remain similar to the model that emerged with U.S. deregulation in 1978. But the concept has gone global and the competition has tightened.
PRIVATAIR TOOK DELIVERY OF A BOEING Business Jet 2 (BBJ2) on Nov. 4 in Seattle. Plans call for it to enter scheduled service on Jan. 16, 2005, for Swiss International Air Lines between Zurich and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. The jet's cabin has been configured for business class accommodations with 56 seats. The BBJ2 is leased from Boullioun Aviation Services. PrivatAir--which already operates five Boeing jets, four Airbus transports and 40 smaller business aircraft--is an international business aviation group based in Geneva.
Frequentis for development of aircraft identity tag system using embedded digital signal in VHF/HF voice transmissions to verify ID of sender. Spiralock Corp. for self-locking fasteners used on many programs, including Cassini-Huygens spacecraft. Avexus Inc. and Xybernaut Corp. for pairing to bring enhanced touchscreen capability and inspection software to the flight line. Georgia Institute of Technology team for development of synthetic jets, devices that mimic a stereo speaker-like device to move air to cool electronics.
Officials of Piaggio Aero Industries are optimistic the upgraded Avanti II business will create increased demand for the turboprop-powered airplane. Equipped with a Collins Pro Line 21 avionic system and more powerful Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6-66B engines beginning in 2006, the Avanti II will have a 398-kt. maximum speed, a 41,000-ft. ceiling and a 1,600-naut.-mi. range. Piaggio has received orders for six aircraft, including two from distributor Sloane Aviation in the U.K., and deliveries are set to begin next year.
Moshe Keret, president and CEO of Israel Aircraft Industries, received a lifetime achievement award in the field of exports from Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The award noted that since 1996, IAI has been profitable because of higher quality products, reduced production costs and shorter delivery times that have resulted in a $5.5-billion backlog of orders for IAI.
