Lufthansa Cargo and DHL are planning a strategic network alliance that will significantly boost DHL's ambitions in the global parcel express market while positioning the Lufthansa freight affiliate for an expected rebound in world air cargo traffic growth.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT CO. AND NETJETS have signed a 10-year maintenance contract covering the Hawker 1000, 800XP and 400XP business jets used in NetJet's fractional ownership program. Heavy maintenance for the Hawker 1000 and 800XP will be accomplished at Raytheon's Little Rock, Ark., facility, while the company's Tampa Beach, Fla., site will handle work on the smaller 400XP. Since December 2003, NetJets has placed orders for 50 Hawker 400XP and 10 800XP jets. Deliveries of the 400XP begin this year and will continue through 2009, according to Raytheon.
Marion C. Blakey is an FAA administrator with a mission in Asia this week: an aviation tour of Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Her goal: partnership-building with key Asian countries that are "vital to raising the global level of safety." Blakey starts her mission as keynote speaker at the International Air Transport Assn.'s conference that kicks off Asian Aerospace, the industry gathering in Singapore (see p. 54). The FAA chief then meets with government and industry officials to learn how the region's aviation systems work--and what needs fixing.
NASA will be hard-pressed to meet President Bush's 2010 retirement date for the shuttle as it struggles to resume flying, install upgrades to enhance safety and meet a challenging schedule for space station assembly.
It is not vibration per se that is the enemy of airplanes and spacecraft. It is the stripping and loosening of bolts over the long term that does the damage to satellites, engines and avionics racks.
The United Airlines Indianapolis Maintenance Center, vacated last May when the airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, is getting a second chance and a fresh marketing push. An agreement with the trustee bond holders allows Indianapolis Airport Authority to manage its redevelopment. The authority will have access to $14 million that can be used for operating costs and capital improvements to attract a new tenant. In 1995, the airport authority issued bonds valued at $220 million to build and equip the state-of-the-art maintenance center.
Scientists hopeful of pushing cosmology another step or two are likely to decry the Bush administration's plans to refocus NASA on robotic and human exploration of the Moon and Mars. Among the missions delayed by the new set of priorities would be the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, a joint mission with the European Space Agency to study gravitational waves, that would be deferred one year.
Recent advancements in solid-state, high-energy pulsed lasers that dissipate heat rapidly will enable the deployment of mobile directed-energy weapon systems that heretofore have been limited to science fiction. When fielded, they are expected to revolutionize the battlefield, solving real-world tactical problems that range from small-unit air defense to clearing land mines.
Cancellation of the space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is another consequence of the Columbia tragedy. NASA also now considers proactive deorbit of the HST to be essential to the safety of those on the ground.
SPS Technologies has launched an updated version of its online fastener finder. This web application offers users the ability to search and view data sheets for standard fasteners manufactured by the company's Aerospace Fasteners Group. Specific fasteners may be located using a dynamic parameter search function organized by product subcategory. Results are displayed by type, strength and material, along with a link to the product's data sheet. Enhancements to the web site include the ability to quickly locate the data sheet for the type of fastener required.
The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity should be getting up close and personal with the rocky rim of its mini-crater this week, taking direct-contact measurements of the first bedrock seen on Mars at sites determined by a week-long survey of the outcrop.
Steve DeLoach has been promoted to director of sales-East Coast Maintenance Sales Team, Doc Palm to director of sales-Midwest maintenance Sales Team and Brian Schank to director of sales-West Coast Maintenance sales Team, all for Gulfstream Aerospace, Savannah, Ga. DeLoach was district manager for Eastern U.S. service center sales, while Palm was general sales manager for service center sales and Schank was Western U.S. sales manager for service center sales. John Cooreman and Mark Fischer have become national avionics sales managers.
In All Nippon Airways' battle with rival Japan Airlines for the lucrative China market, ANA has signed a code-sharing agreement with the capital city's home-town carrier, Air China, that includes trades on airport lounges and mileage programs. ANA operates about 100 flights a week to seven Chinese cities; Beijing-based Air China serves six Japanese destinations with 74 flights a week.
John Thomas Cunningham has been appointed director of business development for the Washington-based Universal Air Travel Plan Inc. He succeeds Stephen S. Smith, who has become director of solutions management for Atlanta-based TRX. Cunningham was manager of corporate card market research and product development.
Boeing has shipped to suppliers the first half of the Catia designs for its 777-200LR competitor to the Airbus A340-500. They will use the software to design parts and components that are unique to the aircraft. The next milestone will be the 90% design completion, which typically signals when parts manufacturing can begin. Aircraft production is to start in October and flight testing in the first quarter of 2005. The 301-seat-200LR will be powered by the GE90-110B, a variant of the powerplant on its long-range cousin, the 777-300ER.
Willy Schnyder has been named vice president of marketing and sales for Switzerland for Swiss International Air Lines. He succeeds Stefan Gutknecht, who will become vice president for the Swiss/French/German border region.
Scientists hopeful of pushing cosmology another step or two are likely to decry the Bush administration's plans to refocus NASA on robotic and human exploration of the Moon and Mars. Among the missions delayed by the new set of priorities would be the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, a joint mission with the European Space Agency to study gravitational waves, that would be deferred one year.
Unified Defense 04, a $1.5-million U.S. Northern Command-led homeland defense exercise that ends this week, is challenging more than 50 federal, state and local organizations to cooperatively deal with both natural and terrorist-caused disasters. Most of the UD-04 events are simulations, such as the mock detonation of a 3-5-kiloton nuclear weapon smuggled into Texas, a hurricane hitting the Gulf of Mexico coast or a radical environmentalist action at an Alaskan port.
If the FAA has its way, cash-strapped airlines will have to find $600-700 million in the next seven years to pay for onboard fuel tank inerting systems. The FAA later this year plans to propose a rule that would mandate retrofit of the system on 3,814 transports in the U.S. fleet at a cost of $140,000-220,000 per aircraft. A fuel tank inerting system reduces the amount of oxygen in the tank, a source of flammability, with an inert gas like nitrogen to prevent ignition of fuel vapors.
All Nippon Airways expects to pay its first corporate dividend in seven years, in the fiscal year that ends Mar. 31. ANA's corporate plan through fiscal 2007 includes streamlining its fleet to three types: the Boeing 737 and 777 and a midsize aircraft that Boeing hopes will be the 7E7. Besides new routes to China, ANA's strategy includes introducing a common brand, moving to a new terminal at Tokyo's Haneda Airport and creating a short-haul Asian hub at Nagoya's new Central Japan International Airport.
