Skirmishing over the best way to fund the FAA should pick up in early February. The Senate Budget Committee is considering holding a hearing on the fraud and waste at the aviation agency. Airline and aviation industry officials are trying to dissuade the senators. They see the hearing as an attempt to generate ammunition for the argument that the FAA's funding should not be increased--specifically that the Airport and Airways Trust Fund should not be unlocked--because the agency wastes the money it already gets for major projects like air traffic control modernization.
Regulatory authorities, manufacturers and operators are laboring to set a worldwide standard for heliport design rules that would facilitate the integration of helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft into the commercial air transport system.
Recent Topex/Poseidon satellite data show slow-developing surface conditions cover most of the Pacific Ocean, a situation which could have significant implications for global climate change, according to project scientists. Higher-than-normal sea surface heights are beginning to dominate the western Pacific and Asiatic oceans in new imagery from the U.S.-French spacecraft.
AVIONICS UPGRADES TO CESSNA CitationJets can now allow them to meet the requirements for reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM). The FAA has already given RVSM approval to model 525 CitationJets, and other models can receive an agency letter of authorization after a modification that includes a pitot static system upgrade, with the installation of two new Honeywell/Ametek AM-250 combined altimeter and air data computer units.
The Clinton Administration expects to submit legal papers in about 30 days, asking international aviation authorities to quash an impending European Union ban on hushkitted U.S. aircraft that operate in EU airspace. Commerce Undersecretary David L. Aaron and Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs Alan P. Larson officially notified the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) last week that the U.S. will institute an Article 84 complaint against the EU, ``not in anger, but in sorrow,'' an aide quoted Aaron as saying.
Continental Airlines led major carriers last week in tacking a surcharge on tickets to offset rising jet fuel prices. For passengers traveling after Jan. 31, Continental said on Jan. 18, it would impose a $10 fuel surcharge on each one-way domestic ticket and $20 on each round-trip domestic one. The surcharge does not apply to international flights. American, United and Northwest followed suit within days.
Raytheon Co., facing a spate of strategic issues, last week alerted Wall Street that the company's fourth-quarter income probably will be lower than industry analysts were anticipating. Such downward revisions by Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and other U.S. defense contractors in 1999 contributed to the precipitous slide in stock prices and the Pentagon's concerns for the industry's financial health. When the company reports its results on Jan. 25, earnings are expected to be 20-25 cents a share for the quarter and $1.15-1.20 for the year.
Senior U.S. Air Force officials are furious with the Washington-based Air Force Assn. for publishing a report that criticizes the service for cutting investments in science and technology.
Shirley O'Connor has been appointed vice president-finance/controller of the Aircraft Service International Group, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. She was chief financial officer of Elsinore LP and Martin Aviation.
The first launch of a Raytheon Amraam from a Tornado F3 air defense variant aircraft was successfully conducted last month at a British test range. The launch, part of BAE Systems' capability sustainment program for Royal Air Force Tornado F3 aircraft, involved an Amraam separation integration vehicle fired from an under-fuselage eject launcher manufactured by Flight Refueling. A U.K. decision on a new beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile to arm Eurofighters is expected late next month or early in March.
Spacehab has signed a memorandum of understanding with three other organizations to conduct life sciences studies in space. The research efforts are set to begin in January 2001. Spacehab reached an accord with Donald Danforth Plant Science Center of St. Louis; the Institute of Molecular Agrobiology in Singapore, and Monsanto Co., also of St. Louis. The partners will begin their work by developing a protein crystal growth experiment to fly on space shuttle mission STS-107.
Geoffrey E. Perry, a noted Russian space analyst who founded the Kettering Space Observer Group, died of an apparent heart attack Jan. 18 near his home at Bude, England. He was 72. During the 1960s, Perry was a physics teacher at the Kettering (England) Grammar School. As an educational project for his students, he hit upon the idea of having them intercept radio transmissions from Soviet satellites and use that data to calculate radio frequency, ground tracks and other interesting parameters.
The Belgian government has withdrawn a hasty decision to ban nighttime operations at Brussels Zaventem airport (AW&ST Jan. 10, p. 17). A working group in the next three weeks will review the region's environmental issues in an effort to determine a compromise agreement with the Greens and local residents. DHL Worldwide Express, Brussels' busiest nighttime operator, intends to participate in the discussions ``and search for a solution that respects economic interests as well as the concerns of those who live in the airport's vicinity,'' company officials said.
Aerospatiale Matra, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace and Construcciones Aeronauticas in the next few months will form the Airbus Integrated Co. (AIC) set to combine their Airbus-related assets, according to Aerospatiale Matra Chairman/CEO Philippe Camus. The three companies, which are scheduled to merge in May-June to form the European Aeronautic, Defense and Space Co., proposed that BAE Systems join AIC to advance the European consortium's long-delayed Single Corporate Entity.
Pratt&Whitney and Snecma are proposing to merge individual designs for a new cryogenic rocket engine into a single project. The proposal, which is subject to approval by U.S. and European authorities, would lead to a single basic design based on concepts for Pratt&Whitney's RL50 and Snecma's Vinci, which are in the same thrust class and employ a similar architecture. The two companies would then probably derive individual variants for specific applications.
The Charlotte/Douglas (N.C.) International Airport plans to begin a pilot program this spring that uses iris-recognition technology to control and speed access to restricted areas. Called TranSecure and developed by Spring Technologies of McLean, Va., the pilot program will enroll about 100 airport employees. A simple digital photo will be taken of each worker's irises and be stored in memory. During day-to-day operations, a 1-sec. glance at a video camera adjacent to a secured door will allow the system to recognize an authorized employee and permit access.
As a money-saving measure, All Nippon Airways has proposed that management-level captains take a compulsory 30-day sabbatical every three years with pay but at about 60% of their salary. The program would apply to about 250 captains among ANA's total of 2,000. Other pilots also will be invited to participate. ANA expects to save about 200 million yen ($1.9 million) a year, but the pilots' union has not said whether it agrees with the idea.
With Hughes Electronics now on course to become a pure broadband play on both consumer and business applications, Wall Street is expecting the company to generate some very attractive returns in the next year and is pricing the stock accordingly. Merrill Lynch analyst Thomas Watts has raised his 12-month price target to $140-150 a share, while Bear Stearns analyst Vijay Jayant has raised his to $130.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory officials have given up on Mars Polar Lander, and stopped listening for signals from the spacecraft last week. The last commands were sent on Jan. 6, telling Mars Polar Lander (MPL) to enter a ``UHF safe mode'' where it would transmit UHF radio signals every 3 hr. to be picked up by Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), which is in a 2-hr. orbit about the planet.
Space shuttle launch delays due to wiring problems last summer as well as schedule problems with some mission hardware have caused perhaps the largest buildup of space payloads at the Kennedy Space Center in the 35-year history of the facility. About 10 major payloads are in checkout at Kennedy--nearly two years worth of launch operations. Checkout facilities, especially the Space Station Processing Facility, are bursting at the seams with complex hardware requiring special handling and environmental control. The near-miss at Kennedy by Hurricane Floyd with its 130 mph.
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., have developed a hand-held device that can sniff out faint traces of bombs or drugs at a variety of locations. The lab hopes to commercialize the technology within a year, according to Kevin Linker, project leader for the Contraband Detection Technology Div. The device uses a ``sniffer'' technique that blows a puff of air over a person or object, then collects and rapidly analyzes it. It is a downsized version of a larger, fixed ``portal'' system licensed to Barringer Technologies in Warren, N.J.
Airlines, pilots, manufacturers and aircraft owners are lining up to press Congress for quick action on a funding bill for the FAA. Industry and labor groups based here have formed the Aviation Users Working Group to present a unified front in the fight for compromise on the needed legislation. Representatives of the groups met Jan. 20 to draft a letter with a common call for action to leaders and key committee members in the House and Senate. They expect to deliver the letter this week, officials familiar with the effort said.
The flight data and cockpit voice recorders recovered late last week from a Shorts SD360-300 twin-turboprop which crashed into the Mediterranean off the coast of Libya on Jan. 13 are being evaluated by the U.K.'s Air Accidents Investigation Branch. Nineteen people were confirmed to have died in the crash and three were still missing. There were 19 survivors, including both Libyan pilots. The aircraft was operated by Avisto Ltd., a Swiss charter carrier, for Libya's Sirte Oil Co.
Thomson-CSF's purchase of Racal of the U.K. is the largest and latest move in the French company's strategy of securing footholds in a number of markets around the globe through equity investments and acquisitions. The 1.3-billion-pound ($2.1-billion) deal solidifies Thomson's position as the No. 2 defense contractor in the U.K. Combined sales in the U.K. will roughly double, to 2 billion euros. Acquiring Racal will improve Thomson's access to traditional British export markets, as well.
The Pentagon is asking U.S. aerospace companies for help in putting together a Space Technology Guide. Congress mandated the Pentagon to develop and deliver the guide, which will include a section on potential areas for cooperative investment between the government and the private sector. The Defense Dept. wants to hear about both near- and far-term technology concepts.
