It was a busy week in Chicago. United Airlines parent UAL Corp. said goodbye to a departing chief executive officer, welcomed a new one, reported net losses of $542 million in the third quarter and predicted worse to come. Special charges, mostly aircraft writedowns, pushed third-quarter total losses over $1.1 billion, but the company said its cash position is good.
Air France has awarded a $100-million manufacturing order to GE Aircraft Engines for 106 hot-section upgrade kits for CF6-50 turbofans. The engines power the French flag carrier's Boeing 747-200/300s.
Bombardier Aerospace and Dassault Falcon Jet--perhaps business aviation's two most prolific airframe manufacturers--are each pressing ahead with new product-development programs, confident the current lull in aircraft sales will give way to a resurgence in demand.
Invoking force majeure clauses in its pilot contract, US Airways is accelerating its retreat to hubs and ``focus cities'' in an attempt to shrink its way past huge third-quarter losses. The company reported a $750-million operating loss and a $766-million net loss for the quarter, even after counting $331 million in federal grants--double what it has received so far--as an offset against costs. It reported $712 million in unusual costs, mostly impairment charges for retiring its remaining 737-200, MD-80 and Fokker 100 aircraft.
Carl Fischer, former president of Aerojet-General, has been appointed vice president/general manager of the new Space Systems Div. of the Northrop Grumman Corp., following its acquisition of the Aerojet Electronics and Information Systems Group. Gary Ervin has become vice president/deputy of the Air Combat Systems unit and Matthew W. Ganz vice president-strategy and technology of Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems Sector. Ervin was vice president-Advanced Development Programs at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, Palmdale, Calif.
Boeing and El Al Israel Airlines plan to study the feasibility of creating a joint venture to establish a security and safety business for airlines, airports and governments. Such an arrangement could include developing technology, manufacturing products, training personnel and staffing operations. The memorandum of understanding between the organizations will remain in effect for 60 days.
Keith Phillips has been named vice president-sales and marketing for Garrett Aviation Services, Tempe, Ariz. He was vice president-aftermarket services for Curtiss-Wright Flight Systems, Gastonia, N.C.
Robert J. McReavy, vice president-tax of Alliant Techsystems of Minneapolis, has been appointed treasurer of the corporation. He succeeds Richard N. Jowett, who is retiring.
Stuart Anderson (see photo, p. 11), managing director of the Evans and Sutherland Computer Corp. of Salt Lake City, has been selected to receive the third annual Edwin A. Link Award. The award is presented by Arinc and the Flight Simulator Engineering and Maintenance Conference. Among Anderson's achievements are obtaining for General Precision Systems the first FAA certification for a visual system designed to train airline pilots, and developing for Rediffusion the wide-screen displays that are the standard for advanced full-flight simulators.
Mark Lovin has been named deputy manager of aviation for operationsat Denver International Airport. He was acting in that position and had been chief aviation operations manager.
The U.K. is giving its airlines another breather for third-party liability insurance against terrorism and war risks, acknowledging that commercial coverage has not bounced back as fully as expected since Sept. 11. Effective immediately, British carriers have two alternatives. They can buy commercial coverage for liabilities up to $100 million, with the government providing protection above that amount. The premiums are waived until Nov. 24. Or carriers can choose to retain government coverage for all liabilities above $50 million.
EchoStar and Hughes will portray their proposed $25.8-billion merger, in part, as a way to help close the ``digital divide'' that deprives rural Americans of high-speed Internet access by making it easier to use satellites to beam interactive broadband service to homes without terrestrial broadband capability.
Sabena Belgian World Airlines could, in the next few days, become Europe's first flag carrier to file for bankruptcy and cease operations. In preparation for this unprecedented failure, the Belgian government, company executives and would-be investors are devising a ``new Sabena'' tentatively scheduled to succeed the ailing airline. The ``new, improved'' flag carrier would retain small segments of the existing route system and a fraction of the current workforce.
A slowdown in the U.S. economy and the worsening slump in shipments of electronics helped push a 35.9% drop to S$485 million ($265 million) for Singapore Airlines Group's operating profit for the first six months of fiscal 2001. The group's profit before tax was S$288 million, a massive decline of 79.2%. A drop in operating profits of 58.2% to S$284 million by Singapore Airlines (SIA) led the group's decline. An already weak year was exacerbated by the abrupt falloff in traffic due to the Sept. 11 attacks.
Robert A. Giroux has become director of operations for Fansteel California Drop Forge of Los Angeles. He was manufacturing manager for Rolls-Royce North America.
A high-powered independent panel has found that NASA's International Space Station program ``is not credible'' as it stands, and can only be fixed by deep staff cuts, longer ``expeditions'' to the orbiting lab with fewer space shuttle flights to support them, and austere Russian-style ground control.
Michael S. Ledford has become senior vice president-engineering for Sirius Satellite Radio of New York. He was head of automotive strategy for Wingcast.
The U.K. government and aviation industry are trying to jump-start at least a mini-recovery from the effects of Sept. 11. Hard hit by the downturn in airline travel, British Airways is offering as many as 50,000 free business-class tickets to its Executive Club frequent fliers. Those who book a premium long-haul return flight will be able to take a friend for free the next time they travel. The airline promises more promotions to stimulate a comeback before the post-holiday doldrums set in. Concerned about weak domestic demand, U.K.
Going against the pessimistic mood gripping the aerospace industry, Embraer has unveiled a new aircraft in its 70-110-seat regional jet line and presented an aggressive schedule for introducing the various models. Without denying the seriousness of the present industry crisis, Embraer Chairman/CEO Mauricio Botelho sounded a resolutely upbeat note here at the rollout ceremony for the Embraer 170, the first aircraft in the planned new family.
Qantas Airways has decided to buy 15 Boeing 737-800s, with options for 60 additional aircraft to progressively replace the airline's existing 737-300 and -400 transports. Boeing said the order is valued at more than $900 million at list prices. Airline officials said the buy would enable the company to add immediate capacity to its Australian operations, with delivery of the first aircraft in January and the remaining 14 by July 2002. The aircraft will come from existing orders that American Airlines had in place with Boeing, Qantas said.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is initiating development of a low-cost satellite launcher targeted at what is being seen as a growing demand to serve small, military satellites that need to be put in orbit quickly. The launcher is supposed to combine a reusable first stage with an expendable second stage in a novel way. The goal is to rapidly deliver a 50-kg. payload into low-Earth orbit. Potential bidders recently were briefed on the government's plan for the Responsive Access Small Cargo Affordable Launch (Rascal) project.
Saab Ericsson Space has terminated negotiations to acquire Fokker Space BV, citing a lack of ``satisfactory guarantees'' for certain unspecified earlier commitments. Bengt Mortberg, the Swedish company's president and CEO, said that without those guarantees, ``we cannot enter a joint ownership. Although we have had positive expectations for a long time, it has not been possible to arrive at a common solution.'' Stork N.V., the Netherlands group that previously bought the surviving units of Fokker, acquiesced, saying it respected Saab Ericsson Space's decision.
SatCon Technology Corp. of Cambridge, Mass., has received a U.S. patent covering the optical signal processing component of its biological and chemical detection system. In addition, the company recently completed the demonstration and validation phase of its advanced biological contamination sensing technology program for the U.S. Army. The optical sensing-based system is designed to detect traces of chemical and biological agents in food and liquids using a very small sample size and in real-time.
