Kevin P. Mitchell chairs the Business Travel Coalition of Lafayette Hill, Pa., which represents major companies. He recently wrote a letter to Roger W. Fones, chief of the U.S. Justice Dept. Antitrust Div. section that handles transportation matters. Copies were sent to Congress and Transportation Dept. and Federal Trade Commission officials. Excerpts follow.
Turborreactores S.A. of Mexico will restart engine maintenance and overhaul operations after an infusion of $12 million from the Spanish engine company Industria de Turbo Propulsores (ITP), which is 45% owned by Rolls-Royce. Under the agreement with Cintra, which owns Aeromexico, Aerocaribe, Mexicana Airlines and AeroPeru, ITP will become the major shareholder in Turborreactores with a 60% stake. Cintra will invest another $8 million in the engine facility.
MKS Software of Wayne, Pa., has applied aerospace experience gained with Eurocopter Deutschland and Fairchild Dornier to its V4/2.0 data analysis software. The program is tuned to predict when to order raw materials, analyze warranty costs, track components, manage fleets and other aerospace tasks. Features include multidimensional analysis, context-based programming and custom design from MKS.
Personnel retention studies slated to be considered at a meeting of senior USAF leaders this month include the ``Phoenix Aviation 20'' program. It would prepare pilots for airline jobs after retirement at 20 years of service. Captains twice-deferred from promotion also could be allowed to continue to the 20-year mark in rated and air battle manager USAF specialties, Gen. Michael Ryan, Air Force chief of staff, said. The service also is studying increased production of navigators and electronic warfare officers.
BOEING HAS DETERMINED THAT A NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE (NMD) system using antimissile interceptors based at Grand Forks, N.D., could not defend the entire U.S. But the company says it has devised an alternate plan that would involve moving the interceptors to a new, undisclosed location, which would allow ``every square inch'' of all states to be defended.
With FAA certification of Eurocopter International's EC120B Colibri lightweight helicopter scheduled for this quarter, the company plans to deliver 35 aircraft worldwide in 1998, including the first of 20 aircraft for U.S. customers.
Howard Fitz has become vice president/general manager of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group Fabrication Div. He was its director of operations. Richard W. Irwin has been named vice president-facilities, transportation and environment for the Kaman Aerospace Corp., Bloomfield, Conn.
The helicopter industry faces both opportunities and challenges as the 21st century approaches. The climate for market expansion is the best it has been in this decade, but the specter of global financial instability, intense competition and potential industry consolidation are key concerns. Aviation Week&Space Technology examines these and other issues and their effects on rotary-wing flight.
G. Carlton Shafer has been named executive director of the American Helicopter Museum and Education Center, West Chester, Pa. He was executive director of the Artaban Society in Vancouver.
Beginning on Apr. 5, Delta Air Lines will add six new nonstop flights from its Atlanta hub. They include Delta's first services to Central America: Panama City, Guatemala City, San Salvador and San Jose. In addition, service from Atlanta to Caracas is scheduled to begin on Apr. 1, and to Hamburg on May 15.
James R. Korfanta has been named manager of the Mission and Computing Support Div. of the OAO Corp., Pasadena, Calif. He was a technical section manager for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also in Pasadena.
Adm. Sir Michael Boyce, currently commander-in-chief fleet of the British Royal Navy, has been named to succeed Adm. Sir Jock Slater as first sea lord and chief of the naval staff in October.
Scott Livingston has become vice president and Gary Cloward regional manager, both for Allison 250 engine parts customer support, for Extex, Mesa, Ariz.
Japan's Ministry of Transport is to receive $3.76 billion in fiscal 1998 spending authority for airport construction, improvement and navaid facilities. Tokyo's two airports are the biggest beneficiaries. Narita, the nation's busiest international airport, is to get $629.4 million, primarily for a second runway. Haneda, which is Asia's busiest airport and Japan's largest for domestic travel, is to receive $590.5 million mainly for a third runway.
MacSema Inc. of Bend, Ore., has upped the data storage capacity of its ButtonMemory stand-alone computer memory that can be epoxied to aircraft parts. The highly survivable, 0.638-in.-dia. ButtonMemory now can hold up to 32 kilobytes of data. This means the portable database can provide rapid, on-location access to schematic diagrams, photos and X-rays as well as more standard text-based configuration and maintenance record data.
Under an ambitious new strategic plan, Fairchild Dornier plans to create a family of 30-90-seat regional transports and corporate jets and conclude far-reaching agreements with additional risk-sharing partners. The combined production rate of existing and all-new aircraft now being considered is set to increase to more than 70 per year by 2001-02, up from 25 during the 1997-98 fiscal year.
The Cirrus Design Corp. flew the production prototype of its SR20 light airplane on Jan. 28 at the company's facilities in Duluth, Minn. The aircraft is the first SR20 to conform to specifications forming the basis for FAA certification, which is scheduled for late this summer, according to company officials. It will be flown throughout the flight test program and will be joined by a second conforming aircraft late next month.
Making the Administration's pitch for the nuclear test ban treaty, Energy Secretary Federico Pena announced an $85-million contract for an IBM supercomputer to perform 10 trillion operations per sec. The IBM system is intended to guarantee the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear arsenal. It would be used for advanced modeling and simulation of tests proscribed by the treaty. Dubbed ``Option White'' and slated to be on line at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 2000, the supercomputer would assure that the U.S.
In the wake of a flurry of orders, Eurocopter in 1998 plans to further increase production rates, expand its share in the civil-military export market and definitively restore profitability, according to company officials. The French-German company last year concluded orders for 303 civil-military helicopters and delivered 210. In addition, it delivered 55 used helicopters. In 1998, Eurocopter plans to deliver about 250 aircraft.
Allison Hansen (see photo) has become quality assurance manager of Pacific Systems, Kirkland, Wash. She held the same position at Flight Structures Inc., Arlington, Wash.
The Philippines' Air Transport Office, under direct instructions from President Fidel Ramos, has grounded Cebu Pacific Air's (CPA) remaining 7 DC-9s pending investigations into the airline's operations. The grounding followed the crash of one of the airline's McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32s into Mt. Sumagaya Feb. 2 while on descent to Cagayan de Oro on the island of Mindanao. All 99 passengers and 5 crewmembers were killed.
Lockheed Martin's Aeronautics Sector is implementing advanced product visualization tools to significantly reduce product cycle time and costs and transform it into a ``virtual company,'' according to senior officials.
Until last week, Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) was considered one of the companies that would survive the consolidation that is gaining momentum in the federal services and information technology market.
