American Airlines plans to kiss paper ticketing goodbye next year. The carrier will issue e-ticketing only for domestic flights by March and for all other itineraries by December. The move is part of American's effort to reduce costs and streamline passenger check-in process. The carrier, which also plans to elimnate or automate other paper transactions by the end of next year, last week upped the fee for issuance of a paper ticket to $20 from $15.
For the last several years, simulation systems manufacturer CAE Inc. has been pursuing a strategy of acquisitions, divestitures and productivity initiatives in an effort to expand its core businesses, reduce costs, raise overall efficiency and increase shareholder value. If Aviation Week's 2002 Competitiveness Index study is any guide, the Montreal-based company has executed that plan with a high degree of proficiency.
China Airlines Flight 611 appears to have experienced no major problems before it came apart, but the flight data recorder shows small anomalies in the last 20 sec. The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) reveals a few noises that experienced observers found unusual for a Boeing 747-200 and were unable to identify. One type started 7 min.
The Aviation Week Top-Performing Companies study recognizes past success, either in how well a company did in 2001 or in how much it has improved in the last five years (1997-2001). This past achievement, however, tells only part of the story about a company's success in creating shareholder value. The stock market looks forward. Representing the collective judgment of all investors, the stock market doles out its reward (a rising stock price) to companies that exceed expectations.
Frank Fawcett has become president/ CEO of General Defense Systems Inc., Boca Raton, Fla. He succeeds founder David L. Frank, who will remain chief technology officer.
Outsize growth defined Aeroflex Inc. from 1997-2001 and played a big part in driving the electronic systems and components manufacturer to the top of the small-company rankings this year, from the No. 5 position in 2001. Revenues grew at an average annual rate of 26%, while the company's gross investment base nearly quadrupled. During the same period, Aeroflex managed to reduce its cost of goods sold, to 53% last year from 65% in 1997.
The top-ranked small airline of 2001 is a European startup, growing by leaps and bounds, a Southwest-inspired low-cost scourge of the establishment, transforming commercial aviation on the Continent. Ryanair's fourth consecutive selection? No, EasyJet's first. The carriers are far from being two peas in a pod, and in fact they are separated in the 2001 rankings by WestJet of Canada, in second place, and Frontier of the U.S., in third. But their impact on European aviation is significant and growing (AW&ST June 10, p. 44).
Russia launched a Progress supply vehicle June 26 that was scheduled to dock with the International Space Station early on June 29. The mission from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan marked the 74th consecutive successful launch of the Soyuz rocket, including 11 with human crews on board.
Within the next few weeks, Alitalia expects to conclude an agreement with Embraer for the purchase of six 70-seat 170 aircraft, as well as six options convertible to the 190 model, to be delivered starting in 2003. The contract also includes conversion of six options for the 50-seat 145, that would bring the total number of 145s in Alitalia's fleet to 14. Deliveries would begin this year and continue in 2003. The contract is valued at $250 million, or $400 million if all conversions are exercised.
Heather Kidd, Raymond Bennett, John Odegard, Jr., and Donn E. Seidholz have been appointed sales vice presidents for NetJets Inc., Woodbridge, N.J. Kidd was director of sales and marketing for CLS in Los Angeles, while Bennett and Odegard were regional sales managers for Raytheon Travel Air. Seidholz was vice president-sales and marketing for Jet Linx Aviation.
To determine the top performers among publicly traded airlines and aerospace/defense companies, Aviation Week focuses on three primary areas: asset utilization, or how many dollars of revenue are generated for every $1 invested in the business; productivity (how much real profit is generated from every $1 of revenue), and financial health. Embedded in the methodology is CSFB HOLT's cash-flow-return-on-investment (CFROI) framework, a proprietary valuation model used by nearly 4,000 portfolio managers at nearly 600 investment firms worldwide.
Michael Cleary has become president/ chief operating officer of aircraft operations for Western Aircraft Inc., Boise, Idaho. He was president of Regent Aviation, St. Paul, Minn.
The U.S. Air Force has changed the requirements for Boeing's high-performance unmanned combat aircraft to include electronic attack as part of its initial operational capability. That change would make the Block 10 UCAV--which is to evolve from Boeing's X-45--the Air Force's replacement for the Navy and Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler. The Navy has already selected the two-man EA-18 as its follow-on.
Don O'Bannon has been named vice president-small and emerging businesses at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. He was a partner in the Dallas law firm Vial & Hamilton.
David C. Miller has been appointed president of the Denver jetCenter. He was director of finance and administration for the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena (Calif.) Airport. Miller succeeds Larry Ulrich, who has been named senior vice president of parent company jetCenters Inc.
A 4-hr. strike carried out by a minority group of Italian air controllers belonging to the country's air traffic control organization (ENAV) severely disrupted air traffic in Italy on June 26. Alitalia was forced to cancel 64 national and 42 international flights, affecting 21,000 passengers, as well as reschedule another 209 flights. Other airlines were forced to do the same, with more than 200 flights in total canceled.
Finmeccanica will be taking a more limited role in southern Italy-based Europea Microfusioni Aerospaziali (EMA), its joint venture with Rolls-Royce. Rolls has boosted its stake to 51% from 33%, while Finmeccanica reduced its portion to 49% from 66%. EMA makes turbine vanes and blades for aero engines (RB211-524, RB211-535 and Adour) and has the capability of producing vanes and blades for power-generation turbines, a business in which Finmeccanica is currently involved with Ansaldo Energia.
The Italian air force has signed a long-awaited contract covering a first batch of five C-27J Spartan airlifters jointly produced by Finmeccanica/Alenia Aeronautica and Lockheed Martin. The aircraft, which will be equipped with inflight refueling systems, head-up cockpit displays and combat self-protection systems, are valued at $186 million, including five years of operational support and spare parts, according to company officials. First delivery is scheduled for 2005 to Pisa-based 46th Aerobrigata. The air force optioned seven additional C-27Js.
Tiny cracks on a fixture inside the liquid hydrogen fuel lines of two of NASA's four space shuttles have forced a delay in the planned July 19 launch of the space shuttle Columbia on a 16-day research mission, and may push back the next International Space Station assembly flight as well. After cracks were found in flow liners on Atlantis and Discovery, Shuttle managers ordered Columbia's three main engines removed so technicians can inspect the lines that feed liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to the engines from the external tank.
John Gardiner, a student at Loughborough (England) University, has been awarded the first educational scholarship launched by The International Air Cargo Assn. in memory of Walter H. Johnson, Jr. The scholarship honors Johnson's contribution to the air cargo industry during a career of nearly 60 years. Gardiner is studying for a bachelor's degree in transport management and planning.
Washington won't fink out on selling AIM-120 Amraam air-to-air missiles to Brazil. It seemed like that might happen when Peru decided to get rid of its Russian-made R-77 beyond-visual-range (BVR) missile, because the U.S. policy was to withhold export approval as long as there was no Amraam-like system in South America. Peru bought the R-77s for its MiG-29s but is now taking the missile out of service because they couldn't be integrated onto the fighter. Too late, say U.S. officials. Now that a BVR weapon exists in the region that led to a U.S.
As instrument checkout continues, the Goddard Space Flight Center has received the first images from Aqua, NASA's newest Earth-Observing System satellite, which was launched May 4. ``These engineering images are great, which tells us that we have a healthy spacecraft and all instruments are performing nominally,'' Project Manager Phil Sabelhaus said. As of late last week, science data in the form of engineering images had been received from all six of Aqua's instrument packages.
IT services provider Sita has partnered with the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) to develop an information technology system that will allow the government to review and analyze inbound passenger details against their own databases and quickly identify those warranting further questioning at the airport. The system will automate the collection and standard formatting of information from multiple sources, including passenger name records (PNR), and take data from the relevant global distribution and airline reservation and departure control systems.
