Pakistan International Airlines' new managing director's first major hurdle is to avert a full strike by the carrier's pilots. The pilots, who are seeking 50-80% pay raises and an increased pilot pool, initiated a slowdown earlier this month that resulted in numerous delays and more than 100 flight cancellations at major airports Lahore and Karachi. Ahmed Saeed Chaudhry, who replaces Malik Sher Afgan, is PIA's third director in a year.
Pentagon researchers intend to give contractors a lot of latitude in putting together a system of aircraft, sensors, data links and weapons that can be used to accurately find, and rapidly strike, maneuvering targets on the Earth's surface.
Boeing is far from committed to developing its proposed Mach 0.95 jetliner and will build the new aircraft only if the company becomes convinced the program will be profitable, reflecting a profound cultural change underway inside the world's largest aerospace company. ``If we can't make money, we don't build it,'' Chief Financial Officer Michael Sears told Aviation Week&Space Technology.
The Travel Exchange for Asia-Pacific (TEA) may be ready for launch late this year, according to industry observers. TEA is a combined airline online booking site backed by the region's major airlines, including Qantas, Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines. TEA is similar to the U.S. major airlines' initiative Orbitz that is scheduled to be fully up and running by June--with one difference. TEA targets the B2B market; Orbitz focuses on the consumer.
Thomas M. Culligan (see photo) has become executive vice president-business development of the Raytheon Co., Lexington, Mass., and president of Raytheon International Inc. Keith J. Peden has been named senior vice president-human resources. Culligan was vice president/general manager of the Defense&Space segment of Honeywell International Inc. Peden was Raytheon vice president/deputy director of human resources.
Dassault Aviation will unveil a new business jet at the Paris air show in June, but is cagey as to what the aircraft will look like. Officials will say only that the new model, code-named FNX, will be a bit bigger than the Falcon 900 with a faster cruise speed. Features will reportedly include an enhanced wing and powerplant. Details and a full-scale mockup are to be presented at the National Business Aviation Assn. convention in the fall.
BAE Systems has developed an integrated helmet display/sighting system to provide AH-1Z pilots with visor-displayed day/night symbology and night vision imagery using monochrome TV cameras. The system, which is the heart of the AH-1Z's attack capability, uses a special lightweight composite helmet fitted with an outer display module and visor that displays both piloting and targeting information. An inner shell becomes a part of the pilot's personal flying gear and is custom-fitted to the head using adjustable pads and a suspension system.
Airline executives and analysts blame rising labor costs, continued high fuel prices and weak corporate travel demand for dismal first-quarter 2001 financial results that show combined losses nearing the $1-billion mark for seven of the nation's 10 largest airlines. Three carriers, Continental, Southwest and AirTran, bucked the trend and delivered net profits. Those gains could be short-lived, however.
India launched its new 1.5-million-lb.-thrust Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Apr. 18 on a first flight that followed rapid recovery from a pad abort with the same vehicle in late March. The GSLV development has cost the Indian Space Research Organization $500 million. More than 150 Indian aerospace and other high-technology companies are involved in the project.
Singapore Airlines Cargo Pte. Ltd. received its air operator certificate last week from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore--which allows the wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines Ltd. to operate as a separate all-cargo airline. SIA Cargo, which was founded in 1988, is ranked by International Air Transport Assn. as the third-largest air cargo carrier. SIA Cargo operates a fleet of nine Boeing 747-400s and has eight on order. It plans to start operations as an all-cargo carrier in July.
Boeing may get some help from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in its recently announced effort to develop a passenger aircraft dubbed ``new faster airplane'' that flies at Mach 0.95 (AW&ST Apr. 9, p. 44). According to Japanese press reports, Mitsubishi is studying possible participation in the development of the 100-300-seat aircraft. Mitsubishi had planned to help build the wing of the now-shelved Boeing 747X project.
Unlike the airline industry, for which first-quarter performance is turning out to be even worse than some analysts had forecast (see p. 53), the overall aerospace sector probably will report solid results for the same period.
GenCorp Aerojet is working under a tight schedule on an advanced microwave sounder that is part of a NASA effort designed to boost weather forecasting accuracy while cutting the cost of the sophisticated spaceborne instruments forecasters use to create their prediction models.
Significant upgrades in performance and weapon systems will make the AH-1Z Super Cobra a formidable adversary on the battlefield, providing its crew with heavier firepower and improved electronic war-fighting capability when it joins the fleet in 2004.
William A. Owens has been named to the board of directors of Cray Inc. of Seattle. He is vice chairman/co-CEO of the Teledesic Corp. and former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Owens succeeds John W. Titcomb, Jr.
Jack Owen has been promoted to manager of the Tactics&Simulation Group from engineering group manager for Delex Systems Inc.,.Vienna, Va. Other staff members who have been chosen to manage specific processes include Debbie Richardson, document development process; Jim Wimberly, tactics development process; Art Hahn, software improvement process; Eric Garton, engineering processes; Tim Hall, program management; and Kevin McTigue, business development.
Heiner Wilkens has resigned as president/CEO of Luxembourg-based Cargolux Airlines. The airline cited differences of opinion over future growth and strategic options between Wilkens and the board of directors. Roger Sietzen, chairman of the board, will act as interim CEO until a successor is chosen.
Chris Adams has been promoted to director of product marketing from product marketing manager, based at New Castle County (Del.) Airport, for FlightSafety International. Jim Dolle has been named assistant manager of the FSI Gulfstream Learning Center, Savannah, Ga.
The Australia Civil Aviation Safety Authority's grounding of Ansett Australia's 767 fleet imploded on the regulatory body when an internal audit report highlighting deficiencies in CASA's airline surveillance and oversight was leaked to the press.
NASA is considering a role for the U.S. military in its Space Launch Initiative (SLI), with top-level meetings planned soon on how the civilian-led launch technology effort can help the Pentagon meet its growing space-access and space-operations requirements.
American Airlines' announcement last week that it would charge a $10 fee for U.S. and Canada passengers who qualify for an electronic ticket, but insist on a paper ticket, may soon become the industry norm, sources at several airlines said. Federal law prohibits airlines from commenting officially on ticket-related trends, for fear of ``fare signaling,'' but sources indicate that the fee will become standard airline policy. At American, the $10 charge does not apply to full-fare coach passengers, Executive Platinum Members or those who purchase tickets from travel agents.
Hyperspectral imagery obtained by the U.S. Air Force's proof-of-principle MightySat II.1 satellite will soon be made available to universities and other organizations. Under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the USAF Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate, Kestrel Corp. of Albuquerque, N.M.--which co-built the imager with the USAF lab--will offer data sets of approximately 100 images captured by the satellite's hyperspectral camera.
Air France, the largest European operator in Japan, is increasing capacity to the Pacific Rim region and will assign the A380 to the Paris-Tokyo market as soon as it is available. Capacity is rising 5.2% in available seat kilometers this year over 2000, and 28% growth, or 7% a year, is scheduled through 2004. This trend reverses a static period that occurred during the Asian economic downturn, said Sampan Tosawang, regional marketing senior executive for Asia-Pacific for Air France.
