DIA WAIT REDUCTION . . . Attendees at a July 2 "Denver Summit" of airport, airline and Transportation Security Administration executives agreed to eight action-items aimed at reducing wait-times at Denver International Airport's security-screening stations. One of those measures--using passenger-load data provided by air carriers to better schedule the TSA workforce--will require more part-time TSA employees to ensure screening portals are properly manned during peak times (AW&ST July 7, p. 16).
BLURRED VISION Japan has set a Sept. 10 date for the second pair of reconnaissance satellites it began launching in March to keep tabs on North Korea's ballistic missile development program. But Optical-1, which was orbited Mar. 28 with the first pair, is not achieving the 1-meter resolution Mitsubishi Electric (Melco) expected it to have. The best resolution it has achieved is 2-3 meters. The National Space Information Center, which runs the program, wants to know if it is dealing with an operational or a design and/or assembly issue.
Daniel DeFazio has been appointed vice president/chief financial officer and Miguel Vasquez vice president-strategic planning and special projects of the Safire Aircraft Co., Opa-Locka, Fla.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency added $242 million to the Airborne Laser program last week to cover cost increases on the project, primarily related to the laser, beam control, integration and test effort. The agency also will move about $160 million from that contract to a separate one to buy its second ABL, a Boeing 747-400.
Rakesh Gangwal has been appointed chairman/president/CEO of Atlanta-based Worldspan. Former President/ CEO Paul J. Blackney will be a special adviser and serve on the board of directors. Gangwal was president/CEO of US Airways.
Jim Kuhn and Gary Freeman have become regional sales managers for Western Aircraft, Boise, Idaho. Kuhn was director of sales and operations for Dassault Falcon Jet's Midway Aircraft Instrument Corp. Freeman was a regional sales manager for CAE SimuFlite in Dallas.
The Flight Safety Foundation and FAA are striving to improve nonprecision instrument approaches by increasing the number of procedures featuring a constant descent angle in concert with traditional step-down fixes.
German low-fare airline DBA hopes to achieve its financial turnaround within one year in order to be able to establish itself as a major player in the growing European market for low-fare carriers. On July 1, the airline was officially taken over by entrepreneur Hans-Rudolf Woehrl from British Airways for 1 euro. BA supported the move with 70 million in start-up support to cover expected losses in the first year.
Accident investigators have begun examining flight data recorder information from Sudan Airways Flight 39 to determine what caused the Boeing 737 (Reg. ST-AFK) to crash July 8 shortly after takeoff from Port Sudan, killing 105 passengers and 11 crewmembers. Shortly after the scheduled passenger flight departed Port Sudan for the capital city of Khartoum, the pilot alerted the tower of a technical failure, according to the Sudan news agency. The specific nature of the problem was not disclosed.
ANOTHER REVIEW The F/A-22 stealth fighter is slated for at least one more review by senior Pentagon acquisition officials before the start of dedicated operational test and evaluation late this year. Air Force officials last week gave their Pentagon overseers an update on software instability problems and got what they described as a favorable hearing. The fighter has been plagued by software shutdowns, but in recent weeks the Air Force and Lockheed Martin have been able to push the time between the most serious failures above the 20-hr.
Instead of scrapping all the Starships (AW&ST June 30, p. 44), Raytheon Aircraft should give two of them to Burt Rutan to use for test purposes as he sees fit. A couple of others should go to aviation museums or be used as gate guardians. Maybe use a few as shells for simulator bucks, but don't let the Starship end up like the Lear Fan--used only for crash tests.
James Hill has been appointed vice president-development of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla. He was interim vice president-university advancement of Northern Arizona University and executive director of the NAU Foundation.
Jahid Fazal-Karim has become vice president-international sales for Montreal-based Bombardier Aerospace. He was regional vice president-sales for the Americas.
Eugene C. Hahn has become vice president-flight operations for Horizon Air. He was vice president-maintenance and engineering and has been succeeded by Celia Sherbeck. She was senior director of maintenance and engineering for Air Canada.
CCA FLEET EXPANSION China Cargo Airlines will double its fleet with MD-11 freighter conversions over the next two years and is evaluating the 747-400F to extend its long-haul freight services. Based at Hongqiao airport in Shanghai, CCA flies three MD-11 freighters and has obtained three more from China Eastern Airlines, which controls 55% of its stock (the rest is owned by Taiwan's China Airlines and China Ocean Shipping Corp.). They are to be converted over the next 18 months.
There is no need to build a third international airport near Paris, according to a French parliamentary working group. The panel cited budget constraints and the inability to find a workable site as key reasons for rejecting the idea.
The current debate over the intention to design and possibly deploy low-yield nuclear weapons against especially hard or threatening targets provides an interesting example of using the right words, but missing the essential points that are worth considering.
China Southern Airlines, even though hard-hit by the severe acute respiratory syndrome crisis, said it predicts a net profit of just under 500,000 yuan ($60,240) for the last eight months of 2003. Yields are expected to fall 2% in the May-December period from a year ago.
The Air and Marine Operations Center of the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement covers the Americas south to Venezuela and Colombia as part of the agency's efforts to combat smuggling and terrorist actions. Officers determine pilot intent with help from extensive databases, and can coordinate intercepts (see p. 60). Titan Corp. photo by Jim Coit.
USMC Maj. Gen. Robert M. Shea has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as director of command, control, communications and computer systems for the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. He has been deputy commander of U.S. Forces Japan.
FISCAL FIZZLE Japanese manufacturers produced aircraft, engines and subassemblies (not including space products) worth $8.4billion in the fiscal year that ended Mar. 31, according to the Society of Japanese Aerospace Cos. That is 4.4% lower than the previous year. Industry has been trying to achieve a 50/50 ratio of military/commercial products, but figures show a high dependence on government contracts. Japanese Defense Agency requirements accounted for $5.1 billion, or 61.3%. The total also represents $6.2 billion in overhaul/repair work.
SCANEAGLE FLIES Boeing and The Insitu Group signed a long-term contract to continue collaborative efforts and begin production on the low-cost, long-endurance ScanEagle autonomous UAV. The potentially 10-year deal follows the 15-month pact of February 2002 to develop a prototype UAV based on Insitu's Seascan miniature robotic aircraft. Three prototypes will be delivered to Boeing. The 4-ft.-long aircraft is the smallest UAV to carry an inertially stabilized gimbaled video camera, allowing it to track stationary and moving targets.
While the U.S. has been accustomed to leading advancements in air traffic control since World War II, on at least one of the keystones of modernization--controller-pilot data link communications--Europe is now poised to take the lead.
Philip J. Klass, a longtime avionics editor for Aviation Week & Space Technology, recently received the Senior Wingman Award from Editor-In-Chief David M. North at a ceremony in Washington. Klass was honored for professionalism and teamwork during his 51 years with the magazine. He joined the magazine as avionics editor in early 1952. Klass is credited with popularizing the word "avionics" to best describe airborne electronics. He later became senior avionics editor and remains a contributing avionics editor.
