At least one U.S. airline is planning to work closely with the air traffic controllers union in trying to come up with ways to avoid record delays like those experienced this summer.
The SAirGroup, Swissair's parent company, will acquire a 37.6% stake in state-owned LOT Polish Airlines. According to the terms of the agreement, which is scheduled to be implemented by the end of the year, LOT will join the Qualiflyer Group as a full-fledged member. ``LOT's Warsaw hub ideally enhances the Quali-flyer Group's position in Eastern Europe,'' SAirGroup Chief Executive Philippe Bruggisser said. In 1998, LOT carried 2.6 million passengers with a 28-aircraft fleet.
A last-minute attempt by the European Space Agency to rescue the Vega light launcher project has floundered, virtually ensuring that the project, if it goes ahead at all, will be relegated to a purely Italian national effort.
Greece's Aegean Airlines has ordered an additional Avro RJ100 four-engine regional transport. CityFlyer Express, a British Airways franchisee, has ordered two RJ100s.
Commercialization of air traffic control in the U.S. could help reduce airline congestion by taking politics out of decision-making processes and providing a relatively steady stream of funding for development of ATC systems. Some two dozen countries have taken at least initial steps toward moving their ATC organizations away from government control, officials said at the 44th annual international technical conference of the Air Traffic Control Assn.
The introduction of regional jets at O'Hare International Airport and the reluctance of many commercial pilots to accept land-and-hold-short clearances are major contributors to the decline of capacity at the nation's number two airport. The two factors have voided the full-time operation of three runways--27L, 27R and 22R--and have reduced the airport arrival rate in optimum weather conditions to 80 aircraft per hour and below, from 100. In poor weather, the decline is much steeper.
Congress once criticized the F-22 program for lagging in software development, but Northrop Grumman and Boeing avionics specialists say 1 million of the total 1.4-million lines of computer code has been designed, written and tested. The remaining 400,000 lines of code are well along in the development process. Much of the analysis needed to design the remaining code has been completed and actually writing the code is considered a minor task. The total package is to be completed by Oct. 20, 2000.
Systems Management Inc. and Systems Atlanta Inc. have won a three-year $10-million contract from the FAA, to design, produce and install ASOS Controller Equipment-Integrated Display Systems for Terminal Radar Approach Control towers in Atlanta, Northern California, Washington and Honolulu.
Jeffrey G. Roberts (see photos) has been named senior vice president-marketing and business development of GE Capital Aviation Training, Stamford, Conn. He will remain president of SimuFlite Training International. Allison K. Blank- enship has been appointed managing director of communications and special projects and Thomas M. Ferranti managing director of technical services. He held the same position, and Blankenship was managing director of project management, at SimuFlite.
Jim Ritchie (see photo) has become general manager of fixed-base operations for the Mercury Air Group Inc. at Los Angeles International Airport. He was a consultant of El Toro Base Asset Management for Orange County, Calif.
UNI Air of Taiwan has become the launch customer for Ultra Electronics' UltraQuiet Active Noise and Vibration Control System, which includes the U.K. company's new onboard propeller balance monitoring feature. Four of Uni Air's Dash-8 Series 300 aircraft will be fitted, as well as six Dash-8 Q400s scheduled to enter service at year-end.
Patrick T. Sakole has become vice president-safety and Rick O. Oehme vice president-base maintenance of America West Airlines. Sakole was director of maintenance, repair and management of U.S. Air Force assets in the Middle East for the Vinnell Corp. Oehme was president of AeroCorp Macon Inc.
World airports face a long-term fight for extra capacity as passenger traffic increases at an average 4.7% annual rate, cargo by 6.4% a year, and the jet transport fleet doubles to more than 20,000 units by 2018. Worse, almost 75% of future deliveries will be small regional jets and single-aisle transports.
Timothy J. Puckorius has been promoted to vice president-international business development from senior director of international marketing of the Orbital Imaging Corp., Dulles, Va.
The economic crisis in Southeast Asia may have lightened passenger loads, but it has increased the use of hubs by foreign and regional carriers as airline alliances gain strength.
Keith B. Robinson (see photo) has become senior vice president-finance and administration/chief financial officer of Osmonics, Minnetonka, Minn. He was senior director of planning and finance of the West Group.
China's Wuhan Air has said it will buy at least five Boeing 717-200 transports. The announcement, which did not include a signed agreement, followed a tour of China by Boeing's 717 demonstrator. The 100-seat short-haul transport visited Beijing, Wuhan, Kunming and Xiamen and was inspected by a dozen airlines. Sales to China would be a boon to the 717 program, which has failed to secure a major airline customer save ailing TWA. As a further inducement, Boeing could offer a coproduction pact. China has built the similar MD-80--and now MD-90--in Shanghai.
Roger Blott, senior vice president/general manager of business operations for Ellipso Inc. of Washington, has been named acting chief financial officer.
Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems and Aerostructures Sector is one of four winners of electronic warfare system development contracts from the Royal Australian Air Force's Project Echinda program.
About 200,000 military aviation enthusiasts helped Edwards AFB, Calif., celebrate its 50th anniversary on Oct. 9-10. Air shows featured a variety of U.S. Air Force fighters, bombers and transports tested at the USAF Flight Test Center, as well as NASA Dryden's diverse fleet of research aircraft. The first public flights of USAF's F-22 Raptor gave attendees a preview of the new fighter's performance capabilities. Two of the aircraft are at Edwards now, conducting an aggressive envelope expansion flight test program (AW&ST Sept. 6, p. 78).
Cessna is developing several more aircraft to add to its already vast product line. No word on whether they are all-new designs, derivatives of existing production aircraft or updated versions of models the Wichita-based company stopped manufacturing after general aviation sales fell sharply in 1977. Knowledgeable industry sources expect some will be derivatives. Cessna has a found a winning formula with such upgrades.
Pressure for passenger rights is forecast to build again, despite its slackening in the wake of the airlines' voluntary ``Customers First'' initiative. Although the waning first session of the 106th Congress has not produced the broad ``bill of rights'' widely publicized early this year, those in the know expect a legislative resurgence eventually. The reasons are several:
Republican leaders are confident President Clinton will back the $268-billion defense appropriations bill, despite White House/congressional brinkmanship over balancing the budget without dipping into Social Security trust funds (see p. 36). ``I would caution the President against vetoing that bill--we have troops spread all over the world from East Timor [to Kosovo]'' who are stressed out and need a pay raise, said House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).
Philip A. Odeen (see photo), executive vice president/general manager of the TRW Systems and Information Technology Group, has received the 1999 John W. Dixon Award from the Assn. of the U.S. Army for his contributions to America's defense.
