A second straight month of record growth in passenger traffic at Denver International Airport is representative of increases across the U.S., fueling concerns about the return of airport congestion this year. A total of 3,088,125 passengers used DIA in January, the first time the Denver market has ever topped the three-million mark, and 11.1% higher than the same period a year ago. December was Denver's busiest for that month, as well, boosting DIA's 2003 growth to 5.2%.
Steve Falteisek, Lisa Rice and Patrick Zimmerman have been named application development engineers for the MRO, military and OEM segments, respectively, for the 3M Aerospace and Aircraft Maintenance Div., St. Paul, Minn.
The National Academy of Sciences will reassess a decision by NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe to cancel a final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope and also examine other non-shuttle related Hubble life-extension moves. That reassessment is coming in the wake of a Senate subcommittee request for a more narrowly focused shuttle servicing study--which O'Keefe rejected--and a judgment by Columbia Accident Investigation Board Chairman Harold Gehman, that O'Keefe's earlier decision may not necessarily be an open-and-shut case.
Paul Bevilaqua (see photo), chief engineer of Advanced Development Projects at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. of Fort Worth, has received Design News magazine's Engineer of the Year Award. He was credited with playing a leading role in creating the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter concept by inventing the shaft-driven lift fan and showing how it could be used to design a family of short-takeoff/vertical landing and conventional variants of the same aircraft.
Unmanned stealth aircraft, directed-energy weapons and computer attack are or will become staples in the arsenal of U.S. Air Forces in Europe. They are part of the equation that will let the U.S. close bases in Europe, cut the number of troops there, and yet retain the ability to strike swiftly anywhere in the world.
Peter Turner has been appointed vice president for Asia-Pacific for International Aero Engines, East Hartford, Conn. He succeeds Robert Watson, who has returned to Rolls-Royce plc. Turner was director of business development for corporate aircraft at Rolls-Royce North America Inc.
The Air Force has given full-rate production approval to Lockheed Martin's Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, after it completed a problematic operational test phase. The service this year plans to buy 240 missiles at a cost of $404,000 each. USAF is asking to buy 360 Jassms next year.
Airbus U.K. has run into difficulty over its plans to deliver the wing for the Airbus A380. The British Environment Agency has refused to approve Airbus' request to dredge a nearby river which would allow barge access. The wing would then be shipped to France by sea.
Boeing's drive for systems commonality on the 7E7 will extend--for the first time--to include common attach points for engine types so customers can, theoretically, switch engines from different manufacturers within 24 hr.
Samsung Thales has won a follow-on 470-million-euro ($580-million) contract to supply search and track hardware for Batch 2 of South Korea's K-SAM short-range air defense system.
Matt Hartnett has become vice president-preowned sales for Gulfstream Aerospace, Savannah, Ga. He has been a sales executive for O'Gara Aviation and was vice president-preowned aircraft sales for Bombardier Aerospace.
After a decade of research and testing, Eurocopter says it is close to introducing technology that will make it possible to use helicopters under all weather conditions, substantially increasing their cost-effectiveness and reducing safety risk.
Phillip Woodruff, a senior FAA manager, has been named to receive the 2003 Frank G. Brewer Trophy for aerospace education from the Arlington, Va.-based National Aeronautic Assn. He was cited for his work as an aviation and space education adviser and program director, and in fostering partnerships among government, industry and education. Woodruff's efforts have led to the creation of aviation education programs in every state, including more than 100 Aerospace Education Resource Centers for teachers and more than 100 Aviation Career Education Academies for youth.
The two industry teams competing for the British Defense Minstry's 800-million-pound ($1.4-billion) Watchkeeper recon unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program are due to submit final bids Mar. 18. Teams led by Thales and Northrop Grumman are vying for the Watchkeeper, which is intended to provide armed forces with a key tactical intelligence surveillance target acquisition and recon (ISTAR). Final selection is now expected by the fourth quarter of this year, with elements of the system to enter service in 2006.
Expectations that the U.S. will field a new generation of stealthy, long-endurance unmanned reconnaissance aircraft are dying, perhaps already dead, say officials mapping Raytheon's technological future.
Two general paths exist for the return to the Moon proposed by President Bush. One is the familiar "policy" path that has NASA playing the lead role. NASA's primary objectives lie in the worlds of exploration and science, as well as human permanence in deep space, objectives I fully endorse. But a parallel "private" path would have investors taking the financial lead and a corporate management structure providing implementation in cooperation with universities and appropriate government research and regulatory agencies.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Douglas Barrie (London)
With orders and earnings up sharply, and currency and financing risks seemingly under control, EADS has reaffirmed that it is set for a strong recovery. The company last week reported an 8% rise in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for 2003 and a doubling of orders, to 61 billion euros ($75 billion). Free cash flow before customer financing tripled, to 2.1 billion euros, and net income reached 152 million euros, against a 299-million-euro loss in 2002.
After many years in the red, Eurofly's numbers have turned black. The charter operation is 80% owned by a Profilo Bank private equity fund and 20% by Alitalia. In 2003, Eurofly had a 2.8-million-euro ($3.4-million) profit on revenues of 160 million euros, compared with 110 million in revenues and a 6-million-euro loss in 2002, according to CEO Augusto Angioletti. The airline's new fleet comprises two Airbus A330s and five A320s, all leased, and is supplemented with five MD-82s, acquired from Alitalia for $2 million each.
South Korea and Boeing have finalized a $70-million contract for Standoff Land-Attack Missile-Expanded Response weapons for use on F-15Ks. The deal is the first export of SLAM-ER.
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Time is running out on the Pentagon's efforts to avert NASA's mothballing of wind tunnels, viewed by the military as critical for development of aircraft and helicopters.
Michael H. Zunk has been promoted to federal security director from deputy director at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Other new FSDs are: Detroit International Airport, Robert E. Ball, who was vice president-station operations in Minneapolis for Northwest Airlines; Billings (Mont.) Airport, John S. Kinney, who was assistant FSD at Chicago Midway Airport; and Lihue (Hawaii) Airport, John C. Kelley, who was deputy FSD at San Diego International Airport.
Robert R. Allardice is among the U.S. Air Force colonels who have been nominated to become brigadier generals. He is commander of the 62nd Airlift Wing of the Air Mobility Command (AMC), McChord AFB., Wash. Others are: C.D. Alston, commander of the 341st Space Wing, Air Force Space Command (AFSC), Malmstrom AFB, Mont.; Thomas K. Andersen, executive assistant to the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt AFB, Neb.; Brooks L. Bash, commander of the 437th Airlift Wing of AMC, Charleston AFB, S.C.; Michael J.
There appears virtually nothing that would stop the Pentagon from declaring its national missile defense system operationally available around September. The Pentagon plans only one more intercept attempt before then. The last one was in December 2002 and it failed. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) bemoans the fact that numerous planned intercept attempts have been put off until after September. The Pentagon's testing director, Thomas P.
The European Space Agency has confirmed that perfect orbital injection of its Rosetta comet probe will permit the spacecraft to perform two asteroid flybys on its way to the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014 (AW&ST Mar. 8, p. 29). Rosetta will visit Steins, a small asteroid a few kilometers in diameter, on Sept. 5, 2008, and Lutetia, a larger body 100 km. long, on July 10, 2010.
