The GE-P&W Engine Alliance has signed its first customer for the partnership's 68,000-81,500-lb.-thrust GP7200 powerplant. Air France has placed an order for 70,000-lb.-thrust GP7270s to power 10 firm Airbus A380s the carrier expects to begin receiving in the fourth quarter of 2006. Core and fan technology tests supporting GP7200 development were recently run and detailed design work on the engine should begin in 2003 after a third round of core tests are run next year (AW&ST May 7, p. 70).
Raytheon Co. shuffled top management at two of its operating units last week, with former Raytheon Aircraft Integration Systems President Jim Schuster replacing Hansel Tookes as head of Raytheon Aircraft Co. (RAC). Tookes, who was put in charge of RAC in September 1999, is now responsible for expanding Raytheon's business outside of the U.S. Replacing Schuster at Aircraft Integration Systems is Robert W. Drewes, who had been vice president of productivity.
In the article entitled ``Safety Agencies Release Facts on Gulf Air Crash'' (AW&ST Apr. 23, p. 57), the body of water into which the Airbus A320 plunged was misidentified. The aircraft crashed into the Persian Gulf. Also, the U.S. Defense Dept. is expected to display more than 20 aircraft at the Paris air show, but the F-22 will not be among them (AW&ST May 21, p. 86).
Michael J. Hiemstra has been named executive vice president-finance and administration/chief financial officer, effective July 1, of the Parker Hannifin Corp. of Cleveland. Don Washkewicz will succeed Duane Collins as CEO.
The 10-week-old pilots' strike that has shut down Delta Air Lines' affiliate Comair is raising questions about the advisability of mainline ownership of a feeder carrier and the potential impact of the walkout on the phenomenal rise of the regional jet.
David A. Banmiller has become president/chief operating officer of Sun Country Airlines. Bill La Macchia, Jr., will remain CEO. Banmiller was president/CEO of a recent iteration of Pan American World Airways.
Khrunichev is moving to market a winged flyback booster stage and a smallsat-based remote-sensing satellite system as it stretches out the service introduction of new launchers in response to lower than expected demand.
Edwin I. Colodny (see photo), former chairman/president/CEO of USAir and former chairman of the Comsat Corp., has been appointed interim president of the University of Vermont, effective July 1. He is counsel to the law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky&Walker in Washington.
The European Commission's investigation into the proposed General Electric-Honeywell merger is now set to move into its final phase, following two days of closed-door hearings in Brussels last week. GE focused primarily on allaying concerns about product bundling, trying to show that it would lead to lower prices for end users. Bundling headed the list of objections issued earlier this month by the EC, after the U.S. Justice Dept. had conditionally okayed the merger (AW&ST May 14, p. 24; May 7, p. 32).
NASA has selected Orbital Sciences Corp. for two contracts as part of the Space Launch Initiative program. NASA awarded Orbital a $47-million contract for the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology program. The second contract, valued at $6 million, will cover continued study and development of the Space Taxi Crew Transfer Vehicle concept proposed last year under NASA's Space Transportation Architecture Study program.
Lt. Gen. (ret.) Ellis D. Parker has been appointed president of the Westport, Conn.-based Army Aviation Assn. of America (AAAA). He succeeds Maj. Gen. (ret.) Carl H. McNair, Jr. Parker's last active duty assignment was as commanding general of the U.S. Army Aviation Center, Ft. Rucker, Ala.
Robert Crandall, A.B. (Sky) Magary and Joe Ueberroth have been named to the board of directors of MilePoint.com of Minneapolis. Crandall is the retired chairman/CEO of American Airlines and chairman of the Sabre Group. Magary was president of United Airlines' Shuttle by United and executive vice president-marketing for Northwest Airlines. Ueberroth is a partner in Contrarian Group Inc.
Lyndall Lambert and Thomas E. Ice have been named partners in the aviation litigation practice of law firm Holland&Knight of Miami. Both were with Barwick, Dillian, Lambert&Ice.
USAF Lt. Gen. Eugene L. Tattini, who has been commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB, will become deputy director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., upon his retirement in early July. He will succeed Larry N. Dumas, who will retire.
Some analysts believe SkyWest Airlines investors have grown more comfortable with the carrier's ability to execute a major growth phase, based on the stock's strong rebound following two difficult quarters. Shares have risen about 60% since March, although in trading last Wednesday, they dropped 1.05 to close at 28.71.
The 2001 Index of Competitiveness takes into account more than 85% of the approximate market capitalization of all publicly traded aerospace companies and roughly 92% of the commercial air transport industry's market cap.
The corporate saga of who controls Air New Zealand and Ansett Australia has taken another turn. Qantas Airways, long eager to take a strategic position in the New Zealand market, has proposed a ``partnership'' with the Auckland-based carrier in a stock swap that would give Singapore Airlines control of Ansett.
Roy H. Norris has been named to the board of directors of Advanced Aerodynamics&Structures Inc., Long Beach, Calif. He is president of aviation and aerospace consulting firm The Norris Group, Birmingham, Ala., and was president of the Raytheon Aircraft Co.
The Assn. of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) has rejected an offer of arbitration from the National Mediation Board (NMB), clearing the way for a 30-day cooling-off period and a possible strike against American Airlines as early as July 1. Negotiations, however, have been scheduled to resume in Washington on June 5.
Dan Derby, vice president-service merchandise of Atlantic Aero, Greensboro, N.C., and treasurer of the Independence, Mo.-based Aircraft Electronics Assn., has been named Member of the Year. Robert Kauffman, retired founder of ElectroSon- ics, Columbus, Ohio, has won the AEA Lifetime Achievement Award.
The U.K.-based GKN Aerospace is stabilizing and enlarging the fabrication business it bought from Boeing nearly six months ago. GKN has moved assembly work for Boeing's Delta IV satellite launch vehicle program to St. Louis from California, and has begun transferring technology to use the resin transfer molding process to produce aircraft parts. The transfer won't be complete until mid-2002, but the plant will have enough equipment to produce some products by year-end. GKN plans to move final assembly for commercial aircraft engine pods to St.
UPS is adding more Boeing 727-QF and 757 freighters to its European network, decreasing the number of smaller aircraft leased-in and cutting down on the number of night flights at its Cologne hub. A pair of company-owned 727-QFs will be assigned to the Oslo and Munich lines, replacing three smaller leased-in or chartered aircraft. Similarly, three 757s will be used on lines to Budapest-Vienna, Treviso-Rome and Istanbul-Tel Aviv, on which six aircraft are presently needed.
Lori Garver, who has been an associate administrator for policy and plans of NASA, has been appointed director of space program development for DFI International of Washington.
Singapore Airlines, whose superior margins and top ranking among global airlines depend on high yields from satisfied, free-spending customers, focuses on keeping its fleet young and its on-board amenities at the cutting edge.
