Stanley J. Hill has been named president/CEO of the Kaiser Aerospace and Electronics Corp., Foster City, Calif. He was corporate vice president/group executive. Hill succceds H.J. Smead, who remains chairman.
Fortner Software has introduced a new version of its science data mining and visualization software, Noesys 1.1. It includes an enhanced hierarchical data format (HDF), a new import facility for storing meteorological data and an ability to work with data sets of virtually any size or dimension, according to President George Brandt. Noesys is used by Earth scientists, geologists, oceanographers, physicists and engineers to access, organize, analyze and visualize the vast amounts of data they collect in research.
An Israeli company, Human Resources International Ltd. ([email protected]), has developed software to pre-screen air traffic controller and pilot candidates that brings to bear some of the hand-eye coordination and quick-thinking characteristics of the video games that youngsters are so good at. ATCScreen is being used in Singapore, Ireland, Cyprus and Denmark but, ironically, not in Israel, where a big supply of experienced military air traffic controllers is available for commercial operations.
Airlines throughout Central and South America are forging partnerships to increase their sway over suppliers, expand their route networks in ``open skies'' markets and improve the safety of their operations. The Taca Group is teaming with LanChile and TAM of Brazil to acquire 200 medium-range, narrow-body transports. The carriers' evaluation team is expected to make its recommendation on buying Boeing's 737-700 or the Airbus Industrie A319 early next year.
By consolidating their buying power and forging long-term relationships with suppliers, alliance officials expect to drastically reduce the cost of purchasing products ranging from peanuts to spare parts, but it will be years before these concepts can be applied to large capital investments such as the acquisition of aircraft.
Boeing has offered to purchase a stake in Sabena's maintenance division, Sabena Technics, to improve its chances of winning a planned order of up to 12 aircraft from the carrier. Any deal also would give Boeing a maintenance foothold in Europe. Brussels-based Sabena plans to decide between the ``next-generation'' Boeing 737 and rival Airbus A320 transports next month (AW&ST Nov. 3, p. 48). Sabena's unions have supported purchase of the 737 as it would continue jobs at the maintenance unit, which has extensive 737 expertise.
Wilbur C. Trafton, NASA's shuttle and space station honcho, is calling it quits. Congressional staffers were told that Trafton is retiring from the agency next month for ``personal reasons.'' But some of Trafton's surprised colleagues suspect he has been worn down by the high-pressure job and by Daniel S. Goldin's less-than-gentle manner with subordinates. Since becoming an associate administrator 20 months ago, Trafton has overseen the transition of shuttle operations to a private contractor--and 13 successful missions.
Rockwell's proposed acquisition of Hughes-Avicom International Inc., if approved, would mark the first time that a major aviation electronics supplier has entered the inflight entertainment business. And while the full impact remains uncertain, it is expected to be far-reaching. Hughes-Avicom, a division of Hughes Electronics Corp., is considered a leading supplier of IFE systems, with 1997 sales of about $120 million. The new venture will become part of Rockwell's Collins business. The transaction is expected to close within two months.
TWO DERIVATIVES OF Pratt&Whitney's F119 engine, designed for the two competing versions of the Joint Strike Fighter, have successfully completed a three-month critical design review that began in August. The engine was first designed for the F-22. ``The review confirmed that the designs do meet the requirements for the JSF program,'' said Robert Cea, JSF engine program manager. It also clears the way for the program's engine fabrication and testing phase, with testing set to begin in the spring of 1998.
American Airlines logged a record 32.2-million freight ton miles to Latin Ameri- can markets in October. The volume represents a more than 19% increase over the same month last year and a 10% increase over September. Expansion of scheduled passenger service from American's Dallas-Fort Worth, Miami and New York bases helped drive the increase. American now operates 94 daily flights between the U.S. and Latin America.
Diane Hinson has become vice president/general counsel of Intelsat in Washington. She was a partner and co-chair of the Communications Group of the law firm of Morrison and Foerster.
The complacency in world capitals about weapons of mass destruction defies understanding. None of the great powers has a crash program like the Manhattan Project to deal with what many experts, from many disciplines, agree is the leading international security threat. We live in a global society in which:
The MU 90, a light torpedo developed by Whitehead Alenia of Italy, Thomson Marconi Sonar and DCN International of France will be the third weapons program to benefit from an experimental multiyear procurement plan unveiled by France at the end of October. Early this month, France and Italy concluded a memorandum of understanding launching series production of the new weapon, which might be obtained through the European joint procurement organization OCCAR.
Antoine Grenier has been appointed vice president-commercial of Snecma's Elecma Div. He succeeds Bernard Dorier, who has retired. Jacques Mahnich, formerly CFM International project manager at Snecma, has been appointed manager of product support for Elecma.
European regional airlines are rapidly forming links with large international carriers either through franchising agreements or strategic alliances. From the majors' perspective, the trend is part of the drive toward ``globalization.'' They are increasingly looking to strategic alliances to enhance their standing in the global market. And regional carriers, with their low operating costs and intimate knowledge of smaller markets, have a part to play in that strategy.
Airline representatives rushed to Geneva last week to bolster the U.S. government's stand against a proposal at the World Radio Conference. Inmarsat wants the WRC to allow mobile satellite services (MSS) to use spectrum now reserved for GPS. Bipartisan leaders of the House Science Committee and its space and aeronautics panel jointly wrote to President Clinton asking to turn up the heat in fighting the scheme, which seems to have caught the GPS community flatfooted.
Don Brown has become director of flight operations for airlift and tanker programs for the Boeing Co. in Long Beach, Calif. He was a test pilot for McDonnell Douglas for MD-11 and MD-80 aircraft.
Directors general of civil aviation representing 145 nations have endorsed an expansion of the International Civil Aviation Organization's Safety Oversight Program under which ICAO manages inspections of national aviation authorities across the globe.
Ferdinando Bruno has been appointed general manager for business development and Mike Hodgson general manager for Boeing 747 and 777 and Concorde aircraft for British Airways Engineering.
Lucius W. Brigham has been named director of marketing and industry relations for the Washington-based Air Travel Card. He succeeds Sandi Reynolds, who has resigned.
Arthur Bienenstock has been appointed associate director for science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He has been director of the Stanford University Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory and vice provost for faculty affairs.
Jackson Hulsey (see photos) has been appointed vice president-engineering for Raytheon Aircraft, Wichita, Kan., and Peter Herr vice president-international sales, adding the Far East to his territory of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Hulsey was project manager for the Trainer Systems Div.
Bob Munro and Jack Steiner have received the 16th annual Pathfinder Awards for operations/manufacturing and engineering, respectively, from the Museum of Flight in Seattle. The awards recognize Pacific Northwest residents for contributions to the development of flight. Munro has built what is considered the largest seaplane operation in the U.S., which serves Seattle and British Columbia. Steiner was an engineer on Boeing aircraft programs from World War 2 to the mid-1980s.
Start of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mapping mission has been delayed by one year and the mapping period cut to less than half the originally planned length due to a damaged solar panel which has required changes in the delicate aerobraking process. The delayed start and reduced scope of MGS mapping--set to begin when the spacecraft reaches its nearly-circular mapping orbit--result from the sensitivity of the damaged panel to aerodynamic forces during aerobraking. The panel was damaged shortly after launch one year ago.
