Continental Airlines opened seven gates on the west concourse of its new 23-gate Terminal E at Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport. The main building, east concourse and remaining 16 gates are expected to be fully operational by year-end. The gates are designed to accommodate aircraft from 50-seat regional jets to Boeing 777s. A three-story, 25,000-sq.-ft. Presidents Club lounge will be in the center of the 600,000-sq.-ft. terminal.
Danny Biran, who has been chairman of the Elisra Group, Bene-Berak, Israel, also will be CEO. He also is president of Koor Industries Ltd. and chairman of Tadiran Electronic Systems Ltd. and Tadiran Spectralink Ltd.
Code Red Emergency With the threat of continued software problems derailing U.S. Air Force plans for the F/A-22 stealth fighter, prime contractor Lockheed Martin has devised a way to gradually overcome long-standing glitches that have led to repeated crashes of onboard computers.
David Joseph has been named vice president-sales for Qualtech Systems Inc., Wethersfield, Conn. He was North American vice president-sales for ClickSoftware Inc.
MORE SATLYNX CLIENTS SES Global and Gilat have signed up two corporate clients for their Satlynx two-way broadband venture, created last year to serve business and residential customers not reached by high-speed cable or digital subscriber lines (AW&ST Apr. 15, 2002, p. 50). The new clients are Deutsche Telekom affiliate T-Systems, one of Europe's premier information and communications technology (ICT) providers, and Getronics affiliate Infotechnique, which links France, Madagascar and Mauritius.
Sir Arthur Marshall, retired chairman and now honorary life president of Marshall Aerospace, Cambridge, England, has received the Air League's Founders' Medal to recognize his leadership in the British aerospace industry since learning to fly in 1929. The last recipient was then-Rolls-Royce Chairman Sir Ralph Robins in 1998.
Air France Takes the lead Air France executives believe that they hold the trump cards--a carefully balanced route system, savvy marketing strategy and Paris CDG's ample runway capacity--to ensure that the carrier keeps its newly won position.
Space Pays Dividends US. military forces capitalized smartly on space-based assets during the war in Iraq, melding revised doctrines and advanced technology into strategies that paid high dividends on the battlefield.
Failing Grade? Regardless of what company executives think their operating results are telling them, the U.S. Air Force isn't happy with the overall performance from most of its major equipment suppliers.
Magdalena Jacobsen has been appointed to represent Communications Workers of America-member passenger service agents on the US Airways board of directors. She fills the board seat vacated by CWA President Morton Bahr. Jacobsen is a former chair of the National Mediation Board.
Delta Air Lines, detailing its plans for $2.5 billion in 2002-05 cost reductions and revenue increases, said the largest single category of cutbacks will be "employment costs," which it intends to slash by $300 million, mainly in benefits, pensions and outsourced jobs. The company's contract-concession proposals to its Air Line Pilots Assn. unit aren't counted, and benefits from a newly identified initiative, aircraft turn-time reductions, aren't estimated.
David Roberts, director of Indianapolis International Airport, has received an FAA Partnership in Runway Safety Award for Proactive Airport Management. He was cited for addressing potential safety issues by installing runway guard lights at intersections and working to increase awareness of those lights among runway users. Roberts added runway safety as a regular agenda item at his recurrent user meetings.
An article on NASA wind tunnels incorrectly reported the status of the 16-ft. transonic tunnel at the Langley Research Center (AW&ST May 26, p. 40). Not yet closed, it remains in operation with multiple projects. But it is expected to be mothballed in late 2004.
U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard B. Myers said the coalition's overwhelming advances in Iraq were attributable to a "faster decision cycle" that was enabled by timely intelligence (AW&ST May 12, p. 38). He also said, "The new American way of war demonstrates that we can strike directly at the enemy's pillars of power."
Hong Kong's Dragonair will add six 747 freighters by 2007 to the three 747-300s it is currently operating. It will receive two of them next year. It also is considering orders for four 747-400s converted from passenger services as part of a cargo expansion effort to the U.S. The first two could arrive next year. Dragonair, which is facing new competition from Cathay Pacific Airways in China services, will gain 30% of its revenue from cargo operations. CEO Stanley Hui said the price of used -400s has fallen so much that freighter conversions are attractive.
LESS IS MORE . . . Sukhoi Design Bureau and its numerous manufacturing facilities are scheduled to be integrated under the control of a state-owned holding company in the third quarter of this year, Sukhoi general director Mikhail Pogosyan said. The new entity will be called Sukhoi Aviation Holding Co. and absorb state-controlled stakes of Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Production Assn. (KnAAPO), Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Assn. (NAPO), Irkut Corp.
Ray Loehner (see photo) has become senior vice president of operations for GeoLogistics, Santa Ana, Calif. He has been a senior executive at American Airlines, BAX, BDP International and Airborne Express.
Carol B. Tome, who is chief financial officer of The Home Depot Inc., has been named to the board of directors of Atlanta-based UPS. She succeeds Philadelphia civil rights lawyer William H. Brown, 3rd, who has retired.
KIBO AT THE CAPE The Kibo pressurized module--Japan's major contribution to the International Space Station--has finally arrived at the Kennedy Space Center for prelaunch processing, after a development effort that took almost 17 years. The 15-ton Mitsubishi-built module is part of a $3-billion Japanese contribution to the overall ISS effort. The module is scheduled for launch to the ISS in 2005-06 on the space shuttle, and will be the focal point for Japanese astronaut operations on the station.
Thales Canada plans to restructure by merging its operations in Halifax and Ottawa with those in Montreal. The move is expected to lead to increased R&D investment and strengthen the company's participation in defense and homeland security-related markets.
Space Streamlining With the start of fiscal 2004 in October, Japan will gain a new space agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which will bring together the launch, satellite technology development, deep space exploration and basic space and aeronautical research operations now conducted under the banners of three separate agencies.
'Sweetening' GPS A clever procedure for minimizing GPS satellite errors over Iraq improved navigation performance 25-30% during the war, freeing planners to launch air strikes with GPS-guided weapons any time of the day. Each satellite's performance depends primarily on "how precisely we know where that [spacecraft] is, and on clock errors. The satellite's position error and clock errors [determine] navigation accuracy, and that can translate to targeting errors," said Col. David W. Ziegler, 50th Operations Group commander.
Queuing Up To Serve Iraq The U.S. Transportation Dept. lifted its 13-year ban on air service between the U.S. and Iraq and said it will establish procedures for authorizing such operations. Several airlines are waiting for the new rules.
Star Power The Star Alliance plans to focus on joint initiatives to cut costs and increase purchasing power--regional jets, for example--as the group underpinned its market leading position with the addition of US Airways.
