The International Assn. of Machinists, which declared "war" on United Airlines after the carrier said it wouldn't continue pension fund contributions while it remains in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, petitioned the bankruptcy court Aug. 11 to appoint a trustee to manage the airline. United's incumbent management is recognized by the court through Aug. 31 as the only entity entitled to develop and present a plan to reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy. United has applied for an extension through Dec. 31.
As "Reality Bites" reports, the Bush administration's plans for future manned space exploration are already foundering (AW&ST July 26, p. 39). Record budget deficits and ever-growing costs of returning the space shuttle to flight and completing the International Space Station have taken their toll.
Overcrowding and delays at Chicago O'Hare Airport--and, in 2000, at New York LaGuardia--could have been predicted if the FAA had adapted software it uses for managing air traffic operations and used it for simulations of airline scheduling practices, Transport Workers Union (TWU) dispatchers tell the FAA. "Many of the automation tools necessary to support analysis and human-in-the-loop simulations are already in place," the union says, and they should be used when the FAA assesses market-based demand-management concepts for the mid- and long terms.
Virgin Blue, feeling the heat of competition down under from the May launch of rival Qantas' Jetstar, has set its sights on the fast-growing economies of China and India to develop its own low-fare challengers to Qantas' Singapore-based discount airline, Jetstar Asia. With the announcement of India's civil aviation policy expected soon, the carrier reportedly held talks with India's only startup, Bangalore-based Air Deccan.
Alaska Aerospace Development Corp., Spaceport Systems International and Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority jointly won a $49-million award to provide orbital and suborbital launch services to the Pentagon and other government customers using surplus demilitarized ICBMs and commercial rocket motors. The contracts will allow the Air Force's Rocket Systems Launch Program to use commercial launch facilities to support national space research and development. The work is to be completed by mid-2011.
Lufthansa and Air-India have signed an initial agreement for an alliance to start Oct. 1 to develop India-Europe-U.S routes and integration of their respective frequent-flier programs. That's not surprising considering that Lufthansa is a founder of the Star Alliance. India is one of the "white spaces"--places where airline alliances haven't made an impact--on the Star Alliance's map of the world. Air-India Chairman and Managing Director V. Thulasidas commented recently that a hookup with Lufthansa could be the first step toward the airline's entry into Star Alliance.
Tour helicopters in New York are now flying under heightened security after credible and specific threats to them in the run-up to the Republican National Convention on Aug. 30. Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman Yolanda Clark says "there is some linkage" between the focus on the threats to the helicopters and those to the city's financial district revealed recently. In addition, she notes that events leading up to the November presidential elections--such as the upcoming political convention--provide "inviting targets" for terrorists.
NASA is moving ahead with the sole-source procurement of a Canadian robot to service the Hubble Space Telescope, gaining confidence the International Space Station (ISS) technology can perform all of the tasks shuttle-launched astronauts were scheduled to do before the Columbia accident changed everything.
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $32.6-million contract to purchase spares for the Advanced EHF program. The spares buy became necessary after the service cut Advanced EHF satellite production to three from five satellites, with the last delayed one year. The service also recently had to push back some Advanced EHF launches because of development problems with cryptological gear.
Joseph A. Czyzyk, who has been CEO of the Los Angeles-based Mercury Air Group., also will be interim chairman. He succeeds Dr. Philip J. Fagan, Jr., who has retired as chairman.
The saga of the U.S. Army's botched procurement process for the precision-guided mortar munition (PGMM) keeps getting more bizarre. After Alliant Techsystems was awarded a contract for the laser-guided mortar, losing bidder Lockheed Martin protested and its charges about shortcomings in the Army's source-selection methodology were upheld by the Government Accountability Office. The service agreed and has asked bidders to resubmit. The proposals were due late last week.
Despite a government pledge of 50 billion yen ($455 million) to develop a fully indigenous 30-50-seat regional jet, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is finding the market difficult to read. It was supposed to have chosen an airframe size by last March. Under the circumstances, part of the industry is now pushing for the airframe to be based on the P-X, an antisubmarine warfare aircraft Kawasaki Heavy Industries is developing as a replacement for Japan's P-3C Orions. If the P-X is the chosen airframe, it would seat 80-100 passengers--far larger than what MHI has in mind.
MOONEY AIRCRAFT Co. OFFICIALS ARE REASSURING existing and potential customers that the company, which has suffered a series of financial setbacks in recent years, is now financially stable. David Copeland, vice president of sales and marketing for the Kerrville, Tex.-based manufacturer, says Allen Financial Holdings, which owns Mooney, has approved the company's business plan for the next three years. In addition, Mooney has upgraded two of its airplanes and renamed them the Ovation 2 GX and the Bravo GX, both of which feature Garmin G1000 glass cockpits.
Cleveland Hopkins International Airport will be making a bid for Pacific Rim service, according to Cleveland Mayor Jane L. Campbell. At a celebration opening the extended Runway 6L-24R, now 9,000 ft., the mayor promised an extension of Runway 6R-24L to 11,000 ft. from 9,000, which would permit international flights without restrictions. The city is looking to complete the planned extension by 2007. A Continental Airlines transport provided the inaugural landing on the recently extended runway on Aug. 5.
I read with amazement the letters belittling the accomplishments of Burt Rutan and SpaceShipOne (AW&ST July 26, p. 6). Rutan is destined to be remembered as one of the most talented aeronautical designers and engineers of his time.
As a 777 captain flying nonstop New York-Hong Kong and Tokyo routes, I read with interest your article on ultra-long-range ops (AW&ST July 5, p. 40). Economics is why my airline uses type-rated first officers to fill my seat while I rest in the crew bunk. At issue is the legal view you presented that I be held accountable for the errors that may occur while I engage in a legal rest period. Although I have the highest confidence in my crews, it seems incredulous that any authority could prosecute me for actions that occurred while I was sleeping.
USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Charles Coolidge, Jr. (see photos), has been named vice president-Air Force programs for EADS North America and U.S. Army Lt. Col. (ret.) Norbert H. Fortier director of Army transport aircraft programs for EADS CASA North America. Coolidge was vice commander of Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Fortier was rotary wing branch chief for the Maritime and Rotary Wing Program Executive Office of the U.S. Special Operations Command.
BAE Systems will begin system design and development of the Tactical Signals Intelligence Payload (TSP) for the U.S. Army. The $27-million, three-year contract is focused on developing a subsystem to be used on Shadow-200 tactical unmanned aircraft. BAE Systems says TSP will use a scalable approach that could be adapted to other platforms.
For all the naysayers of the Burt Rutan/Paul Allen SpaceShipOne, the impact of disruptive innovations should not be underestimated. The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen summarizes well--"Generally disruptive innovations were technologically straightforward, consisting of off-the-shelf components put together in a product architecture that was often simpler than prior approaches. They offered less of what customers in established markets wanted and so could rarely be initially employed there.
American Airlines has agreed to pay a $3-million civil penalty to settle a U.S. Justice Dept. claim that the carrier violated the terms of a 1994 consent decree that targeted illegal fare signaling among airlines. Communications between airlines on fares and other competitive factors are illegal under antitrust laws, and the consent decree settled a 1992 suit charging that American and other carriers sent signals to each other through fare filings. The Justice Dept.
British Airways posted a 150-million-pound ($275-million) operating profit on 1.9 billion pounds in revenues for the first quarter of its 2004-05 fiscal year. "These are reasonable results," Chief Executive Rod Eddington says. However, soaring fuel prices are a concern despite a surcharge added to all long-haul fares. Nonpremium markets are highly price-sensitive, and lower yields in the next several months are expected to be "more than offset" by increasing traffic but further lowering costs is a prerequisite to sustainable profitability, BA executives stress.
Lockheed Martin delivered the first payload for the Space-Based Infrared System High (SBIRS High) program to Northrop Grumman for placement of payload sensors. The payload is intended for integration with a host satellite and eventual launch in a highly elliptical Earth orbit. SBIRS provides expanded capabilities for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (IRS) missions as well as tactical and strategic missile warning worldwide.
The Air Line Pilots Assn. says Northwest Airlines responded negatively toward its unique contract offer that would establish a new career path to the mainline cockpit. Northwest officials would not comment on either the airline's or the union's proposal. In recent weeks ALPA proposed an exclusive pay and benefits system for 70-seat-aircraft pilots and suggested that the 70-seaters serve as the career entry point for new-hires and affiliated pilots (AW&ST Aug. 2, p. 28).
The impact of high fuel prices on airline performance continues to worry Wall Street. As the oil futures price topped out at $44.60 per barrel, Michael Linenberg of Merrill Lynch started questioning carrier plans to boost capacity in coming months. He singled out weakened Delta Air Lines, which projected a 7% capacity gain in the second half of the year. Linenberg recognizes that legacy airlines such as Delta are trying to protect market share, fighting against the growing incursion of low-cost operators.
Tony H. Smith, Sr., has been named vice president-operations and finance for the Ohio Aerospace Institute in Cleveland. He was chief financial officer of Ideastream.
