On the surface, recent rallies in some airline equities would seem to suggest stability is returning to the sector after being pummeled by the markets since Sept. 11. But some analysts think that would be reading too much into the meager gains.
Since the Defense Dept. announced Lockheed Martin Corp. as the winner of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) competition on Oct. 26, the tone of team members' public statements suggests they're feeling pretty good about their fortune.
A U.S. appeals court has overturned convictions on eight of nine counts against SabreTech for its role into the 1996 crash of ValuJet Flight 592 in the Florida Everglades, which killed all 110 people on board. In its Oct. 31 ruling, however, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta upheld the conviction on a ninth count, blaming SabreTech for failing to conduct adequate hazardous materials training. According to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, oxygen generators shipped on the DC-9 ignited in the cargo hold and started a blaze that led to the crash.
When former banker Abdulgani took over the reins as president and CEO of Garuda Indonesia in November 1998, he inherited an enterprise that was technically bankrupt. The Indonesian flag carrier's annual losses were 4.73 trillion rupiah ($591.3 million). Garuda lost $328 million in 1998 alone and held an accumulated debt of $1.8 billion.
Continental Airlines managed to eke out a third-quarter net income of $3 million thanks to a government infusion of $243 million and another $85 million in special charges, but senior officials warn that red ink will continue to flow at least through the fourth quarter.
Getting the second half of the $5 billion in airline rescue grants will be a lot more complicated than the first half. The Transportation Dept. plans two more installments, one paying up to 35% of each airline's capacity-based allocation, with the remainder coming in early 2002. Total grants are meant to cover direct and incremental losses through Dec. 31 that were caused by the Sept. 11 attacks. The grants will equal the allocation or the actual loss, whichever is less.
USMC Gen. (ret.) John R. Dailey has been named an outside director to the aerospace board of directors of Smiths Aerospace Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich. He succeeds Duane Wills, who has retired. Dailey is director of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
Iamco will provide continued maintenance of 17 airborne warning and control systems and three trainer cargo aircraft under a 10-year contract from NATO's Maintenance and Supply Agency. Iamco is an Italy-based joint venture of Alenia Aerospazio, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Fairchild Dornier, Spar Aerospace and Sabena Technics.
NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin has a ``plea'' for those who will be in positions to influence the direction that space launch takes after he leaves office Nov. 17--try to privatize the space shuttle fleet, and don't rob technology efforts to replace the shuttle to pay for its continued operation. In a valedictory to the International Space Symposium, Goldin complains that Boeing and Lockheed Martin thwarted competition when they formed the 50-50 United Space Alliance venture to take over day-to-day shuttle operations.
The sharp downturn in the commercial transport market has had an impact on several aircraft programs in Boeing's product development organization. One project to feel the effects of a softening market is the 767-300X. John Quinlivan, Boeing 767 program manager, said the -300X derivative has been under serious consideration for about six months and that Boeing had been discussing the model with customers prior to the terrorist attacks last September.
Executives of revamped Air Lib expect the carrier to turn a profit in 2003 as France's second-tier airline comes out from under the umbrella of Swissair Group. Air Lib, formerly Air Liberte/AOM, is focused on strengthening its business plan. It now operates 72 flights daily on a streamlined route system that includes 20 domestic destinations in France's overseas territories. The reduced fleet has 18 MD-83s, 10 DC-10-30s and four A340-300s.
Japan Airlines plans unprecedented discounts of up to 70% in an effort to attract an additional 10,000 tourists on transpacific flights next February and March. The discounts follow a catastrophic decline in travel following the events of Sept. 11. JAL already has cut more than 20% of its flights through February, and the discounts would apply to economy-class seats on flights to Hawaii, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, Guam and Saipan.
Nearly 100 public-use airports, including the Charlotte/Douglas International Airport and the Albuquerque International Sunport, were closed to general aviation traffic on Oct. 31 by the FAA ``for reasons of national security.'' The temporary flight restriction (TFR) is aimed at protecting the airspace around 86 nuclear sites, according to the FAA, and will remain in place until Nov. 7. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn. is pushing for the agency to suspend the TFR briefly so that pilots can relocate their aircraft.
Afghanistan is presenting the U.S. with a new kind of war. Among the fundamental differences is the fact there are no bases for warplanes--only support aircraft--in the countries surrounding the nation it is attacking.
The FAA will make an investment decision in March that will be crucial to relieving congestion in the nation's airspace. At issue is how rapidly the ATC system can embrace computerized tools that advise controllers on aircraft spacing.
AUSTRIA-BASED RHEINTALFLUG regional airline will install Rockwell Collins' Flight Dynamics' Head-up Guidance System (HGS) on its Embraer ERJ-145 fleet. With the HGS, the airline expects to be able to operate down to Category 3A approaches (200 meters runway visual range) and low-visibility takeoffs with 75-meter RVR. Rheintalflug has ordered four HGSs. Eurowings, a Lufthansa partner based in Dortmund, Germany, has also selected the HGS for its Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft. Eurowings has ordered 15 systems, and has options for 30 more.
BAE Systems' 12% share of the $200-billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is forecast to generate as many as 8,500 U.K. jobs in its mature phases. That represents a gradual boost to recession-bound British manufacturing, though it will do nothing to stop the plunge in global tourism and air travel.
Raytheon Co. has received a $40.9-million follow-on contract for consolidated field service on the U.S. Air Force's fleet of U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. The company will provide worldwide equipment maintenance and support for the U-2's sensor payloads and grounds stations.
The Pan American Aviation Safety Team is developing a regional awareness campaign aimed at reducing the number of approach and landing accidents and regional team leaders are organizing local initiatives in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions.
The war on terrorism's demand for pilots is less problematic than in the Persian Gulf war because of the slump in air travel and the resulting surplus of airline pilots. ``We are very careful of . . . a large call-up that could devastate a community, the police force, the fire force and the same thing with the airlines,'' said Maj. Gen. Paul Weaver, director of the Air National Guard.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China is confident the country's three major maintenance, repair and overhaul companies (MRO) will have work through the end of next year because there are more than 600 commercial jets in service with 21 airlines, according to a CAAC official. Walter Heerdt, general manager for Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Co.
Mike Herbert has become senior program development specialist in the Colorado Springs office of Spectrum Astro. He retired in June as a U.S. Navy captain. David B. Smith has been named program development specialist for business development with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. He was vice president-engineering/chief technical officer at SpaceDev and is a former principal engineer on the Mars program at JPL.
Pamela Elledge has been named to the board of directors of Washington-based Universal Air Travel Plan Inc. She is director of agency and corporate programs for Delta Air Lines.
Delta Air Lines Chairman and CEO Leo Mullin last week reassured Wall Street that the carrier can ``tough'' its way through the industry's current financial crisis, despite the ``near-term gloom,'' and emerge stronger than it was prior to Sept. 11. Still, he conceded that ``recovery is not visible at this point,'' and that the company's financial performance will remain depressed for some period.
