The Chinese government has lowered caps on foreign investment in airlines--contradicting earlier goals and leaving Chinese carriers confused--even as it has relaxed rules on airport investment. In a new airline ruling, the government has said a single foreign company can hold a maximum 25% in a Chinese carrier, whether the majority stock of that carrier is held privately, by a local or provincial government, or by the national government.
Jeffrey Erickson has become president/ chief operating officer of Atlas Air, succeeding Jim Matheny, who is retiring. Erickson has been president/COO of Midway Airlines and president/CEO of Trans World Airlines. Stanley Wraight has been appointed senior vice president-marketing and commercial strategy. He was senior vice president-sales and marketing. Wraight has been succeeded by Robert Van de Weg, who was vice president-sales for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.
Adam Aircraft Industries might easily be dismissed as just another small company trying to design, build and sell a new general aviation airplane. That also might be a mistake. Only time will tell, but the low-key company could be quietly establishing new standards for rapidly developing and manufacturing aircraft at reasonable cost. If its strategy and systematic processes are validated in the marketplace, Adam Aircraft could have a major impact on the cost-versus-performance measures of general aviation, business and military air vehicles.
Air France was scrambling late last week to minimize the impact of a looming pilot strike. Pilots called the strike for Sept. 6-9 in what threatens to be the beginning of renewed labor strife in France, following the election of a center-right government last spring. Short- and medium-haul flights run by two subsidiaries, Regional and Britair, were to be maintained, Air France said.
Deliveries of new business aircraft will decline modestly in 2002 and in 2003, with order rates in the same period slow to rise above current levels, provided the U.S. economy cooperates, according to Honeywell Aerospace's latest annual business aviation outlook. While this near-term picture of business aviation may seem tenuous, if not downright disheartening, the industry--and especially suppliers to the airframe primes--can take some consolation in the fact that manufacturer backlogs are as high as they've ever been.
Jennifer Pollino has been promoted to president of the Troy, Ohio-based Aircraft Wheels and Brakes Div. of the Goodrich Corp. from president/general manager of the Turbomachinery Products Div., Chandler, Ariz. She has been succeeded by Jeff Yaker, who was president of Goodrich subsidiary Universal Propulsion Co. of Phoenix.Yaker, in turn, has been succeeded by Mike Heidorn, who was vice president-general manager for the passenger restraint systems business.
Germany is fast becoming one of Europe's focal points for low-fare airline growth, after three more carriers unveiled plans to enter the market in the next few weeks. The no-frills boom in one of Europe's biggest air travel markets was initiated by Ryanair which set up a large base at Hahn airport--serving nine European destinations--and the relaunch of British Airways subsidiary Deutsche BA as low-fare airline DBA.
If HTML and XML aren't enough for you, now there is BPML--Business Process Modeling Language. BPML models how transactions should execute--with customers, within the company or with business partners. Business processes are represented as the flow of control, data and events, operating under a scheme of business rules and security roles. It provides a top-down execution model for existing software as components of a process.
After nearly 10 years sampling the upper atmosphere for greenhouse gases, Japan's Meteorological Research Institute reports that carbon dixoide generated mainly at ground level is carried into the upper atmosphere, CO2 generated mainly in the middle-to-high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere is carried into the Southern Hemisphere, and carbon monoxide reacts with other atmospheric substances to affect ozone concentration in the troposphere.
After meeting with federal mediators in Washington, Boeing officials say they are not open to changing their offer of a new three-year contract for the nearly 26,000 members of the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers who are employed at the company's commercial aircraft factories in Seattle, Wichita, Kan., and Portland, Ore. After a 5.5-hr. meeting with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) on Sept.
USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Everett H. Pratt, Jr., (see photo) has been named vice president-electronic warfare programs for the Northrop Grumman Corp. Electronic Systems Sector, Rolling Meadows, Ill. He has been a consultant for Northrop Grumman since retiring from USAF. Raymond Neidl has become a senior airline and transportation analyst in the equities research group of Blaylock & Partners of New York. He was a director and airline analyst with ABN-AMRO Securities, also in New York.
A new presidential policy on access to space may be in the offing. NASA, the Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) will report their plans for developing reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) to the White House this month. Options studied include staying the course with NASA's Space Launch Initiative (SLI) technology program; building a small reusable crew transfer/return vehicle and launching it on expendable Atlas Vs or Delta IVs (AW&ST July 1, p.
Midway Airlines may soon resume operations, this time as a US Airways Express carrier, as a result of a tentative contract agreed to last week between the carrier's pilots' union and management. Morrisville, N.C.-based Midway filed for bankruptcy protection Aug. 13, 2001, ceased operations Sept. 12 and was revived by the federal government Dec. 19. On July 17, it suspended services a second time to reconfigure its fleet of six Boeing 737s and adjust its business model. According to the Air Line Pilots Assn., the carrier could resume operations as early as Nov.
Alberto F. Fernandez, retired chairman/CEO of Spain-based Construcciones Aeronauticas S.A. and senior executive at the EADS, has been appointed to the board of directors of Aviall Inc. of Dallas.
Fuji Heavy Industries expects to deliver the first two T-7 primary trainer prototypes to the Japanese air force's Flight Development and Experiment Wing late this month. The T-7 shares about 60% commonality with the aircraft it is to replace, the Fuji T-3, so the air force will save by not having to duplicate maintenance tooling. The aircraft is set to replace the T-3 now in service with the 11th and 12th Flight Training Wings on a one-for-one basis. That would require about 50 aircraft; so far, the air force has ordered 23 at 5.4 billion yen ($45.1 million).
The Kuwait Defense Ministry has signed a letter of offer and acceptance with the U.S. Defense Dept. for the purchase of 16 AH-64D Apache Longbow combat helicopters. When the Foreign Military Sales agreement is complete, the U.S. Army will contract, on behalf of Kuwait, with Boeing and other Apache industry team members for the aircraft and equipment. The estimated $900-million program includes acquisition of the Longbow fire control radar, ordnance--including Hellfire missiles--spare parts, training and maintenance support.
Gen. (ret.) Michael E. Ryan, former U.S. Air Force chief of staff and commander-in-chief of USAFE and Aircent, has been nominated as an honorary member of the Assn. of Former European Air Chiefs.
John Keating has been named CEO, effective Nov. 1, and Gary Calhoun chief financial officer of Com Dev International Ltd., Cambridge, Ontario. Keating will succeed Keith Ainsworth, who will retire but remain on the board of directors. Calhoun succeeds Tim Zahavich, who has resigned.
Civil Service jobs at NASA considered eligible for commercial outsourcing took a big jump this year under Administrator Sean O'Keefe, rising to 39% of the total full-time-equivalent (FTE) positions from 23% in 2001. With an FTE count of 19,005 in 2002, that means 7,405 jobs at NASA are considered not to be ``inherently government functions'' in O'Keefe's judgment. The figures, first reported to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in June and released Sept. 5, are considered preliminary and subject to revision.
Business aviation operators are banking on a code of good practice introduced earlier this year to help improve and harmonize their operations and prevent the spread of conflicting or superfluous rules in different parts of the world.
David A. Kier has been appointed vice president/managing director for missile defense and Thomas J. Jurkowsky vice president-media relations for the Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md. Kier was vice president-advanced systems and BM/ C2/C program manager. Jurkowsky was vice president-communications and public affairs for the company's Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems.
Alan Moore has been named executive director for advanced engineering for Matcom, Alexandria, Va. He was director of airway facilities for the National Airspace System at the FAA.
Coming down to the wire in its attempt to regain financial stability without Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, UAL Corp. turned last week from short-term leadership to its CEO of the future--Glenn Tilton, a 32-year veteran of the oil industry. Tilton succeeds John Creighton, who became chairman and CEO last October on an interim basis and said in May he wanted to retire. Tilton also took the title of president, held by Rono Dutta. Announcing the succession Sept.
Since the enactment of defense procurement reforms in the mid-1980s, the fundamental tone of the U.S. government's relationship with the defense industry has oscillated between partnership and contentiousness. These shifts typically have coincided with budget levels, with tension increasing as funding goes down. This makes a recent government decision concerning the ill-fated, $52-billion A-12 aircraft development program all the more puzzling. The Navy is demanding that Boeing Co.
