EUROPEAN DELAYS Despite weak traffic, the on-time performance of European carriers is deteriorating. For example, in the first half of this year, as many as 26% of departures on France's domestic route system were delayed for more than 15 min.--compared with 24.2% in the same period last year. The European Commission, facing mounting public discontent with delays, plans to establish in the next three months a Community Air Passenger Reporting System. It is designed to study delays and help determine solutions.
Deutsche Post is seeking the help of the European Commission to thwart action by U.S. rivals FedEx and UPS to have the operating license of Miami-based Astar Air Cargo revoked.
The number of aircraft the U.S. Navy intends to buy to replace P-3s has dwindled to about 100 and could drop further as the service offloads mission to unmanned aircraft and the Army-led Aerial Common Sensor (ACS).
USAF Maj. Gen. Garry R. Trexler has been recommended for promotion to lieutenant general with the combined assignment as deputy commander of the U.N. Command in South Korea, deputy commander of U.S. Forces in South Korea, commander of the Air Component Command in South Korea and commander of the Seventh Air Force, Pacific Air Forces, Osan AB, South Korea. He is director of air and space operations at Headquarters Pacific Air Forces, Hickam AFB, Hawaii. Maj. Gen.
Alexey Komarov (Moscow), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
Russia and France have moved to reinforce cooperation in space, civil aerospace and military aviation, further tightening the aerospace/defense ties between the two countries. Although few concrete steps were taken, delegations meeting at bilateral trade talks in Moscow last week approved several measures that could have significant import later.
The race to provide the Army's next-generation intelligence aircraft is set to begin in earnest, with the service spelling out to Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman-led teams exactly what it wants in the system.
W.W. Boisture, Jr., has become president of Columbus, Ohio-based Berkshire Hathaway's NetJets operations in North America. He was president of Gulfstream Aerospace.
Dan Murphy has become CEO of Alliant Techsystems of Minneapolis. He succeeds Paul David Miller, who will remain chairman. Thomas R. Wilson succeeds Murphy as group vice president-Precision Systems. Wilson was president of ATK Missile Systems.
David Ewald, who helped create Aviation Week's Business & Commercial Aviation magazine in 1958, is among the five men named to receive First Century of Flight Awards from the Washington-based National Business Aviation Assn. Ewald currently is a partner in Specialized Publications Co. In 1989, he co-founded Flight Training magazine. The other honorees are: Serge Dassault, chairman/CEO of France-based Dassault Group; Jerome F. Lederer, who began his career in 1926 as an aeronautical engineer with the U.S.
TSA SLIM-DOWN The Transportation Security Administration has 47,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) personnel working on baggage and passenger screening now and must slim down to 45,000 by the end of Fiscal 2004, according to a congressional mandate. TSA Deputy Administrator Stephen J. McHale said the agency plans to maintain the 47,000 level for a while before making adjustments. To get to the 45,000 level the agency will probably end up employing about 40,000 full- and 10,000 part-time personnel.
Air New Zealand has launched the first of its Airbus A320 flights on trans-Tasman Sea routes from Auckland to Sydney and by 2006 expects all 15 A320s it has ordered to be in service. They're replacing four Boeing 767-200s and nine 737-300s on trans-Tasman and Pacific services, but the addition of the new single-aisle type doesn't mean Air New Zealand is headed for an all-Airbus fleet. "Air New Zealand is currently reviewing its long-haul strategy and any decision on fleet composition is still quite some time away," spokesman Glen Sowry said.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT CO. HAS COMPLETED FAA CERTIFICATION of the Collins Pro Line 21 avionics system in the King Air 350, and is in the final stages of certifying the system in the B200 Super King Air series. In addition, testing associated with Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums, which is required because of the new avionics, is complete. Installation of the new system in the King Air 350 will begin with serial No. FL383, and serial No. BB1843 for the Super King Air.
Tudor Hotnog has become chief engineer of Seal Science Inc., Irvine, Calif. He held the same position at CoorsTek Inc., which had been known as Tetrafluor Inc.
COSTS UP Titanium Metals Corp. (Timet), headquartered in Denver, is raising prices by 6% on all noncontract titanium mill and melted products effective immediately for new orders. This move reflects rising raw material costs, particularly for scrap and master alloys, plus sustained increases in energy fees. The titanium industry has suffered from the prolonged downturn of late 2001, primarily due to low demand from the commercial aerospace segment and a stagnant economy worldwide, though things are looking up, according to the company.
Capt. Mark L. Hettermann has been appointed vice president-flight, Susan Garcia vice president for real-time and analytical systems and Roger Frizzell vice president-corporate communications and advertising, all at American Airlines. Hettermann was chief pilot/base manager at American's Washington pilot base. Garcia was managing director-finance, maintenance and planning technology for Sabre Computer Services. Frizzell was executive director of public relations and communications for the Hewlett Packard Corp.
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In the hope of exploring what it has long viewed as a promising technology, the Pentagon last week picked Lockheed Martin to develop an ultralong-endurance, high-altitude airship--which, program officials believe, could attract interest overseas.
ASIAN ALLIANCE Defense ministers from Japan and Australia signed an agreement late last month to work more closely with each other, including regular ship and aircraft visits. Areas for potential cooperation include counter-terrorism, exercise participation and efforts to thwart the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Australian Defense Minister/Sen. Robert Hill noted that the two countries have worked together before in peacekeeping operations in Cambodia and, more recently, East Timor.
British Airways Chief Executive Rod Eddington is warning that the emergence of genuine global airlines hangs on the outcome of U.S.-European Union talks on the creation of an open aviation area. This would replace the multitude of bilaterals now in existence. The first round of negotiations just got under way in Washington.
The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) recently recognized Morgan Advanced Ceramics' Everlube Products Div. for its solid film lubricants and engineered coatings used in aerospace and defense applications and industrial machinery. The honor was announced at DLA's 13th Annual Automated Best Value System ceremony. This is the sixth award for Everlube, one of 85 out of about 7,000 suppliers to win five or more times.
Tom Eaton has been named president of the Washington-based G2 Satellite Solutions division of the PanAmSat Corp. He was executive vice president-global sales and marketing for PanAmSat.
The company's five-volume avionics software library is now complete with an interactive autopilot training module covering operation of three autopilots: Bendix/King KAP-140/KFC-225 and S-TEC 55/X. The theory, function, operation and procedures also encompass Bendix/King KFC-150/200/250 autopilots as well as S-TEC genav autopilots. The program explains the aerodynamics of the autopilot, internal workings of servos, coupled approaches and troubleshooting tips. ElectronicFlight Solutions, 480 Barnstable Road, Hyannis, Mass. 02649.
GOING TO SCHOOL Don't look to the Pentagon to find out how its equipment performed during the latest war in Iraq. The Joint Forces Command's new after-action report takes a big-picture approach and, in the process, reveals little. In presenting "lessons learned" to lawmakers last week, Jiffy-Com's chief, Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani, does a good job stating the obvious. For instance, he notes that the military used three times as many E-8 Joint-STARS surveillance aircraft as during the 1991 Persian Gulf war.
Colin Green has been elected president of the Society of British Aerospace Companies. He is president of Rolls-Royce Defense Aerospace. Kevin Smith, who is chief executive of GKN, has been elected vice president.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Rascal looks like a useful tool, but I'm a bit confused. It has multiple engines that could be used differentially. It has a class of engine that has been shown to be thrust-vectorable (MATV with -229s). And I'm sure it already has attitude control jets for the ballistic phase. Given all of these options (plus possible "spoilerons" a la B-2), I can't imagine why they're giving up payload to carry that huge tail around.
