Hopes for early selection of a contractor in the Joint Strike Fighter competition are dashed. The deletion of $30 million from the aircraft program in the Administration's Fiscal 2001 budget proposal means the down-select has been pushed back from March 2001 until at least June, say senior industry execs. The spending cut telegraphs the decision of Pentagon planners to give the next administration time to put senior Defense Dept. officials in place and allow them to become familiar enough with the program to make key decisions.
Kurt Kuehn has become vice president-investor relations for the Atlanta-based United Parcel Service. He was vice president-business information and analysis.
CINCINNATI-BASED COMAIR JET EXPRESS is adding a 10-seat Challenger 604 and an eight-seat Learjet 60 to its charter fleet. Wyn Poe, director of Comair Aviation, said the two airplanes will augment the existing fleet and allow the company to accommodate new customers. Comair Jet Express, which is owned by Comair Airlines, also operates a Challenger 604, a Challenger 601-3A-ER, two Learjets and a Bell 407 helicopter.
Lockheed Martin's Sanders has received a $14-million Foreign Military Sales contract from the U.S. Army to provide 17 missile warning systems for the Greek army's CH-47 helicopters.
Northrop Grumman's Ryan Aeronautical Center has won the U.S. Navy's competition to develop a vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle to replace the aging Pioneer reconnaissance drone. The $93.7-million contract will cover engineering and manufacturing development of the UAV system. The system is to provide at least a 110-naut.-mi. combat radius with 3-hr. loiter capability at that range and a payload of 200 lb. or more. The aircraft is a modified Schweizer 330P helicopter with an automatic flight control system.
The quickening ballistic missile threat heralded by last year's National Intelligence Estimate was more a function of lowered evaluative criteria than major advances in missile capabilities, according to Carnegie Endowment's Joseph Cirincione. One change was the assumption that developing nations could deploy their missiles as much as five years earlier by adhering to an austere flight test program--perhaps only one test.
Negotiators for Northwest Airlines and Teamsters Local 2000, representing flight attendants, resumed negotiations last week after the airline's suit against the union, alleging an illegal sickout, was stayed in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minn. The stay order halted a court-ordered search for sickout-related evidence in computer hard drives belonging to the union and to 20 flight attendants. Mike Bloom, attorney for the Teamsters, said union and Northwest lawyers had agreed on a search protocol to protect the privacy of individuals.
Perhaps the most dramatic change in Fiscal 2001 aircraft budget plans is the reduction in C-17 production from 15 aircraft to 12, which was decided upon despite a long-term contract between the Air Force and Boeing.
U.S. manufacturers of general aviation aircraft shipped 2,525 units worth a record $7.9 billion last year, marking the industry's fifth consecutive year of expansion.
The Globalstar telecommunications company is ready to initiate international mobile telephone services following completion of its orbital constellation with the launch of four more spacecraft atop a Boeing Delta II at Cape Canaveral on Feb. 8. The mission cost $110 million including the spacecraft and Delta II 7420 launcher with four solid rocket motors. The European-built Loral satellites, put into an initial 500-naut.-mi. orbit inclined 52 deg., bring the total constellation to 52 spacecraft. This includes 48 primary and four spare satellites.
Richard J. Surratt has become senior vice president-finance/treasurer/chief financial officer of Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings Inc. He was director of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group of Mobil. Surratt succeeds Paul Tate, who has resigned.
Aviation Week&Space Technology presents its 43rd annual Aerospace Laurels selections, honoring individuals and teams who made significant contributions to the global field of aerospace in 1999. Honorees were nominated by Aviation Week editors in the categories of Commercial Air Transport, Aeronautics/Propulsion, Government/Military, Electronics, Space, Operations and Lifetime Achievement. This year, an additional Laureate is being given for Special Achievement.
BAE SYSTEMS NORTH AMERICA HAS BEEN TAPPED by Boeing to provide elements of the mission avionics suite for its new, 737-based airborne early warning and control system aircraft recently selected by the Royal Australian Air Force. The company will provide cockpit tactical mission displays, command and control consoles and mission computers.
Honeywell's 7,000-lb.-thrust AS900 series turbofan has made its first flight, mounted on the forward fuselage of a Boeing 720 testbed aircraft. The engine, which has been selected for Bombardier's Continental business jet and BAE Systems' RJX transport, was used to conduct performance calibrations and generate windmill data during the 2-hr.-long first flight. The Jan. 29 test was staged out of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and was flown by Honeywell pilot Steve Crow and copilot Chad Haring.
To meet its near-term target needs, the U.S. Navy has ordered 34 more Russian X-31-based supersonic sea-skimming target systems from Boeing. Under terms of the $18.8-million contract, Moscow-based manufacturer Zvezda-Strela will remove each X-31's warhead and other military components in Russia. Boeing will integrate flight termination, range tracking beacons and telemetry systems at its St. Louis facility.
The Sea Launch organization is evaluating the possibility of conducting launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome as well as from its usual floating launch platform stationed on the equator southeast of Hawaii, the location for geosynchronous transfer orbit missions. The organization is studying the feasibility of such a move as well as evaluating the potential market. Meanwhile, the launch platform and command ship are preparing to depart for the equator on Feb. 27 or 28 for launch of an ICO Global Communications spacecraft.
Members of Boeing's engineers and technical workers union rejected a second Boeing contract offer last week but delayed a planned strike. Instead, both Boeing and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) agreed to attend federally mediated meetings this week. About 51% of the Boeing engineers voting rejected the contract offer as did 62% of the technicians. The union represents 21,000 Boeing workers although only about 60% are members.
A third discount carrier says it is ready to fly in Japan, but its business plan is a mystery. Called Skynet Asia Airlines, the Fukuoka-based carrier asked for three daily slots out of the country's busiest airport, Tokyo's Haneda, to begin services in the summer of 2001. Flights would connect Fukuoka with Miyazaki, both medium-sized cities on Kyushu island, and Tokyo with Miyazaki. Slots at Haneda are the most difficult to get in Japan; slots at outlying cities are not. Asia Airlines has not said what kind of aircraft it will use.
Lockheed Martin, emboldened by better-than-expected results in 1999, has adopted a much more aggressive cost-savings target tied to the company's ``LM21'' productivity initiative. By 2002, the defense contractor believes it can achieve sustained savings of $4 billion tied directly to LM21, said Michael Joyce, who heads up the initiative. The prior goal was $2.6 billion. LM21 stands for top management's vision for Lockheed Martin in the 21st century.
Margaret G. Finarelli has become vice president-North American operations of the France-based International Space University. She was deputy director of the Globe environmental project.
Royal Air Maroc has taken a controlling 51% stake in Air Senegal as part of a privatization move. The Senegalese government, which retained 49% of the airline, is expected to offer a 5% stake to employees. The Moroccan carrier, itself moving toward privatization, paid $10 million for the African carrier which operates domestic and international flights from its Dakar hub.
