William C. Haight has been named president of Lockheed Martin Energy Programs, Cherry Hill, N.J. He was vice president-technology for Lockheed Martin Services.
Despite conceding Airbus a two-year lead, Boeing could equal the European consortium's order book for the A340-500/600 within two months of the formal introduction of its 777-200X and -300X program.
The Belgian government's ill-fated plan to ban nighttime operations at Brussels-Zaventem airport has recently evolved into a political dispute that now involves the Belgian air force. In an attempt to determine a compromise agreement, Prime Minister Guy Verhoofstadt recently proposed the strict enforcement of stringent environmental regulations. This would include penalizing operators who violate noise-limitation flight procedures as well as the banning of Stage 2 and hushkitted commercial transports from Brussels.
The Airbus Industrie consortium is on schedule to evolve into a unified company by the end of the year, according to French and British industry executives.
India's Research and Analysis Wing failed to ``accurately monitor and report'' on a Pakistani troop buildup along the line-of-control in the Kargil region that resulted in the border war with Pakistan last year, a government inquiry has charged. The Kargil Committee Report, led by K. Subrahmanyam, also cited a long-standing problem of a lack of cooperation between India's intelligence agencies.
The Italian transport ministry has finalized the revised plan to transfer flights from Milan's Linate airport to Malpensa 2000 (AW&ST Mar. 6, p. 17). Beginning Apr.
Kenya Airways has signed a firm purchase contract for three Boeing 767-400ERs and two 737-700s. The order is valued at about $500 million based on list prices. The 737s are scheduled for delivery in December 2002, while the 767-400s begin arriving in May 2004. Kenya also has leased three 767-300ERs and two 737-700s with deliveries beginning in mid-2001. The new and leased aircraft will phase out Kenya's two 737-200s and three Airbus A310-300s. The carrier also operates five 737-300s.
Russia's long-awaited air transport recovery failed to materialize last year, as overall air passenger traffic declined for the eighth straight year despite a slight increase in domestic traffic.
OFFICIALS OF FORECAST INTERNATIONAL expect the market for business aircraft through 2009 will be worth $84.6 billion, with 5,600 jets, 1,600 turboprops, more than 2,350 piston-powered airplanes and 700 helicopters projected to be produced worldwide. ``Of all the aircraft markets out there, business jets are the most robust,'' said Bill Dane, senior analyst for the Newtown, Conn.-based company.
RACAL AVIONICS HAS RECEIVED two avionics upgrade contracts from the U.K. Ministry of Defense valued at 60 million pounds ($96 million) with options worth another $64 million over the next five years. One involves installing Saturn dual V/UHF radio systems and AMS 2000 control display navigation units on the Royal Navy's fleet of Lynx HMA Mk. 8 helicopters. Under the second, Racal will provide AMS 2000 navigation units with embedded GPS for Royal Navy Chinook helicopters.
British Airways is disappointed by Air Liberte's weak financial results and may soon decide to sell its long-troubled French subsidiary. Despite strong cost-cutting plans, Air Liberte in the last few years has not been able to regain profitability and is expected to announce heavy losses for 1999. Air France and Swissair are believed to be interested in buying Air Liberte, to acquire a larger share in France's robust domestic market and obtain more slots at Paris Orly airport.
Swissair and Thai Airways International plan to jointly operate 14 flights per week between Zurich and Bangkok under a code-share agreement. In the longer term, the two carriers could gradually establish broader business links and Swissair could acquire a stake in Thai when it is privatized, according to Swissair executives. Thai, however, does not plan to join the Swissair-led Qualiflyer Group.
Boeing is wind-tunnel testing a large booster that would be deployed from the top of a modified 747-400F for a launch-on-demand capability. The design, called AirLaunch, is similar in concept to Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Pegasus XL in its use of a wide-body transport to serve as the ``first stage'' of the launch system. Pegasus is carried under the fuselage of an L-1011.
Kim Day has been appointed deputy executive director of design, construction and engineering; and Edward J. (Jim) Ritchie deputy executive director of strategic planning and development, for Los Angeles World Airports. Day was a manager of airport projects at the Santa Monica, Calif., architectural firm of Gensler and Associates, while Ritchie was general manager of the Mercury Air Center at Los Angeles International Airport.
John D. Zappia has become president of Fine/AAA Interair Inc., Hialeah, Fla., and a director of parent company Fine Air Services Corp. He was senior vice president/chief operating officer of subsidiary Fine Air Services Inc. Guillermo J. Cabeza has succeeded Zappia as COO of Fine Air Services Inc. and will continue as president/CEO of corporate subsidiary Arrow Air. Orlando M. Machado, senior vice president/chief financial officer of Fine Air Services Inc., also was named a director of the parent company.
Piaggio Aero Industries, which was recently restructured, seeks to boost worldwide sales of the P180 Avanti business/utility twin turboprop. The Italian manufacturer last month delivered to a California customer the first aircraft produced after the company's change of ownership. It is the first aircraft delivered by Piaggio since November 1998 when the company's activities were nearly halted by long-lasting restructuring difficulties. Fifteen P180s are scheduled to be delivered this year, 22 in 2001 and 26 in 2002.
A U.S. Energy Dept. research satellite and its booster remained on the launch pad at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., last week. The mission was scrubbed days before scheduled liftoff when it was determined an inhabited island downrange was within an impact zone for a booster stage. The Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) satellite on an Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus booster had been scheduled for launch on Feb. 28, but the mission was put on hold when word was received the night of Feb.
Susan Powell, a flight attendant with Delta Air Lines, has won the Outstanding Service Award as part of the OAG Airline of the Year 2000 event. Powell won the award for her efforts to initiate an airline food recycling program that now supplies food banks in 25 U.S. cities.
The Indian Armed Forces are to receive a 28% increase in their fiscal 2000-01 budget, reflecting support from the coalition government of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for paying back funds allocated for last year's Kargil operations, and prompting cries of alarm from neighboring Pakistan.
U.S. defense agencies and aerospace companies are launching ``knowledge management'' programs in an effort to mitigate what some are calling a national disaster--the tremendous loss of expertise caused by a decade of budget cuts, downsizing and an aging workforce.
Upcoming tests of Europe's Egnos navigation overlay system will attempt to validate its design and demonstrate its usefulness to airlines and other prospective customers. Late last month, the European Space Agency qualified the fully representative preoperational unit, called the Egnos System Test Bed. ESA is managing Egnos' development in cooperation with the European Commission and Eurocontrol.
REFLECTONE, A LEADER IN SIMULATION and aviation training, has a new name --BAE Systems, Flight Simulation and Training. Reflectone was founded in 1939 and bought by British Aerospace in 1997. Then, when BAe merged with Marconi Electronic Systems late last year, BAE Systems was created, becoming the world's second largest defense contractor.
NASA has taken a lot of heat from Republicans for a $75-million effort to place a satellite at the L1 point (where the Earth's and Sun's gravity would cancel each other out), so it could stare continuously at the home planet and provide real-time imagery on the Internet. Called Triana, it is a pet project of Vice President Al Gore and scheduled to fly early next year. Critics say the space agency is more interested in ingratiating itself with the environmentalist-in-chief than in science.
