Larry D. De Shon, who has been senior vice president-onboard service for United Airlines, will become senior vice president-airport operations. He will be suc- ceeded by Patricia L. Carson, who has been vice president-human resources.
Carrying its laptop tool for a "paperless cockpit" one step further, Boeing is introducing the Electronic Flight Bag as a built-in installation beginning with the 777-300ER.
Advances in simulation technology and the globalization of flight training are driving an FAA proposal to mandate requirements for the qualification, performance and quality assurance of simulation devices at all levels of pilot training and bring the U.S. in line with similar systems operating in Europe.
Fairchild Dornier is likely to be split and sold in separate units, according to German industry sources. A final decision on the bankrupt manufacturer's fate, which was tentatively scheduled for this week, is now believed to be further delayed but is expected in the next two weeks. A Russian industrial consortium comprising Basic Element and the Irkutsk Aircraft Production Organization is seen as the front runner, although it is offering only to acquire the 728/928 regional jet program.
The airline industry's major players are poised to further consolidate by reinforcing and enlarging fewer global alliances than initially expected, according to Air France's top executives. The French flag carrier is, by a narrow margin, Europe's biggest airline.
V-22 advocates have been trying to convince others that one of their staunchest critics, Pentagon acquisition chief E.C. (Pete) Aldridge, Jr., is sanguine about the tiltrotor after his visit to the V-22 test facility at NAS Patuxent River, Md. "Boy, that surprised me," Aldridge said. "I am still as concerned about the program as I have always been." He says the flight test program goes well, but the hardest part of testing lies ahead.
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center started flying the Active Aeroelastic Wing demonstrator at Edwards AFB, Calif., on Nov. 15. The modified F/A-18A fighter will use wing-warping to assist in roll control, particularly at high speeds, and is a joint project of NASA, the Air Force Research Laboratory and Boeing Phantom Works.
The Transportation Dept. acknowledges big airlines' arguments that computer reservations system (CRS) regulations aren't needed any more, and says it may allow the current, 1992-vintage rules to go out of existence Mar. 31, their sunset date. But it has come up with a lengthy rulemaking proposal that would extend at least some of the regs, and it seeks industry comments on them by Jan. 14.
The NATO Prague Summit held late last week saw the alliance formally invite Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to begin talks on membership. It also moved to set up a rapid-reaction NATO Response Force (NRF). An initial operational capability by no later than 2004 is intended, with a full capability in October 2006.
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe wants the proposed Orbital Space Plane to be a U.S. asset, not the product of an international partnership (AW&ST Nov. 18, p. 44). But that doesn't mean foreign companies can't have a role in the project. NASA space transportation technology maven John Rogacki says non-U.S. contractors can work through U.S. primes on the vehicle, much as they already do on the Space Launch Initiative. France, Germany, Japan and Russia have aerospace contractors that could play a role in the new project.
Organization shuffling continues in the wake of U.S. Space Command's combining with Strategic Command and the stand-up of Northern Command (NorCom), but a degree of uncertainty remains about what will go where. The two-month-old NorCom is integrating some of its functions into the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center, yet the center will still be a cornerstone of the U.S./Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad).
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Douglas Barrie (London), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
Europe is being urged to establish an equivalent to the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), and the issue is being addressed within the context of ongoing work on a new European Convention. The creation of a capability similar to the Pentagon's Darpa is being pursued by senior executives within European defense-aerospace giant EADS. The effort, say British sources, is also being pushed by France's government.
Northrop Grumman has agreed to sell the automotive business of TRW Inc. to the Blackstone Group in a deal valued at more than $4.7 billion. At the close of the transaction, Northrop will retain an equity interest of about 20% and use the nearly $4 billion in cash from the sale to pay down debt.
Lequios (Portuguese for "native"), Japan's fifth low-cost carrier, is to start twice daily round-trip service in June from Naha, Okinawa, to Tokyo with a Boeing 767. It hopes to increase service to three times daily by December 2003 with a second aircraft
EADS shareholders' pact of stability is not scheduled to be dismantled next year, and no major changes in ownership are expected to materialize and affect the cross-border group, according to EADS CoCEO Philippe Camus. The highly diversified Lagardere group, which is significantly expanding its media businesses, will not abandon its 15% stake in EADS, Camus stressed.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will revise its schedule for requiring the implementation of security measures applicable to chartered aircraft weighing 95,000 lb. or more. The change gives FAR Part 135 operators 30 days after the final rule becomes effective before complying with provisions, which include prescreening of passengers. The new rule was to be implemented Dec. 1. About six operators are directly affected by the additional security standards, according to the National Air Transportation Assn.
Rockwell Collins will supply its Flight Dynamics head-up guidance system for the Dassault Falcon 7X business jet, currently under development in France. Designated the 7X HGS, the system provides a wider field-of-view and allows takeoff with a Runway Visual Range (RVR) of 300 ft., as well as all-weather approach/landing in visibility as low as 600 ft. RVR. In addition, the HGS is fully integrated into the 7X's avionic package.
The U.S./German Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace), two small satellites (shown during testing) designed to give scientists a reading of the gravity component in several Earth-science measurements, is performing extremely well in its on-orbit commissioning phase and should begin to return unprecedented scientific results when calibration is completed next spring. Launched on Mar. 17, the two 950-lb.
