France Telecom has created a fully owned subsidiary, France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications, to manage its fast-growing portfolio of mobile satcom services. The Paris-based company recently acquired the Inmarsat business of German operator DeTeSat, took a 40% stake in French distributor TDCom and completed the takeover of Glocall, a distributor based in the Netherlands. France Telecom is now the third largest provider of Inmarsat services, with 16% of the market.
Stabilizing production lines and cutting manufacturing costs are two top priorities for Boeing Commercial Airplanes this year after capping 2001 with the delivery of 527 aircraft and orders for 335 aircraft. The last-minute surge of Boeing deliveries at the end of last year beat the company's total the previous year by 38 aircraft, while orders for Boeing aircraft during 2001 fell from the 611 level reached during 2000.
DAVID BONDEDWARD H. PHILLIPSANTHONY L. VELOCCI, JR.
Continental Nears Breakeven Continental Airlines expects to return to profit this spring and summer, but fears that attempts by United Airlines and US Airways to survive might hold down revenues throughout the industry in the fall.
Floris J. van Pallandt has been named president/chief executive of Transavia Airlines, effective Apr. 1. He will succeed Peter J. Legro, who is retiring. Van Pallandt is chief executive of KLM uk.
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. will terminate business jet completion activities at its Alliance Airport facilities in Fort Worth during the next six months and lay off a majority of the 355 workers and 80 contract employees at the site, which was headquarters for Galaxy Aerospace until it was acquired by Gulfstream last June. According to a Gulfstream official, the facility is inadequate for performing completion work and has no growth potential for the company. Future use of the complex is under review.
Low-fare carrier Southwest Airlines posted a net income of $63.5 million for the fourth quarter--down nearly 59% from the $154.7 million earned a year ago--including a special, pretax gain of $67 million from a federal airline grant issued after the terrorist attacks in September 2001. For the year overall, Southwest reported a net income of $511 million compared with $625 million in 2000.
The FAA has finalized its Secret Service-generated plan for securing the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City from air taxi or general aviation threats. From Feb. 8-24, flight restrictions will be in place throughout a 45-naut.-mi.-radius, 17,999 ft.-high zone over the city, with smaller no-fly zones established in nine locations near the activities. To fly into the Olympic zone, pilots must pass a rigorous security check and enter via four ``gateway'' airports outside of Utah. Four nearby public use airports will be shut down for the duration.
Competitors are lining up to try to fill the shoes of the Navy's canceled Area-Wide missile defense program. Both Raytheon, prime contractor for the failed effort, and Lockheed Martin are trying to convince the Missile Defense Agency--the renamed Ballistic Missile Defense Organization--they can do the job. Both are eyeing hit-to-kill technology, not a blast/fragmentation warhead like that of Area-Wide. Raytheon wants to convert Area-Wide's Standard Missile 2 Block 4A into a hit-to-kill system. Lockheed aims to put Patriot PAC-3 on ships.
Northrop Grumman followed up its recent court victory over rival inertial reference system (IRS) manufacturer Honeywell (AW&ST Jan. 7, p. 19) with a major contract win. Qantas Airways and Singapore Airlines placed orders for the company's LTN-101 Flagship IRS product earlier this month. Qantas plans to install the equipment on 13 new A300s; Singapore will use the system on five new A340-500s.
The Pentagon should buy both unmanned, expendable radar jammers and new electronic attack aircraft to replace the aging EA-6B Prowler, according to a long-term assessment of the U.S.' ability to batter down future enemy air defenses.
American Airlines' parent company, AMR Corp., reported a net loss of $734 million for the quarter, or a loss of $4.75 per share, compared with earnings of $56 million during the same period a year ago. The company ended the year overall with a net loss of $1.4 billion compared with net earnings of $752 million last year. As for the near-term, Thomas W. Horton, AMR's chief financial officer, said the first quarter of this year is projected to be ``a substantial loss'' for American as the airline struggles to ascertain future demand.
Airbus chose Honeywell to be the standard flight management system supplier for the A380 with an award worth up to $200 million over 15 years. In related news, Marubeni Corp. of Japan became the latest to sign on as a risk-sharing partner on the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine, which will power the aircraft. Samsung Techwin of Korea and Ishikawajima Harima Industries (IHI) will join the program as associate partners, with responsibilities for the combustor and low-pressure turbine blades, respectively.
John Thackrah has become vice president-aftermarket for the Large Commercial Engine unit of Pratt&Whitney, East Hartford, Conn. He was vice president-worldwide engineering for Otis Elevator, a sister company of UTC.
Precise altimetric data from Europe's largest and smallest satellites will help transform oceanography into a reliable tool for marine weather and sea state forecasts, climate change models and other operational applications, according to European and U.S. space officials.
Jose Achache has become director of Earth observation of the Paris-based European Space Agency. He was deputy director general for science of the French space agency CNES.
Northwest Airlines sustained a net loss of $216 million during the fourth quarter of 2001, but is positioned well for whatever rebound occurs and will be among the first U.S. airlines to turn a profit again, executives said Jan. 17.
EADS and BAE Systems have initiated a plan to reorganize their space business and prepare for further consolidation of satellite and launcher activities.
American Airlines Flight 587 accident investigators--who have not ruled out mechanical malfunction and structural defect as causal or contributing factors in the Nov. 12 crash--last week said they discovered delamination in the tail section of the Airbus 300-600 as well as a filtering system on the flight data recorder that is slowing the gathering of ``true readings.''
EchoStar continues to tap European technology for its plan to expand satellite-delivered broadband interactive programming. After securing an alliance with Paris-based Vivendi Universal that will allow EchoStar to benefit from the French media giant's interactive technology, the U.S. operator turned last week to Thomson Multi-Media of France to supply set-top decoders.
AgustaWestland has concluded an agreement with the Denel Group allowing Denel to market and produce the Agusta A109 Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), A109 Power and A119 Koala models in South Africa for customers in specified markets.
Joseph Clayton, president/CEO of Sirius Satellite Radio of New York, has been appointed to the board of governors of the Electronic Industries Alliance and board of directors of the Consumer Electronics Assn.
European leisure travel leader Preussag is reportedly ready to mount a new assault for Club Med. The German company failed in a bid for Club Med 18 months ago, but is in a stronger position this time. Club Med is ailing, and a major shareholder, the Agnelli Group, is now a Preussag ally, following the latter's acquisition last year of 10% in Italian travel leader Alpitour, controlled by Agnelli (AW&ST May 28, 2001, p. 18).
Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta has ringers among his gurus on how to fix airline security. Advisors include entertainment experts from Disney. Folks from the Magic Kingdom--legendary among theme-park mavens for moving long lines quickly and pleasantly--will work on some of Mineta's 36 security overhaul ``go-teams'' to come up with ways to cut airport checkpoint waiting times. The first acid test of whether overhauling security will sit well with fliers was set to play out late last week. The new aviation security law requires that by Jan.
U.S. military facilities in Saudi Arabia are being devalued by restrictions on operations and personnel, says Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.). Levin said, ``We may need to move that base,'' referring to Royal Saudi AB, located south of the capital of Riyadh. ``The Saudis have trouble keeping us there visibly. [U.S.] women are not comfortable.'' Off base, service women must have male escorts and wear head-to-toe robes--to accommodate what the Pentagon calls ``host-nation sensitivities.'' It's prompted fighter pilot and USAF Lt. Col.
