Air Asia Aviation (AAA) of Thailand, another discount carrier that has appeared in Southeast Asia, now plans to launch service in early February instead of this month, according to CEO Tony Fernandes (AW&ST Dec. 1, 2003, p. 52). Unexplained regulatory hurdles are said to be the cause of the delay. AAA is backed jointly by Air Asia, a Malaysian discount carrier, and Shinawatra Corp., owned by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. It's to be based in Bangkok and start services with two Boeing 737-300s.
The Pentagon has delayed a $17-billion contract from the Air Force for 100 Boeing 767 air refueling tankers pending the outcome of an investigation. Last month, Boeing's board decided to build the new, fuel-efficient 7E7 mid-size airliner, which will replace the 757 and 767 (AW&ST Dec. 22, 2003, p. 22). Unfortunately, Boeing has not obtained any firm orders for the new plane. If the Air Force reopens the tanker contract for new bidders, Boeing should substitute 7E7s for 767s. Once the Air Force has become Boeing's first customer, the commercial airlines will follow.
SpaceDev, which provided the hybrid rocket motor technology that pushed the Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne past the sound barrier last month, is studying ways that technology could be used to establish a radio telescope at the Moon's south pole. Based on the first phase of a privately funded study aimed at capturing contracts for any U.S. government-backed initiative to return to Earth's satellite, the SpaceDev study concluded that a "Lunar Dish Lander" mission could be mounted for "significantly less" than $100 million.
Ronald L. Skates has become chairman of the audit committee of the Raytheon Co., Waltham, Mass. He succeeds Michael C. Ruettgers, who is executive chairman of EMC and will remain on the Raytheon board of directors. Skates is a director and audit committee member of the State Street Corp. and is a former president/CEO of the Data General Corp.
Egyptian and French investigators expect to retrieve this week the cockpit voice and digital flight recorders of a Flash Airlines 737-300 that crashed on Jan. 3, killing all 143 passengers and crewmembers on board. The 737 plunged into the Red Sea shortly after an early morning takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh airport.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Robert Wall (Washington)
European leaders say slow progress in negotiations with the U.S. aimed at overcoming satellite navigation interference and compatibility issues could lead to a new transatlantic quarrel. European and U.S. government representatives have held a series of meetings in recent weeks to hammer out differences over encrypted and public open signals to harmonize operations of the U.S. GPS and European Galileo satnav systems.
The number of fighter combat air patrols and alert locations was increased after the U.S. Homeland Security Dept. raised the national threat level to Orange (high) on Dec. 21. A Norad/Northcom spokesman acknowledgd that since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, fighters have been scrambled or diverted more than 1,600 times, and 33,000-plus fighter, AWACS and air-refueling tanker sorties have been flown.
After receiving what was termed "a stream of intelligence," federal authorities applied extra security precautions Jan. 6 to Delta Air Lines' Flight 043, which originated at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and landed safely at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
William J. Geary, who is chief engineer for aircraft interiors for the Boeing 737 and 757 programs, has been elected vice president of the Dearborn, Mich.-based Society of Manufacturing Engineers. He has been a member of the SME audit, budget and finance committees.
Dan Machacek has been appointed sales and marketing director, Larry Ptasienski market segment manager for MRO, Rich Bushman market segment manager for original equipment manufacturers, Jeff Lonergan military market segment manager and Cristina Rosenfeld-Bless marketing manager for international planning and development, all for the Aerospace and Aircraft Maintenance Div. of 3M, St. Paul, Minn. Machacek was global sales and marketing manager for the Aerospace Dept., while Ptasienski was a program manager in corporate research.
Rep. Jim Oberstar, ranking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, isn't waiting for Congress to reconvene next week to lay out an aviation safety agenda for 2004. The Minnesota Democrat seeks a General Accounting Office assessment of the FAA program, mandated by Congress after the 1998 Swissair crash, requiring U.S. airlines to conduct periodic safety audits of their foreign code-share partners. FAA oversight of the audits also is an issue. And Transportation Dept.
The first color Panoramic Camera image taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit from the surface of Mars shows the area directly ahead of the vehicle where it is expected to roll for science operations late this week (see p. 24). This NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory image, with 12 million pixels, is about four times more detailed than what was possible during the 1997 Pathfinder mission. The new JPL/Cornell University dual-eyed camera will enable high- resolution close-up imaging as well as telescopic views of distant terrain.
In their bid to advance solid-state lasers as a tactical weapon, U.S. Army researchers are planning two critical demonstrations to show the operational viability of their system. But the Air Force and Navy aren't ready to cede the field to their sister service. Both have solid-state laser projects underway and are building on some of the Army-owned infrastructure, mainly the High-Energy Laser Systems Test Facility (Helstf) at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
A cut of 70 aircraft from the early purchases of Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and a transfer of $5.1 billion to research and development from production have been approved by a top Pentagon civilian as part of planning for the Fiscal 2005 defense budget.
James C. Clarke (see photo) has been named senior vice president/chief financial officer of Aloha Airlines. He held the same positions at Air Wisconsin.
US Airways will be leasing 10 gates and related terminal/support facilities at Pittsburgh International Airport through 2018. The long-term agreement replaces a contract that was rejected under US Airways' Chapter 11 reorganization. US Airways and US Airways Express carriers use another 40 gates at the airport, all of which will be leased on a month-to-month, nonsignatory basis.
Airline pilots who have completed upset recovery training may discover that a real aircraft actually responds quite differently than their companies' motion-base simulators, possibly leading to inadvertent loss of control during an actual inflight emergency. Further, pilots can be trained to use rudder inappropriately and actually cause structural damage or loss of a tail fin by aggressively cycling the rudder during an upset event.
John R. Parsons (see photo) has been named senior vice president of the Engineering and Technology Group of The Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, Calif. He will succeed Wanda M. Austin, who is to become senior vice president of Chantilly, Va.-based National Systems, effective Apr. 1 upon the retirement of Jon H. Bryson. John R. Wormington (see photo) has become vice president-program assessment. He has been executive director of program executability. Linda R. Drake has been appointed general manager of the Satellite and Launch Control Div., and Dennis A. Plunkett and Rami R.
India will test the Agni III, a 3,000-km. (1,860-mi.)-range version of its surface-to-surface missile fleet in March. Full-fledged trials of its surface-to-air Akash and Nag anti-tank missiles are also set to begin then. Agni I (700-km. range) and Agni II (1,500-2,000-km.) are currently being introduced. V.K. Atre, the defense ministry's scientific advisor, said unspecified technical issues had been overcome on the Akash program.
The FAA is revising instrument flight rules to allow--not mandate--use of enhanced flight vision systems (EFVS) when the airport environment is not visible using natural vision. The agency's final rule, published Jan. 9, allows EFVS-equipped aircraft to operate below decision height and minimum descent altitude when involved in other than Category 2 or 3 straight-in approaches. The rule affects Parts 91, 121, 125 and 135 operators, who are expected to continue heated debate about the operational and safety benefits of the new technology.
One thing the Pentagon never seems to tire of is Army aviation-related studies. Among the new ones is an Air Maneuver Transport or Joint Vertical-Lift task force. The assessment is intended to bring together future Army and Marine Corps heavy-lift needs in the 2010-15 timeframe, or later. The issue has been scrutinized before, but funding was never available to begin a development project. And, once again, funding looks bleak, Army officials note.
The recent series of cancellations, delays and in some cases fighter escorts for British Airways, Air France and AeroMexico flights reveal shortcomings in current approaches to security on both sides of the Atlantic, according to several security experts.
Thomas M. Culligan (see photo), who is executive vice president-business development of the Raytheon Co. and CEO of Arlington, Va.-based Raytheon International Inc., has been named to a two-year term as chairman of the board of the National Defense Industrial Assn.
