The ultralong-range Airbus A340-500 obtained European JAA certification after completing a 500-hr. flight test program. The Dash 500, a 313-seat aircraft, has a 8,650-naut.-mi. maximum range.
To offset an F/A-22 cost increase that tops $700 million, the Air Force will trim the number of stealth fighters it buys but leave largely untouched its plan to bolster the system's air-to-ground capability. But that's not all. Senior service officials warn that unless the performance of the Lockheed Martin-led team improves, the program and potential profits for industry are in jeopardy.
In a move met with protests by consumer groups, Australia's Tourism Task Force said airports and airlines will pass the costs of baggage screening equipment and other security measures on to passengers rather than see the government pick them up as an antiterrorism expense. Higher ticket prices are expected.
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With the Pentagton's press plans for a conflict with Iraq beginning to take shape, there needs to be a hard look at who covers the nation's wars. Limiting the press pool to a handful of national networks, magazines and newspapers is wrong. Greater opportunity will better serve journalism, the readers and the military.
Scientists hope to use laser altimetry techniques pioneered at Mars to learn whether Earth's polar ice caps are shrinking as the atmosphere warms, a NASA mission that has already piqued Pentagon interest because of the mapping accuracy it promises.
American Airlines has asked the FAA to extend to July 9, 2003, the deadline for reinforcing cockpit doors on its fleet of 34 Airbus A300s, citing "less than adequate support" from the European airframe manufacturer. American has told the agency that Airbus has provided only two of four required service bulletins. Two other bulletins will be delayed until Jan. 20, and Airbus will not ship a portion of the necessary parts until early in February. Installation will take 15 days per aircraft, not eight days as originally planned.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. has awarded two beyond-perimeter slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to Delta Air Lines for a daily round trip between DCA and Delta's hub at Salt Lake City. The exemptions were issued originally to National Airlines but have been dormant since September 2001. The department cited network benefits as a key factor in choosing Delta and Salt Lake City over other U.S. carriers and hub cities.
The partnership of space agencies that runs the International Space Station plans to pick a larger configuration for the orbiting laboratory next spring, with the heads of the agencies signing off before the end of 2003 on a new plan to "significantly" increase ISS crew size by adding more Russian Soyuz vehicles as crew lifeboats.
Two EADS CASA CN-235-200 aircraft equipped with mission-specific sensors were recently purchased by the Colombian navy for maritime surveillance and drug traffic control use. The configuration of the aircraft has been defined to provide the degree of multifunctionality required by the operator. The aircraft will enter service by mid-2003.
Eighteen months from now, the new United Airlines most likely will emerge from bankruptcy with much of its long-haul network intact. But downsizing personnel and trimming domestic schedules are virtually guaranteed as the process of rebuilding a streamlined fleet of aircraft gets underway. Tough-minded management and concession-oriented labor are the keys to whether United can pull this off.
US Airways and negotiators for its Air Line Pilots Assn. unit agreed tentatively on about $100 million in further cost reductions, about half the additional labor-related cuts the airline seeks for the reorganization plan it intends to file this week in bankruptcy court. The carrier proposed an all-productivity package, but it accepted a union alternative providing temporary pay cuts that will enable the carrier to phase in the productivity measures, eliminating jobs through attrition rather than more furloughs.
All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines hope to increase scheduled services to Osaka's Itami Airport from Tokyo's Haneda Airport, but the transport ministry wants passengers to use Kansai International Airport in Osaka Bay because noise is not an issue. The chief problem for passengers centers on time: it takes about 2 hr. to reach Kansai but less than 1 hr. to reach Itami. In addition, airlines oppose the high fees charged at Kansai.
Barbara Morgan is finally getting her trip to space, but as a trailblazer, not as an understudy. NASA chief Sean O'Keefe assigned Morgan, who backed up Christa McAuliffe before the ill-fated Challenger mission in 1986, to fly on Mission 118 next November when it delivers a truss segment to the space station. Now a qualified mission specialist, Morgan will be only the first "educator astronaut" in what promises to be an ongoing program designed to interest youngsters in math and science. O'Keefe says details of NASA's teacher-recruiting drive will be issued Jan.
Aerospace Industries Assn. CEO John Douglass presses to make recommendations of the U.S. Aerospace Commission on which he served something more than bedtime reading (AW&ST Nov. 18, p. 28), but his frustration shows. Vice President Dick Cheney promises the administration will take a serious look, and senior representatives of the Commerce, State, Defense and Transportation Depts., FAA and NASA met with industry leaders at Boeing's offices here last week to begin developing an action plan. Douglass says Congressional hearings are in the offing, too.
Enigma Inc. of Burlington, Mass., has been awarded a "six-figure" contract by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for its 3C Version8 software to manage integration and delivery of all the carrier's maintenance, repair and overhaul documentation. Deployment to some 3,500 KLM engineers and mechanics will be via the Web with CD-ROM as a backup. The deployment will be at KLM's Schiphol Airport home base in Amsterdam, collecting some 15 gigabytes of data from disparate parts of the KLM organization.
Munich-based EADS Military and GE Aircraft Engines in Evendale, Ohio, have signed to team on the definition phase of the Mako family of advanced trainer and light combat aircraft. The companies will work on the integration of a derivative of the GE fighter engine F414-GE400. The technical details of the Mako powerplant installation and the single-engine features for the F414 will be determined. In addition to hardware-oriented tasks, the team will elaborate all specifications and documentation necessary to prepare for the development phase, planned for mid-2004.
France has acquired 10 EC 725 Cougar Mk. 2+ helicopters for special forces, antiterrorism and combat search and rescue (CSAR) applications. The 288-million-euro ($288-million) purchase, which includes product support, is part of a revised multiyear defense procurement plan designed to meet new threats. The air force had previously signed up for four EC 725s for CSAR missions (plus 10 on option). Eurocopter also revealed that it has sold four EC 225s--the civil equivalent of the EC 725. Two were purchased by the Canadian Helicopter Corp.
Don't tell Air France executives that low-cost carriers are revolutionizing the European airline industry: They will not listen. They don't want to be distracted by "insignificant" details while they anxiously scan the horizon for a long-overdue economic recovery.
USN Vice Adm. (ret.) Alexander J. Krekich has been appointed to the board of directors of Basic Engineering Concepts and Technologies Inc., Arlington, Va. He also is president of the Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Corp. and CEO of United States Marine Repair.
