In a surprise move that could further complicate the European A400M airlifter's long-overdue launch, Alberto Fernandez, chief executive of EADS' Spanish unit, has resigned. Earlier this month, in an indication of his growing disagreement with EADS' strategy, Fernandez had resigned from his role as Airbus Military Co. chief executive. He is succeeded by Francisco Fernandez Sainz, previously head of Airbus Espana.
Cathay Pacific Airways expects to return to service all five of the passenger aircraft and one of the freighters (out of two) that it has furloughed back into service in August as it restores more services to their pre-Sept. 11 levels.
Boeing Co. expects to build eight fewer wide-body aircraft in 2003 but deliveries for next year remain in the 275-300 range. Chairman and CEO Phil Condit believes ``it will take a relatively long time for air travel to come back.'' Separately, Boeing may use part of the $3 billion in free cash flow it expects to generate annually to make acquisitions and stock buybacks, according to Condit. The company has authorization to buy back 44 million shares on top of the 41 million it purchased prior to Sept. 11.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China has banned all flights after midnight and placed ``strict controls'' on approval of extra or charter flights following two recent crashes--a China Northern crash near Dalian on May 7 that killed 112 and an Air China crash in Busan, South Korea, on Apr. 15 that killed 129, according to the Chinese media. Neither flight was a redeye, however.
With White House officials warning that more terrorist mass murder is inevitable, a new road map urges the U.S. and Russia to forge a global coalition and move quickly to round up nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction everywhere, including their essential ingredients. Going well beyond the pact for a 60% reduction in nuclear weapons that the U.S. and Russia signed last week in Moscow, the action plan set forth by Harvard and the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), co-chaired by former Sen.
Gary Driggers, vice chairman of Midcoast Aviation of St. Louis, has been elected chairman of the board of directors of the Alexandria, Va.-based National Air Transportation Assn. New members of the board are: Joe Crawford, president of Abilene (Tex.) Aero; Wynn Elliott, president of Elliot Aviation, Moline, Ill.; and Elizabeth Haskins, president/CEO of Signature Flight Support, Orlando, Fla.
In response to a parliamentary inquiry, the Japanese defense ministry said it is ``theoretically possible'' that it will be forced to shoot down a hijacked civil transport or terrorist-flown general aviation/business aircraft in order to prevent a Sept. 11-like occurrence. On May 9, Premier Junichiro Koizumi told the parliament that shooting down a civil transport would be practically impossible, even if it was clearly hijacked.
Rockwell Collins' Kaiser Electronics will supply the cockpit display suite for the new F-15K aircraft that Boeing is building for South Korea. The suite includes three 5-in. color and four 6-in. multipurpose displays. All use active matrix LCD technology and all will be compatible with USAF and international F-15 displays. The wide-field-of-view head-up display will be coproduced by LG Innotek Co. Ltd of South Korea.
Gregory T. Taylor has been appointed senior vice president-planning for United Airlines. He was senior vice president of US Airways and president of US Airways Express.
Top Transportation Dept. officials last week stole headlines with a decision to halt efforts by pilot unions to allow guns into the cockpit as a last line of defense from terrorists. Less noticed, but possibly more significant, was their proclamation at the same hearing that explosives trace detection systems (EDTs) are on par with FAA-approved explosive detection systems (EDS) in the job of finding deadly contraband in checked luggage. ``I am totally satisfied that the equivalency, in terms of security, is there,'' said Transportation Secretary Norman Y.
Airbus has agreed to set up a Moscow engineering center in cooperation with the Kaskol group of Russia. To be staffed with 50 engineers initially, the center will develop components and subsystems for Airbus aircraft programs, including the A380 ultra-wide-body transport, and manage subcontracts with Russian firms. Kaskol holds shares in combat aircraft maker Sokol, landing gear specialist Hydromash and helicopter manufacturer Rostvertol.
The intelligence community's research and development may be headed for an overhaul. To undertake the massive task of sifting through R&D plans at the CIA, National Security Agency, National Reconnaissance Office and other entities, the Senate Intelligence Committee proposes a national commission to review intel R&D and report by Sept. 1, 2003.
Payloads projected for launch to Earth orbit in the coming decade took a dramatic drop from last year's count, according to the Teal Group, a consultancy based in Fairfax, Va. Teal counted a total of 2,160 payloads proposed for launch in the period 2001-10, but only 1,547 for the 2002-11 decade. In its breakout, Teal found there are 220 fewer commercial payloads planned than it found in 2001, and 645 fewer than counted in 2000. The bulk of payloads continues to be destined for low-Earth orbits of 1,000 km. (540 naut.
Denmark on Tuesday is slated to formally sign a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. to join the Joint Strike Fighter program. Denmark is signing as a Level-3 member in the 10-year development project. It plans to eventually team with Norway, but Oslo still hasn't given its final political okay. The two partners will contribute about $500 million to the project.
Shuttle astronauts and instructor pilots flying steep orbiter night approaches in NASA's Gulfstream II Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA) are evaluating new xenon floodlights for the 15,000-ft. shuttle runway at the Kennedy Space Center. Parts needed to repair the more complex xenon floodlights used for the past 20 years on the approach ends of the runway have become hard to find. The new lights are more cost efficient and easier to repair, but have somewhat different lighting characteristics, which are being evaluated as part of normal shuttle approach training in the STA.
John Ellington, who has been chief operating officer of World Airways, also will be president. Hollis Harris, who had been acting as president, will revert back to being chairman/CEO. Randy Martinez has been promoted to executive vice president-marketing and administration from chief information officer and Charles Addison to executive vice president-operations from senior director of strategic planning and contracts.
The Pentagon has informed Congress of a potential contract valued at up to $155 million--with all options exercised--to upgrade six more CH-47C Chinook cargo helicopters to a newer CH-47D configuration for the government of Egypt. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign military sales, approved the upgrade to the cargo helicopters, which are made by Boeing. Defense officials said the Egyptian armed forces would use the upgraded helicopters for troop transport and logistics support.
Travel agents, increasingly frozen out of ticket-sales commissions from the major airlines, will be checked for economic health by a nine-member commission headed by David Winstead, a former Maryland secretary of transportation. The commission, created by the April 2000 AIR-21 legislation, will have until Nov. 16 to report on whether the financial condition of travel agents is getting worse and, if so, how the decline is affecting consumers.
Israel has shed new light on a long-stalled program to upgrade its Shavit three-stage solid-fuel launcher and says it is close to agreement with Brazil on using its Alcantara space center to loft the new boosters. Aby Har-Even, director general of the Israel Space Agency (ISA), said here at the annual Euroconsult space transportation conference that Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) and its MLM Div. had committed to a revised company-financed upgrade program. The program would make it possible to launch payloads up to 800 kg. (1,760 lb.) into a 700-km.
Trading airline shares may be hazardous to your wealth. So says UBS Warburg analyst Samuel Buttrick in surveying the investment outlook for the commercial air transport sector.
President Bush is slated to meet in Rome this week with NATO allies and Russian President Vladimir Putin to create a NATO-Russia Council to pursue cooperative efforts to counter terrorism and prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Boasting in a speech before the German Bundestag that the U.S. and Russia were about to sign the most dramatic nuclear arms reduction pact in history (see p.
Amid the embarrassment of yet another software-induced air traffic failure Britain's Civil Aviation Authority and National Air Traffic Services have clashed over the latter's desire to raise cash by increasing its service charges. As it struggles to raise cash, NATS is also coming under pressure to compensate passsengers affected by air traffic failures. Low-cost carrier Ryanair has written to Stephen Byers, secretary of state for transport, asking that he make NATS provide compensation to consumers for flight cancellations.
South America's first communications satellite, a Boeing 376 called Brasilsat A1, has been retired 17 years after its launch on an Ariane 3 in 1985. Built under a subcontract to Canada's Spar Aerospace, the satellite was operated by Brazil's Embratel for the eight years covered by its guarantee, and then leased to PanAmSat. It was retired only after it ran out of station-keeping fuel.
Harry Saddock has become general manager of AAR Engine Component Services and Power Services, Wood Dale, Ill. He was vice president-operations of the Barnes Group.
