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.
The SAirGroup's ailing French affiliates are urgently trying to persuade new investors that the carriers still have a future. In the wake of massive losses, the Swiss group is threatening to abandon Air Liberte and AOM in an about-face that would oblige both airlines to find new backers or cease operations.
Despite last year's summit between the two Korean leaders and an ongoing policy review in Washington over how to handle North Korea, none of the three main actors on the peninsula is seeking ways to scale back its military posture.
Thomas Pickering, vice president-international relations for Boeing and a retired U.S. ambassador to a number of countries, has received the Harry LeRoy Jones Award from the Washington Foreign Law Society. He was cited for contributions to international relations and the practice and understanding of international law.
The U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's investigation into the Dec. 11, 2000, crash of an MV-22 Osprey encountered numerous obstacles that hampered the review process. Areas of concern highlighted in the report address technical deficiencies as well as procedural issues that complicated the fact-finding mission.
The IQPC Six Sigma for Aerospace Conference speakers list published in the Apr. 2 issue was incorrect. The following people are scheduled to lead workshops or make presentations at the May 22-23 event: Michael Kukhta, director of Continuous Improvement for BFGoodrich's Landing Gear Div. Jon Butlin, senior lean six sigma coordinator of BFGoodrich's Landing Gear Div. Rod Morgan, vice president-program management, e-Zsigma Inc. Tracy J. Houpt, LM21, deputy director of lean/six sigma for Lockheed Martin.
Airline, safety and government representatives are scheduled to meet Dec. 5-6 in Miami for the fifth annual Global Aviation Information Network (GAIN) conference. The event will address both positive and negative safety trends within the industry, as well as development of concepts, methods and products designed to make a wide variety of key data available to carriers worldwide to help reduce accidents.
Betting on increased route fragmentation in the Pacific Rim, Boeing has taken a significant step toward capturing a larger share of that potentially lucrative market. Many analysts agree Boeing is on the right track in predicting that point-to-point service--rather than larger aircraft serving major hubs--is where the bulk of air traffic growth will be in the Asia-Pacific region.
Transport Canada and the FAA have rescinded an airspeed limit imposed on Bell 407 helicopters and reinstated their 140-kt. never-exceed speed. The restriction was imposed following December's accident in the Gulf of Mexico, in which the pilot was killed. The decision to rescind was made after U.S. and Canadian airworthiness authorities and safety board personnel determined the accident investigation had produced no data to support the restriction.
Municipal officials are counseling Congress and the aviation lobby to be shrewd tacticians in their drive to streamline environmental reviews and speed up runway construction. An abatement lobbyist, NOISE (the National Organization to Insure a Sound-Controlled Environment), says short-circuiting environmental reviews and bypassing local authorities is political folly. The smarter tactic is to include environmentalists from the very beginning of the review process, urges Dennis McGrann of NOISE, which represents mainly elected municipal and county officials.
Alcatel and Alenia will supply transponders, antennas and telemetry, tracking and command hardware for two telecom satellites to be launched by Russian startup Gascom in late 2001. Gascom, owned by utility giant Gazprom and Energia, already has one commercial spacecraft in orbit. The awards follow the decision of telecom operator RSCC last month to use Alenia payloads for three Express AM satellites to be orbited in 2003.
Parcel express and cargo operator United Parcel Service--its Asia-Pacific services boosted in recent weeks by near-daily nonstop flights to Beijing and Shanghai--is a strong candidate for a new wide-body aircraft before this decade ends.
The new Khrunichev Proton M booster was successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on its first mission Apr. 7 carrying the Ekran M-18 television relay satellite. The Proton M uses a digital flight control system and the new Breeze M oxygen/hydrogen upper stage. First-stage engine thrust has also been increased to more than 2 million lb. The booster can place more than 12,000 lb. into geosynchronous transfer orbit and will become a part of the International Launch Services stable of launchers.
A new era of Arctic exploration has begun--led not by explorers with frost-covered beards guiding their dog teams across ice floes, but by airlines beginning operations on the recently approved polar route structure. Be it 19th or 21st century, the motive behind the quest for the pole remains the same: to discover a faster path between the West and the riches of China and the Far East--the ``riches'' for 21st century airlines being increased traffic growth, shorter transit times, enormous fuel savings, and a more comfortable ride for passengers.
Bruce E. Weaver (see photos) has been promoted to chief financial officer from director of finance of Dallas Airmotive Inc. Marsa Hightower Bounds has been promoted to corporate director from senior manager of quality assurance and Brian Keith Shaw to director of human resources from human resources manager of the Dallas engine overhaul facility and regional turbine centers.
Federal officials have approved the transfer of Trans World Airlines' (TWA) assets, including international and domestic passenger routes and cargo hauling authority, to American Airlines, derailing a last-ditch court effort by unionized TWA workers in Israel to halt the deal. TWA terminated its daily New York-Tel Aviv service Mar.
Predator UAVs are back in the Balkans after the Joint Chiefs of Staff settled a tug-of-war between Central Command, which monitors Iraq, and U.S. Air Forces in Europe. To stem ethnic Albanian attacks in the triborder area where Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia meet, the Predator detachment was flown from the U.S. to its old base at Tuzla, Bosnia. But planners wanted the UAVs closer to the action and quietly shifted the unit to Skopje, Macedonia's capital.
