Airline delays remain a serious problem in Europe. Despite Eurocontrol's efforts to improve air traffic management, during the second quarter of this year about 28% of departures were delayed by more than 15 min., according to the Assn. of European Airlines (AEA). Up to 80% of flights operating along the Milan Malpensa/London Heathrow route are being slowed by an average of 35 min. The list of airports experiencing the worst delays include Barcelona, Brussels, Madrid, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Zurich.
Mexican Trade Commissioner Carlos J. Bello said last week U.S. companies are being encouraged to invest in Mexico's aeronautics industry as part of government plans to expand the country's aviation infrastructure. According to the Dallas Morning News, there is strong demand in key areas such as engineering and consulting services as well as architectural expertise that will be needed if a new airport is built near Mexico City. A decision should be made no later than January, Bello said.
Israel's Arrow ballistic missile defense interceptor will take on its first air-launched target ``around Sept. 1,'' according to officials in Tel Aviv. A Black Sparrow target missile is to be fired from an F-15 over the Mediterranean Sea, west of Israel. The target's flight profile will simulate that of an approaching Scud intermediate-range ballistic missile like those fired into Israel and Saudi Arabia by Iraq during the 1991 Persian Gulf war. In previous tests, the target missiles were fired from a ship.
Coalition parties in the German state government of Hesse have opted for a fourth runway at Frankfurt airport. The runway will be located in the north end of the current airport and will only be used for landings. Airport officials hope to increase capacity to 120 movements per hour from the current 76, allowing Lufthansa continued growth at its most important hub. The runway is expected to open in 2006 at the earliest, as legal action by local communities is likely to cause some delay.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. (LMAC) is using a unique laser ultrasonic technology system to inspect production composite parts such as the engine inlet duct of the F-22 fighter. Designated LaserUT, the system is capable of performing high-resolution scans of graphite-epoxy and other composite materials in about one-tenth the time of conventional, water-type ultrasonic systems, according to LMAC.
One more hurdle for Bridgestone/Firestone to overcome in its recovery from a recall of 6.5-million suspect auto tires will be finding available air freight cargo space from Japan to the U.S.
Jack W. Ferns, director of the New Hampshire Aeronautics Div., has been elected secretary of the Silver Spring, Md.-based National Assn. of State Aviation Officials. He succeeds John C. Eagerton, who has become vice chairman.
The National Convective Weather Forecast (NCWF), a new thunderstorm tracking and predictive tool, is helping mitigate weather-related delays this summer for U.S. airlines. NWFC provides a 1-hr. forecast with automatic updates every 5 min. via the Internet. The ``nowcast,'' which began operating on June 1, gives airline dispatchers a ``better picture'' of where thunderstorms will be during the next several hours, said Steve Caisse, flight superintendent for Delta Air Lines. Other carriers using NCWF include American, Northwest, Southwest and TWA.
Australia's defense credibility may have suffered a blow with a decision to defer purchase of up to seven E-737 Airborne Early Warning&Control aircraft for its Wedgetail program. Observers think the government decision last week may be the first step in a slow death for Wedgetail.
Textron Inc. is putting more emphasis than ever before on internal performance measures, with return on invested capital (RIOC) considered paramount. The objective is 15% by 2003. Senior management thinks RIOC holds the key to unlocking greater shareholder value and achieving the higher earnings growth (15% annually) and operating margin improvement (13% by 2003) they are targeting.
Thomson Training&Simulation and Saudi Arabia-based International Systems Engineering have been jointly selected by Saudi Arabian Airlines to provide flight simulator and computer-based flight crew training.
A strong performance by Bombardier Inc.'s aerospace unit was instrumental in helping the Canadian concern post record revenue, net income and earnings per share for the three months ended July 31. Second-quarter net income rose 8%, to $210 million, on a 24% increase in revenues, to $3.4 billion. That was before a one-time item: $44 million in after-tax proceeds on the sale of Bombardier Services Ltd., a defense-services business based in the U.K.
Atlantis will launch the International Space Station's first scientific payloads on STS-106. Although small and simple, the investigations will inaugurate what will be at least 15 years of increasingly advanced research on the ISS. With the emphasis on assembly, science operations were not originally scheduled to get underway on the facility this early. But managers realized small investigations could be initiated on a noninterference basis, said John Uri, ISS science manager for this phase of the program. The investigations are:
Ulrich (Rick) Schmidt, currently vice president-finance and business development for the aerospace segment of the BFGoodrich Co., Charlotte, N.C., has been appointed to succeed Laurence Chapman as senior vice president/chief financial officer, effective Oct. 1.
The National Missile Defense program is finding its test pace slowed again as a result of the failure on the last intercept attempt. At the same time, boost-phase intercept missile defense schemes that some see as an alternative to the land-based system appear to be gaining momentum.
The determination of the probable cause of the TWA Flight 800 crash does not provide comforting closure of the tragic July 17, 1996, accident that killed 230 people. The National Transportation Safety Board's findings instead broach safety issues related to fuel tank certification and design, as well as the need to amend maintenance practices to ensure the integrity and safety of aging aircraft systems, particularly electrical wiring.
France's BEA accident investigation bureau, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Airbus Industrie late last week joined Bahraini investigators in a joint effort to determine causes for the crash of a Gulf Air A320 twinjet. All 143 persons on board, including eight crewmembers, were killed.
Boeing picked up another five more orders for its 100-seat 717-200 last week from Impulse Airlines, Australia's first no-frills startup since Compass Airlines went broke in 1993. Founder and CEO Gerry McGowan said the carrier will double its 717 fleet to 10 aircraft with two deliveries in the first quarter of 2001 and three in the second and third quarters. All of Impulse's 717s are leased.
Airlines and online travel agencies have entered a vigorous transition period in which they are applying new tools to broaden their Internet appeal while preparing for another round of huge growth and change.
Mitsubishi Electronic Corp.-Kamakura Works has selected Honeywell Space Systems to supply Space Integrated GPS/INS Systems for NASDA's JEM for the International Space Station in a $2.2- million contract.
Robert R. Gilruth, who headed the Space Task Group which conceived Project Mercury, and then became the first director of the NASA Johnson Space Center, died in Charlottesville, Va., on Aug. 17. He was 86 and had Alzheimer's disease. In the 1940s as a young engineer, Gilruth joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the precursor agency to NASA. In 1952, he became assistant director of the Langley Research Center and in 1958 was appointed director of Langley's Space Task Group which designed Project Mercury, America's first manned space program.
A six-year-old U.S. program to avert the proliferation of Russian nuclear bomb material at its source requires major reinforcement if it is to succeed, according to the Russian-American Nuclear Security Council, a foundation-funded research group. The council urges immediate action, including U.S.-financed emergency measures to pay impoverished Russian guards, keep security systems running temporarily and provide backup electricity supplies. Similar actions were undertaken by the Energy Dept. in the winter/spring of 1998-99.
