UNITED AIRLINES' FIRST BOEING 777 SCHEDULED REVENUE FLIGHT will occur on June 7 between London Heathrow and Washington, D.C. The 777 will replace a Boeing 767 on the high-profile route, and the 747-100 also being used will be replaced with a 747-200. On the same day, the airline, which will have an initial fleet of three 777s, will begin using the aircraft on flights from Frankfurt to Chicago, and between Chicago and Denver. Beginning in July with another delivery, United will begin operating the 777 between Newark and London, with continuing service to Amsterdam.
THE U.S. TRANSPORTATION Dept. and Switzerland's civil aviation authority have concluded an ``open skies'' accord. The revised bilateral is expected to be implemented by mid-year. U.S. and Swiss carriers will be authorized to serve an unlimited number of points in the two countries, capacity will be unrestricted and pricing will be free. Swissair actively promoted the pact to boost traffic on North Atlantic routes and strengthen its code-sharing agreement with Delta Air Lines.
Bombardier companies have sold three business jets and one turboprop recently for use as airways calibration aircraft. The Challenger 601-3R sold to the Korean Ministry of Transport (below) will be the second Challenger operating in the Republic of Korea. The first was acquired by a trading company in 1991. Litton will modify the 601-3R just ordered with flight inspection system electronics.
SHUTTLE MISSION 67 has been set for launch Mar. 2 at 1:37 a.m. EST. At a planned duration of more than 15 days, the Astro 2 mission would be the longest shuttle flight to date. Endeavour will fly with a crew of seven.
Photograph: Ariane 5 upper stage is the first large German operational rocket system since the V-2. Large silver tanks hold propellant. Germany will begin final qualification ground firings in April of its new, 6,000-lb.-thrust upper stage for the European Space Agency's Ariane 5 heavy booster. The Daimler-Benz Aerospace ``Aestus'' engine that is the heart of the storable propellant EPS upper stage will complete its own system qualification test series in March.
India's privately owned startup airlines, now just three years old, already have captured 40% of the country's domestic market. Further accelerating growth is a recent government ruling allowing the carriers to import their own jet fuel. This cuts fuel prices by 30%, to an average of $1.15/gal., adding to profit margins as ticket prices remain stable.
Chester Vaughan has been promoted to chief engineer for the International Space Station program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston from senior engineer. Jay Greene has been named orbiter project manager for the JSC Projects Office. He was associate director of engineering.
Alitalia pilots, striking in protest of the carrier's new cost-cutting initiatives, are disrupting the carrier's operations. They firmly oppose a decision to operate leased transports aimed at reducing operating costs and also seek to renegotiate salaries.
PROGRESS M-26 cargo transport was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Feb. 15. It was to dock at the aft port of Russia's Mir space station on Feb. 17.
THE TECHNICAL Research and Development Institute of Japan's Defense Agency expects to employ stealth characteristics in a multipurpose remotely piloted vehicle. The institute has received $4.8 million for first-phase development of the RPV, which would have folding wings and be launched from fighters. Position and stability information would be provided by an internal inertial reference system with surveillance information relayed by datalink. Return would be by parachute.
Passengers may foot more of the bill for air travel following the reduction by most major airlines of commissions paid to travel agents on domestic ticket sales. To offset their own losses from that reduction, agents are expected to charge customers for many services that today are provided free, such as canceling and re-booking itineraries and reissuing tickets whose prices have been undercut by fare sales.
Michael M. Warner has been named vice president-business development for Airport Systems International, Overland Park, Kan. He held a similar position at Harris Corp.
Rudy Canto, Jr., is now director of airline operations at FlightSafety International`s Long Beach (Calif.) Training Center. He was chief pilot for McDonnell Douglas Corp.
All Nippon Airways says it will increase capacity while driving down per-seat costs, expand its domestic and international services and shed still more workers as part of a second-phase comeback program that was started last year. The goal is to raise annual operating revenues to about 910 billion yen ($9.1 billion) in fiscal 1997, or 15% above the current level of 794 billion yen. ANA, which lost money in 1993 and anticipates breaking even in fiscal 1994 (year ending Mar. 31), is not projecting results for 1995.
Increasing business jet sales are expected to heavily contribute to Dassault Aviation's sustained profitability and play a major role in the company's revised strategic plan. Dassault Aviation in 1994 concluded orders for 45 Falcon business jets valued at about $1 billion, up from 23 aircraft in 1993. The company last year also sold 16 used business aircraft. ``We are currently acquiring an increased market share. We sold 20 Falcons since the NBAA Convention [October, 1994],'' Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Serge Dassault said.
Officials of E'Prime Aerospace Corp. are pursuing financing to resume development of the USAF Peacekeeper missile as a commercial launch vehicle following the U.S. government's agreement to ensure their work complies with Strategic Arms Reduction treaties.
THE USAF/MCDONNELL Douglas C-17 has been awarded the Collier Trophy by the National Aeronautic Assn. (NAA) for its versatility as a transport aircraft. Recipients of the 1994 Collier Trophy were the Air Force, McDonnell Douglas and the C-17 team of contractors and suppliers.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is requesting $38.8 million in Fiscal 1996 to pay salaries and expenses for its 350-member workforce. Although the board's request is $1.4 million more than funding enacted for Fiscal 1995, the additional money would ``only maintain our current level of staffing,'' James E. Hall, NTSB chairman, said. Salaries and benefits account for 73.1% of the board's budget.
A second former executive of Chromalloy Gas Turbine Corp. of Orangeburg, N.Y., has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to improper repairs of aircraft engine parts. James M. Gabriel, an executive vice president who headed the Chromalloy Research and Technology Div., was named in a nine-count indictment alleging mail fraud, wire fraud, making false statements to the FAA, obstruction of justice, and engaging in two conspiracies.
Richard J. Powers has been named director of financial administration of the Aerospace Industries Assn. in Washington. He was chief of the financial advisory services branch at the National Institutes of Health.
A new U.S./Canadian bilateral agreement may be signed this week by President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Jean Chretien, freeing up U.S. and Canadian carriers to serve new cross border routes.
ANTI-MISSILE DEFENSE HAS BEEN DEALT A MAJOR POLITICAL SETBACK, partly because of the emerging House conflict between Republican deficit hawks and Republican defense hawks.
