111WORLD NEWS ROUNDUP 16 First flights for Bombardier G5000 business jet . . . 17 . . . and Bell/Agusta BA 609 tiltrotor RUN-UP TO WAR 20 Converging forces jeopardize weakened U.S. airlines 22 Airlines outline case for im- mediate government relief 23 Airlines coax reluctant trav- elers with relaxed fee policies 24 Emirates chief sees little disruption, looks to growth 25 European airlines confront strategic choices
JAPAN CARRIERS MULL DAMAGES SUIT Japan's major carriers are considering claims for damages from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport from losses they suffered Mar. 1 when the flight data processor system at Tokyo Air Traffic Control Center shut down and the carriers had to cancel 149 flights, grounding 41,000 passengers. All Nippon Airways was the hardest hit, losing 109 flights, and figures it lost some $5.2-6.9 million by having to arrange hotel rooms, ground transportation and refunds for 35,000 passengers.
SONG FOR GEORGIA Delta Air Lines is adding two daily flights to the 68 it now operates between New York region airports (JFK, LaGuardia and Newark International) and Atlanta. Delta's low-fare subsidiary, Song, on June 1 will begin operating two flights with Boeing 757 aircraft between New York JFK International Airport and Atlanta Hartsfield. Song's 757 fleet will have a one-class, 199-seat configuration. The low-fare carrier will initially fly Northeast-Southeast services, and by October plans to offer 144 daily flights with 36 757s.
The Bell/Agusta Aerospace Co. BA609 commercial tiltrotor flew for more than 1 hr. on Mar. 11 following its 36-min. first flight four days earlier. The aircraft is the first of four tiltrotors scheduled to enter the flight test program in the next few years. FAA certification is tentatively scheduled for 2007, according to BAAC officials. Senior test pilot Roy Hopkins and co-pilot Dwayne Williams were at the controls during both flights, which followed seven weeks of extensive ground tests before the aircraft was cleared to fly.
Marc Henderson has been named interim manager of public affairs for the Miami-Dade Aviation Dept. He succeeds Lauren Stover, who was associate public affairs director and has become public affairs manager for the Southeast U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.
Chris Danner has been appointed director of product support for the Ae270 turboprop program for Ibis Aerospace, Kerrville, Tex. He held a similar position at the Sino Swearingen Aircraft Co. of San Antonio.
Russian aviation and space agency Rosaviakosmos has selected a consortium led by Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. to build a new regional jet to replace the country's aging fleet of short-haul aircraft, essentially composed of Tupolev Tu-134 trijets and Antonov An-24 turboprops. The decision, announced on Mar. 12, will base design on a family of 60-95-seat twin-jets, dubbed the Russian Regional Jet, proposed by Sukhoi in cooperation with Boeing, Ilyushin and Yakovlev.
DON'T RUSH ME Boeing keeps predicting that a Pentagon deal for leasing 100 767-based tankers is only a week or two away. But Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says don't hold your breath. "I'll decide when I decide," he said. "I don't need to set arbitrary deadlines as to when that might be." Rumsfeld says that his advisers and analysts still don't agree on the idea. "Gen. [Richard] Myers [chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] and I both listened attentively, and I've asked for some more information."
Beset by a bleak commercial space market and a crisis in Europe's launch sector, EADS has presented plans for deeper job cuts in its space arm in an attempt to turn around the troubled business unit. Hefty provisions for the restructuring plans and for continued amortization of goodwill pushed the company into a 299-million euro ($329-million) net loss in 2002 in results announced here last week. Operating earnings dropped 16% to 1.4 billion euros, from 1.7 billion euros a year earlier.
Erik Blachford has become CEO of Seattle-based Expedia. He has been president of Expedia North America. Blachford succeeds Rich Barton, who has resigned.
DIRTY BOMB CLEAN-UP Concerns about terrorists' use of radiological weapons, also known as dirty bombs, are prompting the Pentagon to develop technology to respond to the use of such a device. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is often assigned some of the military's most complex problems, wants to kick off a program in May to detect the use of a dirty bomb and decontaminate and clean up the affected area. The agency plans a gradual effort that would lead to a full-scale demonstration in 2006.
Messier-Bugatti and Tracer Repair and Overhaul have formed Messier-Bugatti-Tracer, which operates FAA/JAA Part 145-certified stations in Milwaukee and Miami for wheel and brake repair and overhaul services for commercial airlines.
Mar. 27-28--Defense Budget Conference. Holiday Inn, Rosslyn, Va. 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. Partnerships
CHARLIE JOHNSON HAS BEEN NAMED PRESIDENT of Cessna Aircraft Co. and will assume full responsibility of all company operations. He joined Cessna in 1979 and was promoted to senior vice president of operations in 1993 and executive vice president of operation in 1995. Johnson flew Republic F-105s during the Vietnam War and has logged more than 14,000 flight hours. He holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and has earned type ratings in all of the Citation business jets, the Dassault Aviation Falcon 50 and several Learjet models. Russell W.
Gus Whitcomb has been appointed acting managing director of corporate communications for American Airlines. He was managing director of strategic communications. Whitcomb succeeds Tim Doke, who is now vice president-communications at Dell Computer.
NEW A319S, SERVICES FOR PRIVATAIR PrivatAir, on behalf of Lufthansa German Airlines, plans to add two new Airbus A319 long-range aircraft to operate two more nonstop, all-business-class services. The Geneva-based charter company and the German carrier launched the long-haul business-class concept last year, offering service between Dusseldorf and Newark Liberty International Airport using the Boeing Business Jet (AW&ST May 20, 2002, p. 18).
SNECMA & EADS In a separate development, Snecma was chosen to join EADS' preferred partnership program. One of EADS' largest suppliers, with over 500 million euros ($545 million) in sales in 2002, Snecma will join Honeywell, Rockwell Collins, United Technologies and Thales in the program, which seeks to build long-term relationships of benefit to both suppliers and EADS.
ARRIEL 2S2 ORDER Snecma's Turbomeca affiliate has received a launch order for 20 Arriel 2S2 engines (see photo) to power Sikorsky's new-generation S-76 helicopter model. Deliveries are expected to begin in 2005. The 2S2 will provide 6% more power than the predecessor Arriel 2S1 powerplant, and feature dual-channel digital engine control. The 2S1, in turn, provides 18% more power than the basic Arriel 1.
Mar. 31--18th Bristol (England) International UAV Conference. Bristol University and Cranfield College of Aeronautics. Call +44 (117) 928-9764 or see www.uvonline.co.uk Mar. 31-Apr. 1--Technology Training Corp.'s Future Unmanned Vehicles Conference. Holiday Inn Rosslyn, Arlington, Va. Call +1 (310) 563-1223 or see www.technologytraining.com Apr. 2-8--Sun 'N' Fun EAA Fly-in. Lakeland (Fla.) Linder Regional Airport. Call +1 (863) 644-2431 or see www.sun-n-fun.org
John Blue has been appointed interim CEO of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Purchase, N.Y. He has been a member of the board of directors and is a former president of Atlas Air Inc. Blue succeeds Richard Shuyler, who has resigned. Jeffrey H. Erickson, who has been acting president of the holding company, has been named president. John W. Dietrich, who has been deputy general counsel, will be acting general counsel, succeeding Thomas G. Scott. Wake Smith will be head of strategic planning, succeeding Fred L. deLeeuw.
With production deadlines approaching, Boeing has resumed design work on the 9,100-naut.-mi. 777-200LR, which it had suspended after Sept. 11, 2001, with only 10% of the work done. The manufacturer has only five orders, two from Pakistan International Airlines and three from Taiwan's EVA Airlines. PIA is to take delivery in January 2006 so design work has to be completed now to keep on schedule, said Lars Andersen, the long-range 777 program manager.
ONEWORLD IN BRUSSELS' GRASP The European Commission's (EC) competition directorate last week ratified an SN Brussels Airlines/British Airways-proposed commercial partnership. It presents benefits for the Belgian carrier's customers by giving them access to BA's global route system, according to EC officials. The soon-to-be-implemented six-year agreement indicates that SN Brussels Airlines could gradually move closer to the Oneworld alliance.
SECOND-HAND SMOKE U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld regularly calls in retired senior generals en-masse to brief them on current military events. The latest meeting was last week. The invitees are split on the value of the gatherings. In particular, intelligence briefings arranged by Pentagon press chief Victoria Clarke have been dismissed as "insulting" and lightweight in the extreme. In contrast, Rumsfeld is considered a "straight talker who avoids any b.s.," according to one participant. Rumsfeld is currently concerned about getting the money to rebuild Iraq.
AIRLIB SLOT REASSIGNMENT Cohor, an independent team regulating takeoff and landing slots at Paris airports, is scheduled to reassign Air Lib's coveted slots to new operators. Air Lib "owned" 44,500 slots at Orly, France's main domestic hub, which will be distributed in compliance with the European Commission's strict rules. The slots, which cannot be sold, must be shared equally by current operators (grandfather rights) and new entrants. Demands are expected to significantly exceed availability, according to Eric Herbane, who heads Cohor.
Thomas R. Karl, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., has won the American Meteorological Society's 2003 Verner E. Suomi Award. He was cited "for leadership to improve the integrity of the climatic record and dedication to building a reliable climatic observing system."
