China Eastern Airlines is taking advantage of new flight opportunities to India, but it is unclear how quickly India will be able to respond. China Eastern is to begin twice-weekly flights from Shanghai via Beijing to New Delhi on Mar. 28. Trade between China and India grew 30% from January-September 2001, but Premier Zhu Rongji recently sounded a cautious note. ``Flights might suffer some losses at the outset," he said. Besides New Delhi, a new accord also opens Mumbai (Bombay) to either country's airlines.
Assembly work has begun on the first 747-400ER transport at Boeing production facilities in Everett, Wash. The aircraft, the first of two 747 derivatives, is designed to provide airlines with greater range or more payload-carrying capability. The initial -400ER passenger and freighter models are scheduled for delivery in October.
The British Defense Ministry has released a public discussion paper on amending its 1998 Strategic Defense Review in the light of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. It raises the issue of whether Britain needs to be able to more rapidly deploy forces, and bolster resources allocated to intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance. If increased defense funding is required this will need to be fought for within the government's annual spending review.
The first prototype Boeing Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche helicopter has been retired after completing a six-year flight test and development program during which it accumulated 387 flight hours. It will undergo a preservation process and serve as backup to the second prototype that will resume testing this spring toward validation of the Comanche Mission Equipment Package, according to Boeing Sikorsky. The first prototype flew in January 1996; the second in 1998.
Prevailing winds on Capitol Hill favor the feds picking up the huge tab for explosive detection systems (EDS) in airports. The big question is how much it will cost to fulfill the mandate to screen all checked baggage by EDS equipment by Dec. 31. The FAA estimates 2,200 state-of-the-art scanning machines at $1 million apiece would be required. It is not at all clear that many could be built in time. Even then, airports would have to figure out where to put them all.
Airline pilots are perturbed by recent National Transportation Safety Board recommendations which state flight crews must be made aware that aggressive rudder input can induce structural damage or failure but do not define ways to recognize or prevent disaster. One airline captain compared the situation to the FBI's putting the nation on high alert in response to threats of terrorism--yet being unable to define where exactly danger lurks and what actions one must take to avoid peril. Pilots want clear-cut definitions, and quickly.
NASA's Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics and Dynamics (Timed) spacecraft has completed its post-launch engineering checkout. The spacecraft has started its two-year mission to study the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere/Ionosphere (MLTI), where the Earth's atmosphere thins into space. Launched on Dec. 7, 2001, the spacecraft will add its data to those gathered by a network of ground sites, generating the first comprehensive set of atmospheric measurements 40-110 mi. above Earth (AW&ST Dec. 3, 2001, p. 34).
Jeff Potter, who has been president/ chief operating officer of Frontier Airlines, also will be CEO, effective Apr. 1. He will succeed Sam Addoms, who will remain chairman. Ronald McClellan has been appointed vice president-maintenance and engineering. He succeeds Jon Bartram, who had been acting vice president. McClellan held the same position at Vanguard Airlines.
William F. Shea, former FAA associate administrator for airports, will be the namesake of the William F. Shea Award for Distinguished Contribution to Aviation that will be presented by the Aviation Institute of the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Shea was a founding director of the institute.
Jeffrey D. Pinneo has been named president/CEO of Horizon Air. He succeeds George D. Bagley, who has been promoted to executive vice president-operations at Alaska Airlines. Pinneo was vice president-customer services. He has been succeeded by Glenn S. Johnson, who will be senior vice president. Johnson has been vice president/treasurer and has been succeeded by Rudi H. Schmidt, who has been controller.
An Evergreen International Airlines Boeing 747 landed at Kabul, Afghanistan, last week carrying 95 tons of humanitarian aid valued at $2 million. The shipment of medical supplies, clothing, blankets and livestock feed on a widebody charter aircraft was unloaded by Mercy Corps staff. The flight was sponsored by two nonprofit organizations: Mercy Corps and Evergreen Humanitarian Services. Evergreen International Airlines donated the use of the 747 and the services of the crew. Military forces have been assisting in the aid effort in war-shattered Afghanistan as well. U.S.
Norman Iverson has been appointed vice president-business development for BAE Systems' Santa Monica, Calif.-based Integrated Systems unit. He held similar positions at Litton Integrated Systems and Litton Data Systems.
To compensate for weak satellite demand, Alcatel Space anticipates shrinking its workforce, although a pair of recent milsatcom orders could signal the start of a business upturn, at least on the military end. Company managers told union members that employment would be cut by 450 people, or 10%, at four plants, including its main satellite integration facility in Cannes, according to union sources. About one-third of those affected are permanent Alcatel employees.
Iridium Satellite LLC expects to break even in 2003, delaying profitability this year in favor of investments in software and other technology development aimed at a potentially lucrative niche in the data delivery market. Meanwhile Iridium Satellite is going ahead with its plans to keep its hand-me-down constellation functioning through 2010 at least. On Feb. 11 it launched five more spares on a Boeing Delta II, bringing its total in orbit to 66 operating satellites and 12 spares, with two more spares due for launch before the end of the year.
Freddy Van Gaever, a Belgian entrepreneur knowledgeable in aviation matters, is mulling over a plan to form VG Airlines, a long-haul carrier. It would focus on transatlantic operations in an effort to complement Delta Air Transport (DAT), the newly revamped regional affiliate of defunct Sabena Belgian World Airlines. Ironically, Van Gaever in the 1960s transformed then-tiny DAT into a full-fledged European airline that competed aggressively with Sabena.
Paul Severin has been named executive vice president-repair and overhaul services, Clayton Lim executive vice president-aftermarket sales and Chuck Pappas executive vice president-operations, all of the Milwaukee-based Tracer Corp.
Transportation Dept. inspectors have turned their attention to the network of aircraft repair stations that fix commercial aircraft under an Inspector General audit launched last week. The four-pronged investigation will focus on whether the facilities, both domestic and international, provide adequate security around the out-of-service aircraft and whether the operators use qualified people and approved maintenance procedures to fix them.
Few details have emerged in the investigation of the simultaneous flameout of both CFM56-3 engines on a Garuda Indonesia 737-300 while it was descending from cruise during a heavy rainstorm. The unpowered aircraft crashed into the Bengawan Solo River in Java on Jan. 16, killing a flight attendant and injuring 13 others among the 61 on board. The flight attendant was seated in a jump seat in the tail where the aircraft broke apart.
IN 2001, THE ``BE A PILOT'' PROGRAM (BAP) attracted inquiries from 32,368 people, of which about 6,000 became student pilots. ``Be A Pilot'' is a national public education program aimed at promoting general aviation and flying. According to Drew Steketee, president and CEO, the initiative has drawn interest from 140,000 individuals, but how many completed their flight training, and earned a private pilot license, is unknown. Although responses temporarily plummeted 70% after Sept.
A year after inaugurating online brokering of airline fuel contracts, JET-A.com has upgraded its portal software to eliminate the need for buyers and sellers to manually key in critical fuel ticketing data. Jointly owned by Aeroxchange, Cordiem and five major oil companies, the site reports increasing usage. United Airlines, its first user, is issuing request for quotes online ``as much as possible'' and Delta Air Lines expects to buy some $2 billion in fuel through Jet-A.com in 2002.
Bell/Agusta Aerospace Co.'s AB139 helicopter, currently undergoing certification flight tests in Italy, is aimed at operators requiring more speed, mission flexibility, power margin and economy of operation than is available from competitors in its class.
The U.S. Army is getting ready to name the winners in the competition to develop the service's next-generation intelligence-gathering aircraft--a job that got a lot harder last year when the Pentagon canceled a key subsystem that was at the heart of the Aerial Common Sensor (ACS).
Riding the tide of popular support for the war on terrorism, President Bush's nearly $400-billion national security budget for next year is likely to sail through Congress unscathed. There will be, of course, the usual side skirmishes over the costs of missile defense, the best mix of fighter and bomber aircraft purchases and the right pace of military ``transformation.''
The U.S. Air Force has given the green light to upgrade the bulk of its F-15C fleet with a new radar and is beginning to explore whether it should do the same with its F-15E strike fighters. Following an extensive test program, Air Force officials have deemed the Raytheon-developed APG-63(V)1 production-ready and have started full-rate production and fielding of the radar, says Col. Anthony Zompetti, development system manager for the F-15.
French defense and industry officials remain confident that a $200-million contract to modernize navigation systems on Turkish F-16s is not dead, despite Turkish press reports saying it had been canceled. The contract was suspended last year following a French parliament declaration recognizing Turkey's role in the Armenian genocide. But after a recent visit to Ankara by French Defense Minister Alain Richard and Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, ``the period of cold relations is over,'' a defense spokesman said.
