The Spanish government is preparing a reorganization of its Izar naval shipyard that could lead to the entry of outside shareholders, according to local reports. Izar, formed in 2000 through the merger of naval and civil shipbuilders, has lost 476 million euros since then and was recently ordered to return 300 million euros in government aid. A partial privatization could attract interest from a number of firms angling for control of the fragmented European market, including U.S.
The Pentagon and the Swedish defense procurement agency are in discussions to upgrade Swedish air force C-130Hs under a contract that could total $120 million. The proposed foreign military sales deal would put the C-130s through Boeing's avionics modernization program, including upgrades of navigation and communications kits and head-up displays. Eight C-130s would be covered.
South Korea's air force has taken first delivery of a Russian Kamov Ka-32 helicopter for search-and-rescue missions. The aircraft was license-built by South Korea's LGI in cooperation with Russia's KumAPE, and received an avionics upgrade from Israel Aircraft Industries/Lahav LGI. Six more Ka-32s for the SAR role are due by 2005. The country operates more than 40 Ka-32s in civil roles.
Clayton Taylor is right on the mark concerning the high cost of management employees at the legacy carriers. You reported that domestic carrier Southwest Airlines has reduced its employee-to-aircraft ratio below 80 and that legacy carriers have an approximately 30% higher ratio (AW&ST July 19, pp. 12 and 72).
Federmann Enterprises Ltd. purchased all of Elron Electronic Industries Ltd.'s holdings in Elbit Systems Ltd. on July 28. Federmann paid $197 million for a 19.6% share of Elbit. Elron had made an agreement earlier to sell its Elbit stake to Tadiran Communications Ltd., but Federmann held a right of first refusal. Feder- mann's share of Elbit is now 49.8%.
Two trade unions plan to hold votes on whether to strike British Airways. The balloting--by the General Union and the Trade and General Workers Union--will be over a pay claim.
Maybe it is now time for Boeing to make up its mind about the fate of the 717 (nee McDonnell Douglas MD-95). For the time being, no one will argue that this program is not a success. But it could be far different if Boeing--in the wake of the presentation by Bombardier of its new 100-seater C Series at the Farnborough air show and the ongoing development of the Embraer 190 and 195--proceeds with derivatives of the 717 in order to build a family of 85-130-seat regional jets.
EADS has considerably cooled to the idea that the recently announced space alliance between Alcatel Space and Alenia Spazio should be construed as a stepping-stone to broader European consolidation (AW&ST July 5, p. 35). EADS Space CEO Francois Auque says such a move would give the combined companies more than 40% of the world satcom market, raising competition issues. Moreover, he argues that most European space powers, with the possible exception of France and Italy, will always insist on competitive bidding for institutional orders.
An influential defense committee, government ministers and officials are clashing over a hard-hitting report into the state of British military procurement. The Parliamentary Defense Committee claims the government's Smart Acquisition initiative to radically improve purchase of big-ticket items is failing, while the recent performance record of the agency responsible for its implementation is "woeful." Failure to adequately control cost, it warns, will result in further delays and program cancellations.
AirTran Airways finished the second quarter with a $31-million operating profit, 1% better than for the same period of 2003, but its conference call with securities analysts was as much about its competitors as itself.
Finmeccanica and GKN signed an agreement last week covering the Italian company's buyout of the latter's 50% stake in AgustaWestland. Finmeccanica has agreed to pay 1.50 billion euros ($1.81 billion) for the shares, plus 93 million euros for real estate used by the joint venture.
Competition has just caught fire for a new category of unmanned aircraft, with an estimated market of $16-45 billion over the next 10-15 years. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems started the blaze with the still unannounced construction start of an all-jet Predator C, and Northrop Grumman is fanning the flames with advanced planning for a competing aircraft that's expected to be a departure in design from the more sophisticated Global Hawk.
The changing map of the aerospace industry calls for changing methods and means of preparing the next generation of aerospace workers. Development of new aircraft has slowed significantly while upgrade modifications have grown, creating a need for flight test engineers and technicians more so than test pilots. More capability in working on and with aircraft systems is not just a goal for the future. That need is here now.
Byron F. Johnson has been named chairman of the audit committee of the board of directors of the ATA Holdings Corp. He succeeds Gilbert F. Viets, who resigned to become chief financial officer. Johnson is a retired partner in Arthur Andersen.
The U.K. Defense Ministry has placed a 180-million-pound ($327-million) order with Thales for Batch 4 of the Starstreak very short-range air-defense missile. Deliveries will start in 2007.
If former Boeing CFO Michael Sears pleads guilty later this month for his recruitment pitch to USAF acquisition official Darleen Druyun, he probably won't face jail time, industry officials watching the months-long saga believe. But those same representatives aren't so certain the same is true for Druyun, who failed to distance herself from negotiations on the KC-767 tanker while having employment discussions with Boeing. Her sentencing has been delayed until next month, after Sears' plea.
The Romanian government is discussing the purchase of a follow-on batch of EC 135 helicopters for police and ambulance applications. Prime Minister Adrian Nastase met with EADS CEO Philippe Camus and Jean-Paul Gut, head of EADS International, on July 23 at Eurocopter's plant in Brasov, where a new EC 135 assembly line was opened earlier this year. Romania now operates five EC 135s, and recently selected the type for further fleet expansion.
Israel's Arrow missile defense system intercepted a Scud target during a test last week at Point Mugu Sea Range, Calif. The test came under the Arrow System Improvement Program and had to take place in the U.S. owing to test range restrictions in Israel.
Leadership of the Air Line Pilots Assn. unit at Dayton, Ohio-based PSA Airlines has voted 8-1 in ratifying a proposal that sets out terms and conditions for operating 70-seat Bombardier CRJ700 aircraft. The agreement expands the 50-50 staffing ratio that exists for the 50-seater in the Jets for Jobs protocol with parent US Airways. It entitles furloughed US Airways pilots to fill half of the pilot slots assigned to the aircraft. PSA's 465-pilot workforce is augmented by approximately 130-140 furloughed mainline pilots who are flying CRJ200s.
French armaments agency DGA is reportedly close to signing an agreement to share costs of electronics obsolescence on the Rafale fighter generated by a long stretchout in development and service introduction. The modernization effort is estimated at several hundred million euros. The likelihood of a near-term agreement was confirmed by a 200-million euro ($242-million) through-life support contract for electronic equipment on the first 120 Rafale aircraft awarded late last month to Thales, the primary electronics supplier.
UAV operators have long dreamed of flying in civil airspace like piloted aircraft, but the challenge is to prove equivalent safety without incurring prohibitive cost.
Hector J. Cuellar (see photo) has been appointed president of RSM EquiCo Capital Markets, Costa Mesa, Calif. He was a managing director with aerospace accounts at the Los Angeles office of Banc of America Securities.
The head of the U.S. Transportation Command has set a December deadline by which U.S. Air Force C-130Js are to be upgraded for use operationally overseas.
An Airbus A310 Multi-Role Transport Tanker (MRTT) demonstrator last week performed "wet" inflight refueling tests for the first time, transferring fuel to a Tornado and an F/A-18. Six preowned A310s are being converted into MRTTs by an Airbus/Lufthansa Technik consortium for German and Canadian forces.
The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC), set up in the wake of the Columbia accident to backstop engineers in the space shuttle program, is reviewing "hundreds" of recurring anomalies that the program had determined don't affect flight safety to see if in fact they might. The NESC is expanding its support to other programs across the agency, as well.
