Michael J. Becker has been promoted to senior vice president-human resources from vice president-international of Northwest Airlines. He succeeds Tom Momchilov, who has resigned.
Star One, which operates a fleet of five C-band spacecraft--Latin America's largest--serving the Brazilian broadcasting and telecommunications market, has ordered a Ku-band satellite from Alcatel Space to serve broadband users. To be launched in the first quarter of 2004 to 67 deg. W. Long., the 38-transponder spacecraft will cover a swath from the Andean region to the U.S., said CEO Edson Soffiatti.
Regional airlines want to be part of the Phase Two service expansion at Washington Reagan National Airport. Phase One involves only mainline carriers, but the second phase set to begin next month would allow activity to increase to 57% from 24% of the level prior to Sept. 11. Regional Airline Assn. (RAA) President Deborah McElroy said at least some regional carriers flying to Reagan National before the terrorist attacks last month should be allowed to resume service, and that RAA members are ready to provide the same level of security as major airlines.
Pete C. Garcia has been appointed staff vice president-sales and marketing for Latin America and the Caribbean for Continental Airlines. He held the same position for Central America and the Caribbean.
Capt. Cevin D. Kehm has been reelected chairman of the Air Line Pilots Assn. Master Executive Council at American Eagle. Also reelected were: Capt. George Sadler, vice chairman; and Capt. Ken Paulson, secretary-treasurer.
Boeing Vice Chairman Harry Stonecipher says the company is trying to work with financially strapped airlines, but that Boeing Capital Corp. ``will not be a lender of last resort.'' Boeing Capital, the financing and leasing arm of the corporation, is ``trying to be smart'' about how it supports carriers that have faced sudden drops in passenger traffic, Stonecipher said on Oct. 11. ``We won't write any bad business.'' While some delivery dates for new aircraft have been postponed, he said he was not aware of any order cancellations.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center has received competing proposals from teams headed by Lockheed Martin and TRW to build the Next Generation Space Telescope, the less-costly yet operationally-more-flexible companion to the Hubble Space Telescope. Goddard expects to choose a winner by early next year. However, the Phase 2 proposals Goddard received Oct. 10 may not be the last word on the NGST's design, program manager Bernie Seery said. ``That would require a perfect proposal. More than likely we will have questions.''
Sweden has linked its two northern test ranges into a single facility for testing advanced aerospace systems such as unmanned-aerial vehicles and reusable-launch vehicles. Next summer, Japan plans to use the North European Aerospace Test Range (Neat) to test the aerodynamic performance of its proposed Hope-X reentry vehicle in a series of model-drop tests conducted with the French Space Agency (CNES). The 3.5-meter (11.5-ft.), 500-kg. (1,100-lb.) High Speed Flight Demonstrator will be lifted by balloon about 30 km.
Di Ann Sanchez has been named vice president-diversity and talent management of American Airlines. She was head of human resources for the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group.
The Engine Services organization of General Electric Aircraft Engines has established two new businesses, one aimed at increasing the company's share of aftermarket services, the second targeted at capturing new business. To boost aftermarket offerings, GE Rotable Solutions will own powerplant line replaceable units (LRUs) such as electric, hydraulic, fuel and lubrication systems, and then manage their maintenance, repair and overhaul.
Controllers scheduled a second extravehicular activity at the International Space Station Oct. 15 after Cosmonauts Mikhail Tyurin and Vladimir Dezhurov conducted a 5-hr. EVA there a week earlier. During their excursion the pair began connecting the new Pirs docking module they used as an exit to the station date network, and installed handrails, a ladder and a 40-ft. Strela crane for future assembly work. It was the first EVA at ISS without a space shuttle present.
CMC Electronics of Montreal has won a follow-on contract valued at up to $9 million from the U.S. Army to supply AN/TRC-190 communications shelter upgrades including the AN/GRC-245 high-capacity line-of-sight radio.
Malcolm B. Armstrong has become senior vice president-aviation safety and operations for the Washington-based Air Transport Assn. He was executive vice president-operations for Delta Air Lines.
These electrostatic oil cleaning systems remove insoluble contaminants, including tars and varnishes, from hydraulic oil systems. As each machine runs and oxidation occurs, tar, varnish or sludge begins to form. These sticky substances adhere to component surfaces and cause loss of control stability, constant valve adjustment, increased downtime and reduced machine performance. The systems use electrostatic principles to draw contaminants out of the oil, trapping them on the surface of the collector. Soluble additives are not affected.
CAE announced a C$10-million ($6.4-million) contract for the sale of a Boeing 777-200 ER Maintenance Training Simulator to Japan's largest international airline, Japan Airlines (JAL). The advanced flight simulator is designed to train maintenance engineers and technicians to perform tests on aircraft systems and avionics. The unit will be installed in JAL's training facilities in Narita at the end of 2002 and will be built to the Level 5 standard of the FAA and the regulation of the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau.
EADS has successfully proof-tested a full-scale demonstration model of a fiber-wound composite motor casing for France's next-generation M51 submarine-launched ballistic missile. The casing, intended for the first stage, was developed by EADS for SNPE-Snecma joint venture G2P, which is responsible for development of the missile's propulsion system. The nearly 20-ft.-tall, 6.6-ft.-dia. casing is said to be the largest composite solid rocket structure built in Europe to date. EADS is prime contractor for the M51, set to enter operation in 2008.
American Trans Air will freeze wages for 12 months and reduce executive pay by 10%, according to President/CEO John P. Teague. The action comes three weeks after the airline laid off 1,500 workers and cut its flight schedule by 20%. Teague said the airline's last Boeing 727s will be retired this week, leaving 757s and 737s in the fleet.
Dean E. Senner has become president/CEO and Henry Gaillard chief operating officer of Thales Navigation, Santa Clara, Calif. Senner was president/ COO of Onvantage Inc., while Gaillard was CEO of France-based affiliate DSNP.
The International Civil Aviation Organization Assembly's adoption of an airport-by-airport approach to operating restrictions on the noisiest Chapter 3 aircraft settled a U.S.-Europe controversy (AW&ST Sept. 24, p. 50) in favor of the U.S., to judge from the U.S. Air Transport Assn.'s reaction. The assembly required airports to consider the costs and benefits of noise abatement operational procedures and land-use planning and management around airports as well as operating restrictions--the ``balanced approach'' patterned after the U.S. system.
Earlier this month, Europe's Astrium space company received validation of its silicon carbide technology for use in orbital telescope telescopes with a 25-million euro contract ($22.8 million) from the European Space Agency for manufacture of the mirror on the Herschel Space Observatory (formerly named the Far-Infrared Space Telescope). The 3.5-meter telescope to be flown on Herschel will be the largest imaging space telescope ever launched.
Pure-play defense contractors, large and small, are receiving a steady stream of inquiries about their ability to dramatically increase production of weapon systems, as well as other items necessary to support Operation Enduring Freedom.
Rationally, we all know the airline industry eventually will rebound; it always has, following a major shock to the system. But that day seems like a distant prospect, given the wretched earnings environment that has descended across most of the industry and is likely to persist for a protracted period.
Russian military experts are beginning to realize they're missing the revolution in unmanned aircraft technology and are spurring various companies to begin working on a range of home-grown products. Russia's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) efforts have been limited largely to one system used by the Army for artillery spotting. So far, the Russian air force has not asked industry to design and build a medium- or high-altitude reconnaissance system.
The Administration is attempting to use the terrorist crisis to drum up votes in Congress to restore the President's ``fast-track'' trade authority, but aerospace sources say odds are no better than 50-50 that lawmakers will act in time for a 142-nation trade summit in early November.
