Cincinnati Machine, a specialist in aerospace tool-making, has shrunk in the long downturn but its move from a campus first opened in 1911 to a new, smaller, more efficient plant will take a full eight months. The toolmaker is investing $5 million to renovate a facility owned by its parent company, Unova, near the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, and completing a 100,000-sq.-ft. addition to bring the plant to 250,000 sq. ft.
SLAP SHOT NASA's choice of launch vehicles for the planned New Horizons mission to Pluto is another slap in the face for Boeing, which has concentrated its Delta IV marketing on the government ever since commercial sales have slackened (AW&ST June 30, p. 40). The U.S. space agency picked Lockheed Martin's Atlas V for the January 2006 launch, optioning the Russian-engined rocket under one of the standing launch services contracts it has with both rocket-makers. The mission will need a Boeing-built third stage to get to Pluto, via a Jupiter gravity assist.
Lee Gaillard's letter "Dray Research Data Available" (AW&ST July 7, p. 6) speaks of ways for Boeing to realize more efficiency gains on the 7E7. I agree with him, but I think the 7E7 should be a blended-wing body (BWB) configuration. The BWB would gain more structural, aerodynamic and operational efficiency over the tube-and-wing/tail design presently proposed. It also has greater growth potential than the proposed design, and efficiencies increase with size.
Boeing Co. plans to sell its commercial electronics business as part of the company's continuing effort to offload component and subassembly work in favor of large-scale systems integration. The operation supplies avionics, flight control systems and other electronics for Boeing jets. It employs about 1,000 people. Boeing has sold other small manufacturing businesses, including a jet-wiring operation that was purchased by Labinal Inc., a division of the Paris-based Snecma Group.
NUCLEAR SPEED BUMP Efforts in the U.S. to develop a new breed of nuclear weapons suffered a setback earlier this month when the House stripped money from such efforts in the Energy Dept.'s Fiscal 2004 spending bill. House and Senate defense authorization committees had backed a robust nuclear Earth penetrator and advanced concepts. But the House has since approved appropriations for the Energy Dept. that include only $5 million for the robust nuclear Earth penetrator, versus $15 million requested by the administration.
Struggling to push through agreements intended to ease onerous restrictions on defense-industrial collaboration, Washington and London have determined to set up a high-level bilateral committee to address these often-contentious issues.
SIA LAYOFFS By the end of this month, Singapore Airlines plans to lay off another 161 employees (156 flight attendants and five flight crewmembers). At a later date, the airline expects to terminate another 21 pilots. In June, 414 employees were cut and another 145 opted for early retirement. However, the airline is reviewing its original plan to reduce its workforce by 2,000, now that traffic is picking up after the March outbreak of SARS.
A U.S. Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter of the 398th Air Expeditionary Group lands last Wednesday at the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia, to insert an antiterrorism security team and evacuate 23 people.
SHORT LIST FOR EASYJET Low-cost carrier EasyJet has drawn up a short list of airports from some 80 that responded to its plan to expand its route structure. Discussing latest quarter trading, ended June 30, Ray Webster, the airline's chief executive, said: "We have had a good summer to date and the current level of forward bookings for the remainder of the financial year is showing strong growth. However, we remain highly dependent on the final quarter's trading, in what are still uncertain market conditions, for the achievement of our full profit potential."
SURFACE SAFEGUARD U.S. Navy researchers recently completed a demonstration in Hawaii of a miniature millimeter-wave radar mounted in the periscope of an attack submarine. Military observers indicated that this new capability, originally designed for deconflicting the flight of unmanned aircraft, will improve the ability of submerged submarines to detect and avoid surface vessels in all weather conditions. The radar is made by Montreal-based Amphitech. The capability could lead to more attack subs being fitted with the "coffee-can-size" radar.
CMC Electronics has received orders to provide its satellite communications antenna system, CMA-2102, to the Boeing 747-400s in the fleet of Taiwan-based EVA Air. The order covers eight aircraft and four options. Deliveries are expected to be completed by January 2004.
P. Roger Byer has been named to the board of directors of eResource Capital Group Inc., Charlotte, N.C. He was president/CEO of Stellex Aerostructures Inc.
The maligned and much-mocked British army Phoenix UAV has, however belatedly, proved its value with a creditable performance in Iraq, Defense Ministry officials say. The Phoenix, almost a decade late in entering service, earned a number of derisory nicknames because of instances on training ranges where the data link and, subsequently, the UAV were lost. The drone also is parachute-recovered, inverting for landing on its frangible hump, which often results in damage to the airframe.
U.S. aerospace companies are reporting second-quarter results that bear a striking similarity to those of the last 12 months: a solid performance from defense contracting, tempered by persistent weakness in business and commercial aviation. Boeing Co. exemplifies the industry's contrasting fortunes. Last week it reported a net loss of $192 million, or 24 cents a share, compared with earnings of $779 million, or 96 cents a share (including one-time gains), in the second quarter of 2002. Wall Street's consensus estimate was a 43-cent loss.
Kraig Scheyer (see photos) has been appointed vice president-leveraged services and administration and Ian V. Ziskin vice president-human resources and leadership strategy at the Northrop Grumman Corp. of Los Angeles. Richard Underhill has been promoted to vice president-compensation and benefits from director of corporate compensation. Scheyer was vice president-administration for TRW in Cleveland, while Ziskin was executive vice president/chief human resources officer for Qwest Communications.
The FAA has awarded FAR Part 25 certification to the Bombardier Learjet 40 business jet, fewer than 11 months after the prototype flew. The Learjet 40 is a derivative of the Learjet 45, and is scheduled to enter service early in 2004.
Southwest Airlines posted a net income of $246 million in the second quarter, and senior officials are predicting increased profits during the current period despite a slight rise in unit costs. "Based on our current revenue and cost outlook . . . we expect third-quarter unit costs, excluding fuel, to exceed last year's third-quarter figure of 6.23 cents," said James F. Parker, vice chairman and CEO of the Dallas-based carrier. Overall, second-quarter unit costs were 6.37 cents--slightly above last year's 6.34 cents for the same period.
JetBlue Airways reported a $45.5-million second-quarter operating profit and a $38-million net profit in what CEO David Neeleman termed further evidence that the low-cost, low-fare carrier's business model remains "sustainable and scaleable as we grow."
Agusta has purchased 11 radomes from US Global Aerospace of Carson City, Nev., for $120,000 for use in its AB412 series of military helicopters. Shipments have begun and are scheduled to be concluded early next month.
A technician at Brek Manufacturing Co. of Gardena, Calif., stands at the edge of a sea of aluminum chips as he sprays foam coolant on underfloor bulkheads. A High-Performance Profiler, manufactured by Cincinnati Machine, produces the monolithic, 130-lb. bulkheads for the Boeing C-17. The struggling machine tool industry is looking for efficiencies to help it through the lengthy downturn (see p. 48). Cincinnati Machine photo by John Semonish.
All Nippon Airways has selected Messier Bugatti to supply the wheels and brake systems for the six Boeing 777-300ER twinjets that the airline has ordered.
Alaska Air Group's numbers were inked in black on the second-quarter ledgers. The parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air eked out a $900,000 net profit, or $0.03 per share, based on a net income of $45.2 million or $1.70 per share that included a $44.3-million after-tax government reimbursement for security expenses. Alaska CEO Bill Ayer deemed the results an "encouraging sign" that company initiatives to cut costs are working.
Isabel Parra has been named district sales manager in Caracas, Venezuela, for Delta Air Lines. She was sales and reservation manager there for United Airlines.
Delta Air Line Pilots Assn. withdrew from wage concession talks with airline management last week over what the union described as "philosophical differences." DALPA is in favor of incorporating possible wage concessions under a new contract, rather than an extension of the current agreement, which expires in late 2004. In addition, the union opposes the concept that pilot costs at Delta had to be aligned with costs at restructured airlines in order for the airline to be profitable.
