HIRE AND FIRE The Defense Dept. needs a more flexible civilian personnel system, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld tells the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. The current system is so inflexible that managers often put uniformed military personnel in positions more suited for civilians, because the military people are easier to reassign and relocate. In fact, Rumsfeld avers, 320,000 uniformed personnel are in jobs civilians should be doing. What the Pentagon wants is the ability to hire on the spot in some cases, rather than taking five months to make an offer.
Karl E. Bennett has been named director of the Systems Design and Engineering Dept. in the Aerospace Electrobics and Information Technology Div. at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Hewas manager of the Avionics and Test Systems Section.
COMPLICATED CONTROL FACTOR The pending acquisition of DHL Airways by U.S. citizen John Dasburg and investor colleagues has not modified the related foreign ownership issue now before the U.S. Transportation Dept. law courts, but "it makes it more complicated," according to Judge Ronnie Yoder. The $58-million acquisition is scheduled to take effect June 30. At a recent session, lawyers debated information requests for pre-buyout DHL Airways and for post-buyout Astar Air Cargo, the expected new name of the company (AW&ST May 26, p. 51).
DEJA VU It's a business model that has failed in the past, but the business-travel market has changed radically since 2000. So here comes Primaris Airlines, a Las Vegas-based startup seeking U.S. Transportation Dept. authority for domestic and international operations offering all-first-class service at fares "significantly lower" than walk-up economy at major airlines. With directors and officers drawn partly from National Airlines, America West and Air One veterans, but also including former Sen.
BURSTING FORTH Adm. Vern Clark, the chief of naval operations, predicts burgeoning acquisitions of unmanned air, surface and under-the-surface vehicles that will provide the persistence--"my new favorite word," he says--that manned systems cannot. That change will greatly affect the anti-submarine mission, he said. P-3 patrol aircraft are now used almost totally for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. So, both airborne and undersea systems would likely be used more intensively in the anti-submarine role.
Pilots Sign Up The future of Air Canada now appears to be in the hands of its unionized work force, with the Air Canada Pilots Assn. last week joining other members of organized labor in agreeing to a new contract. Collectively, the accord will save the Montreal-based carrier (US)$766 million a year.
LONG-HAUL CONNEXION Lufthansa German Airlines will equip some 80 long-haul aircraft, including Boeing 747400s and Airbus A330/340s, with Boeing's Connexion inflight Internet service beginning early next year. Lufthansa was the first carrier to test the broadband service and made a believer out of Wolfgang Mayrhuber, the incoming chairman of the airline's executive board. He indicated recently that passengers would be willing to pay a $30 service fee (AW&ST May 12, p. 46).
William Colburn has become vice president for the California research and development facilities that are developing new propellants and small thrusters for MicroAerospace Solutions Inc., Melbourne, Fla.
USAF Gen. Robert H. Foglesong has been nominated as commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe; commander of Allied Air Forces Northern Europe, NATO; and Air Force component commander of U.S. European Command, Ramstein AB, Germany. Foglesong is vice chief of staff and would succeed Gen. Gregory S. Martin, who has been nominated as commander of Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Foglesong would be succeeded by Lt. Gen. T. Michael Moseley, who is commander of the Ninth Air Force of Air Combat Command and the U.S. Central Command Air Forces, Shaw AFB, S.C.
USN Vice Adm. Michael G. Mullen has been nominated for promotion to admiral and to become vice chief of naval operations. He is deputy chief of naval operations for resources, requirements and assessments.
A Russian board of inquiry has cleared the Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft to fly to the International Space Station on Oct. 30, despite an unplanned ballistic reentry of TMA-1 last month (AW&ST June 2, p. 33). The board concluded that no modifications would be necessary except for the addition of a mobile satphone to prevent the communications snafu that delayed recovery after the TMA-1 landing. A satphone will also be delivered by Progress freighter to TMA-2, currently docked at the ISS.
. . . ON ALL FRONTS Consolidation fever seems to have hit Russia hard. The Moscow Times reported that the country's hundreds of aviation companies will be consolidated into a half-dozen holding companies by 2004 in an attempt to compete with U.S. and European rivals. According to the article, Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said there are only three aviation powerhouses in the world (Boeing, Lockheed Martin and EADS) pressing their consolidated advantages--and, at this point, Russia has 316 entities that could benefit from more cohesiveness.
The lesson in the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA's) experience in hiring 55,000 airport screeners last year is a no-brainer: Haste makes waste.
Julianne Smith has become deputy director and fellow of the International Security Program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. She was a program officer at the German Marshall Fund.
The Unmanned Space Experiment Recovery System (Users) capsule, which contained space-made superconductors, was recovered May 30 off the Bonin (Ogasuwara) Islands southeast of Japan, despite a typhoon. The storm delayed the reentry four days. The $300-million Users spacecraft, with its ejectable reentry capsule, was developed by 12 Japanese manufacturers led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Electric and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries. It was launched into a 310mi. orbit by an HIIA last September. The two-part spacecraft included a 1,980-lb.
Clark Handy has become executive vice president-human resources for Teleflex Inc., Plymouth Meeting, Pa. He was vice president-human resources for the Global Research and Development Group at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.
Fatal Impact Columbia accident investigators late last week were preparing for the first critical foam firing tests against orbiter reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) leading edge panels, after an identical test against fiberglass panels from the orbiter Enterprise caused significant wing damage. Investigators expect similar or worse damage when foam is fired against RCC panel 9 and adjoining panels from the orbiter Discovery with a flight history similar to Columbia's.
Britain has kicked off a potential $600-million upgrade program for its fleet of Merlin naval helicopters. Under the banner of the Merlin Capability Sustainment Plus, Lockheed Martin will prime an initial two-year $30-million study contract, with Merlin-manufacturer AgustaWestland as its strategic partner.
Who's Roger? New language standards for pilots and air traffic controllers, approved by the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization, are expected to launch a small industry for linguistics specialists, especially those who teach English, the primary parlance of international aviation.
BA Sheds Deutsche BA German no-frills carrier Deutsche BA (DBA) is facing tough restructuring measures--and unclear chances of survival--after owner British Airways agreed to sell the company to German investor Hans Rudolf Woehrl.
Five Tracons In One Air traffic flow is expected to improve in the Baltimore-Washington and Richmond, Va., areas over the next year as the FAA implements a major redesign of airspace that used to be controlled by five terminal approach control (Tracon) units now consolidated into one new facility.
Fee Finessing Pressure from the International Air Transport Assn. is paying off with at least some national authorities that had been reluctant to provide cash-strapped airlines with relief from airport landing fees until SARS-concerned passengers begin traveling again. Last week, Seoul's Incheon International Airport agreed to reduce landing and parking charges, following on the heels of Hong Kong International Airport, which provided limited relief in an earlier move.
Former Netherlands Prime Minister Wim Kok and Cees van Lede have been appointed to the supervisory board of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. They have succeeded Arie Maas and Max Albrecht, who have resigned. Kok also sits on the to the supervisory boards of the ING Group, Shell and TPG. Van Lede was chairman of Akzo Nobel.
