Air Canada's Milton says revenue passenger miles were up 25% in June over a year ago, thanks to the open skies agreement with the U.S. The airline's Vancouver and Toronto hubs are driving the success. Since border restrictions fell 18 months ago, Air Canada has opened 33 routes to the U.S. and found only three unprofitable. The airline is flying 133 jets compared with 99 four years ago and has put off the sale of 15 DC-9s for this year because it needs the capacity.
Pentagon aviation planners are also being strafed by the General Accounting Office. In a preview of a major report on combat air power due in September, Richard Davis, the GAO's director of national security analysis, says the Pentagon wants to spend as much in the next 18 years--about $255 billion--as it did during the last 18 years of the Cold War. That would buy ``overlapping and often redundant . . .
The Swedish military, faced with declining budgets, is trying to sustain its technological edge as it cuts force levels. At the same time, it is adapting to the country's new strategic outlook, which embraces increased international cooperation both in terms of joint operations and technological research and procurement. This is being mirrored in the Swedish aerospace and defense industry, which is stepping up efforts to forge new international ties as well as promote exports. The following stories highlight these trends.
Boeing last month inched closer to the expected launch of new stretched 747 versions by officially forming a 747-X leadership team. The effort, which will evaluate the feasibility of a longer-range 747-500X and larger 747-600X, will be headed by John Hayhurst, vice president and general manager. John Roundhill will serve as director of engineering and Walter Gillette as chief project engineer. Boeing began formal meetings late in 1995 with representatives of more than a dozen airlines that are interested in helping to develop 747-X requirements and specifications.
Garuda Indonesia Airlines intends to reduce its aircraft types as part of a fleet restructuring program that is part of a broader plan to improve its profitability. The national flag carrier recently needed a $696-million cash infusion from the government to reduce its debt to equity ratio but still carries a $754-million debt, according to Minister of Transportation Maryanto Dhanutirto.
Alliance Air, a new subsidiary of Indian Airlines, has flown its first commercial service from New Delhi to Goa, continuing to Cochin. The new carrier has three Boeing 737s, a quarter of the 12 it plans to buy from Indian Airlines (IA) by the summer of 1997. Fleet plans also call for purchasing a number of 30-50-seat aircraft to serve the short-haul sector. Candidates include the Saab 2000, a stretched Dornier 328 and Brazil's new 50-seat EMB-145.
Indonesia Air Show '96, a mixture of local pride and foreign marketing ambition, provided a kickoff for the country's plans for a biennial exhibition of Indonesian technology, starting in 1998. In opening ceremonies for IAS '96, Indonesia President Suharto said the new event will be called the Asia-Pacific High Tech and Aerospace Show. ``Development of the aerospace industry is a leap forward'' for the Indonesian economy, he said, and is part of the country's goal to ``become self-reliant in the production of aircraft.''
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT CO. delivered its 5,000 King Air business aircraft last week to Jeld-Wen, a millwork company based in Klamath Falls, Ore. The King Air 350 will be used chiefly to fly short-haul trips to other facilities in Oregon, Washington and California. The first King Air, a Model 90, flew on Jan. 20, 1964.
A new electronic ticketing system for domestic travel will be introduced by British Airways in the U.K. this month. Trials of the E-Ticket system will start on the airline's Gatwick-Aberdeen service for departures from Aug. 1. Passengers with only hand luggage can book their tickets by phone and then check themselves in at a self-service machine at the airport using their credit cards for identification. Travelers can select their seats using a touch screen and receive their boarding cards.
DSDC HAS ONE PATENT AND EXPECTS TO RECEIVE two more soon covering the use of differential-Global Navigation Satellite Systems for three-dimensional surveillance of aircraft and vehicles in the airport environment. The two-person company demonstrated its technology at the Manchester, N.H., airport starting in 1991 (AW&ST Dec. 16/23, 1991, p. 43). The patents cover the ways differential-GNSS could be used to support future airport operations.
Airborne Express is looking forward to next winter, when a $60-million investment in a second runway at its Wilmington, Ohio, hub is expected to start paying off. Key to the project is pending FAA approval of simultaneous takeoffs and landings at the company-owned field, which is expected to bring increased aircraft acceptance rates and improved alleviation of weather-related system backups. Airborne moved an average of more than 1 million packages a night last December.
Both House aviation subcommittee chairman Bud Shuster (R.-Pa.) and ranking minority member James Oberstar (D.-Minn.) are pressing hard on whether the White House had a hand in the decision to ground ValuJet. At last week's hearing, FAA Administrator David R. Hinson steadfastly denied that any pressure was applied by President Clinton's chief of staff, Leon Panetta, or by Transportation Secretary Federico Pena to shut down ValuJet.
THE SEA LITE BEAM DIRECTOR, a high-energy laser beam control system developed by Hughes' Electro-Optical Systems unit, has demonstrated illumination and active tracking of a ballistic missile in its boost phase. The Phillips Laboratory-sponsored experiment--conducted at the U.S. Army's High Energy Laser Test Facility, White Sands, N.M.--was considered an important step in development of the Air Force's Airborne Laser anti-missile system. Cued by a tracking radar, the Sea Lite's infrared imaging sensor initially locked onto a Black Brant missile's plume.
Pratt&Whitney's 90,000-lb.-thrust PW4090 powerplant for the Boeing 777-200 and 777-300 was expected to obtain FAA certification late last week. Compared with the 84,000-lb.-thrust PW4084, the new engine incorporates new fan exit guide vanes, improved high-pressure compressor aerodynamics and materials, and cooling changes in the low- and high-pressure turbines. Flight tests on the 777 are scheduled to begin later this summer with service entry planned for March, 1997. Pratt plans to have the engine cleared for 180-min.
Watch for the U.S. Navy to outfit its F-14 Tomcats with a capability to drop precision weapons in adverse weather conditions that prevent visual contact with a target. Adding a Lantirn targeting pod to the F-14 bolstered the Navy's day/night, long-range precision strike options, and ``the only hole left is a through-the-weather capability,'' senior service officials said (AW&ST June 10, p. 40). Contractors have proposed several candidate approaches, such as Global Positioning System-aided guidance for its weapons.
Aeropostale, an Air France group subsidiary, is planning to acquire additional all-cargo aircraft to increase its share in the courier market. Aeropostale operates 16 postal routes during the night and passenger flights during the day. Its fleet comprises 15 Boeing 737-300s, four 737-200s and two 727-200s. ``In addition, we anticipate acquiring bigger aircraft, an initiative tied to our steady traffic growth,'' Aeropostale Chairman/CEO Martin Vial said.
Carroll W. Suggs, chairman/president/chief executive officer of Petroleum Helicopters Inc., has received the President's Citation of the Flight Safety Foundation for his commitment to managing safety in aviation.
AU.S. Presidential advisory board is backing the defense lobby's controversial push for the elimination of research and development recoupment charges. Such charges recover part of U.S. taxpayers' original investment in weapons systems when they are sold overseas.
Brenda Ramos has been named international program manager and C. Thomas Cyr PT6 program manager of UNC Airwork, Millville, N.J. Ramos was supervisor of maintenance planning for Executive Airlines/American Eagle, and Cyr was a technical sales representative for Raytheon Aircraft Services.
Bell Helicopter Textron has extended a basic license manufacturing agreement with IPTN to cover the marketing and assembly of Bell's new 407 light helicopter in Indonesia. The plan was announced as Bell delivered its first Bell 430 intermediate twin (below) to IPTN President Director B.J. Habibie. He had previously signed an agreement to license manufacture of the 430.
The NTSB is investigating a June 9 rudder malfunction on an Eastwind Airlines Boeing 737-200 that bears similarities to the fatal crash of a USAir 737 near Pittsburgh in 1994. Eastwind Flight 517 was on approach to Richmond (Va.) International Airport when the crew experienced what it later described as a sudden 20-30-deg. uncommanded roll. A stabilized approach was regained and the aircraft landed safely. No injuries or damage was reported.
Honeywell's Versatile Integrated Avionics (VIA 2000) architecture--which uses elements from the Boeing 777 Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) system--currently is planned for use on several transport programs at Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, including the proposed MD-XX.
Lockheed Martin had six industrial survey teams in Poland last month discussing potential partnerships with Polish firms interested in manufacturing and maintaining F-16 airframes, engines and systems. Poland is considering a number of aircraft types as potential replacements for its aging fighter fleet. Options include leasing existing USAF F-16A/B aircraft for five years, purchasing A and B models now in USAF inventory, and buying the latest F-16C/D version equipped with a fourth-generation core electronics package.
Kiwi International Air Lines late last week was still trying to forge an agreement with the FAA that would allow the carrier to resume full operations. Representatives of the startup airline and officials of the FAA's Eastern Region office were hoping to hammer out a plan for revalidating the qualifications of Kiwi's two check airmen and 32 pilots. As of late last week, the two sides were unable to agree on such a plan and until they do, Kiwi will be operating at a disadvantage in a highly competitive market.
Daniel S. Goldin's top deputies have drawn a plan to help meet his goal of slashing more than 50% of NASA headquarters staff by October, 1997. Their proposal would gut the Office of Space Access&Technology (``Code X,'' to insiders), turning it into a Space Transportation Office and cutting its staff to as few as 10 from 105. Most Code X responsibilities, such as technology development, commercialization and technology transfer, would be scattered throughout the agency. NASA's Office of Space Communications (Code O) would be eliminated.
