Susan Opp has been appointed director of strategic planning for the Salt Lake City division of L-3 Communications. She was engineering manager of marketing support.
The Eurofighter consortium hopes the Greek government's approval of the acquisition of 60 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft with options for another 30 will bolster its case in other fighter competitions such as Norway's.
John Brasch has been promoted to president of the Triumph Group Aftermarket Services Group from president of Triumph Air Repair of Phoenix. Richard Wisniewski has been promoted to vice president/general manager from vice president-finance and materials and Andrew Graham to director from manager of engineering and quality assurance.
Five Japanese airframe manufacturers will play a risk-sharing role in development of long-range versions of Boeing's 777-200/300s. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was the largest risk-taker in the initial 777 program and was joined by Kawasaki and Fuji in producing fuselage panels, doors, the wing center section and other wing components representing about 20% of airframe structure value. For the new aircraft, workshares are expected to be split about evenly between the original three partners as well as ShinMaywa and Japan Aircraft Manufacturing.
A trio of initiatives is in play for the next steps in the U.S. missile defense effort. Senior Pentagon officials are pressing the services to pare the costs of key ballistic missile defense (BMD) technologies, put more focus on systems integration and concert joint-service approaches to battlespace management.
Loren Thompson, the chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va., think tank, has represented the aerospace industry in Pentagon deliberations on industrial-base policy.
NASA will stop downsizing its space shuttle workforce and add 809 government employees in 2000-01 in the wake of an independent assessment team's sharply worded, 144-page report released last week. The NASA head count at Kennedy Space Center, now 1,700, had been pegged to drop to 1,300-1,400. Now, it will be boosted to 1,850, says Associate Administrator Joseph H. Rothenberg. Money will be added to the budget to improve ``maintainability''--improvements like better work stands and handholds to keep technicians from stepping on shuttle wiring.
Continental Express has signed a long-term services contract with Rolls-Royce covering some 400 AE3007 engines which power the carrier's Embraer ERJ-145 and -135 aircraft. The combined service and spare engine sales contracts are expected to be worth $715.5 million to Rolls-Royce over the next 10 years.
Thomas Momchilov has been appointed senior vice president-human resources of Northwest Airlines. He was corporate vice president-human resources for Reynolds and Reynolds, Dayton, Ohio.
While USAF and NASA are leading formation of a new Cape strategic plan that includes the Florida Spaceport Authority, the authority itself is forming a state plan for the Cape in connection with the Florida Transportation Dept. The aim is to have space infrastructure development viewed much like airport buildup. Spaceport Florida hopes this will enable the flow of federal transportation dollars to the Cape, much like they are funneled through state airport authorities to spur airport development.
Boeing's orderbook took a quiet jump over the Mar. 4-5 weekend when another five 747-400 passenger versions were added to its total. The sale, to a purchaser or purchasers wishing to remain unidentified, will help keep 747 production lines rolling at economic rates. It is worth approximately $900 million at list prices. Airlines placing orders with airframe manufacturers sometimes wish to remain unnamed for competitive reasons or while they line up financing, Boeing said.
The strike by Boeing's engineers and technical workers wore into its 29th day here last week with both sides digging in for a protracted struggle. A planned meeting between the company and union representatives of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace's (SPEEA's) Wichita, Kan., chapter this week holds some promise for breaking the stalemate. The strike has taken on national prominence as it is viewed as a test for organizing ``white collar'' workers, a key growth area for unions.
Pulsar Ltd. of Yavne, Israel, has developed a magnetic pulse welding process that uses no filler materials, consumables or gases and creates no fumes. Called Cold Weld, the high-power, short-duration magnetic field creates a true molecular bond between two metals, according to Pulsar CEO Oren Gafri. The parts being joined are minimally heated and there is no degradation of their metallurgical properties, he said. It's a safe, economical process for many welding applications, including both similar and dissimilar metals, even aluminum to steel, according to the company.
THE AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSN.'S Air Safety Foundation (ASF) is making digitized airport diagrams available on the Internet to all pilots at no charge. The initiative is intended to help reduce runway incursions. The charts show details of the airport surface and the names of all taxiways. The ASF is working with the NOAA and the FAA to provide diagrams of more than 330 of the busiest, tower-controlled airports in the U.S. The charts can be accessed at www.aopa.org/asf/taxi. Additional airports will be added in the next six months.
ROCKWELL COLLINS, WHICH ENTERED the inflight entertainment (IFE) business in 1997 with the purchase of Hughes-Avicom, is expanding through a joint venture with film and television producer News Corp. In Flight Network will combine News Corp.'s digital satellite and data compression capabilities with Collins' integrated information system architecture to provide large data streams to aircraft, including live television, Internet access and e-mail, recorded audio and video. Aircraft would need to add a satellite antenna and server to existing IFE systems.
The French strategic air command has expressed concern over a threatened break in operational continuity between the SAC's aging fleet of Super Etendard/Mirage 2000N nuclear bombers and its Rafale F3 Standard replacement. Super Etendards are to be phased out starting this year, and Mirage 2000s in 2007, while the Rafale F3 is not due to enter service until 2008 ``at the earliest,'' SAC general officers said.
Boeing might have to further slow its strike-plagued commercial transport delivery schedule as its tracks down 346,000 faulty fasteners supplied by Cordant Technologies.
One thing that helped speed action on the FAA reauthorization bill was the imminent return of maverick Republican John McCain (Ariz.) to matters before Congress. It was a standoff between McCain, who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Technology Committee, and House leaders last year that blocked reauthorization. Lest that happen again, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and others pushed for agreement on reauthorization before the ``Super Tuesday'' round of 15 state primaries.
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways reported 1999 profits of HK$2.2 billion ($285 million) last week, rebounding from a HK$542 million loss the year before. Revenues rose 7.9% to HK$28.7 billion, passengers counts were up 2.1% to 10.5 million and load factors averaged 71.4%, compared to 67.5% in 1998. Lower airport fees in Hong Kong and a young fleet helped Cathay contain costs. But the real star was cargo, which achieved a record HK$8.4 billion in revenues, up 20.6% from the previous year. Cargo yields were up 11.8% from 1998.
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, Aerospatiale Matra and BAE Systems expect their new space venture, Astrium, to be approved by the European Commission this month, clearing the way for its formal creation by mid-year.
Turkey disappointed defense contractors by naming three survivors rather than picking a winner as expected for its $4-billion program to acquire 145 attack helicopters.
Thomson-CSF Detexis has created a business unit specializing in on-board systems and computers that will enable it to compete more effectively with Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon for turn-key integrated system awards. Related work already represents about 10% of Detexis' annual sales of $900 million and covers special mission aircraft upgrades (Atlantique), retrofits (Spanish Mirage F1), aerial surveillance aircraft (EMB-145/Erieye), as well as mission computers.
U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigators are studying whether pilot error caused a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-300 to land at more than 200 mph. and skid off the departure end of Runway 8 at the Burbank, Calif., airport on Mar. 5.
Rainer Hertrich, co-CEO-elect of the proposed European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., has been appointed chairman/CEO of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace. He succeeds Manfred Bischoff, who has become chairman of the supervisory board. In that role, Bischoff succeeds Juergen Schrempp, chairman/CEO of the DaimlerChrysler group.
President Clinton has transmitted a bill to Congress to extend permanent normal trade relations to China. Senate passage is considered likely, but a House vote is apt to be extremely close. The Aerospace Industries Assn. endorsed the bill, saying China bought nearly $4 billion worth of U.S. aerospace goods in 1998 and may buy 1,800 aircraft through 2020, worth $125 billion.
