Delta Air Lines has joined American and United airlines in seeking steep wage cuts from its pilots. Delta asked for an immediate 22% pay reduction and rescinding of a 4.5% raise that was to become effective last week. Other concessions include extra pay for night and international flights.
FRENCH CONTROL CENTER The European Space Agency has contracted CNES, France's national space agency, to develop and run a control center dedicated to the Automated Transfer Vehicle. ESA is developing the ATV to resupply and reboost the International Space Station as part of the agency's share of ISS operations. The center, to be located in Toulouse, will begin operation in September 2004, when the first ATV is scheduled for launch.
CSA UNIFORM-ITY As an additional step in China Southern Airlines' takeover of two regional carriers, the Guangzhou-based carrier said that beginning June 1 flight attendants and pilots from China Northern Airlines and Xinjiang Airlines will wear the same uniform as their new parent. CSA was China's largest carrier before the government-planned consolidation of airlines, with a fleet of 187 aircraft and assets of $6.8 billion, according to company officials.
Neil Planzer has become vice president-stakeholder solutions for Boeing Air Traffic Management, McLean, Va. He was executive director of the Defense Dept.'s Policy Board on federal aviation and associate director for civil aviation of the U.S. Air Force.
The way European nations react to U.S. demands to participate in Iraqi peacekeeping missions may prove to be a bellwether of future defense cooperation.
SCREENING ROOM Virgin Atlantic Airways and EasyJet are the participating airlines in trials of a new pre-entry screening system under evaluation by U.S. and U.K. law enforcement agencies. Under the system, a computerized document reader scans passports for possible forgery or tampering, and cross-checks against records in law enforcement and immigration databases. The three-month-long test was launched at London Heathrow Airport Apr. 28 and is set to begin at Miami International in mid-May.
PILOT LAYOFFS AHEAD American Airlines' regional affiliate American Eagle plans to lay off 60 pilots in response to slack travel demand and revised service schedules in certain markets. According to an Eagle representative, about 35 pilots would be given pink slips in June followed by the remainder in August and September. The representative said the reductions are being driven chiefly by weak advance bookings, particularly in the Caribbean region where Eagle operates turboprop-powered transports.
Northrop Grumman Corp. last week posted one of its strongest first-quarter performances on record, with major contributions from the recently acquired TRW businesses. "Key programs appear to be on track, and there were no charges on recently troubled programs in the quarter, including Polar Tanker and [United Arab Emirates'] F-16 radar," Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Pierre Chao noted.
Alison Hartley (see photos) has been named head of business development for L-3 Communications' Integrated Systems, Greenville, Tex. She succeeds Val Gavito, who is now head of engineering and strategic initiatives. Hartley was market segment leader of electronic warfare/special mission aircraft for Honeywell Defense & Space Systems.
NEW ESA LAUNCHER CHIEF Antonio Fabrizi, head of space activities at FiatAvio, will take over as director of launchers at the European Space Agency when current director Jean-Jacques Dordain steps up to become director general of the agency on July 1. Fabrizi's appointment underscores the growing importance of Italy, which is spearheading the Vega light booster initiative and a major reusable launch vehicle research project. It could also smooth ruffled feathers among those member states that didn't want a Frenchman to replace Antonio Rodota as agency boss.
TRANSATLANTIC GROWTH Labinal, a Snecma group subsidiary, continues its U.S. expansion. The French company will acquire Boeing's Corinth, Tex.-based electrical wiring business. The unit, which has 900 employees, will be renamed Labinal Corinth and bring Labinal's total workforce in North America to 2,300. Labinal also operates industrial units in Mexico and in Morocco.
May 14-16--Homeland Security Summit & Exposition. Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington, Va. June 16--Top 100 Stars of Aerospace, Paris (during the Paris air show). Sept. 16-18--MRO Europe, Cardiff, Wales. Oct. 14--Value Creation Conference The McGraw-Hill Companies Headquarters, New York. Oct. 28-30--A&D Programs & Productivity Conference & Exhibition. Arlington (Tex.) Convention Center. Nov. 18-20--MRO Asia Conference & Exhibition. Hong Kong Convention Center.
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COMANCHE KICK-OFF Boeing has opened a 20,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility at its Philadelphia plant to produce Comanche helicopter aft fuselage assemblies. Boeing is responsible for the aircraft's mission equipment package, as well as manufacturing and assembling the helicopter's composite tail section and rotor blades. Completed structures will be shipped to Sikorsky Aircraft, Boeing's partner on the Comanche, for final installation on production vehicles.
MOONEY AIRPLANE CO. IS INCORPORATING a redesigned electrical system into its production airplanes. Based on the M20 Bravo's DC drive air conditioning program, the new system uses high-current diodes to isolate either of two alternators from the primary electrical bus. If one alternator fails, it will not affect the other alternator or battery. The new system allows the pilot to fly or land the airplane safely if one alternator fails in flight. Electronic warnings alert the pilot to a failure, and pushing one button removes all unnecessary electrical loads.
The increase in air traffic in the last week of April suggests that the postwar recovery in U.S. travel demand is well underway, according to Merrill Lynch analyst Michael J. Linenberg. Domestic traffic for the last full week in April was up 4%, compared with the previous week's decline of 5%. Atlantic and Latin load factors saw similar increases.
Leaders of Europe's troubled space program are proposing sweeping changes in the launcher sector and a sharp reduction in the scope of projects conducted by national agencies, beginning with French space agency CNES.
ROTARY WING ER Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. presented Canadian Helicopters Ltd. and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care with an award for achieving 100,000 hr. of accident-free flying in helicopter emergency medical service. This is the first time worldwide that an EMS helicopter operation has reached this milestone. CHL, the largest EMS helo operator in Canada, has provided medical transportation services to Ontario since 1977, carrying more than 7,000 critically ill or injured patients annually.
Yannick D'Escatha, president of French space agency CNES, has reaffirmed government aims to unload part or all of the agency's 32% share in launch firm Arianespace. "Everyone agrees there is no reason CNES' stake must remain at the present level, " he said, echoing a recent statement by Research Minister Claudie Haignere that several scenarios--including the full withdrawal of CNES from Arianespace capital--were being studied.
American Airlines Capt. Don Bliss (Franklinton, N.C. )
Well congratulations, low-fare, low-cost people, you won fair and square. However, before celebrating too much, you might consider the consequences. Instead of fighting to raise yourselves to the service quality and compensation level of an industry and profession that took more than 80 years to develop, you have dragged us all down to the discount level.
DUMBER, BUT FASTER After years of deliberating whether to initiate the development of a low-cost, small, loitering cruise missile, U.S. Air Force leaders are finally giving the green light to a serious development program. The Air Force Research Laboratory and Lockheed Martin have been working for years on the Low-Cost Autonomous Attack System (Locaas) that would find a target using its ladar seeker and attack it. But that level of autonomy was too much for service officials, who argued an operator-in-the-loop was still required before a weapon could be employed.
NEWSPAPER ROUTE IN THE SKY Qatar Airways is offering its first- and business-class customers free access to same-day printed versions of about 170 of the world's newspapers, including the Boston Globe, Moscow Times, Shanghai Daily and the Times of India. Each flight's selections of papers is based on the aircraft's destination--for example, French newspapers would be available on flights to Paris. The newspapers, exact reproductions of print editions, are laser printed at the airport and delivered to the aircraft prior to departure.
USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Roger G. DeKok, a former vice commander of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), died of a heart attack on Apr. 24 during a business trip. He was 56. After retiring from a 34-year USAF career in April 2002, DeKok joined Northrop Grumman in June, serving as a vice president and deputy general manager of its Mission Systems' Command, Control and Intelligence Div., based in Colorado Springs.
The comment by NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Michael Kostelnik that "It cannot be another Challenger-type downtime, because with the International Space Station we really have a need to get back to flight" (AW&ST Apr. 14, p. 30) represents an attitude that surely will bring about the next shuttle accident.
