In October, Bell Helicopter Textron plans to begin construction of a 450,000-sq.-ft. Tiltrotor Assembly Center (TAC) at the Amarillo (Tex.) International Airport to build the U.S. Marine Corps' V-22 Osprey and the civil Bell Model 609 tiltrotor aircraft.
General Electric's 14,000-lb.-thrust-class CF34-8D turbofan engine has won the competition to power Fairchild Dornier's new family of 55-90-seat twinjets, defeating the SPW14 proposed by Snecma and Pratt&Whitney Canada.
Australian carriers Qantas Airways and Ansett International have unveiled cabin upgrades to challenge the stiff competition they are facing on key routes from better-equipped Asian carriers.
The U.K.'s Civil Aviation Authority and the Royal Air Force have agreed to form a new organization to assess ``airprox [aircraft proximity]'' incidents (previously termed ``air misses'' by U.K. authorities). Dubbed the U.K. Airprox Board, it will combine the work now conducted by two separate, independent organizations--the Joint Airprox Working Group, which assesses reports filed by civil and military pilots, and the Joint Airprox Assessment Panel, which assesses reports from air traffic controllers.
Major improvements have been made to the Index of Competitiveness for 1998, resulting in a far more precise benchmarking tool for showing how a company is performing versus its competition. In addition, the Index has been expanded since last year to include publicly traded airlines. Using the methodology explained in greater detail below, the ratios used in the Index support the final tabulation of scores and rankings with less than a 1% error rate.
Israel Aircraft Industries' Bedek Aviation Group has received a contract from Boeing to supply smoke detection and fire suppression kits for 727-200 and 737-200 aircraft. Boeing will have the kits installed in the cargo holds of the narrow-body aircraft to comply with new FAA regulations.
Gary Drouillard has been named manager of roaming implementation with IS41 networks for ICO Global Communications of Washington. He was manager of roaming administration and fraud control for BC Tel. Others named are: Cynthia Hester, manager of cellular services marketing in North America; and Uwe Mayer, manager of terrestrial cellular services for the Americas. Hester was a marketing manager with Southwestern Bell Wireless, and Mayer was director of roaming for American Personal Communications.
Frank D. Yeary has been appointed managing director for telecommunications and media investments of the Carlyle Group of Washington. He held a similar position with Salmon Smith Barney.
The 46th annual Experimental Aircraft Assn. convention and sport aircraft exhibition drew a record 855,000 people and 2,750 amateur-built aircraft, and underscored strong growth in the general aviation industry. AirVenture '98, held here July 29-Aug. 4, also attracted the largest number of exhibitors in the show's history and witnessed the introduction of a number of new aircraft, ranging from conventional airplanes to unconventional autogyros.
Garvey got more grief last week with a prod from Transportation Dept. Inspector General Kenneth Mead to act swiftly to correct ``serious, continuing and widespread'' abuses of free-travel privileges for some agency employees. Abuses have been condoned, ``if not tacitly endorsed,'' by senior FAA management for nearly 10 years, he said in a memo to Garvey. That provoked a call by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) for Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater to correct the abuses at once.
Warren D. Persavich has been promoted to chief operating officer from senior vice president/chief financial officer and Eugene W. Juris to CFO from vice president-finance/secretary of Banner Aerospace Inc. of Washington.
Midwest Express Airlines' record of consistent profitability has set it among a rare few in the airline industry. The company has had positive earnings in each of the last 11 years including the 1991-95 period when most airlines sustained heavy losses. Consistency also applies to Midwest Express' capacity growth of approximately 15% a year during this volatile period.
The time has come to reassess whether the U.S. aerospace/defense industry's mega-mergers have truly resulted in more competitive enterprises. Data developed by Aviation Week&Space Technology's 1998 Index of Competitiveness show management still has a long way to go before the mergers can be judged an unqualified success, despite the complementary nature of the operations melded together.
Walter J. Boyne, an aviation historian and chairman of Bethesda, Md.-based Wingspan, is scheduled to receive the Paul Tissandier Diploma from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.
B-2 flights have stopped, probably through the end of this week, while key parts of the air crew ejection system are replaced. Northrop Grumman subcontractor OEA of Napa, Calif., manufacturer of eight initiators used in each B-2, discovered what could have been a problem during acceptance testing. The firing pin on the ejection seat pyrotechnic device was traveling too far, thus creating too short an interval between depressurization of the cockpit, blowing off the hatches and igniting the ejection seat rocket motors.
The first launch of the large new Boeing Delta 3 booster at Cape Canaveral (pictured) has been scheduled for Aug. 24, now that technicians have found the cause of problems with the TLX (thin layered explosive) cord used to ignite the solid boosters and trigger destruction of the vehicle in an emergency. The problems were traced to Y-shaped splits used to route the cord in different directions. The flight will be just one highlight of an extremely busy Cape launch schedule that has multiple high-priority missions over the next five months.
Lawrence Urquhart has become chairman of BAA Plc. of London. He has succeeded Sir Brian Smith, who has retired. Urquhart was deputy chairman and will be succeeded by Marcus Agius, who is vice chairman of Lazard Brothers and Co. Ltd. Christopher Fay, chairman/chief executive of Shell UK Ltd., has been appointed a non-executive director.
Squadrons of Russian-designed MiGs soon could be roaming U.S. skies every weekend. There are about 50 MiG-15, -17 and -21s flying or being restored by enthusiasts, according to Don Kirlin, president of the Classic Jet Aircraft Assn. in Quincy, Ill. All told, CJAA's 600 members operate or are rebuilding about 400 former military trainers and fighter jets. Kirlin's Air USA Inc., also in Quincy, is organizing what is believed to be the first privately owned and operated military jet formation flying team. It will use the Czech-built L-39 Albatros advanced trainer.
Aviation Week&Space Technology's 1998 Index of Competitiveness revealed that the best overall performing aerospace companies aren't necessarily the leviathans, and that major U.S. carriers aren't the airline industry's high-fliers.
Randall P. Lincoln (see photo) has been named vice president-sales and marketing of Sony Trans Com, Irvine, Calif. He was publisher of Business and Commercial Aviation magazine, an Aviation Week publication.
The U.S. Air Force is going to use the next B-2 mock operational deployment to show it does not have to repair the stealth bombers at a forward location. Up to eight of the 10 B-2s stationed at Whiteman AFB, Mo., will forward deploy to MacDill AFB, Fla., for 10 days next month as part of USAF's Expeditionary Force Experiment '98. During the deployment, two more B-2s will be flown to MacDill from Whiteman and two bombers will return to their home base.
Europe's unified monetary system could go a long way toward helping the continent's aerospace/defense companies compete more effectively against their U.S. rivals. But European executives are under no illusions about the euro's ability to fix more fundamental problems that plague the industry's long-term competitiveness. On the positive side, the common currency is apt to facilitate the formation of European partnerships and strategic alliances.
Steven A. Mirmina has been appointed senior associate for aviation services of Apco Associates of Washington. He was with the law firm of Crowell and Moring.
W. James Close (see photo) has been appointed president/CEO of the Canadian Marconi Co., Ville Saint-Laurent, Quebec. He was president of AlliedSignal Aerospace Canada of Toronto.
