The Brazilian government issued a request for proposals for 12-24 fighter aircraft valued at $700 million. Alenia Aerospazio is bidding the Eurofighter; Boeing, the F-18E/F; Lockheed Martin, the F-16; Rosoboronexport, the Sukhoi Su-30; Saab-BAE Systems, the Gripen; and Embraer (representing Dassault), the Mirage 2000BR. Bids are due Oct. 1, and the contract will be let in June 2002.
Alicia Hartong considered the real estate adage--location, location, location--when she chose aerospace over an engineering career in the automotive or paper industries. With her mechanical engineering degree, she thought she could build an entire career in aerospace in her hometown of Dayton, Ohio.
Professional technical societies should initiate programs to capture specialized aerospace knowledge that once was inherent in military standards and specifications, according to George K. Muellner, president of Boeing's Phantom Works. Compliance with those standards is rarely a stated requirement in today's Pentagon contracts, and many ``milspecs'' no longer reflect state-of-the-art practices, he says.
Virgin Atlantic Airways posted a nearly 20% increase in revenues for the fiscal year ending Apr. 30, to 1.52 billion pounds ($2.16 billion) from 1.27 billion pounds the previous year. But it warned that the U.S. economic slowdown had begun to affect transatlantic operations, especially business traffic, in the last quarter. Pre-tax profits, which includes the airline's cargo and holiday charter operations, grew to 45.5 million pounds from 40 million pounds.
Ross Perot, Jr., president/CEO of Perot Systems and chairman of the Hillwood Development Corp. of Dallas, has been named chairman of the Arlington, Va.-based Air Force Memorial Foundation. Perot, an Air Force veteran, completed the first flight around the world in a helicopter. He has been chairman of the foundation's Site and Design Committee and is expected to focus on gaining final design approval and construction of a memorial near Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery. James Ingo Freed, of the New York firm of Pei Cobb Freed Architects, is the principal architect.
JFK-based JetBlue is expected to more than double its operations under a five-year, $60-million lease recently signed with the airport's landlord, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The carrier will expand from six to 10 gates at Terminal 6, which is undergoing a $12-million refurbishing. JetBlue, which launched service in February 2000 with a fleet of new Airbus A320s, plans to expand daily services from JFK from 80 to 100 by the end of the year, and to 200 by the end of 2003. JetBlue began service to Washington Dulles in early July. Starting Oct.
Thales has completed the acquisition and restructuring of the Magellan Corp. and Navigation Solutions. The two U.S. companies have been combined to form Santa Clara-headquartered Thales Navigation.
The SkyTeam alliance has added Alitalia to its ranks and plans to sign up at least two more international airlines, further solidifying its position against rivals Oneworld and Star Alliance.
AMONG THE SUBJECTS AT THE THIRD annual aeronautical data link conference will be the results of Maastricht's ATN tests with American 767 aircraft (above). ATN 2001 will be held in London, Sept. 18-19. United Airlines, the FANS 1/A participant, will project the future of that technology, and the FAA will describe how the Petal trials will lead into the FAA's CPDLC Build 1 software operations in Miami, in 2002 (www.atnconference.com).
While no growth is foreseen in French military procurement spending through 2008, cost savings from cross-border programs and Europe's emerging defense integration--including the planned rapid reaction force--should boost funding efficiency.
Transportation Dept. Inspector General Kenneth M. Mead warns that problems with the FAA's automated airport weather reporting stations could cause pilots to receive inaccurate visibility readings at airports. Mead says the remote stations can take 9-12 min. to report the correct visibility when the weather changes rapidly. Initiated by the FAA in 1993, the Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) is now commissioned at 561 airports across the U.S.
John L. Ryan has been appointed vice president-line maintenance for America West Airlines. He was vice president-maintenance and engineering for Hawaiian Airlines.
Air Liberte and AOM, the ailing French carriers formerly controlled by the Swissair Group, expect to restore profitability in the next three years under the umbrella of Holco, their new owners. After evaluating the merits of as many as 15 offerings submitted by multiple investors, a French court selected an entrepreneurial group led by Capt. Jean-Charles Corbet, a former president of SNPL airline pilots' union. The restructured company's employees could own up to one-third of the shares. Investors include the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
Kathleen A. Soled has become associate general counsel of American Airlines. She will also continue as senior vice president/general counsel for the Trans World Airlines subsidiary of American. Stan Henderson, who has been TWA's chief operating officer, is now senior vice president-customer services of American Eagle.
Managers of the $1-billion Thuraya mobile satellite communications system, which just launched commercial service, are looking at possible expansion of the Middle East-based regional network to cover all of Asia, including Japan and most of Australia.
GOODRICH CORP. AND AVRO TEC INC. of Aurora, Ore., are participating with NASA Langley to develop an affordable synthetic vision system for general aviation aircraft. The effort is part of a NASA Langley cooperative research agreement, which aims to develop production hardware and software to be certified, and to draft minimum operational performance standards and the technical standard order. Avro Tec will develop the system hardware and serve as team lead, with Goodrich developing the synthetic vision software and database formats.
Air taxi operators might get something for nothing next summer--access to hundreds more U.S. airports. The ``bonus'' is part of an FAA plan to update operating rules for general aviation aircraft and air taxis, triggered by discontent with the growing popularity of fractional jet ownership programs.
United Airlines claims to be the first carrier to offer PDA (personal digital assistant) booking and ticketing service on a global scale. United.com-registered passengers may purchase an e-ticket for any UAL or United Express U.S.-originating flight. Current features include checking seat assignments.
USN Rear Adm. (ret.) John A. Gauss has been nominated to be assistant Veterans Affairs secretary for information and technology. He was commander of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command until retiring June 30.
Hanns R. Rech will continue as chairman/CEO of LSG Lufthansa Service Holding now that it has completed its acquisition of Onex Food Services, parent company of Dallas/Fort Worth-based Sky Chefs Inc. Other board members will be: Patrick Tolbert, finance; Ulrich Broscher, operations; Randall Boyd, marketing; and Horst Bultmann, human resources. Tolbert and Boyd are, respectively, executive vice president/chief financial officer and senior vice president-marketing and sales of Sky Chefs. Broscher and Bultmann already were LSG board members.
An aircraft propelled by a reusable rocket entered flight tests July 21 at California's Mojave Airport. XCOR Aerospace's EZ-Rocket is a modified Long-EZ aircraft powered by twin 400-lb.-thrust, regeneratively-cooled rocket engines using anhydrous isopropyl alcohol and liquid oxygen as propellants. The vehicle reached full thrust, rotated and flew a few hundred feet before touching down. Test pilot Dick Rutan said all systems operated normally. XCOR President Jeff Greason says the program's purpose is to drive down the costs of operating reusable rocket vehicles.
Sikorsky has completed first flight of the first MH-60R test article, the aircraft that will be used by the U.S. Navy to replace its aging SH-60B Seahawks, SH-60F CV-Helos and HH-60H aircraft. During the initial 1.7-hr. first flight on July 19, Sikorsky pilot Chris Geanacopoulos performed basic flight acceptance checks, including engine power, auto rotation and vibration. Since the first flight, the aircraft has accumulated another 2.3 hr. in the air.
Multiply spending on science and technology (S&T) by a factor of 1.5-2, a National Research Council panel advises the Air Force. The Army, Navy and defense research agencies have increased such spending since 1989, the NRC report says. ``The sole exception is the Air Force, whose real S&T spending is down 46%.'' For this year the service requested $1.2 billion for S&T--which Congress bumped up to $1.5 billion--and is seeking just $1.4 billion in Fiscal 2002.
House members voted 336-89 for an appropriations bill that includes $14.9 billion for NASA in Fiscal 2002, after rejecting an amendment by perennial International Space Station foe Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.) that would have capped station spending at $25 billion. The bill includes $275 million for an ISS lifeboat not contained in the version of the bill pending in the Senate, setting up a debate on station funding shortfalls in conference committee.
Michael Coughlin (see photo) has been appointed executive vice president of Cascade Aerospace Inc., Abbotsford, British Columbia. He was CEO of Acro Aerospace and is president of the Aerospace Industry Assn. of British Columbia.
