AMERICAN AIRLINES HAS ADVISED its pilots to decline land and hold short requests for runway 27L at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in the wake of a go-around incident on June 2 that involved an American Boeing 727 and a United Airlines 777 on final approaches. Cecil Ewell, American's vice president, flight, will meet with FAA officials this week to clarify issues surrounding the incident including runway lighting and signs on 27L. According to a Chicago FAA official, the American pilot accepted a clearance to land and hold short on runway 27L.
Gregory A.Ward (see photos) has been named senior vice president-customer satisfaction and operations and Dennis Hutton director of supply management for Hydro-Aire Inc., Burbank, Calif.
THE NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE Office selected a Lockheed Martin Atlas 3A over a Boeing Delta 3 to launch a classified payload from Cape Canaveral at an unspecified date. The contract was unique because the NRO used a commercial bidding process instead of its typical practice of sole-sourcing the launch. The first Atlas 3A is slated to fly in early 1999.
NASA may be hailing the 10 recently completed shuttle missions to Mir, but to House Science Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., (R-Wis.) the program was ``an exceptionally bad example of an international scientific partnership.'' Sensenbrenner told a U.S.-South Korea science policy forum last week the Administration's primary motive was to advance relations with Russia, not to advance science. ``We must guard against creating the perception in the minds of the taxpaying public that international science is foreign aid,'' Sensenbrenner warned.
DARKSTAR'S FINAL FLIGHT-readiness review ``went well'' and only revealed minor problems, none of them associated with the causes of the crash two years ago, according to program officials. They say the first flight of the redesigned Lockheed Martin long-endurance UAV could come as early as June 20. However, procedural red tape has regularly delayed UAV operations at Edwards AFB, Calif. Unmanned aircraft can only fly on weekends when the flight tests of manned aircraft eases.
FREDERICK W. REID, PRESIDENT and chief operating officer of Lufthansa German Airlines, has been named executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Delta Air Lines. A U.S. citizen who has worked at both American Airlines and Pan American World Airways, Reid joined Lufthansa in 1991 as senior vice president for the Americas, became executive vice president and chief operating officer in 1995 and president last year. Reid played a key role in formulating Lufthansa's strategic alliances.
EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES EXPECTS to begin privatization late this year or in 1999 while carrying out a fleet modernization plan, El Al President Joel Feldschuh said in New York. El Al reported a loss of $4.2 million for 1997 on revenues of $1.2 billion, compared with an $83.1-million loss in 1996. Revenue rose 2%. The Israeli government last month granted permission to sell up to 49% of the state-owned airline to private investors. Feldschuh said details of the financing strategy have not been worked out.
Ed Portner has been named assistant director for laboratory operations at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md. He was assistant director for business operations and has been succeeded by Ruth Nimmo, who was head of business and information services. She has been succeeded by Larry Kohlenstein, who was associate head.
PRESIDENT CLINTON HAS ASKED Congress to provide an additional $294 million next year to deal with the threat of biological and chemical weapons attacks on U.S. soil. About $190 million of the preparedness funding would be spent on specialized equipment, training and planning assistance to respond to a BW or CW assault. Nearly $100 million would be used to build stockpiles of antidotes and antibiotics. The rest would finance research on bioterrorist agents and candidate vaccines.
Industry-wide studies aimed at achieving a 50% worldwide reduction in jet transport accident rates within the next decade are generating new insight into the importance of local aviation infrastructure and the need for strong airline safety cultures. Despite planned improvements, however, there currently are no programs or corrective actions planned to address many critical issues.
Residents living near USAF's Kadena Air Base in Okinawa are asking for $10.2 million in compensation for noise from fighters. The 907 residents also asked for a total ban on night flights, but a district court rejected their plea. The judge said the Japanese government has no authority over the flights. In March 1996, a joint Japan-U.S. committee agreed to stop flights between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., but the residents say USAF has ignored the ban.
Garry Print has become CEO and Peter Stauffer vice president-sales and marketing of the Hermetic Aircraft International Corp., Holtsville, N.Y. Print was vice president-operations and Stauffer commercial director and manager of government programs.
David C. Miller has been appointed president of the Airtron Div. of Litton Industries, Woodland Hills, Calif. He succeeds Robert Lagno, who is now director of business development for the Electronic Components and Materials Group. Michel Ennesser has been named chairman/CEO of Servair. He succeeds Philippe Lazare.
Final revised bids are in for the U.K.'s competition to acquire a Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (Bvraam), a dogfight which will have widespread implications for the future of European missile makers and attempts to consolidate them.
With $5.5 billion needed to get its system up and running, the Iridium venture will have to sell a lot of satellite-based telephone and paging services to give its investors a return on their money. ``We've been spending money all along and we've not had one dollar of revenue come in the door yet,'' said Chief Financial Officer Roy Grant.
THE NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE Office has tapped USAF Maj. Gen. Robert S. Dickman, the Defense Dept.'s space architect, for a new, multifaceted position. Dickman will serve as director of plans and analysis for the NRO and as a ``system of systems architect.'' Both duties are aimed at helping the NRO and its sister intelligence agencies revolutionize the way they collect and disseminate global reconnaissance data. Prior to his job at the Defense Dept., Dickman was commander of USAF's 45th Space Wing at Cape Canaveral.
Cessna has placed the 250th C-525 CitationJet into service as a company demonstrator and plans to deliver 60 of the entry-level, twin-engine jets this year. First deliveries were made in March 1993, and the aircraft now operates from more than 20 countries, according to Roger Whyte, senior vice president of sales and engineering. Cost of the seven-place CitationJet is about $3.4 million.
A change in how the aerospace, financial and insurance industries approach the development of space launch systems could reduce the cost of deploying and operating satellite telecommunications systems dramatically.
As part of its lean initiative programs, Northrop Grumman's Commercial Aircraft Div. has begun using a laser-based system to precisely position wing panels during Gulfstream 5 final assembly. During the wing-positioning procedure, the left wing serves as a fixed reference to position the right wing, shown being lowered into position to obtain a visual best fit. After initial measurements are taken, the laser system is activated and sweeps across both wings.
John R. Fowler has been named executive vice president-technical operations and system control, William F. Weaver staff vice president-maintenance and engineering and Gregg A. Saretsky vice president-marketing and planning, all of Alaska Airlines. Fowler was senior vice president-technical operations and Weaver assistant vice president-maintenance. Saretsky was vice president-passenger marketing of Canadian Airlines.
Nav Canada plans to introduce an air traffic fee structure in November that will reduce airline charges about 20% compared with Canada's existing federal air transportation tax. The not-for-profit Nav Canada user consortium took over Canada's air traffic control and air navigation system last year and has been supported by government subsidies in the interim. After November, the ticket tax will be dropped and airlines are expected to raise prices to cover the Nav Canada charges, although overall fares should drop slightly.
