Since the end of the 1990-91 Persian Gulf war, the U.S. and its allies have bombed, demonstrated against or threatened to strike Iraq at least a dozen times. -- August and September 1991--Tomahawks are retargeted on Iraq following its refusal to allow inspection of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons facilities identified since the war's end. Saudi Arabia's defenses are beefed up with extra Patriot air defense missiles.
One by one, US Airways Group Inc. is implementing the initiatives that management pledged they would pursue in the wake of securing a new five-year pact with pilots aimed at lowering costs.
Like their U.S. counterparts, most major European airlines are likely to post record or near-record profits for the year, with Lufthansa German Airlines' financial performance among the European industry's strongest.
Comair, the Delta Connection carrier, is claiming a record high for monthly traffic--in October, the number of passengers increased 18.1%, to 492,422. Compared to last year's tallies for the same month, revenue passenger miles for October reflect an increase of 18.7% and available seat miles, 8.9%. Load factor was reported at 62.6%, an increase of 5.1 percentage points.
James R. Pirkle has been promoted to regional vice president for the Pacific region from general manager of the Los Angeles kitchen, for Dobbs International Services Inc., Memphis, Tenn.
Inflight entertainment systems represent a possible multibillion-dollar business for the aerospace industry, because airlines think IFE has the potential to be a highly effective marketing tool. But in their quest to adapt consumer electronics to harsh airline operating conditions, IFE vendors have demonstrated that the products being offered often fail to measure up to manufacturers' claims. The biggest disappointment has been interactivity--the software-driven process that enables passengers to manipulate IFE services rather than passively experience them.
Chemists at the University of Illinois have discovered that colliding high velocity liquids can drive chemical reactions. The process, though still demonstrating slow reaction rates, raises the possibility of a simple way to remove low levels of chemical waste from water or perform other separation processes. When a liquid moves fast enough, gas bubbles form and collapse in a phenomena called hydrodynamic cavitation. When two streams of liquid collide at a combined speed of 450 mph., it concentrates the collisional energy and the bubbles implode intensively.
Jay F. Honeycutt, former NASA director of the Kennedy Space Center, has been appointed president of Lockheed Martin Space Mission Systems and Services in Houston. He retired from NASA last March and became executive vice president of the Lockheed Martin Div.
Robert Andrews has been named vice president-marketing and reservations of Eastwind Airlines, Greenboro, N.C.. He was director of marketing and client product development for Dakotah Reservation Services Inc. in Denver.
Mike Donovan, chief executive of British Aerospace Regional Aircraft and president of Aero International Regional, will become managing director of British Aerospace Defense Systems, a new unit that includes recently acquired Siemens Plessey Systems.
Richard R. Sill has been appointed vice president/general manager of satellite communication and navigation products for the Magellan Systems Corp., San Dimas, Calif. He had been vice president-marketing and sales.
Scandinavian Airlines Systems reported pre-tax profits of SKr1.7 billion ($226 million) in the first three quarters of 1997, an increase of 21%. The rise was pegged to better use of capacity and a ``slight increase in unit costs.'' But SAS, which is facing increased competition from low-cost carriers, said it expects profits in the final quarter of 1997 to be at the same level as last year.
Computer reservation systems (CRS) could play an expanded role in the future for large airline partnerships such as the Star Alliance as organizations seek to reduce costs and exploit the strengths of individual alliance partners. Reservation systems to date have not been affected by the growing alliance trend, but Amadeus officials believe reservations systems, which they refer to as global distribution systems (GDS), could play a larger role in the future. Amadeus provides services for most Star Alliance members.
Boeing has delivered its first radar improvement kit for the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. NATO has ordered 18 of the AWACS System Radar Improvement (RSIP) kits, the U.K. eight and the USAF four. Germany's DASA will begin installing the kits on NATO aircraft this month. The USAF depot at Tinker AFB, Okla., is scheduled to begin receiving the kits for USAF E-3s in December. British Aerospace will retrofit the U.K. fleet beginning in June.
Pierre Sparaco, Paris-based senior European editor of Aviation Week&Space Technology, has been elected a lifetime member of France's National Air and Space Academy.
After focusing for several years on establishing ties with Western European carriers, the airlines of Eastern Europe are turning to strategic alliances with U.S.-based airlines and other cooperative stratagems to foster growth and development.
Thomas K. Norton has become director of business development for Crown Technical Systems of Cleveland. He was director of maintenance for the AMR Services Corp.
Ateam led by Raytheon Systems Ltd. plans to submit its best and final offer to the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense late this month for the Airborne Stand-Off Radar (Astor) system based on the Bombardier Global Express business jet. Raytheon Systems officials said the ministry is scheduled to award a contract in September 1998, with the initial Astor system entering service in 2003, according to J. Robert Collins. He is managing director of Raytheon Systems Ltd., based in Harlow, England.
Garry W. Barringer has been named technical director of the U.S. Air Force Air and Space Command and Control Agency, Langley AFB, Va. He was director of plans and programs at the USAF's Rome (N.Y.) Laboratory.
Japan Airlines topped world carriers for inflight duty-free sales for the 12 months ending in March. The total, almost $118 million, beat Korean Air and British Airways at $110 million and $104 million, respectively. The carrier's biggest sellers traditionally are designer makeup and scotch. The airline offers 120 duty-free items, some of which are unavailable in Japan.
Boeing has selected Western Data Systems' CompassEnterprise client/server enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to manage production for the T-45 Goshawk. Use of CompassEnterprise is in keeping with the former McDonnell Douglas Corp.'s push to standardize its infotech systems and to accelerate acceptance of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software (AW&ST Oct. 28, 1996, p. 58).
The U.S. and the U.K. have signed an agreement allowing for reciprocal acceptance of simulator evaluations, a move which paves the way for similar accords with other European countries.
