When Aviation Week & Space Technology last took the collective pulse of the U.S.' six legacy hub-and-spoke airlines in November 2002, their vital signs were weak. All of the operators were suffering from high labor and fuel costs, a recession, the lingering aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks, grinding competition from low-fare rivals and, except for one or two of the companies, weak management. Most of the conditions over which carriers have little or no control have improved or don't exist now, and demand for travel is rebounding.
If the FAA budget request for Fiscal 2005 isn't dead on arrival in Congress, it's gravely ill. Sending recommendations to the House Budget Committee, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee dismisses facilities and equipment cutbacks as "extremely shortsighted" and calls for at least the $2.993 billion the administration proposed a year ago and Congress authorized during the winter. This would restore $493 million removed to reduce the federal deficit (AW&ST Feb. 9, p. 26).
Air France has ceased staffing transatlantic flights between Paris and Cincinnati with personnel born in 10 Middle Eastern countries. The exclusion serves as "a practical matter" to avoid inconvenience and possibly prevent delays related to tight security in the U.S., according to an Air France representative. Since September 2002, more than 300,000 people entering the U.S. on flights have been fingerprinted and photographed as foreign nationals under the U.S. Visitor and Immigration Status Indicator Technology (U.S.
Air Canada will have preferred access to all 14 gates in Toronto Pearson Airport's new terminal under a Feb. 23 court decision that effectively excludes low-fare competitor WestJet Airlines from the new facility. The Greater Toronto Airport Authority wanted Air Canada and WestJet to share six of the gates, but Air Canada said this would reduce its revenues and increase its costs by a total of $64 million. WestJet, based in western Canada, intends to make Toronto its eastern hub, further challenging Air Canada's attempts to restructure under bankruptcy protection.
NASA is intent on finding a way to perform an in-space repair of the leading edges of the shuttle wings if they are damaged on ascent. Instead, why don't they prevent objects from making contact with the wings by covering the leading edges with gloves that can be discarded in space--gloves designed to be held in place by aerodynamic forces just as leading edge slats on aircraft remain retracted until airspeed is reduced. Once in orbit, the gloves could be removed with the remote arm or by an astronaut.
China's second manned space flight, set for launch in 2005, will carry two astronauts on a 5-7-day mission, according to Wang Yongzhi, chief designer of the overall manned program for the People's Liberation Army. This news marks a shift from an earlier Chinese industry forecast that the second mission could carry a crew of three for at least seven days aloft. Wang also reaffirmed that China plans to use the Shenzhou manned flight hardware to create a temporary Chinese orbiting outpost before developing a larger Chinese space station.
BAE Systems has been awarded a contract to supply Advanced Airborne Reconnaissance Systems (AARS), ground processing capability and integrated logistics support to the Royal Air Force of Oman. The foreign military sales contract was issued by the Aeronautical Systems Center of Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio. AARS is an intelligence-gathering system providing multiple fields of view in a single sensor package. The digital recon system will replace the Oman RAF's wet film system. Its output is compatible with U.S.
"There's no question whatsoever in Delta's mind that we are in the midst of a profound, fundamental and truly irreversible series of changes in which the value proposition to the investors and the customers is changed unalterably. In this new world some airlines are winning and some airlines are losing, and I would say that Delta is still positioning for long-term success."
Long home to an efficient, consistently profitable, government-controlled airline supported by an airport with an equal reputation, Singapore's all-important air transport industry is experiencing some cracks in its foundation. But the establishment is striking back.
The Transportation Security Administration, in the eye of a political-policy privacy storm as it tries to test and deploy Capps II (Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System) to pluck potential terrorists out of passenger lines at airports, draws criticism from its government parent, the Homeland Security Dept., for its role in last year's JetBlue passenger data imbroglio.
Gordon Bethune, chairman/CEO of Continental Airlines and former president of the Wings Club, has been named to receive the New York-based club's 2004 Distinguished Achievement Award for accomplishments in aviation and astronautics. Bethune will be cited for the consumer affairs and managerial achievements that Continental has gained during his leadership.
Carla Barkhurst has been promoted to vice president from senior director of customer service and Kristen S. Brookshire to vice president from senior director of inflight for the Mesa Air Group.
Alexandre Monnier has become general manager of Washington-based 2004 Bombardier Skyjet. He was director of marketing and business development for Bombardier Flexjet.
For BAE Systems, 2003 proved to be a "more satisfactory" financial year, according to chairman Sir Richard Evans. Its preliminary results showed a pretax profit of 233 million pounds ($436 million), compared with a pretax loss of 616 million pounds for the previous year. Sales stood at 12.57 billion pounds, up from 12.14 billion pounds. A successor to Evans is to be named by May.
Marvin Moist has been appointed interim president of SI Technologies Inc., Tustin, Calif. He succeeds Rick A. Beets, who has resigned but will remain on the board of directors. Moist has been general manager of the Load Cell Div.
6 Correspondence 7 Who's Where 8-9 Market Focus 11 Industry Outlook 13 Airline Outlook 14-15 World News Roundup 17 In Orbit 19 Washington Outlook 55 Classified 56 Contact Us 57 Aerospace Calendar
The two-man crew of the International Space Station curtailed the first extravehicular activity that left the station unoccupied after the cooling system on one of their Russian spacesuits failed. Controllers in Moscow cut short the Feb. 26 EVA by at least 1 hr. 50 min. after telemetry showed the sublimator in cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri's suit had stopped removing heat and humidity. To avoid overheating, Kaleri stood still while NASA's Mike Foale finished installing a space-exposure experiment.
When your emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection depends ultimately on a $1.6-billion loan guarantee from the federal government, as United Airlines' does, you tend to pay attention when 19 senators and a large number of representatives ask you to reconsider your plan to increase premiums for retiree health insurance.
A growing worldwide demand for new military helicopters, combined with large-scale U.S. reengining requirements, will propel an otherwise flat turboshaft engine market to higher levels during the coming decade, according to a Forecast International market analysis. "The Market for Aviation Turboshaft Engines: 2004-13" points to several key U.S. military programs that will drive production of current-technology turboshaft engines; it also describes emerging military requirements mandating more efficient powerplant designs.
In a long-overdue initiative delayed by aerospace sector doldrums, the French government will soon sell part of the Snecma propulsion group to private investors. Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and her economic affairs peer, Francis Mer, stated jointly in a clever semantic exercise on Feb. 24 that they will "begin opening Snecma's capital" and that the initial public offering (IPO) would involve "a substantial share" of the government's 97% stake in the company.
Labor is adjusting reluctantly to management demands for wage cuts and productivity gains in this latest airline crisis. As contract negotiations heat up in the months ahead, countdowns, bluffs and eleventh-hour dueling may evoke images of doomsday, but unions are likely to continue exchanging pay cuts for job security.
