The FAA has postponed indefinitely implementation of revised Land and Hold Short Operations that were scheduled to become effective May 27. Existing LAHSO procedures will remain in effect, according to the agency. Despite the delay, as of late last week the Air Line Pilots Assn. was urging its members not to accept any LAHSO clearances from air traffic control. ALPA wants the agency to conduct more detailed safety studies of LAHSO, especially go-around procedures at airports with intersecting runways.
Rannoch Corp. has been selected by Nav Canada to provide an AirScene multistatic precision aircraft tracking system for surface movement and en route operations for Calgary International Airport.
The Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau has awarded Japanese type certification to Bombardier's 50-passenger CRJ. This clears the way for The Fair Inc., a Tokyo-based carrier with two of the aircraft on firm order, to begin CRJ operations in mid-2000.
The French government and ADP Paris airports authority jointly seek to calm local residents' concerns about Roissy/Charles de Gaulle's (CDG) robust traffic growth, including nighttime operations. As many as 50 groups of residents are fiercely disputing ``deafening noise levels'' produced by increased aircraft movements.
Texas Gov. George W. Bush's proposal for a new strategic order--probably shorn of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty--is drawing both praise and reproach from security insiders. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) lauded Bush's call last week for greater reductions in nuclear arms (possibly including unilateral U.S. cuts), minimal missiles on hair-trigger alert and the earliest possible deployment of full-scale national missile defenses (NMD).
Five airlines and one cargo carrier are conducting special inspections of suspect bolts on Boeing 767-200s. The bolts are installed in the side load underwing fittings that attach the engine pylon to the wing. As of late last week, 102 of 120 U.S.-registered aircraft affected by an FAA emergency airworthiness directive had been checked. Of these, two damaged bolts on an American Airlines 767 and one bolt each on two 767s operated by United Airlines had been found. A third airplane had one cracked and two fractured bolts.
The U.S. Marine Corps has authorized the MV-22 tiltrotor to resume flight operations after the Apr. 8 crash of an Osprey in which 19 Marines died. Pilots first will be refamiliarized with the aircraft before the V-22 will be allowed to continue its operational evaluation.
The U.S. airline industry is destined for wrenching change--including the likelihood of a dramatic consolidation--if regulators approve UAL Corp.'s $4.3-billion purchase of US Airways Group. ``This changes everything,'' PaineWebber analyst Samuel Buttrick said.
British Airways' new chief executive said the carrier would be focusing on opportunities in Europe, as well as continuing to push for antitrust immunity for its alliance with American Airlines. Rod Eddington, who took over his post less than a month ago, said he wants BA to be a major player in Europe, where ``significant changes'' are occurring in the aviation landscape. ``These include consolidation,'' he said. ``Europe is our backyard and is central to our alliance thinking.''
Industrial&Financial Systems AB, a Swedish software specialist, has joined with BAE Systems in a venture aimed at logistics information systems, fleet management, and maintenance, repair and overhaul operations for military and civil customers. When it began in 1994, IFS focused on manufacturing software but gravitated to MRO as a vertical market. With 73 modules, it serves a variety of industries including airlines in their need for serial tracking of components, configuration management and operational data. Its biggest customer is the Norwegian air force.
Aviation observers at the World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC), now underway in Istanbul, are optimistic about the prospects of preserving frequency spectrum allocated for satellite navigation. Word filtering back here is that mobile satellite service providers will fail in their bid to share 1,518-25 MHz., which is now reserved for global navigation satellite systems (AW&ST Jan. 10, p. 37). Airlines, the Defense Dept.
Analysts believe Russia's airline and aerospace industries are in for a period of uncertainty and bureaucratic infighting resulting from structural changes in the government ordered by the new Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov.
Norway's parliament is expected to approve before the end of June government budget cuts which would effectively cancel the planned acquisition of 20 new fighters. Norway was in the final stages of deciding between Eurofighters or Lockheed Martin F-16s with deliveries planned for 2003-06. The air force will now have to wait until after 2010, when its current force of 58 F-16s are due for replacement.
Pratt&Whitney Canada has signed a 15-year fleet management program agreement with Alaska Central Express valued at $21 million for PT6A-65B engines powering its Beech 1900 aircraft.
BAE Systems has launched an aggressive bid to acquire Lockheed Martin/Sanders, raising the possibility that a European company could wind up owning more than half of the U.S.' advanced electronic warfare technology programs. The U.K. concern has offered at least $1.5 billion and may be willing to pay considerably more to secure the property, according to industry officials. Its defense business is second in size only to Lockheed Martin's.
The decisive House approval of permanent normal trade relations with China took place amid predictions that Beijing is now destined to become either a democratic colossus, or the avatar of a second Cold War. ``We will one day see a freely elected Chinese leader standing in the well of this House,'' brought about by the democratizing impact of the Internet and high technology trade, an exultant Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.) proclaimed as the House cast its crucial vote last week. Other lawmakers forecast precisely the opposite.
Victoria Day has been named director of electronic commerce for the Washington-based Air Transport Assn. She was director of electronic commerce collaborative services at the Data Interchange Stand- ards Assn.
Capt. Dennis Dolan of Delta Air Lines, first vice president of the Air Line Pilots Assn., has been elected head of the professional affairs section of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Assns.
The European Commission will propose a scaled-down version of the planned European Aviation Safety Authority, intended to ensure a uniform level of air safety throughout the European Union, along the lines of the FAA. The initial plan called for an organization that included both the EU and non-EU members of the current Joint Aviation Authorities. However, this solution was deemed unworkable, at least in the medium term. The EC transport ministers are to review the proposal next month.
Stan Dubyn has been appointed president/chief operating officer of SpaceDev Inc., Poway, Calif. He was senior vice president/COO of Spectrum Astro Inc., Gilbert, Ariz.
Congress is pressing the White House to increase missile defense cooperation with the Kremlin as President Clinton heads for Moscow early next week, and his first meeting with newly elected Russian President Vladimir V. Putin.
Russia's Sukhoi S-37 forward-swept-wing fighter has completed about 100 flights and is progressing through its supersonic test regime at the Zhukovsky Flight Test Center near the Russian capital. The company would like to bring the large twin-engine fighter to the Farnborough air show in July, Sukhoi General Director Mikhail A. Pogosyan told Aviation Week&Space Technology. But whether the Russian government will allow unique aircraft to fly to England is still an open question.
Henry (H.G.) Frautschy, editor of Vintage Airplane magazine, also will be the first executive director of the Vintage Aircraft Assn., a division of the Oshkosh, Wis.-based Experimental Aircraft Assn.
The U.S. has finalized a major set of export reforms intended to ease U.S. defense industry dealings with governments and companies in NATO countries, as well as Australia and Japan. Regulators also have decided to embark on a review of all export controlled items.
