Sean M. Bond (see photo) has been appointed vice president/general manager of aerospace controls for BAE Systems Platform Solutions, Johnson City, N.Y. He was V-22 Osprey program director in Fort Worth for Bell Helicopter Textron and the program's deputy site manager with joint developer Boeing in Philadelphia.
Average yields for Europe's regional airlines are expected to continue to rebound based on a rising demand in air travel in the first half of the year. The downside to this rosy scenario is that rising fuel prices are expected to curtail expansion plans.
A multi-agency draft plan to transform the U.S. air transportation system by 2025 is percolating in the nation's capital. While many industry officials endorse the high-level effort, they worry that traffic growth will outpace the envisioned makeover. The Joint Planning and Development Office is coordinating the wide-ranging government-industry endeavor to solve the thorny problem of modernizing the ATC system. JPDO is now fine-tuning a draft of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS) plan, which will be delivered to Congress by year-end.
Sharon Eggleston of Brunswick, Maine, who is technical liaison on the Aegis destroyer program for the Lockheed Martin Corp., has received the Aerospace Awareness Award from Washington-based Women in Aerospace. The award recognizes Eggleston's "excellence in outreach and building awareness of aerospace programs and developments." She was credited with spending her off-hours planning educational space activities for children such as Space Day events for 18 schools in Maine and the International Space Station EarthKAM program.
Canada hopes to gain a little more time to use the Hubble Space Telescope if NASA employs Canadian robotic technology developed for the International Space Station to service the orbiting observatory. Savinder Sachdev of the Canadian Space Agency says negotiations with NASA over use of Canada's robotic infrastructure for development and operation of a servicing mission could lead to special consideration for Canadian astronomers in dividing up precious observing time. The U.S.
An item in World News Roundup (AW&ST Sept. 20, p. 20) stated incorrectly the role that a Thales-Smiths Aerospace team is playing in development of a flight management system. Smiths is collaborating with Thales to supply FMS units for Airbus A320-family and A330-340 aircraft, but not for the A400M.
The asymmetric advantage that "space" affords the U.S. is at risk unless a full spectrum of national security space systems is modernized. However, projected needs exceed anticipated budget allocations, and Congress is increasingly skeptical about the cost and technical feasibility of advanced space systems, according to military space officials.
Japan is expected to decide by December whether to allocate $180 million in the fiscal 2005 budget that starts next April to begin construction of a second runway at Kansai International Airport. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport wants to get underway, but the Finance Ministry wants local government participation, and all of them say they don't have the money. Although designed as a second major hub for Japan, Kansai's traffic levels haven't lived up to expectations.
Thomas V. Gilboy has been named vice president/chief financial officer of Herley Industries Inc., Lancaster, Pa. He has been CFO of the Del Global Technologies Corp., Valhalla, N.Y.
European consolidation in the defense electronics business is back in the pot following BAE Systems and Finmeccanica abandoning efforts to cook up a joint company in the sector. Two years of increasingly tortuous talks to craft a deal bundling their respective avionics and radar, command and control, and communications business have proved nearly fruitless.
The Pentagon's next generation of manned and unmanned aircraft will need stealth more than ever--but tailored for new environments--in particular, daytime low-altitude and long-endurance operations. That means reducing radar cross section and cutting infrared signature won't be enough. As a result, "visual stealth" is reemerging as a major concern for military and aerospace planners.
With local governments squabbling about a solution, the Indian air force is mired in a quandary posed by an open landfill that is preventing it from shifting to its Hindon AB, 20 km. (12 mi.) from New Delhi. "We have 25 men working in shifts round-the-clock to keep the sky clear of birds because they are a hazard to all kinds of aircraft," says an air force official. The problem is hindering endurance training by pilots and could pose a threat to security.
British-based defense aerospace and engineering group Smiths is buying U.S. landing gear specialist Integrated Aerospace for $110 million. The purchase will be Smiths' seventh in 2004.
An NTSB team is probing what caused the Oct. 19 crash of a BAe-3201 Jetstream 323EP on approach to Kirksville (Mo.) Regional Airport. The aircraft, Reg. N875JX, departed Lambert-St. Louis International Airport doing business as American Connection scheduled passenger Flight 5966 to Kirksville. The aircraft was operated by Smyrna, Tenn.-based Corporate Airlines, which has a fleet of Jetstream 32s.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace (STA) and China Eastern Airlines (CEA) have completed formation of a joint-venture overhaul and maintenance affiliate, Shanghai Technologies Aerospace Co. (Starco), they first discussed in 2003. Starco expects to take its first aircraft in at Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport next month, when it is to receive approval to operate from the Civil Aviation Authority of China.
Inspector General says the Transportation Security Administration overpaid Boeing more than $49 million for installing thousands of explosives detection systems (EDS) in U.S. airports. The IG criticizes TSA for not following sound contracting policies. In fact, TSA apparently paid Boeing Services Co. $44 million in award fees without conducting performance reviews. The contract involved installation of 1,100 EDS and up to 6,000 explosives trace detection machines over a seven-month period. This was to meet a deadline of Dec.
Air Canada's first Airbus A340-500 cruises over the Toulouse region of southwest France on a pre-delivery flight. The carrier launched A340-500 service on Aug. 1, with daily nonstop flights from Toronto to Hong Kong (see p. 68). The airline has installed lie-flat seats in first-class cabin and personal video monitors at each economy-class seat of the ultra long-range jetliner. Airbus photo.
The U.S. military may have a huge advantage in weaponry in battling insurgents in Iraq, but when it comes to using cellular communications they are "at least as good as we," says Lt. Gen. William Wallace, commanding general of the Army Combined Arms Center and former commander of V Corps. Adversaries may actually be using networks more effectively to collaborate and to build hard-to-detect communications, he adds. Wallace believes others are probably monitoring to see what can be learned from these activities. The U.S. is learning on the fly as well.
American Express forecasts that global business travel will see a steady revival next year and that published prices for air travel and hotel lodgings will "rise incrementally." In its global business travel forecast, the company estimates the price for international business-class seats will rise 2-5% with the highest rate of growth of 4-5% occurring in the Asia-Pacific region versus 2-5% in North America and 2-4% in Europe. Low-cost carriers will continue to place a dampening effect on industry attempts to raise fares, however, according to the just released report.
It is increasingly apparent to Defense Dept. officials that there is a gaping hole in the Pentagon's aviation force structure. There are no light transports with sufficient power to lift cargo at high altitudes and with the rugged construction to survive the short, rough runways that dot Africa or South and Central Americas.
Northrop Grumman has snagged a $207.7-million contract to provide low- rate initial production of another Global Hawk RQ-4A unmanned reconnaissance aircraft with a basic integrated sensor suite, an additional two RQ-4B with signals intelligence and moving target indicator capability, a fourth aircraft with an enhanced integrated sensor suite and a clip-in hyperwide sensor. Also included is a mission control element, launch recovery element, spare basic integrated sensor suite and support equipment and spares.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has initiated talks with the U.S. aimed at finding an inexpensive way to create more airport capacity for Tokyo. The immediate focus is the U.S. Air Force Yokota AB outside Tokyo. But the talks have wider implications, including reducing the footprint of U.S. military operations in Okinawa. For several years, Tokyo Mayor Shintaro Ishihara has proposed that Yokota be turned into a joint civil-military airport as a way to relieve traffic strain at Tokyo's Haneda airport, the nation's most important hub.
It bodes well that the NASA Langley Research Center will be working with the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) to develop standards for composites used in aircraft (AW&ST Sept. 6, p. 15). But also desperately needed are recommendations for crucial testing methods to be used in manufacturing and maintenance.
The U.S. Navy and the Italian government are discussing potential cooperation on the next-generation anti-radar missile and extending a long-running relationship in this arena.
According to George Hamlin, the pedigree of being a former regulated airline has a direct correlation with bankruptcy. He notes that only three of 19 have not gone bankrupt. Having been a pilot for TWA, Eastern and United during the past 25 years, one might think I would agree. I do not.
