Like most companies, Umeco plc counts top-line growth among its major objectives, but not at the expense of profits. ``We will not accept any contract that can't generate returns on invested capital of at least 25% over the life of the contract,'' Chief Executive Clive Snowdon said. Even in observance of this strict guideline, Umeco managed to nearly double its sales from 1997-99, to about $85 million, and it's likely to triple its sales in the current fiscal year.
Athena Technologies has won a 20-month Phase II contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop micro air vehicle navigation and guidance capabilities.
Ultra Electronics plc has been awarded a $6.9-million contract from the U.S. Navy to supply on-board compressors to provide cooling for infrared seekers and air-to-air missiles on AV-8B, AH-1 and F/A-18/E-F aircraft.
Joseph P. Walker, chairman/president/ CEO of the CTS Corp., Elkhart, Ind., has received the Marco Polo Award in Beijing. He was honored for his support for the China Project, which sends volunteer experts to China to contribute knowledge and expertise to improve its economic and social development.
German regional carrier Eurowings, struggling with the consequences of the Alitalia/KLM split up, is considering withdrawing from feeder routes into Milan's Malpensa airport because of disappointing load factors. Eurowings has been feeding alliance partner KLM's hub in Amsterdam and was meant to be covering the important German market for the evolving KLM/Northwest/Alitalia alliance. The carrier started code-sharing with Alitalia two years ago, but now has to rethink its strategy.
Tyrone Smith (see photo) has become director of human resources and corporate relations for the Ohio Aerospace Institute of Cleveland. He was director of human resources for the Cuyohoga Metro- politan Housing Authority.
Lockheed Martin Corp. recently was forced to pay $207 million to the Chase Manhattan Bank after Globalstar Telecommunications failed to repay $250 million it had borrowed under a revolving credit agreement. Lockheed Martin was a partial guarantor. The two companies are negotiating the timing and form of repayment. Under a separate indemnification agreement, Loral paid $57 million to Lockheed Martin.
An airframe manufacturer, a component supplier and a distribution services provider--each representing a different country--rose to the top of this year's aerospace Index of Competitiveness study. Despite their seemingly disparate nature, however, all share a common strength: superior use of their technology, equipment and working capital, otherwise known as asset utilization.
Lockheed Martin is studying special derivatives of its Joint Strike Fighter candidate for special mission applications that center on electronic attack and the use of directed-energy weapons.
The U.S. Navy has tapped Orbital Sciences Corp. to fill a long-standing requirement for a new supersonic sea-skimming target (SSST) to exercise ship self-protection systems against advanced threats. The Navy wants the new target to replicate what is widely seen as one of the greatest threats to its ships, the Russian-built SS-N-22 ``Sunburn'' missile. Russia recently sold the advanced missile to China to use on its new destroyers. Previous Navy attempts to field such a sophisticated target failed, in part because of high costs.
SkyWest Airlines Inc. came very close to failing during its formative years in the mid-1970s. ``We got our brains beat in, and those of us who survived carried the lessons forward,'' recalls Chairman, President and CEO Jerry C. Atkin. ``After you go through something like that, you don't want to repeat it.''
Firouz Naderi has been appointed manager of the Mars Program Office at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. He was manager of NASA's Origins Program.
ARINC will supply Aero-H, Aero-H+, and Aero-I satellite voice and data services for Continental Airlines' fleet of Boeing 767 and 777 aircraft, under a five-year contract.
Elbit Systems Ltd. of Israel has received a contract to upgrade F-5 aircraft for the Royal Thai Air Force. Elbit is expected to provide equipment, maintenance and logistic support for 31 aircraft under the four-year, $66-million work order.
As a key congressional committee tries to tighten the Clinton Administration's proposed reforms on licensing of weapons exports (see p. 57), the same panel moves to make life easier for exporters of commercial satellites. The House International Relations Committee adopted measures by Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) and Sam Gejdenson (D-Conn.) that would end congressional review of the satellites for export for launch, as long as they are to be launched from, or by nationals of, NATO members, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Russian Federation and Ukraine.
Chief Executive Michael O'Leary would be the first to point out that Ryanair Holdings plc could never have survived--let alone excelled in its niche--if Europe's commercial air transport industry had not been deregulated, anymore than Southwest Airlines could have achieved its legendary success in a regulated U.S. industry. ``Southwest set the example for disciplined growth by a low-fare, no-frills carrier. All we're trying to do is copy the master and pay homage to the Southwest model in Europe,'' he said.
India Defense Ministry's continued delay in introducing the Sukhoi Su-30MK into service has drawn sharp criticism from the country's comptroller and auditor general. The CAG points out only eight aircraft--of an expected 20--have been received and that these are ``only air defense versions.'' Not one upgraded Su-30MK multirole aircraft has been delivered since the beginning of 2000, despite an investment of $600 million and a delay of 24 months, according to the CAG's latest defense services report.
EDS has won a $2.1-billion contract running until 2012 to provide global information technology services, including electronic business, consulting and supply-chain management, for Rolls-Royce. EDS already provides information technology services to Rolls-Royce in the U.K. and North America.
The European parliament and a French prosecutor, in unrelated moves, plan to investigate the U.S. National Security Agency's Echelon electronic surveillance network. European politicians and economic intelligence experts in the last few months have claimed repeatedly that NSA's highly classified Echelon network, believed to involve up to 120 geostationary spacecraft, is being used to intercept phone, fax and e-mail communications to obtain sensitive economic, military and industrial information.
European aerospace companies continued their steady growth in 1999 as overall revenues rose 5% to 65.6 billion euros ($62.3 billion), or 2.9% when adjusted for inflation, amid consolidation moves that began in earnest last year.
Responding to the latest uproar about security at Los Alamos National Laboratory, current and former senior officials at several Energy Dept. labs are citing a litany of problems beyond their control. Rather than a lax attitude about security, they say, the root cause of security lapses can be found in myriad shifts in policies under several presidential administrations, a string of poor Energy Dept. leaders in Washington, a decade of stingy budgets, evolving technology and antinuclear arms agendas.
The final element in an international space fleet intended to perform the most comprehensive study ever of solar activity, and its effect on the terrestrial environment, is scheduled to begin deployment this week with the launch of two Cluster II satellites.
The FAA has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would require U.S. airlines using a Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) program to share data with the agency. FAA officials would use the information to help identify safety trends stemming from daily flight operations, training, maintenance, engineering procedures and air traffic control. Data would not be used for enforcement purposes, except in ``egregious cases'' where an intentional or flagrant violation of the regulations was committed, according to the agency.
UNITED AIRLINES IS STARTING a new wireless service that will let users check on flight arrival time and gates, as well as verifying the type of plane used and the on-time performance for that route. Travelers can also register for a United Proactive Paging Service that will confirm that a flight is on time and the gate number, as well as notifying of delays or cancellations. To use the service a Palm VII handheld computer using Palm.Net service, or an OmniSky-equipped Palm V or Vx will be needed.
