The government of Quebec will invest $15.3 million over four years to help train 400 new employees and upgrade the skills of another 4,000 workers as part of an expansion project at CAE Inc.'s main facility at Saint-Laurent, where the company builds flight simulators. Another $10.3 million will be made available from Investissment Quebec to fund enlargement of the facility to meet demand for simulators. CAE President Derek H. Burney estimates the international market for pilot and maintenance training is worth about $9 billion.
The Transportation Dept. is leaning on Continental Airlines to stop putting its flight codes on Copa Airlines flights, following the FAA's downgrading of Panama's safety rating. But Copa CEO Pedro Heilbron is making an interesting appeal to Washington to back off. On May 9, the FAA busted Panama to its Category 2 list, meaning the agency believes the nation no longer meets the safety standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization. Such assessments result in bans on expanding service to the U.S. and are a constant source of irritation in Latin America.
Marvin R. Sambur has been named the nominee designate to fill USAF's top acquisition job. He is a consultant to ITT Industries and was president and CEO from 1998 until earlier this year.
Attorneys for the majority of the families of the victims of the Air France Concorde crash in Paris last July say they have reached an agreement on compensation. The package is reported to be worth close to $150 million.
Snecma Sabena Engine Services expects to boost revenues in the commercial engine overhaul market in an indication that manufacturers and airlines can achieve efficient partnerships.
Israel Military Industries (IMI) has developed a hard-target penetrating bomb for the Israeli air force (IAF) capable of penetrating emplacements, such as bunkers and aircraft shelters, built with concrete up to 6 ft. thick. The 1,000-lb. bomb, dubbed the PB-500A1, can be used by aircraft approved to carry Mk 83 general purpose bombs because it has similar properties. IMI officials are in the process of signing a production contract with the IAF, and hope to interest the U.S. Navy in the weapon.
Alexei Tupolev, former head of the Tupolev Design Bureau, who led development of the first Soviet supersonic civil transport, died on May 12 after a long illness. He was 75. Alexei Tupolev began his career in 1949 after graduating from the Moscow Aviation Institute. He joined the design bureau, managed by his father, the famed Soviet aircraft pioneer Andrei Tupolev. The younger Tupolev became chief designer in 1963, and 10 years later attained the top job of general designer.
Varig Airlines of Brazil will be the first carrier in Latin America to operate the Boeing 737-800 with blended winglets. The aircraft will be operated through a lease from the GATX Capital Corp. beginning in September and October.
Collins Aviation Services, the unit that helps Rockwell Collins customers with technical support, training and maintenance, needed an e-commerce Web site so its customers could access these services and track orders. Collins decided to get help with the site, and went to Hewlett-Packard's E-Services Institute. At its facility in Ontario, Calif., E-Services built a copy of the existing Collins systems that customers would access and worked with Collins employees to develop and deploy www.shopcollins.com. The site was up and running within 90 days.
Lloyd J. Parker, Jr., has been appointed vice president for e-business for America West Airlines. He was managing director for business-to-business. J. Steven Whisler has been named to the board of directors. He is chairman/president/CEO of the Phelps Dodge Corp.
Capt. Ted Murphy, an Airbus A330 pilot with Aer Lingus, has been reelected president of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Assns. (IFALPA) for a two-year term.
Steven J. Demetriou has been named CEO of the PMD Group Inc., Brecksville, Ohio. Recently appointed David B. Price will remain as president. He was executive vice president of the BFGoodrich Co. and president/chief operating officer of its performance materials business. Demetriou was executive vice president of IMC Global Inc.
Mike Disbrow (see photos) has been promoted to senior vice president-marketing, applications and customer support from vice president-marketing and customer support for Hartzell Propeller Inc., Piqua, Ohio. Brian Meyer has been named manager of aircraft applications engineering and Ken Johnson Top Prop sales manager. Meyer was manager of STC programs and Johnson an original equipment manufacturer account representative.
Jaan Albrecht has been appointed CEO, Kristian Kirchheiner vice president/head of seamless service and product development and Jill Nealon vice president-human resources of the Montreal-based Star Alliance. Albrecht has been CEO of Aeromexpress and succeeds William L. Meaney, who has resigned. Kirchheiner has been president/CEO of Air Baltic of Latvia. He succeeds Per Stendebakken, who has returned to the Scandinavian Airlines System. Nealon was group personnel director for British Midland Airways and succeeds Dan Grenier, who is retiring.
Garth Petersen was appointed director of airport services for United Services, the global support division of United Airlines. He was manager of airport and cargo operations in Australia for the airline.
Denver-based Frontier Airlines on May 11 received the first of 29 Airbus aircraft the carrier will purchase or lease as it moves from an all-Boeing 737 fleet to an all-Airbus fleet by 2004. The CFM-56-powered A319, painted in Frontier's new livery and outfitted with a 132-seat single-class cabin, is undergoing post-delivery modifications in Goodyear, Ariz. The aircraft will enter revenue service in June.
Sea Launch and the Boeing Delta space launch managers reaffirmed their interest in a merged sales operation somewhat like the Atlas-Proton linkup within International Launch Services. Sea Launch and Delta already have a new joint backup agreement (AW&ST Apr. 9, p. 38). Sea Launch President Wilbur Trafton and J. David Schweikle, vice president of Delta Launch Services, told the Euroconsult summit on space transportation business in Paris last week that the consolidation was contemplated to strengthen both vehicles' market positions.
INFINITE PHOTONICS WILL USE a $1-million, one-year contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Mice program to develop the company's grating coupled surface emitting laser (GCSEL) diode for Defense Dept. uses. GCSEL employs grating technology created in Russia to control laser emission spectrum (modes and wavelengths). The grating, embedded in the wave guide portion of the laser diode, and an adjacent embedded Fabry-Perot gain volume eliminate the need for external cavities or mirrors.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. has dismissed complaints by FedEx and UPS seeking to ground DHL Airways, marking a major victory in the quest of DHL parent company Deutsche Post to penetrate the American market and heightening the growing competition between traditional parcel express carriers and rapidly privatizing European postal services.
British Airways is combining the operations of recently acquired British Regional Air Lines Group (BRAL) and its Brymon Airways subsidiary, as part of its effort to consolidate its short-haul businesses. The new regional subsidiary will be called British Airways CitiExpress and headed by Rob Hearn, currently chief operating officer of BRAL. It will operate a fleet of 72 regional jets and turboprop aircraft to 59 destinations. The integration process is expected to be fully completed in 12 months.
It's getting less and less likely the FAA will make its target date for putting new ``demand-management'' measures in place at New York's LaGuardia Airport--Sept. 15, the scheduled expiration date for last winter's slot-lottery restrictions. LaGuardia is a bellwether, as Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta wants a ``market-based'' approach to relieving congestion at other airports eventually. The agency considers LGA's slottery a stopgap for controlling demand at the nation's most delay-prone airport.
How's MyBoeingFleet.com doing a year after its launch last May? Five hundred customers are signed up to the airliner products and services portal, and they made an average of 1,450 log-ins per day in April, compared with 550 at the end of 2000 (AW&ST Jan. 1, p. 17). They made 20,000 transactions per day and 1.4 million ``hits'' in the month of April. The 500 customers have 15,000 individual accounts, or an average of 30 each.
General Dynamics Electronic Systems will integrate radar, missile and laser threat-warning data with digital battlefield information for U.S. Army helicopters, under a two-year $7.8-million work order from the Communications-Electronics Command.
Boeing will manufacture reengine kits and modify KC-135 and RC-135 aircraft at Tinker AFB, Okla., to ``R'' configurations, under a $38.7-million contract.
During airliner turnaround at the gate, getting maintenance and operational data quickly onto the Web can help the airline and its contractors do their job more efficiently. Authorized people at each company can rapidly and simultaneously see what they need to do.
