Pencil in satellite export reform on the long list of things the 106th Congress won't get done this year. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), chairman of the House's space subcommittee, finally has convinced hard-line Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) to go along with his amendment to streamline approvals of satellite exports to ``friendly'' nations. But there's a problem--the State Dept. authorization bill that houses Rohrabacher's amendment may never come to a vote, thanks to a dispute over abortion. Rohrabacher, who lambasted U.S.
Frederick W. Reid, who is executive vice president/chief marketing officer of Delta Air Lines, has been appointed chairman of wholly owned subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines. Edward H. West, who is executive vice president/chief financial officer of Delta, has been named to the ASA board of directors.
The Pentagon's new budget is hostage to the yearly autumn brawl over federal spending. A $267.8-billion defense appropriations bill sits on the President's desk awaiting signature, prey to his veto pen because the White House and Congress have failed to find a middle ground on government spending in the three weeks since Fiscal 2000 began Oct. 1.
Eurocontrol and civil aviation authorities are desperately attempting to meet the airline industry's expectations for more efficient air traffic management (ATM) in European airspace.
Congressional criticism of the relationship between the FAA and RTCA was intended to emphasize that the agency's responsibility for safety is its top priority, according to a Capitol Hill source. The Fiscal 2000 Transportation Dept. apportionment bill directed the FAA not to use RTCA for any new ``consensus-building'' activities during this fiscal year. The congressional concern was that the airline and industry focus on increasing efficiency might jeopardize safety, and the industry is heavily involved in RTCA.
A launch services contract request for proposals (RFP) that would be worth more than $5 billion to winning contractors has been issued by the NASA Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The launch services RFP covers a broad range of planned NASA expendable launch vehicle needs across light, medium and heavy payloads. Nearly 70 major NASA unmanned launches through 2010 could eventually be part of several launch service contracts planned to be awarded under the program.
Pratt&Whitney plans to expand the PW6000 test program to include three powerplants before the end of the year, following completion of initial sea level trials. Pratt engineers have accumulated a ``little under 50 hr.'' running time with the first powerplant, which initially went to test in late July. Since beginning its trials, fan flutter investigations, full power performance calibrations, emissions trials and measurements on secondary systems such as the oil system have been completed.
Boeing is trying to expand the uses and capabilities of the GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition and wants to entice the U.S. Air Force and Navy in added capabilities by demonstrating some of the possible upgrades. After testing a 500-lb. version of JDAM this summer (the Pentagon is buying 1,000-lb. and 2000-lb. versions), Boeing is putting forward the concept of an extended-range weapon. It would allow pilots to attack targets from farther away and would reduce an aircraft's exposure to enemy air defenses.
Japanese prosecutors are investigating charges that, during a 20-year period, 11 major oil companies in Japan conspired to fix prices on aviation and other fuels sold to the Japanese Defense Agency. The 11 companies have been indicted by the Fair Trade Commission. In one contract, the JDA paid $448 million for fuel that should have cost $411 million, the FTC investigation report said. Oil company executives have said they were told they could get the higher prices in exchange for hiring senior staff members from the JDA's Procurement Div.
I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore. --Howard Beale One gets the idea these days that if a Howard Beale, the newscaster gone berserk that Peter Finch played in the 1976 movie ``Network,'' were to show up in a clogged lounge at a hub airport, he would have no trouble getting passengers to join in.
A number of compelling stories of disruptive passengers have appeared in the media recently, but there may be more to ``air rage'' in the headlines than there actually is in the air. Airlines large and small say that when it happens it can be very serious, but it does not happen often. Sharon Wibben, senior vice president for inflight service at Delta Air Lines, speaks for many in observing: ``We have seen a growing number of passenger cases over the past couple of years, although it certainly isn't a common occurrence.''
A former director of the JJDA's Procurement Div. and 12 executives of the NEC Corp. and its subsidiaries have been sentenced to 2-3-year prison terms for inflating bills on avionics equipment for the agency. The bills were approved in exchange for job offers for senior JDA officials. Judge Toshikazu Obuchi said that even after the overcharges were discovered, JDA officials understated the amount of refunds due. He ordered two NEC subsidiaries to return about $44 million to the agency.
Officials from the United Arab Emirates have just left Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth facility, where they appear to have hammered out some of the problems in the long-delayed sale of $8 billion in 80 F-16s, spare parts, support and training. Further encouraging signs came from Defense Secretary William Cohen, who is on a Middle East swing. He said U.S. officials have finally agreed on the details of what technology can be shared. UAE officials wanted to ensure they could reprogram the aircraft's system for jamming the radars of enemy aircraft.
David J. Bronczek, who has been executive vice president/chief operating officer of the FDX Corp., Memphis, Tenn., has been named to succeed Theodore L. Weiss as president/CEO upon his retirement.
The third trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) for NASA's Mars Polar Lander spacecraft has been postponed until Oct. 30 to give program officials additional time to scrub operational processes and procedures thoroughly. The TCM had been scheduled for Oct. 20, about one month after the Mars Climate Orbiter (MCO) was lost as it entered orbit around the planet (AW&ST Sept. 27, p. 24).
The entry of Singapore Airlines into the Star Alliance, and a pending move by British Midland to do the same, coupled with a potent counterbid to keep Star member Air Canada out of the clutches of rival Oneworld, could take competition among airline alliances to new levels and begin raising regulatory questions.
After flying halfway around the world, and waiting at McMurdo Station three days for the temperature at the South Pole to lift to -53C (-63F), an Air National Guard crew successfully landed and evacuated Dr. Jerri Nielsen. She wintered-over at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, and had been treating herself for breast cancer using medical supplies air dropped on July 10. This was the earliest flight to the pole, by 21/2 weeks, according to the pilots from the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing who flew the mission.
Shenzhen Huangtian International Airport has become China's fourth largest, handling almost 30 million passengers since it opened in 1991. Located in a special economic zone adjacent to Hong Kong, the airport handles 15,000 passengers and almost 200 flights a day. FedEx plans to begin a five-times-weekly U.S.-Shenzhen cargo route next month using MD-11s and DC-10s.
Airports Council International reports 78% of the world's major airports are Y2K-ready. The Geneva-based organization, which represents more than 1,200 large airports in 150 countries, is confident that more than 90% of its members will have updated their computers and computer-based airport systems to eliminate or work around potential problems caused when the two-digit year indicator in older software rolls from 99 to 00 on Jan. 1.
The air transportation system is showing ominous signs of a crisis--one that could have been averted if governments had responded to their own clear warnings of infrastructure inadequacies.
The on-again, off-again consolidation agreement for South Korea's aerospace industry was officially signed in early October--but the new company still does not have a business plan. At the South Korean government's urging, Daewoo Heavy Industries, Samsung Aerospace and Hyundai Space and Aircraft will merge to become Korean Aerospace Industries. KAI has signed memoranda of understanding with potential foreign investors including Lockheed Martin, Aerospatiale Matra, British Aerospace, GEC and DaimlerChrysler.
Judy Armondroff, marketing director of ICC/GRSoftware, and Christopher Zei, director of marketing and strategic development for Raytheon CSI, have been apppointed to the board of directors of the Pittsburgh-based Manufacturing Execution Systems Assn.
