Under terms of their October 2000 agreement, Hughes Electronics has refunded $360 million of the original $3.75 billion that Boeing paid for Hughes' satellite manufacturing operations, now known as Boeing Satellite Systems. BSS and Hughes Network Systems had agreed to restructure the contract under which BSS is building the Spaceway broadband satellite system. The refund settles outstanding purchase price disputes.
DASSAULT FALCON JET CORP. is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first flight of the Mystere 20 in May 1963. The airplane was a forerunner of the Falcon jet family of business aircraft, of which more than 1,600 have been built. The Mystere 20 led to development of the Falcon 10, 20, 2000, and the three-engine Falcon 50- and 900-series.
Weakened by a mobile communications venture the market didn't buy, Loral Space & Communications Corp. has been forced to seek bankruptcy protection and sell more than half of its present and future satellite assets valued at $1 billion.
LANDING CALL JetBlue and Continental have joined American Airlines in allowing passengers extra time to use mobile phones during taxi from landing runway to the gate. Previously, cell phones could be used only when the cabin door was opened at the gate. Rules during departure remain the same: No cell phone use once the cabin door is closed.
Joseph T. DiGiacomo has been promoted to chief operating officer from chief financial officer of the Domestic Services Div. of the Philadelphia-based Stonepath Group.
TSA SOLE-SEARCHING . . . Intelligence gathered by federal agencies is driving the U.S. Transportation Security Administration's "increased focus" on screening shoes. TSA screeners have been instructed to encourage passengers to remove their shoes for X-ray scanning, but won't require it until people pass through the metal detectors. A TSA official said the lines will move faster if passengers voluntarily comply.
On a day American Airlines reported "progress in its march to profitability"--reduced losses in the second quarter--the carrier said it will cut operations at its St. Louis hub in half by November, shifting aircraft and capacity to Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago O'Hare.
With discounts of as much as 30%, Asian airlines are starting to see brighter days after a harrowing experience with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a battle that for them was worse than the aftermath of terrorist attacks in the U.S. two years ago. "The discounted fares are certainly attracting people to travel," a spokesperson for Malaysia Airlines (MAS) said. "Airlines have no [other] choice to get people to travel."
NEW DELTA IV DATE U.S. Air Force managers have rescheduled the next launch of Boeing's Delta IV rocket from July 23 to Aug. 3 to allow more time to check out the vehicle's first-stage engine. If the Delta IV can't launch in a window that opens at 6:57 p.m. and continues until 8:21 p.m. EDT, additional windows will be available on Aug. 4 and 5 that open a minute later. The mission will carry the final Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS B6) military communications satellite.
During a Royal Netherlands Air Force deployment of seven F-16s to NAF El Centro, Calif., Rocky Mountain Bureau Chief William B. Scott (center) flew a training mission with Maj. Arnold Stallman (left), a 315 Sqdn. flight commander, to see the enhanced Lantirn system in action during simulated precision-weapon drops (see p.44). Maj. Patrick Tuit (right), a flight commander with 322 Sqdn. from Leeuwarden AB, Netherlands, was reception team leader for the RNLAF training deployment.
TRAFFIC JAM Assn. of European Airlines members are increasingly worried by the slow pace of recovery. Overall, international traffic remains nearly 5% under mid-2002's levels while, after a brief resurgence, intra-European traffic is lagging again. In the second quarter, traffic remained 3.9% under 2002's levels. "The lack of consistency in the European market is disappointing. At a time when we urgently need to rebuild our market base, a minus figure--even a small one--is troubling," said AEA Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency demonstrated a Micro Adaptive Flow Control system earlier this month at Bell Helicopter Textron's facilities. Full-scale demonstration of a Micro Adaptive Flow Control (MAFC) system on the XV-15 tiltrotor have confirmed that the technology can provide a 14% reduction in drag forces during hover by reattaching separated airflow around the wing surface. Calculations have shown that a 25-ton tiltrotor equipped with MAFC could carry a significantly larger payload compared with a standard version.
MARS EXPRESS GLITCH European Space Agency officials are working to reconfigure mission payloads on the agency's Mars Express probe to compensate for a solar panel power failure. Because of a switching defect, the panels are delivering only 70% of nominal power to the spacecraft, which was launched in early June (AW&ST June 9, p. 27). However, because not all the spacecraft systems need to be used at the same time, it will be possible to replan utilization to make do with the lower power feed, officials said, adding that the failure "is not a major concern."
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Pratt & Whitney and the U.S. Air Force have concluded tests of their ground demonstrator engine one (GDE1) supersonic combustion scramjet. Final trials of the flight-weight, hydrocarbon-fueled powerplant focused on ground tests assessing the scramjet's thermal, structural and mechanical design at Mach 6.5 flight speeds. The government-contractor scramjet team expects to begin ground tests of GDE-2--a more refined, increased functionality, flight-weight engine--next year.
JOHN W. OLCOTT, FORMERLY PRESIDENT of the National Business Aviation Assn., is now president of General Aero Co.--a business that addresses security, management and safety issues in the business aviation industry. Olcott spent 11 years guiding the NBAA, and also served as an adviser to the FAA and the National Air & Space Museum, and is a member of the FAR Part 125/135 Rulemaking Advisory Committee. In addition, Olcott and General Aero provide consulting, analysis and planning for businesses contemplating charter or fractional ownership of an aircraft.
Northrop Grumman has won the first of two contracts to begin preliminary design of an unmanned combat armed rotorcraft (UCAR). The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is negotiating the second award, which will go to Boeing, Lockheed Martin or Sikor- sky, although officials indicate the latter is out of the running.
FINMECCANICA ACQUISITION Italian industrial conglomerate Finmeccanica continues to restructure its business holdings in anticipation of an operational agreement with BAE Systems by year-end. In the near term, Finmeccanica, acquiring yet another element of the Marconi group, is closing a deal for Marconi Mobile Access, which specializes in broadband communications research. BAE and Finmeccanica intend to establish at least three joint venture companies.
CUBAN CONNECTION Air Canada, which currently operates extensive charter services to Cuba, has won approval from Transport Canada to operate scheduled services to the island country. Under the terms of the agreement between Canada and Cuba, two air carriers from each country may provide scheduled services. Air Transat is Canada's other designated carrier; Cubana is currently the only designated Cuban air carrier.
CRACKING DOWN Iran for years has been able to keep a relatively large number of its F-14s flying, even though the U.S. stopped delivering parts once the shah of Iran was ousted in 1979. The country appears to have had help from U.S. and British firms in maintaining the 27-year-old aircraft. The U.S. military's Defense Criminal Investigative Service earlier this month executed search warrants on 18 U.S. companies as part of an investigation into Arms Export Control Act violations.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT CO. HAS SIGNED a three-year contract extension with All Nippon Airways to provide pilot training at the airline's International Flight Training Academy in Bakersfield, Calif. Raytheon will provide maintenance, inspection and repair of the academy's fleet of 19 Beechcraft Bonanzas and eight twin-engine Barons. The airplanes fly about 10,500 hr. annually and, since the program began in 1992, have accumulated 123,500 hr. and 290,000 landings with zero accidents due to maintenance.
FedEx and UPS will be able to set up frequent cargo service between Hong Kong and their respective hubs in the Philippines and Europe under fifth-freedom frequencies allocated tentatively to six airlines by the U.S. Transportation Dept.
USAF Brig. Gen. Robert Smolen's concern about overly broad definitions of "weapons of mass destruction" (AW&ST June 30, p. 23) is appropriate, but a bit late. U.S. law contains explicit and amazingly broad definitions of WMD. For example, any weapon qualifies that has more than 0.25 oz. of explosive as does any rocket with more than 4 oz. of propellant. So, almost any explosive weapon is a WMD. This is a legal peculiarity with practical significance; numerous indictments and convictions have been obtained.
Reporting a $227-million second-quarter net profit based entirely on one-time gains, Northwest Airlines will continue to press its unions and suppliers to reduce costs. Northwest recorded $209 million in federal security fee reimbursements and $199 million in proceeds from the sale of its stake in the Worldspan computer reservations system during the quarter, offset only slightly by $21 million in aircraft writedowns. Without these revenues, the carrier's net loss would have been $160 million, compared with $93 million a year earlier.
Alitalia managers are attempting to transform a proposed code-share agreement with Meridiana into a merger that would reinforce the flag carrier's position in the Italian domestic market and further dilute the government's holding in the airline.
