America West Airlines has asked the National Mediation Board (NMB) to step in on contract negotiations between the carrier and its 1,800 pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn. (ALPA). CEO William Franke said help from the NMB is necessary because it is ``clear that an agreement cannot be reached through the current negotiation process.'' Capt. Roger Cox of the ALPA's Master Executive Council said mediation ``will do little to further progress.'' The two parties have been in negotiations since February 2000.
It's heartening to know that innovative startups still populate the commercial space industry, assmall, entrepreneurial companies historically have been the wellspring of some of the most exciting developments in aerospace. Unfortunately, the chances of most of these fledgling enterprises surviving--let alone becoming major players--has dimmed considerably in the last six months, according to some market professionals.
This year's Outstanding Cadets are: U.S. Air Force Academy: Cadet First Class Christopher Moeller U.S. Coast Guard Academy: Lt. jg. Maurice Murphy U.S. Military Academy: Cadet First Class Joseph Minor U.S. Naval Academy: Midshipman First Class Benjamin Malay
John H. Dasburg (center) accepts the Commercial Air Transport Laureate award from Kenneth E. Gazzola, AW&ST executive vice president/publisher (left), and David M. North, editor-in-chief.
The New Technology Zeppelin has been certified by the German aviation authority. The airship, which was developed by Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik (ZLT) in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance, had its first flight in September 1997 and has undergone an extensive 1,000-hr. flight test program. ZLT plans to operate the airship on sightseeing tours around Lake Constance through its Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei subsidiary. ZLT said it expects the program to be profitable if 20-25 aircraft can be sold. The Zeppelin NT is one of the world's largest airships at 246 ft. long and 64 ft.
Lockheed Martin will ship its first Atlas V booster to Cape Canaveral this month to prepare for an inaugural launch next year from Space Launch Complex 41 (LC-41). The company's version of the U.S. Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle will be flown on a Russian Antonov An-124 from Denver around May 20. The first Centaur upper stage for that Atlas V was scheduled to leave for the Cape on May 3.
Delta Air Lines launched daily Boeing 767-400ER service last week between New York LaGuardia Airport and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Atlanta. Instead of increasing frequency in the congested New York area, Delta opted to place a larger airplane on the route. The -400ER is 21 ft. longer than a 767-300ER and features a two-tier cabin configuration--36 first-class and 251 coach-class seats.
Pratt&Whitney and Air New Zealand have formed a joint venture to provide engine overhaul and repair for the JT8D and International Aero Engines V2500 turbofans, and Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop powerplants. Air New Zealand's facility at Christchurch already performs 180 overhauls of JT8Ds and Darts annually, and the addition of the V2500 is projected to increase that number to 300 each year, according to officials of Air New Zealand Engineering Services (ANNZES).
The ISS Mission Control Center in Houston hopes to resume testing of the station's large new Canadian robotic arm May 10, following full reestablishment of primary and redundant station command and control C&C computer capability. But it may take into this week for complete confidence to be restored in the C&C system that will allow arm testing to proceed, said John Curry, ISS lead flight director.
Gary L. Hourselt has become president of Huck Fasteners of Salt Lake City. He succeeds Bruce Zorich, who is resigning. Hourselt was president of the company's Industrial Fastener Div.
Deeply confusing the Air Force is the Bush Administration's plan for national missile defense (see p. 66). Some senior officials had advocated giving up further investment in the ground-based interceptor plan--because it would protect so little--and adopting an incremental approach leading toward a space-based system. First would come a shipboard boost-phase intercept system, then airborne laser and, finally, that laser repackaged for space. ``They were excited about this plan because it could protect the Europeans and even Russia and China,'' an Air Force official said.
Cathal Flynn (see photo), former associate FAA administrator for civil aviation security, has been named to the board of directors of Certified Airline Passenger Services of Las Vegas and a consultant to Laser Data Command Inc. of Minneapolis for its PassPro product.
Joseph Ornelas (see photos) has been named vice president-engineering and technology and Tatsuo (Tutch) Shirane vice president-human resources of Hamilton Sundstrand, Windsor Locks, Conn. Ornelas was chief project engineer for the Boeing 777 program. Shirane was vice president-human resources for Pratt&Whitney Module Centers and Operations. He succeeds John Boyd, who is now vice president-operations.
President George W. Bush's first public move toward deploying a missile defense system since taking office has generated heated debate at home and abroad even though he provided little detail on what type of a system his Administration would pursue.
Mack S. Barber has become director of the Northrop Grumman Corp. Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector's Land Combat Systems (LCS), Knoxville, Tenn. He also will be president of two subsidiaries of Northrop Grumman: Perceptics Corp. of Knoxville and Remotec Inc., Oak Ridge, Tenn. Barber was LCS' marketing manager, based in Baltimore.
Thomas R. Madigan of County Rescue Services Inc., Green Bay, Wis., has won the National Flight Paramedics Assn.'s Tim Hynes Award, which is sponsored by Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. of Fort Worth.
Each Laureate Award winner from 1988-2000 automatically has become a member of the Laureates Hall of Fame. But what about the Laurel winners selected prior to 1988? To ensure the Legends of the past are remembered in Aviation Week's Hall of Fame, each class of inductees now includes the current year's winners and a number of legendary achievers selected by Aviation Week&Space Technology editors. This year, the following legendary Laurels winners from the past have been selected for induction into the Hall of Fame.
John P. Mills has been named manager of investor relations, and Gene M. Betts, Donald H. Eller and Thomas A. McDonnell have been appointed to the board of directors, of Cayman Islands-based Garmin Ltd. Mills was assistant vice president in the strategies group of Bank of America in Kansas City. Betts is senior vice president/treasurer of the Sprint Corp. Eller is a private investor, and McDonnell is president/CEO of DST Systems Inc.
Sikorsky Aircraft and the U.S. Army have inked a $219.7-million contract that launches the UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter upgrade program. Over the next 25 years, as many as 1,200 existing Black Hawks could be upgraded to the new ``M'' configuration, which will increase the aircraft's payload and range capabilities while cutting its operational costs (AW&ST Oct. 16, 2000, p. 48). Plans call for the UH-60M to be fielded around 2006.
Israeli defense officials have approached the Bush Administration about cooperating on a Boost Phase Launch Intercept (BPLI) program to counter mobile ballistic missile launchers.
After sending a signal to Pioneer 10, NASA's radio telescope antenna in Madrid heard from it on Apr. 28. Launched 29 years ago, the spacecraft had not been heard from since last August. NASA had been using a one-way downlink noncoherent transmission to listen for a signal. Sending a signal for Pioneer 10 to respond to seems to have done the trick. It is orbiting 7 billion mi. from Earth, well outside the Solar System.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, no one ever dreamed that Russian rocket engines would be powering two of the U.S.' largest expendable launch vehicles--the Atlas III and V. But that's exactly what is happening under the Russian RD-180/Atlas program headed by Lockheed Martin, Energomash and Pratt&Whitney. The vehicles are marketed by International Launch Services.
