Airlines often have staff scheduling software built around week-long cycles, but European regulations can require roster patterns that last more than seven days. U.K. airline British Midland worked with Sabre to create a new ``Roster Maker'' module for its StaffPlan software that would accommodate these work rules, and the carrier has tested it. ``We realized that there was a missing link in the European market for a system that could deal with rotating rosters,'' said Julie Moffatt, resource management manager for British Midland.
The U.S. government is under increasing pressure from business aviation organizations to relieve or eliminate its clampdown on airspace above major metropolitan areas--which have been crippling certain operations in an industry that has already lost nearly $500 million since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
A ``false alarm'' hijack in India ended peacefully Oct. 4 when a 737 owned by a subsidiary of Indian Airlines called Alliance Air was stormed by National Security Guard commandos at Delhi. The drama, which turned into farce, started when the Ahmedabad air traffic control supposedly received an anonymous call, which it later denied, saying that the Alliance Air flight from Mumbai (Bombay) to Delhi would be hijacked. The captain was informed, but by whom is unclear. At any rate, he locked the cockpit door thinking the hijackers were on board. They weren't.
Continuing intelligence preparations for combat operations in Afghanistan that began with satellites and CIA drones are growing as the U.S. military shifts its reconnaissance aircraft into the region. At the same time, Pentagon officials are drafting road maps to accelerate upgrades and restructure modernization plans for the overworked surveillance fleet.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the U.K. violated the rights of eight citizens living near London's Heathrow Airport under a 1993-imposed noise-quota system for night operations. Complaints focused on the perceived increase in early-morning noise that resulted when the government replaced its strict limit on the total number of overnight landings and takeoffs with the noise-quota program.
Canada and Japan are among the countries helping their airlines lumber through the financial morass wreaked by terrorism. Transport Canada last week offered a C$160-million ($102-million) package to its carriers for losses incurred during the disruption of air services following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Canada's airspace was shut down Sept. 11, but restrictions were lifted gradually. By Sept. 14, most services had started a return to normal levels.
L-3 Communications is trying to acquire Canada's Spar Aerospace for about $116 million in cash, or about $9.89 a share. Analysts believe L-3 will attempt to leverage Spar's market position in aviation services to generate increased demand for its avionics products.
To create a local area network on board a commercial or corporate aircraft and connect it to the Internet or a corporate intranet, Pentar Avionics has the new JetLAN XP network server. It supports wireless as well as wired networks, allows file sharing and joint viewing of presentations, runs a printer, and has up to 60 gigabytes of storage. . . . For broad-based, higher speed connection to the ground, Pentar has joined with EMS Technologies' Satcom Div. to offer JetLAN SatLINK.
The U.S. Marine Corps will establish a new anti-terrorism brigade at Camp Lejeune, N.C., this week, one month after the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The 4th Marine Expeditionary will have 4,800 Marines and sailors and be fully operational by Dec. 1. The unit merges existing counterterrorism battalions devoted to security and chemical and biological incident response. Added components will include a new anti-terrorist battalion and another fleet anti-terrorist security team.
Russian officials admit for the first time they are using remains from the U.S. Air Force stealth fighter shot down over Yugoslavia to improve the ability of their air defense systems to detect and kill stealth aircraft. Also as part of the effort, designers say a small number of Russian tactical aircraft have been upgraded with locally produced, low-observable modifications to further test and improve their surface-to-air missile (SAM) designs.
One battlefield in America's war on terrorism surely will include White House or congressional commissions, to make recommendations on how to improve civil aviation security. It won't be the first time. The last time such a commission was charged with that function was after the TWA Flight 800 tragedy in which 230 passengers and crewmembers were killed on July 17, 1996. Reviewing the history of the recommendations made by that commission is both timely and instructive.
Members of the New Jersey Aviation Assn. (NJAA) are calling for the FAA to restore full-operating capability to Teterboro Airport near New York. The facility has been operating at only 25% capacity since shortly after the attacks on Sept. 11, when general aviation operators were prohibited from flying within the 25-mi. ``no-fly zone'' in the New York area. Charter and airline operations, however, were unaffected by the ban. NJAA President Thomas D. Carver said the slowdown is ``having a devastating effect on the regional economy'' and that 1,250 jobs are at risk.
Quantum Magnetics Inc., a subsidiary of Vision Technologies Inc., has developed a new weapons-detection system--the i-Portal 100--that is capable of pinpointing the location of a gun or knife concealed on the body. The machine could be used for secondary screening of passengers, or as a pre-screening device. Quantum was forced to suspend testing of the system on Sept. 11 because airports were closed. The FAA, however, has approved the device, and additional trials will resume, according to the company.
Bailout funding of SF450 million ($280 million) provided late last week by the Swiss government helped the country's flag carrier, Swissair, to gradually resume operations while readying a vast restructuring. In the midst of an acrimonious dispute with banks Credit Suisse (CS) and Union de Banques Suisses (UBS) as well as fuel providers, cash-strapped Swissair's fleet was grounded on Oct. 2, and the ailing group filed for bankruptcy 24 hr. later.
Russia has been counting on commercialization to pay its fare on the International Space Station, but its space industry is already rethinking those plans less than two months after they were set in a redesign of the Russian side of the ISS. The Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center doesn't think its partner Boeing will be able to sell facilities on the planned FGB-2 module as a purely commercial proposition, and so is holding talks this week with the European Space Agency and Astrium about a government sale of FGB-2 facilities to ESA.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is scheduled to slash available seat/kilometers by as much as 15% on Oct. 28. For example, KLM and Northwest Airlines will jointly suspend 25 weekly code-share transatlantic flights. The Dutch carrier will cut approximately 2,500 jobs, and as many as 12,000 employees based in the Netherlands will be asked to work shorter times. In the U.K., British Midland plans to reduce its capacity on short-haul routes by an average 20% and to cut 600 jobs.
Raytheon Aircraft Co. began laying off 750 hourly and salaried workers last week as part of further cost-cutting initiatives at the Wichita-based airframe manufacturer. The layoffs are in response to a business downturn stemming from the terrorist attacks and a weak economy. Earlier this year, Raytheon laid off 920 workers. The company has a backlog of more than $4 billion for its Premier I and Hawker Horizon business jets.
A new Business Aviation Task Force at the National Air Transportation Assn. (NATA) is recommending a series of security guidelines for general aviation businesses, such as fixed-base operators, charters, maintenance and flight schools, aimed at preventing a hijacking at these facilities.
The Sukhoi design bureau appears to have an early advantage in Russia's fifth-generation fighter competition, with government officials indicating they may prefer the program reside with the well-established developer of the Su-27 and Su-30.
Directors of Newport News Shipbuilding were scheduled to meet late last week to reconsider competing bids from Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics for the shipbuilding concern in light of Northrop Grumman's rising stock price. Since Sept. 11, it grew by more than 31%, closing at 107.52 on Oct. 3. General Dynamics' stock price rose by more than 18% (closing midweek at 89.83) during the same period.
Attacks on widely dispersed Al Qaeda facilities could begin within a week and hit targets in as many as four countries. First will be small, pinpoint air and ground strikes. Defense officials say these first steps will be ``elegant'' in concept. ``About half will be visible, and half will be covert,'' one official says. Planners anticipate the raids will have a ``profound effect'' on the direction and scope of the long-term war on terrorism. Meanwhile, troops headed for Exercise Bright Star set to begin in Egypt Oct. 8 are being told not to expect to come home on Nov.
Iraq's biological weapons program, including anthrax, now presents the greatest regional threat. It includes experiments in ``agricultural warfare,'' such as wheat smut, national security analysts warn. If Baghdad's military resurgence continues unchecked, it could touch off a nuclear, chemical and biological arms race between Iraq and Iran, possibly embroiling other countries in the Persian Gulf area.
A headline in the Oct. 1 issue incorrectly stated that the launch failure of a Taurus rocket sent Orbital Imaging Corp. into debt restructuring (see p. 44). As the text of the story correctly states, the restructuring was unrelated to the launch failure.
Acting Massachusetts Gov. Jane M. Swift, in a televised address to the state outlining safety reforms, last week demoted Massport Public Safety Director Joseph Lawless and appointed former State Police head, Col. John DiFava as interim chief. Massport security has come under intense scrutiny by investigators trying to determine how hijackers were able to board American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 that departed Boston Logan International 15 min. apart on the morning of Sept. 11.
Reagan Washington National Airport came back to life last week under a White House-approved plan that will allow airport officials to ramp up operations to 24% of pre-Sept. 11 levels by Nov. 1 while putting in place what the FAA is calling the most ``exacting'' security measures in the nation. ``We can assure the American public as best we can, that we're taking the necessary safety precautions,'' President Bush said when announcing the opening Oct. 2. ``Now it's time to start flying again.''
