In an expected move, the FAA has mandated a change to the rudder system on all Boeing 737s, using a design that the company has been developing for more than two years and that is to go into new production aircraft in January. Boeing is shouldering the $800-900-million cost of designing the system and providing hardware for about 4,200 737s worldwide. Operators should be able to accomplish the change during normal heavy maintenance and have until November 2008 to meet the airworthiness directive. Airlines will pay for labor costs.
Derek Kerr has been named senior vice president/chief financial officer of America West Airlines. He was senior vice president-financial planning and analysis. Kerr succeeds Bernie Han, who has become CFO of Northwest Airlines. Han, in turn, succeeds Mickey Foret, who has retired. Foret also was chairman/CEO of Northwest Airlines Cargo Inc. Doug Steenland will succeed Foret there and remain president of Northwest Airlines.
The final preproduction helicopter built under the U.S. Marine Corps H-1 upgrade program made its first flight at NAS Patuxent River, Md., Oct. 4. The AH-1Z Super Cobra joins four other AH-1Z and UH-1Y aircraft undergoing extensive flight tests for the Marines.
Keith Lawlor (see photo) has been named A380 program manager at Dunlop Aerospace Braking Systems, Coventry, England. He was product manager for regional aircraft.
Thomas E. Schick has been appointed non-executive chairman of the board of directors of Houston-based ExpressJet Holdings. He succeeds Continental Airlines Chairman/CEO Gordon Bethune, who will remain a director. Schick is a former executive vice president-commercial aviation services of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group.
China is signaling its intent to become an international space power by planning a visible and significant presence at the World Space Congress in Houston this week, the single largest international gathering of space managers, researchers and companies in 10 years. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics officials organizing the WSC said the Chinese participation is noteworthy.
The Pentagon is projecting foreign military sales this fiscal year will top totals during the past 10 years, in part because of confidence that an aggressive technical and financing proposal will help secure a win in Poland's fighter competition. Foreign military sales (FMS) experienced a sharp decline in the mid-1990s, dropping below $9 billion a year, after a spike following a post-Persian Gulf war surge of weapons purchases in the Middle East. In recent years, the level has ``jumped back up rather nicely,'' and in the fiscal year ended Sept.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and House aviation subcommittee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) don't always see eye to eye, but they are of one mind on the urgent need for a next-generation explosives detection system (EDS). In remarks at the Chamber of Commerce meeting, Mineta said his department has money to develop a new EDS, but it will take two years.
Luce Veilleux has become Toronto-based vice president/chief marketing officer and Marc Girard Montreal-based vice president/chief financial officer for Air Canada subsidiary Aeroplan. Veilleux was vice president-marketing for retail and commercial banking at the RBC Royal Bank. Girard was vice president/treasurer at Quebecor and Quebecor Media.
Thai Airways International expects a profit of 12 billion baht ($300 million) for fiscal 2002, which ended Sept. 30. That's more than a six-fold increase from the 1.93-billion-baht profit it posted last year but slightly below an earlier projection of 12.2 billion baht. An airline spokesman said foreign currency fluctuations, particularly strengthening of the baht, accounted for the difference. The baht has recovered 25% of its value since its devaluation led the first wave of the Asian financial crisis of 1997-99.
Nine days into Fiscal 2003, House and Senate appropriations conferees agreed on a defense spending bill, only the first of 13 that Congress normally would enact for the budget year that began Oct. 1. The appropriators issued their report while defense authorizers were still stalled, marginalizing the work of the oversight committees. The appropriations compromise provides the Pentagon with $355.1 billion, only $1.6 billion short of what the administration asked.
Attempts to rescue Fairchild Dornier are entering a critical phase. Russian investors might be the last chance for the German aircraft manufacturer's regional twinjets. Basic Elements, a major Russian group formerly known as Sibirsky Aluminium, and Irkutsk Aircraft Production Organization (IAPO) were expected to submit a bid for the company last week, according to Fairchild Dornier Administrator Eberhard Braun. Moreover, Switzerland-based Aircraft Finance Consulting (AFC) is mulling an unrelated proposal and is expected to submit financing documentation this week.
Charles E. Webb (see photo) has won the Society of Flight Test Engineers' 2002 Kelly Johnson Award for Outstanding Achievement in Flight Test Engineering. Webb retired in 2001 as a flying qualities and performance engineer at the Naval Air Warfare Center, Patuxent River, Md. He was recognized for his planning, execution and reporting of test programs.
BAE Systems has been forced to further delay, by up to 12 months, first flight of its Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft, provoking the Defense Ministry into a review of the impact of the latest problem on the $4.2-billion program. The company had been looking to fly the MRA4 by November or December. This in itself was almost a 12-month slippage on an intended January 2002 first flight. BAE now says that will not occur until the latter half of 2003. Some sources suggest late 2003 as the most likely.
Sino-Swearingen Aircraft Corp. replaced its top management in an attempt to expedite certification and production of the SJ30-2 business jet. Carl Chen has been appointed president/CEO, and Gene Comfort has been named senior vice president-sales and marketing. Financing to achieve FAA certification is available, and a second flight test airplane is nearing completion. The SJ30-2 is tentatively set for certification late in 2003.
The Transportation Security Administration and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn. plan to launch a U.S. aviation watch system in December. The TSA has developed a toll-free hotline and centralized reporting system to bring AOPA's Airport Watch program to a national level. The move enables about 550,000 genav pilots to report any suspicious activities that might compromise security.
Meanwhile, European satellite makers continue to streamline as they struggle to stay afloat in the turbulent economic environment. Astrium, in the midst of a corporate-wide restructuring effort, confirmed union reports that it would lay off more than 500 people at its Toulouse and Velizy, France, sites next year, and an equivalent amount in the U.K. and Germany. The company has received orders for only four spacecraft in 2002, compared to two in 2001 and six in 2000. Earlier, archrival Alcatel Space had announced 400 new layoffs of its own (AW&ST Sept. 30, p. 18).
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.
