Linda Leukhardt has been promoted to vice president-business management/ chief financial officer of the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Newport News (Va.) Sector. She was vice president-finance/controller for the company's Electronic Systems Sector in Baltimore.
Deutsche BA, British Airways' German subsidiary, will seek to restore profitability in the next 18 months after 10 years of continuous losses. To achieve such a long-overdue goal, it plans to devise a new strategy and become a low-cost carrier.
The Transportation Dept. threatened last week that it would withdraw U.S. cargo rights from one or more Japanese airlines, unless Tokyo reversed its plan to prevent FedEx from reacquiring 14 Tokyo Narita airport slots it leased to Delta Air Lines. Delta took down most of its Japan service after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and agreed to return the slots to FedEx, but Japan notified the U.S. that it would block the transfer and reallocate the slots to other airlines. Reassigning unused FedEx slots to U.S.
Montie Brewer has been appointed executive vice president-commercial for Air Canada, Allister Paterson president/chief operating officer of Air Canada Vacations and Kevin Howlett vice president-labor relations. Brewer was senior vice president-planning at United Airlines and Paterson executive general manager-commercial at Air New Zealand. Howlett was vice president-labor relations at Air Canada Regional.
Bonnie Allin has been appointed president/CEO of the Tucson (Ariz.) Airport Authority. She succeeds Walter A. Burg, who has retired. Allin has been vice president-aviation services.
Boeing's planned Sonic Cruiser aircraft now is about 60% carbon fiber composite structure by weight, but that could change as design trade studies continue. It is still early in the design phase of the program for the high-speed aircraft, and Boeing is keeping its options open--including the possibility of increased use of improved aluminum alloys.
Northrop Grumman suffers a black eye for the Global Hawk that crashed in the United Arab Emirates this year. It turns out a bolt had been installed backward during manufacturing, according to Air Force officials. The error led to a failure of a rod that moved one of the V-tail control surfaces. The unmanned recon aircraft, returning from a mission over Afghanistan, then spun to the ground. The blue suits express relief that it wasn't an Air Force-created problem, like an errant command signal that caused an earlier Global Hawk crash at Edwards AFB, Calif.
European defense officials were expected late last week to discuss the implications of Germany's decision to provide funding for Europe's A400M airlifter in two steps, despite insistence by Airbus Military Co., which will build the aircraft, and partner nations that the country tie down financing for the full 73-aircraft purchase.
Keith Henson has been appointed Knoxville, Tenn.-based director of security services for Lockwood Greene, Spartanburg, S.C. He was a lead security engineer.
The Irish government is reportedly ready to abandon its decision to buy five S-92 helicopters for a search and rescue requirement, and to reopen the bidding. The decision has been challenged by rival builder Eurocopter, which demanded to review the bidding procedures for possible irregularities.
The commercial aviation industry has bottomed out from its steep decline following the September attacks, but a sustained U.S. economic recovery is vital to the interests of most airlines in North America, according to International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC). John L. Plueger, ILFC president and chief operating officer, said most of the company's North American customers report passenger levels within 5% of last year's numbers, and in some cases exceeding 2001 levels. Yields, however, remain a problem.
In another surprise move, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has given domestic carrier Xiamen Airlines the rights to operate international routes, making it the ninth Chinese carrier to do so. Based in Fuzhou, Xiamen will launch its first international flight to Kuala Lumpur on Apr. 27. It also holds rights to Thailand, South Korea and Japan. Last November, CAAC said China Southwest could fly to Europe and the U.S. A month later, the agency said Hainan Airlines could operate to Thailand, Japan, Australia and Singapore.
Glenn Mara has been appointed associate director for engineering at the Lawrence Livermore (Calif.) National Laboratory. He succeeds Spiros Dimolitsas, who has resigned. Mara was principal deputy project manager for the laboratory's National Ignition Facility Program Directorate.
Stratasys and Fuji Photo Film have worked together during the last year to advance the resolution of Stratasys' 3D stereo lithography model maker. The device builds up 3D models layer by layer, and resolution of the model layer has been improved to 0.005 in., which means the products can have 0.020-in. feature sizes. An automated support removal process has also been added to dissolve away the temporary supports needed for building the model, instead of doing it manually.
The U.K.'s defense secretary, Geoff Hoon, last week fleshed out, possibly inadvertently, the potential role of the country's ``sub-strategic'' nuclear deterrent in countering weapons of mass destruction (WMD). In an appearance before Parliament's defense committee, Hoon discussed the issue of ballistic missile defense and the British government's position regarding the U.S. initiative.
Ground controllers at the German Space Operations Center in Oberpaffenhofen are preparing for six months of commissioning and validation activities with the two-satellite Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace) launched last week in the first commercial flight of the Euro-Russian Rockot converted SS-19 ICBM.
John Robson, chairman of the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board during the Ford Administration and a leader in the move to deregulate aviation, died Mar. 20 of cancer. He was 71. In recent years an investment banker with Robertson Stephens of San Francisco, Robson was appointed by President Bush to be president and chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S., taking office last May. He was undersecretary of Transportation during the Johnson Administration and deputy Treasury secretary during the first Bush Administra- tion.
Central China's Chengdu Aircraft Co. (CAC) will manufacture fuselage parts for Dassault Aviation's Falcon 2000EX, under an agreement signed last week at the People's National Assembly in Beijing by Dassault Chairman/CEO Charles Edelstenne, CAC Chairman Yang Tingkuo and Yan Tiannan, vice president of China National Aero-Technology Import&Export Corp. The work will be facilitated by Dassault Systemes' Catia computer-aided design and manufacturing software. CAC is one of China's four largest aircraft factories.
Increases in China's defense budget and more realistic training are making its military more formidable, although so far U.S. government officials believe the strategic balance with Taiwan has not tilted dramatically. China announced this month it would increase defense spending 17.6% this year, a near repeat of last year's 17.7% hike. ``If this trend continues, China could double its announced defense spending between 2000 and 2005,'' CIA director George J. Tenet told senators in a hearing last week.
Mexican aviation officials attempting to build a new airport for Mexico City are facing a host of obstacles, primarily from angry farmers vowing to keep their land. Safety issues, including the potential for bird strikes, also pose hurdles, although planners believe these can be overcome. Another contention surrounds the rebuilding of wetlands that would be destroyed in the building of a new airport.
The new $200-million Boeing/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center TDRS I Tracking and Data Relay Satellite suffered a major propulsion malfunction during its climb to geosynchronous orbit. This occurred in the days after TDRS' successful launch into an elliptical transfer orbit on Mar. 8. The spacecraft, still Boeing's responsibility under the TDRS contract, was using its own propulsion system to circularize its orbit when the problem occurred. The spacecraft was being managed by Boeing's satellite control center.
Preussag has acquired a 50% share in a new Italian charter airline, Neos, set up by IFIL in June 2001 to serve its Alpitour package tour affiliate. Neos began operation earlier this month with a single Boeing 737-800, and plans to add a second aircraft in May. The acquisition follows Preussag's purchase last year of a 10% stake in Alpitour, Italy's largest vertically integrated travel company (AW&ST May 28, 2001, p. 18).
Scrambling to shave procurement costs, the British Defense Ministry is scrutinizing a raft of guided-weapons programs for the air force and army for potential cuts, at the same time as it attempts to protect key weapons procurement programs. Several air-launched and anti-armor missile projects are coming under the microscope as the ministry seeks to rein in procurement costs. Pressure for reductions is mounting from the Treasury-led annual comprehensive spending review.
