SES Americom will provide EchoStar with capacity on its new AMC-15 Ka/Ku-band satellite, intended for high-speed Internet access services. AMC-15 is to be launched next year under an SES plan to become a player in the U.S. home satellite broadcast market (AW&ST May 6, p. 32). The move will allow EchoStar, which reported a huge loss for 2002, to expand its broadband activities with minimal investment.
The first American troops to die in the attack on Iraq were killed in the crash of a CH-46 helicopter, the newest of which was produced in 1971. While we do not yet know the cause of this crash, the age of U.S. military aircraft is an issue that has not received the attention it deserves from the administration. Projected procurement of aircraft will not prevent operational deficiencies from developing in this decade. America owes its warfighters newer, safer, and more survivable combat aircraft.
Ellen G. Engleman has begun a two-year term as the 10th chair and a five-year term as a member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, succeeding Marion C. Blakely, who last September became FAA Administrator.
With the prospect of a joint Snecma-Finmeccanica bid fading fast, the play for FiatAvio--the engine and aerospace arm of the Fiat group--is now shifting elsewhere, as a new bid team has emerged.
Chris Wright has been promoted to sales and marketing director for the European operations from U.K.-based business development director for Meggitt Aerospace Equipment, North Hollywood, Calif.
Despite widespread opposition in Europe to the U.S.-led war in Iraq, European leaders are accelerating moves to build a credible defense against ballistic missile threats from rogue states.
Boeing has appointed Sir Michael Jenkins as president of its U.K. operation. Jenkins was previously vice chairman of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, and prior to that a senior civil servant.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Douglas Barrie (London)
The rift that has opened between Europe and the U.S., and within the European Union itself, over Iraq policy shows no sign of closing, and observers fear it could have lasting consequences on both transatlantic relations and strategic cooperation within Europe.
RISK MANAGEMENT Faced with the prospect of being attacked with a ballistic missile carrying a chemical weapons warhead, several pilots at an air base near Iraq are shrugging off the danger and conducting their flight chores as usual. The risk of crashing an aircraft--because dressing and running to shelters during the frequent Scud alarms would have deprived pilots of their crew rest--is statistically much greater, they have decided, than the chances of a successful tactical ballistic missile attack, according to a senior pilot for the VMA-214.
Jens C. Hennig has become manager of operations for the Washington-based General Aviation Manufacturers Assn. He was manager of the satellite flight training facility at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Steve Largent, a former congressman from Oklahoma and wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks professional football team, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Aviation Technology Group Inc., Englewood, Colo.
GOING OVERBOARD Homeland security efforts may have focused too much on aviation, says Trent Lott (R-Miss.), the new chairman of the Senate aviation subcommittee. "We've got to reevaluate a number of things we've done since 9-11," he told the Aero Club here last week. Ticking off various measures mandated or in the works since civil aviation's worst day--sky marshals, reinforced cockpit doors, pilots with side arms, an army of new federal airport security personnel--Lott asked, "Did we overplay our hand some? I think we did." Then again, it's hard to say where to ease up.
Barely weeks after presenting a second 110-million-euro ($116-million) cost-cutting program, German travel giant TUI has announced further economy measures. The new steps, including cutting back the firm's headquarters staff in Hanover, are aimed at saving an additional 150 million euros this year and 100 million euros in 2004. At the same time, TUI said it would expand its Hapag-Lloyd Express no-frills carrier, started up in December, with a pair of new aircraft to serve Italy, Spain, France and the U.K.
AIRTV-ALITALIA GO TO TRIAL AirTV and Alitalia, following validation runs in December, planned to demonstrate bi-directional inflight e-mail using Inmarsat Data 3, starting on Boeing 767 flights, at the end of March. Validation trials were completed in December. The passenger trials will use a flat-rate pricing structure designed to maximize customer interest. AirTV also is preparing to offer Internet access on a Saudi Arabian Airlines 747-400. The tests are part of a phased plan to introduce inflight satellite broadband services to the airline industry.
The number of anticipated job cuts at the Fabrication Div. of Boeing Commercial Airplanes was incorrectly reported in last week's issue (AW&ST Mar. 24, p. 18). The correct figure is 400.
When one reads at the beginning of your editorial on homeland security that "the U.S. remains as ill-prepared as it was on Sept. 11, 2001," the remainder can be reviewed knowing the writer was detached from reality (AW&ST Mar. 3, p. 66). Much has been done or is in progress, as is admitted on the same page. It seems the writer's measurement of success is how much money is poured into pet projects that may not be well conceived. Some terrorist spends a few bucks to make a tape of the threats of the day and we fire off billions of dollars in knee-jerk reactions.
ITALY SECURITY TAX Italy plans to introduce a special security tax to cope with the cost of new baggage screening equipment and security controls. The tax, which could be phased in beginning this summer, will add from 1.6 to 2.15 euros to the average ticket, depending on the airport.
The air cargo sector, long a stepchild of the international airline industry, is undergoing a slow but sure change that reflects its global nature and an array of other factors such as poor economics, tightened security and the availability of Internet services.
Gareth Williams (European Space Agency Astrophysics Div. )
Regarding the assertion by Bill Brockman that $3.28 billion in funding by the European Space Agency for the Galileo program is a flawed use of funds due to redun- dancy with GPS and that the spending decision was "purely political" (AW&ST Mar.10, p. 6), of course it was. And for very good reason, too.
ARTEMIS OPERATIONS ESA is looking for ways to keep its Artemis technology satellite in operation despite the possibility of reduced funding starting next year (AW&ST Feb. 24, p. 30). Artemis was successfully injected into orbit in February after an 18-month rescue operation, and Project Director Gotthard Oppenhauser said planners would seek to reduce costs, maximize revenues and attract payload users who can sell the satellite's capabilities. A final plan is to be adopted in May. On Mar.
The British Royal Air Force has convened a board of inquiry into the fatal shoot-down of a Tornado GR4 by a U.S. Patriot missile battery on Mar. 23. The Tornado was recovering to its base when it was engaged by the Patriot.
DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL So far, the Pentagon has not exercised the "selective availability" (SA) option for limiting use of GPS signals. Military and civilian users still have full access to the satellite navigation system, according to an Air Force Space Command official. Only President Bush can order implementation of SA; it is not a Defense Dept. decision, he added. Despite worries about Russian-built GPS jamming equipment being sold to the Iraqis, so far there appears to have been no effect on the accuracy of bombing by JDAM-type weapons. JCS chief Gen.
Apr. 15-17--MRO 2003 & MRO Latin America. Broward County Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. May 6-8--Aerospace Defense & Finance Conference. Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York. 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.
