Given Burt Rutan's aggressive schedule, perhaps the Chinese Shenzhou team might want to move up their manned flight so they're No. 3 in getting a man into space instead of No. 4 (AW&ST Apr. 21, p. 64). Rutan could get a basketball team into space for less cost that the Chinese will spend to orbit one man. Congratulations to the new kid on the block.
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Ezra Roizen has been appointed vice president-business development for Aircraft Technical Publishers, Brisbane, Calif. He was cofounder of the Convoy Corp. and Montclare Technologies and founder of Strategyfx.
'WE ARE NOT LEARNING' The world's airlines had 40 fatal airline accidents that killed 1,022 people in 2002, compared with 33 accidents and 778 fatalities in 2001, according to the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF). The number of fatal accidents last year was the highest since 1999, and fatalities were the highest since 1998. Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) was cited as the cause in nearly 50% of these cases, with 18 crashes that killed 504 people.
Ronald D. Dittemore, the space shuttle program manager who put a human face on NASA's grieving ground support team in the days after the Columbia disaster, will leave the space agency as soon as a successor can be found and brought up to speed on what it will take to return to flight. The Johnson Space Center veteran said that before he goes, he will help top NASA brass pick his replacement and try to pass along lessons he has learned from the accident and 26 years of work on the shuttle, to help the program get back into orbit safely.
FIRST A319 FOR PRIVATAIR PrivatAir last week took delivery of an Airbus A319, the first of four A320-family aircraft the business-traveler airline is planning to lease from CIT Aerospace. The International Aero Engines V2500 will power the two A319s and two A319 Long-Range aircraft. PrivatAir is to operate the two A319s for Airbus internal services. The A319LRs will be used on Lufthansa's new nonstop all-business-class services from Dusseldorf to Chicago and Newark-Liberty (AW&ST Mar. 17, p. 13).
Correction: The president of customer services for the Goodrich Corp. was misidentified in last week's issue (AW&ST Apr. 14, p. 65). He is Bill Walthall.
DRAGONAIR DELIVERY ON TIME Despite the outbreak of war in Iraq and the severity of the killer severe acute respiratory syndrome virus, Hong Kong's Dragonair said two Airbus A321s are to be delivered on schedule this summer, two A320s and an A330 next year, and one remaining A320 in 2005. CEO Stanley Hui's business strategy is centered on rapid expansion in China, but he declined comment on what effect a negative ruling by Hong Kong authorities to his efforts to block Cathay Pacific from opening competition in China would have on his plans.
Launch of the first NASA Mars Exploration Rover will be delayed at least a week, to no earlier than June 6, to correct problems in cabling and a circuit board that links the spacecraft's main computer in the rover to the vehicle's cruise stage and landing system.
WRENCH BENDERS Boeing Aerospace Support, which is part of the manufacturer's Integrated Defense Systems division, and DynCorp Technical Services LLC, a division of Computer Sciences Corp., have created Aviation Technical Services LLC based in Fort Worth. The new company will compete for the U.S. Army's aviation maintenance contract and the U.S. Navy's T-45TS Contract Logistics Support Program. DynCorp is the incumbent contractor for the maintenance program at Ft.
Lufthansa German Airlines, Europe's third-largest airline, is facing a worse-than-expected financial performance and is looking at how to contain costs to fly through the current industry downturn.
Lockheed Martin's AGM-154 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile has hit another development snag. The cruise missile failed in its first operational test since USAF resumed flight testing after a lengthy suspension due to test failures last October. Jassm flight testing resumed only late last month, with the completion of the last development test for the weapon. But an apparent engine problem in the recent OT-4 test caused the event to have to be aborted and raises uncertainty over the near-term future for the test phase.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn. (AOPA) has filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to prevent "further illegal efforts to destroy Meigs Field." The City of Chicago covertly closed the airport early on Mar. 31 (AW&ST Apr. 7, p. 55). The suit, which names the city and the Chicago Park District as defendants, contends that Chicago violated federal rules by not providing advance notice before severely damaging the runway to make it unusable.
MYTRAVEL EYES JOB CUTS U.K. travel firm MyTravel will axe 2,000 jobs by next year and sell off non-core activities to compensate for a severe fall-off in business triggered by uncertainties related to the Gulf conflict. An initial spinoff involving financial services unit Travelex was announced last week. The job reductions come on top of 700 cuts revealed earlier this year.
The war against Iraq represented an opportunity for British Harrier GR7 crews to use several new weapons in anger for the first time. It also highlighted shortcomings of current systems, which they want rectified in coming years.
MORE TIME TO RENEGOTIATE Italy has extended the length of time in which private companies can operate public airports before having to renegotiate rights, and to unify the different concession regimes now in place. Currently, some companies enjoy global concessions allowing them to operate for up to 40 years. This group includes Milan, Rome, Venice and Bergamo, and will soon include Turin and Genoa. A second 18-airport group is operated privately on a temporary three-year basis, while awaiting approval of a permanent, 40-year agreement.
JFK AIRTRAIN TESTS TO RESUME Operational testing of the $1.9-billion AirTrain light rail system at New York JFK International Airport is to resume this month--now that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's Safety Board (PASB) concluded that a fatal Sept. 27, 2002, accident was "not caused by any design or construction deficiencies of the track, supporting structure, the railcars or automatic train control systems." Work on the system came to a halt after a three-car monorail test train traveling at 55 mph. entered a curve designed for 25 mph.
LANDING SITES NASA's "follow the water" mantra guided selection of the targeted landing sites for the two Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) set for launch in June. If the complicated missions go as planned, the first MER to reach Mars will bounce to an airbag-protected landing on Jan.4, 2004, at the Gusev Crater just south of the Martian equator. Three weeks later, on Jan. 25, the second rover is scheduled to land using the same technique halfway around the planet in the area known as Meridiani Planum.
AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY & LAUREATES HALL OF FAME AWARDS PRESENTED APRIL 8, 2003 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM WASHINGTON, D.C.
As a passenger I don't care how much pilots get paid. I just want them to be capable, properly trained and diligent. That seems to be what we have, with a few inebriated exceptions. I also want the airlines to maintain the aircraft, and thus it is in my interest that they earn a profit and aren't pressured to squeeze the maintenance and training budgets. I want low air fares so it is of interest to know how much flight crews cost.
SABRE DANCE Tough as times may be, United Airlines is continuing to make business commitments. It has signed a three-year contract with Sabre Travel Network calling on the carrier to provide all of its published fares to Sabre Connected online and offline travel agencies. Previously, the three-year option was available only to airlines with bookings outside the U.S.; now it extends to those operating within the U.S. as well.
WORLD NEWS ROUNDUP 18 Delta launches low-fare carrier Song, based at JFK 19 American averts bankruptcy filing; United wins concessions 19 Launch of first NASA Mars Exploration Rover delayed WAR IN IRAQ 22 Details of the coalition's use of airpower are revealed 24 Low-profile ops in Iraq could hurt USAF modernization 27 A-10s struck by heavy antiair- craft fire in battle for Baghdad 28 RAF GR7 operators want even more high-tech upgrades THE SHUTTLE LOSS
PROFUSION OF PLANS When money is tight at government agencies, they tend to do a lot of planning. The FAA, no exception, is developing what an agency official calls a five-year "Phase One" as the near-term, low-cost, high-payoff part of its rolling 10-year Operational Evolution Plan (OEP) for increasing National Airspace System capacity. At the same time, it is looking beyond the OEP, 20-25 years out, toward new-technology, space-based air traffic management (ATM) architectures advocated by Boeing, Mitre and others. And staffers are talking with Defense Dept.
Space Laureate honorees are the space shuttle and International Space Station NASA/contractor launch and assembly teams led by Ron Dittemore, shuttle program manager; Bill Gerstenmaier, ISS program manager; Joe Mills, ISS Boeing program manager; and Russ Turner, president and CEO of United Space Alliance. All of these managers and their teams face the challenge of renewing the shuttle program and sustaining ISS operations in wake of the loss of Columbia during reentry Feb. 1.
