Securing and dismantling the Soviet nuclear legacy at its source are the top funding priorities of America's nuclear stewards, who are hobbled by the same deficit pressures as the rest of the government. They say that in the battle of the budget, two programs are paramount for securing ex-Soviet nuclear materials and preventing smuggling. One is the Energy Dept.'s laboratory-to-laboratory collaboration with Russia's leading nuclear institutes, set up in 1994. Currently, six U.S.
Western Pacific Airlines' load factor for May was 56.4%, 7.1% below the same period last year, but traffic volume increased a staggering 340%. WestPac flew 118.7 million revenue passenger miles (RPM) in May, carrying 140,155 passengers. May, 1995, was the low-cost carrier's first full month of service. It served only five cities from its Colorado Springs hub and flew 27.0 million RPMs. Now it flies a full schedule of nonstop flights to 20 cities, adding flights and destinations as more aircraft join its fleet.
AIRBUS HAS PLACED its first narrow-body aircraft in Singapore with an agreement by Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (SALE) to lease eight A320s and four A321s, with options for another 12 of any family type. An engine choice has not been made. SALE is a partnership between Singapore Airlines and Boullioun Aviation Services. Until now it has purchased only wide-body aircraft--Boeing 767s and 777s.
Paul Cotter has been appointed C-130J program manager for the Avionics Div. and Robert Cotter director of displays and mission computers for Sanders, Nashua, N.H. Paul Cotter was business area manager for fire control and sensor systems, while Robert Cotter was director of technical operations.
U.S. negotiators have laid down the gauntlet, warning that full access to London Heathrow Airport--not just an ``open skies'' agreement--will be the price Britain must pay for an antitrust-immunity blessing on the proposed worldwide alliance by American Airlines and British Airways. THE TWO CARRIERS, which together control more than 60% of the traffic between the U.S. and U.K., have agreed to establish an alliance under which they will coordinate their passenger and cargo services between the U.S.
Stephen T. Pearl has been named vice president/general manager of the Aviation Repair Business Group of Chem-tronics Inc., El Cajon, Calif. He was general manager in El Cajon and Tulsa, Okla.
LUXEMBOURG-BASED Societe Europeenne des Satellites has ordered more television satellites from Hughes Space & Communications and Matra Marconi Space. The satellites are scheduled to produce additional capacity in a new orbital position. SES also plans to operate additional spacecraft from an existing position. The orders involve Astra 2A and Astra 2B. Hughes' Astra 2A is scheduled to be injected into a new orbital position, at 28.2 deg. East, by an Ariane 4 or 5 in August, 1997. Matra Marconi's Astra 2B is to be collocated at the same position.
Daniel R. Kummet has been appointed vice president-consulting services of the Ascent Logic Corp., San Jose, Calif. He was director of training and consulting.
Orbital Sciences Corp. and Rockwell International pulled the plug on development of the X-34 reusable winged booster earlier this year when they backed out of a cooperative agreement with NASA. But officials at the U.S. space agency apparently do not carry a grudge. NASA last week selected Orbital Sciences from among nine bidders to build a downscaled, suborbital X-34 test vehicle. Orbital's contract, which is expected to be worth about $50 million, will be paid for with money left over from the original project.
Airbus Industrie tentatively plans to launch the 550-630-seat A3XX ultra-high-capacity long-range transport in 1999 and to deliver the first production aircraft four years later. Airbus officials here expressed a strong commitment to launching the $8-billion program within three years, but the mechanism for financing the development effort has not been spelled out yet. Consortium partners Aerospatiale, Daimler- Benz Aerospace, British Aerospace and Construcciones Aeronauticas S.A. will provide substantial funding.
A new study of fatal commercial aircraft accidents involving controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) indicates that a loss of situational awareness--particularly during final approach to landing--a lack of ground proximity warning systems, and procedural and decision-making errors committed by aircrews dominate these mishaps. During the 1988-94 period investigated by the study's authors, 3,177 people died in 156 CFIT accidents. The fatality rate for three-quarters of them was 100%.
Richard L. Klass has been appointed vice president-government marketing of the Raytheon Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan. He was vice president of the International Planning and Analysis Center in Washington.
President Bill Clinton has named Boeing Chairman Frank Shrontz as one of three U.S. members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council.
Timothy S. Jenks has been named vice president of the Raychem Corp., Menlo Park, Calif. He was general manager of its Electrical Product Div., Ottobrunn, Germany.
Paolo Torricelli, managing director of Fiat Avio, has been elected president of AIA, the Italian aerospace industries association. Amadeo Caporaletti, Agusta's managing director, will be vice president. Torricelli succeeds Fausto Cereti.
Ronald F. McKenna has been named corporate executive vice president/chief operating officer-aerospace for the Sundstrand Corp., Rockford, Ill. He was vice president-business development for Sundstrand Aerospace.
Cessna Aircraft has received full FAA certification of its new Citation 10 business jet. The Mach 0.92 aircraft, which first flew in December, 1993, completed its final reliability and function tests in late May. The flight test program surpassed 3,000 hr., Cessna said. The 10-passenger Citation 10 has a maximum takeoff weight of 35,300 lb. and will carry seven passengers across the U.S. at Mach 0.9 with instrument weather reserves.
Michael Daugherty has been promoted to group vice president of the Engineering and Technology Group from vice president-space program operations in the Space Systems Group of the Aerospace Corp. of Los Angeles. He will succeed Allen Boardman, who will retire July 1. Other recent appointments were: Marlene Dennis, human resources director; and James Campbell, manager of advanced programs operations at the Herndon, Va., office. Dennis was human resources director of McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems, Mesa, Ariz.; while Campbelll was Aerospace Corp.
After a year's search, the Smithsonian Institute has appointed Donald Engen the director of the National Air and Space Museum. Engen, a former FAA administrator and a retired vice admiral, currently holds the museum's DeWitt Ramsey Chair for Naval Aviation History. He also served as president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn.'s Air Safety Foundation. Engen replaces Martin O. Harwit, who resigned in May, 1995.
Fokker is scheduled to produce additional transport aircraft, an initiative expected to further extend the life of the bankrupt company. The Court of Amsterdam has approved a plan involving the production of 15 additional aircraft by the bankrupt manufacturer, a move expected to generate more cash and to give rise to an ultimate opportunity to save the company. The extension of Fokker Aircraft's activities is granting more time to Dutch investors who are still considering an offering to acquire the company and its product range.
Trans World Airlines is seeking to operate three daily round-trip flights between New York's John F. Kennedy International and London's Heathrow airports, and last week filed an exemption application with the U.S. Transportation Dept. (see p. 26). The St. Louis-based carrier would begin the service this fall with Boeing 747s and 767s. TWA noted that British Airways recently announced record pretax profits of $901 million, a substantial share of which was generated on U.S.-London routes. These are the same routes on which the British restrict U.S.
The House has agreed to repeal the law that allows the Pentagon to pay restructuring costs for companies in defense mergers or acquisitions if they save the Defense Dept. money. The Appropriations defense subcommittee Chairman, C.W. ``Bill'' Young (R.-Fla.), agreed to accept the repeal--which the Pentagon opposes--without a vote as an amendment to the Fiscal 1997 defense appropriations bill. But Young's acquiescence may have been a gambit. If the House had approved the measure on a roll call vote, it would have made it harder to drop in conference with the Senate.
