Karen Millon has been appointed vice president-professional services and Thomas Bechard vice president-customer service for CharterHub Inc. of Toronto. Millon operated Millon Air Cargo in Miami and was a founder of Gateway Airlines in Canada. Bechard was a customer service executive for American Express.
Carl Gautreaux has been elected president of the Master Executive Council for the 1,500 American Eagle flight attendants represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants. Other new officers elected are: Veronica Tenerelli, vice president; and Tavis Alexander, secretary.
While cautioning against premature conclusions, the State Dept.'s top counter-terrorism policymaker says the USS Cole probably was not the target of state-sponsored terrorists. Nor is Yemen guilty of willfully harboring terrorists, asserts Michael Sheehan, a retired special forces colonel. Sheehan also cautions against leaping to conclusions that the wealthy Saudi exile Osama bin Laden masterminded the Cole assault.
Tom Cadwell has been appointed president/CEO of Tecstar Inc., City of Industry, Calif. He held the same positions at Strasbaugh, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
James H. Williford has been named executive director of marketing and business development of Lear Siegler Services Inc., Annapolis, Md. He was a marketing executive for BAE Systems.
Groen Brothers Aviation, anticipating a market for large gyroplanes with rear cargo access, has launched an internal development effort by converting a Cessna C337 Skymaster to a rotorcraft. The modification involves: -- Removing the rear ``pusher'' engine and replacing the front ``tractor'' engine with a 450-shp. Rolls-Royce 250-B17F2 gas turbine. -- Inverting the twin booms so the vertical tails point downward, providing clearance for a rotor.
Lufthansa Technik and United Airlines have agreed to jointly market and sell technical support solutions for Boeing 777 aircraft. The accord is an extension of a 777 cooperation agreement signed three years ago. LHT also contracted to retrofit a Boeing 747-400 to VIP cabin configuration for an unidentified head of state from the Middle East. The aircraft is to be delivered in 2002. A multiyear maintenance contract is also being negotiated.
Things may be finally looking up at KLM, which has seen merger talks with Alitalia and British Airways fall apart this year. The Dutch carrier posted better than expected results for the second quarter, with net profits rising 71% to 118 million euros ($99.7 million). Passenger and cargo revenues were up 14% and 15%, respectively, during the quarter ending Sept. 30. And the airline forecast that operating income for the full year would be double that of last year despite high fuel costs, which accounted for 7% of a 9% increase in operating costs.
Jeff Hammond has become managing director and Roger Niemel director of operations of the Middleburg Heights, Ohio-based Customs brokerage unit of Emery Worldwide. Hammond was general manager in Boston, while Niemel was the unit's manager of business development.
Delta Air Lines and CSA Czech Airlines are seeking U.S. Transportation Dept. authorization to extend their code-share agreement to include flights between the U.S. and Czech Republic beginning Mar. 25. Their current code-share arrangement includes flights to Central and Eastern European destinations. Next year, CSA is scheduled to join the Skyteam alliance, of which Delta is a member.
NASA and Lockheed Martin Space Systems have completed negotiations on a six-year contract for production of 35 Super Lightweight space shuttle external propellant tanks. The contract is valued at about $1.15 billion. The agreement includes production and test of the 154-ft.-long tanks as well as operation of NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The tanks are about 7,500 lb. lighter in weight than the tanks they replace as a result of changes in design and materials.
A new reconnaissance discipline--based on motion--is gaining visibility and some popularity in the intelligence-gathering community. Movement intelligence (movint) is taking its place beside analysis of communications (comint), imagery (imint) and electronic signals (sigint) as a critical analytical instrument for plotting the actions and intentions of foes.
The long-debated Transatlantic Common Aviation Area (TCAA) is obtaining growing support among the European Union's 15 member states, according to Xabier de Irala, Iberia's chairman/CEO and president of the Assn. of European Airlines. The proposed TCAA, an unrestricted free-trade area covering transatlantic services between the U.S. and EU, could become a reality on the condition the European Commission gains a mandate to negotiate such a pact with the Transportation Dept. According to airline officials, the U.S.
Vicente Cervo has become New York-based director for North America of Varig Brazilian Airlines. He succeeds Carlos Muzzio, who will head the carrier's European operations. Cervo was Buenos Aires-based director for South America.
TRW IS MOVING TO BECOME A LEADING, HIGH-VOLUME supplier of solid-state laser products with the purchase of Cutting Edge Optronics. The privately held St. Louis-area company designs and manufactures solid-state lasers, laser diodes and other components. TRW purchased the company for about $19 million and assumed approximately $5 million in debt.
SGI WILL PROVIDE THE SERVERS FOR MOBILE SATELLITE stations for the U.S. Air Force's Space-Based Infrared Systems (SBIRS). Aerojet awarded the $8.1-million contract for 18 SGI Origin 3000 series servers and 27 SGI Onyx 3000 series visualization systems for the mobile satellite ground stations for SBIRS, the U.S.' next-generation ballistic missile early warning system. Each mobile ground station (two servers plus three visualization systems) will be in an 8 X 8 X-20-ft. module capable of transport by military cargo aircraft down to C-130 size.
Automated Weather Observing Systems (AWOS) recently installed at two ski resorts and at four mountain passes should provide pilots with more reliable information about potentially dangerous atmospheric conditions when flying over Colorado's mountains. The Vaisala Inc.
Conflicting projections of air traffic controller retirement rates during the coming decade put the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. at odds on an issue that will strain their relationship--and the FAA's budget--if NATCA is right.
Stan Soloway, deputy undersecretary of Defense for acquisition reform/director of the Defense Reform Institute, has been named president of the Arlington, Va.-based Professional Services Council.
LTU has sold its regional affiliate, RAS, to Wings Factor of Moenchengladbach. RAS flies two 35-seat Shorts 360-300 turboprops between Moenchengladbach, Berlin/Tempelhof, Westerland and LTU's main hub at Dusseldorf. Charter carrier LTU has been reviewing its core leisure travel activities to return to profitability. Parent company SAir Group transferred control and part of the equity in LTU to Rewe Group of Germany in September.
The BAA is circulating a consultation paper on plans to increase capacity at Stansted Airport to 25 million passengers a year by 2010. London's third largest and fastest growing airport is in the midst of an expansion project to increase passenger capacity to 15 million per year. The report said the 25-million capacity level can be met without adding a second runway or seeking more night flights. A further extension of the current terminal is envisaged.
A funding breather for the F-22 was sidetracked when Congress dissolved into budgetary confusion late last week, apparently headed for a lame-duck session. Language is being crafted for early release of some $900 million in F-22 procurement monies to avert work-stoppages (AW&ST Oct. 30, p. 27). But lawmakers are determined to avoid relaxing the legislature's strict F-22 test regimen, and will fight any attempt by the Air Force to manipulate bridge funding into an automatic commitment to procure all of the 330+ aircraft it hopes to buy.
