Lockheed Missiles & Space Co. created a splash with its exhibit hall display at the first World Space Congress, held here at the beginning of September 1992. The fading ripples from that splash serve to illustrate just how different the world is as delegates to the second World Space Congress gather in Houston this week.
September traffic statistics from the biggest U.S. airlines show a year-over-year increase, as expected, but a two-year comparison makes clear how steep a climb the carriers face to regain the levels they enjoyed the last time they were profitable. Throughout 2002, monthly traffic data have reflected the basic strategy of the six big network airlines following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks: reduce capacity and contain fares, waiting for travelers to come back.
The River Elbe rages through the heart of Dresden, Germany, on Aug. 18. In this 1-meter image collected by the Ikonos commercial remote-sensing satellite from an altitude of 367 naut. mi. (see facing page), the Zwinger Palace museum (with large courtyard) and other structures on the south bank of the river are surrounded by standing water, while trees along the river bank are engulfed by waves. Earlier, the crest of some of the worst flooding in Europe in more than a century swept through central Prague as well.
Depressed values for old and out-of-production commercial aircraft coupled with sinking airline credit ratings will cost Boeing Co. $250 million, or 20 cents a share, in pre-tax operating earnings in the third quarter. And another financial hit can't be ruled out if the business climate--already abysmal--deteriorates further, according to some industry analysts. While there was no significant change in customer defaults or delinquency rates in the three months ended Sept. 30, the company believes the reserves are a prudent step.
The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency has brought in some high-profile management prowess to accelerate the fielding of new missile defense equipment and to quickly deliver new tools such as high-performance boosters, mini kill vehicles and High-Altitude Airship sensor platforms. The recent managerial moves are part of MDA Director Lt. Gen.
Aeroindustryjobs (www.aeroindustryjobs.com), an Internet recruiting site specializing in the aerospace/defense sector, has grown to include GE Aircraft Engines, TRW, Rolls-Royce North America, Kaman Aerospace, Smiths Aerospace, Parker, Eaton and Derco as well as other smaller industry-related companies and organizations. The service is free to job seekers.
Robert W. Baker, retired vice chairman of American Airlines, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Megadata Corp., Greenwich, Conn. Capt. Joe Burns has been appointed director of flight standards and technology for United Airlines.
France's AirLib Express, the low-fare successor to Air Liberte and AOM, expects to achieve profitability by the end of the year, according to company officials. The former Swissair affiliate carries nearly 300,000 passengers monthly between Paris and six domestic destinations such as Nice and Toulouse. One-way fares that start at a low 29 euros ($28.40) are meeting growing competition with TGV high-speed trains. AirLib last week inaugurated a twice-weekly service between Paris and Tripoli, Libya, and on Oct.
Robert Myers (see photo) has become chancellor of the Extended Campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He was executive vice president/chief operating officer of the University of Maryland's University College and will remain an adjunct faculty member there.
EADS' new facility at Augsburg, Germany, is to provide extra capacity for the A380 ultrawide-body transport and A400M airlifter. The 6.8-million-euro ($6.7-million), 5,400-sq.-meter shop, located at a German air base in Lechfeld, will be capable of turning out up to 100 A380 wing bathtubs per year. It will initially be used to produce keel beams for Airbus narrow-body aircraft.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. extended until Dec. 31 its approval of antitrust immunity for United Airlines, British Midland and some of their Star Alliance partners. United and British Midland asked for a six-month extension, through Apr. 4, 2003 (AW&ST Sept. 23, p. 15), but the difference might not matter much. The approval is conditioned on agreement by the U.S. and the U.K. on an open skies accord, an elusive goal that the U.K. may not be free to pursue in the new year.
U.S. airlines could lose $1.7 billion before taxes in the first three months of a war with Iraq, a Credit Suisse First Boston analyst estimates. The analyst, James Higgins, drew from experience with higher fuel prices and lower traffic during the 1991 war and added that a number of airlines that haven't been in a financial crisis are Chapter 11 candidates this time. Speaking at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce meeting here, Higgins offered what have become mainstream estimates of U.S. industry losses in the absence of a war--$7 billion this year and $2.5-3 billion in 2003.
United Airlines shifted its labor-concession talks Oct. 9 to what it termed ``bilateral negotiations'' with each of its unions. The company had been dealing with a coalition of all its major unions. United said it had expected the change all along, but analysts saw it as a setback in attempts to get more than the $1 billion per year in cost reductions offered last month by the coalition. The airline seeks an $1.8-billion federal loan guarantee and is trying to stay out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Only hours after NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe indicated here that the launch of game show winners to the International Space Station could be a frivolous use of a unique laboratory by unqualified personnel, the Russian Space Agency said it planned to cooperate with Russian and U.S. television moguls planning such a flight. Space tourism will be one topic at the World Space Congress in Houston this week.
Administrator Sean O'Keefe's efforts to lasso the disparate elements of the U.S. space agency into a unified organization notwithstanding, the civilian space guilds are still feuding. At a World Space Congress panel on space operations last week, veteran shuttle flight director Wayne Hale discounted Space Launch Initiative concepts as ungrounded in reality.
Efforts are brewing to reopen competition in the ever-changing Multimission Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A) program. The latest catalyst is the imminent retirement of one of USAF's senior acquisition officials, Darleen A. Druyun, principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisition and management.
Richard Reid was expected to change his plea last week to guilty on eight charges associated with the attempted inflight destruction of an American Airlines aircraft. The flight was en route from Paris to Miami with 197 people on board when Reid tried to ignite a makeshift bomb in his sneakers. Flight attendants and passengers quashed his attempt, and the flight was safely diverted to Boston. Reid faces life imprisonment if found guilty of charges that include attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted homicide.
Japan's DRTS data relay test satellite is expected to arrive at its geosynchronous orbital slot by mid-month following its Sept. 10 launch, but without as much station-keeping fuel as expected. During the third of three orbital maneuvers, the positioning thrusters shut down automatically, apparently because too much oxidizer was used on the first two maneuvers. The National Space Development Agency recovered the mission with an attitude control adjustment, but its service life is expected to be shortened. NASDA said DRTS' 3.6-meter- (12-ft.-) dia.
William A. Feess has received the Trustees' Distinguished Achievement Award, the highest honor of The Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, Calif. Other awards were presented at the ceremony. Feess, a senior engineering specialist, was recognized for his work on the GPS satellite constellation. He belonged to the core team that defined the first GPS and was credited with helping to resolve numerous difficulties in the navigation software. Feess later played what is considered a major role in defining and implementing improvements to GPS navigation capabilities.
Charles Toups (see photos) has been named vice president-programs at Boeing Satellite Systems, El Segundo, Calif. He was head of Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices, Torrance, Calif. Toups will be succeeded there by Chris Stephens, who was vice president-business operations at Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, Seal Beach, Calif.
A report for the House Science Committee raises questions about NASA's Space Launch Initiative (SLI), playing right into the hands of Administrator Sean O'Keefe, who is said to have some questions of his own about the $4.8-billion effort. The General Accounting Office cautions that NASA will be hard-pressed to set reasonable requirements for a second-generation reusable launch vehicle (RLV) until it completes the space transportation plan the vehicle would serve.
Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is emphasizing development of the new Centrair international airport to open in Nagoya in 2005 and upgrades to Tokyo's Haneda airport in its $4.1-billion airport improvement budget for fiscal 2003. The ministry has budgeted $1.1 billion for construction of a fourth runway at Haneda, which is Asia's busiest airport even though it serves mainly domestic Japanese routes. The requested amount is $45 million more than current spending on the project.
Critical U.S. communications systems have been upgraded considerably since Sept. 11, 2001, because President Bush was unable to adequately communicate with his national security staff after terrorist attacks. His aircraft, Air Force One, was configured with aging communications gear designed for nuclear hardness, not capacity. As a result, Bush could not conduct a video teleconference while inflight, or receive necessary data from key people on the ground. ``He couldn't even watch CNN,'' remarked Adm. James O. Ellis, Jr., commander of Strategic Command.
