Japan's Ministry of Transport has withdrawn 56 slots from FedEx at Tokyo's Narita airport because they were not being used. The slots are being reallocated to other carriers--14 have been divvied up among American, Delta and Continental, and 10-14 have gone to Nippon Cargo Airlines, a partial subsidiary of All Nippon Airways. NCA plans to use the slots in joint freight services with United Parcel Service beginning this fall. A Narita-Anchorage service is likely. Foreign carriers were critical of the new U.S.-Japan bilateral because of the number of slots won by U.S.
NEGOTIATORS FOR NORTHWEST Airlines and the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers have reached a tentative agreement on a four-year labor contract. The agreement offers a 15% pay raise over the contract term, retroactive to the amendable date. The pension plan also was improved.
Michael Yarmovych (see photo) has been appointed chief science adviser for Anser, Arlington, Va. He was vice president-international technology for the Boeing Co.
FAA officials said they are beefing up the agency's ability to head off cargo misloading and other problems, such as the ones safety investigators believe led to the fatal crash of a Fine Air Services DC-8 freighter last year.
Airbus Industrie's A319CJ Corporate Jetliner customers based in the Americas are expected to take delivery of green aircraft, which then will be equipped by a U.S. cabin interior outfitter. The European consortium this month concluded an agreement with Associated Air Center of Dallas to outfit the aircraft and plans to negotiate a similar partnership with another cabin interior specialist soon. Customers may choose from six cabin layouts and 17 standard modules. Options include executive suites, conference rooms, bedrooms and showers.
A U.S. MARINE PILOT AND NAVIGATOR will have to wait at least another ``week or two'' to learn if they will be court-martialed on charges that they flew their EA-6B electronic warfare aircraft into a ski-lift cable in Italy, said Marine Corps officials at Camp Lejeune, N.C. The Feb. 3 accident killed 20 people.
Patricia Grace Smith has been appointed associate FAA administrator for space transportation. She was acting administrator and was associate managing director of the Office of Commercial Space Transportation. Chester M. Lewis has been named to the FAA National Resource Specialist Team as chief scientific and technical adviser for engine system dynamics and safety for the FAA's aircraft certification service. David F. Traynham has become associate administrator for policy, planning and international aviation.
THE ARMY PLANS TO BEGIN development tests of an ATIRCM installed on EH/MH-60 helicopters early next year, while USAF and the Navy begin their evaluation of the CMWS as a stand-alone missile warning system. Sanders is set to deliver seven ATIRCM systems and 50 CMWS next March. The schedule calls for a Low Rate Initial Production decision in early 2000.
Boeing is working on a four-year, $16-million contract to design, manufacture and flight test an advanced composite central fuselage for the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. The award is aimed at reducing the weight and cost of the Apache while increasing airframe structural integrity and service life. The section extends from the aft cockpit to just behind the engines, according to Andy Logan, vice president of Advanced Rotorcraft Systems for Boeing's Phantom Works.
NASA is readying to select between Boeing and Lockheed Martin for a lucrative contract to assume responsibility for much of the agency's spacecraft operations and data distribution. The Consolidated Space Operations Contract (CSOC) will merge 15 separate operations contracts and transfer management responsibility to private industry.
Transport Canada has updated the country's regulation on international all-cargo charters to allow multishipper sponsorship of flights and split charters. Previously, a single all-cargo charter entity had to contract the entire capacity of an aircraft and was prohibited from reselling space to freight forwarders and other shippers. The change increases choices for Canadian shippers and encourages exports for Canadian all-cargo charter operators, according to Transport Minister David Collenette.
The traditional rivalry between Malaysia and its wealthy island neighbor, Singapore, takes an added twist on June 29, when Kuala Lumpur inaugurates a new airport that national leaders expect to boost the standing of the city and Malaysia in global aviation.
I am amazed that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is now acting as a broker for the Boeing commercial helicopter division, putting it up for sale to all comers. As a result, either U.S. technology will be sent abroad or the Boeing line will be shut down and American jobs will be lost.
President Clinton defended the licensing of U.S. commercial satellite launches on Chinese rockets. It furthers efforts ``to stop the spread of missile technology by providing China with incentives to observe nonproliferation agreements,'' the President said in a pre-U.S./China summit speech. ``This policy clearly has served our interests'' by persuading China to end exports of nuclear assistance and antiship cruise missiles to Iran, he said. Clinton also averred that U.S.-built satcoms encourage freedom of information in the world's most populous state.
EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES EXPECTS to begin privatization late this year or in 1999 while carrying out a fleet modernization plan, El Al President Joel Feldschuh said in New York. El Al reported a loss of $4.2 million for 1997 on revenues of $1.2 billion, compared with an $83.1-million loss in 1996. Revenue rose 2%. The Israeli government last month granted permission to sell up to 49% of the state-owned airline to private investors. Feldschuh said details of the financing strategy have not been worked out.
Richard A. Black (see photo) has become director of national and theater missile defense programs for Boeing Autonetics Guidance, Navigation and Sensors, Anaheim, Calif. A recently retired U.S. Army brigadier general, Black was commandant of the Defense Systems Management College, Ft. Belvoir, Va.
Gregory A.Ward (see photos) has been named senior vice president-customer satisfaction and operations and Dennis Hutton director of supply management for Hydro-Aire Inc., Burbank, Calif.
Many of the 10 or so small companies developing new space launch vehicles are fuming about a Senate proposal designed to help the commercial space industry. John Breaux (D-La.) introduced a bill to allow federal loan guarantees for companies trying to lower launch costs. A Lockheed Martin facility near New Orleans builds tanks for the X-33 reusable launch vehicle demonstrator. The small companies fear NASA would steer all loan guarantees to LockMart. The Space Frontier Foundation is fighting the bill.
The substantial cost of insuring commercial satellites against launch and in-orbit failures has been plummeting, and it is expected to remain a buyer's market for the foreseeable future. But the favorable outlook also could change--abruptly, some insurance brokers caution.
When PanAmSat Corp. executives first came calling on Wall Street in 1993 looking for several hundred million dollars to expand their privately owned satellite network, the company's prospects were considered so risky that its bonds received a ``junk'' rating.
Norman R. Augustine, former chairman/CEO of the Lockheed Martin Corp. and now a professor at Princeton (N.J.) University, has received a Leadership Award from the Washington-based Private Sector Council for his work to improve U.S. defense effectiveness while reducing costs.
The U.S. and South Korea have signed an open skies accord and agreed to press for a resumption of four-party talks aimed at easing security tensions with North Korea. President Clinton and recently-elected South Korean President Kim Dae Jung announced the accord on unrestricted air services between and beyond the two countries, following Kim's state visit here last week. The open skies pact was signed in the wake of a major purchase of Boeing aircraft by Korean Air (AW&ST June 8, p. 18).
