Boeing will dismiss thousands of salaried engineers, technicians and support staff as it struggles to reduce overhead while production drops from 21 to 18.5 transport per month in 1995. The layoffs, which went deeper than expected, come in addition to the 3,000 or so hourly-rate production line workers that normally would have been let go with a similar drop in transport manufacturing rate. Company-wide, Boeing plans to release a net total of 7,000 workers during 1995.
Laurie A. Broedling has been appointed vice president-human resources of McDonnell Douglas Corp. in St. Louis. She was associate administrator for continual improvement at NASA.
NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin has ordered a hiring freeze at NASA as the agency grapples with the unexpected budget cuts the Clinton Administration ordered. Goldin said he and the agency are still reeling from orders by Clinton's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to cut $5 billion over five years from previous spending plans (AW&ST Feb. 13, p. 28).
Poland is modernizing its air traffic control system, but training may be the most challenging problem as the country integrates the military and civil systems. Transport Minister Boguslaw Liberadzki told AVIATION WEEK&SPACE TECHNOLOGY that new equipment is the top priority, with teaching English and ICAO procedures to controllers a second major goal.
As the U.S. aerospace/defense industry lurches toward a smaller but hungrier group of competitors, Norman R. Augustine has emerged as something of an unofficial spokesperson.
MD-11 fuselage production will be moved from San Diego to Douglas Aircraft Co. facilities in Long Beach, Calif., early next year as General Dynamics' Convair Div. phases out of the production program for trijet barrel sections. Douglas Aircraft officials had been planning to move MD-11 fuselage production out of state to cut costs when General Dynamics completed its scheduled work on the program (AW&ST July 11, 1994, p. 32). One site under consideration was a vacated Defense Dept. vehicle maintenance facility in Tooele, Utah.
Sustained traffic growth is expected to establish Brussels, the European Union's ``capital,'' as a major European gateway, a role now facilitated by increased passenger terminal capacity. A new 16-gate passenger terminal recently opened, facilities for regional carriers that will be completed in April, and seven additional gates planned for mid-1995 will boost the airport's capacity to 21 million passengers per year.
WHILE ITS AIRCRAFT PURCHASES are falling, Japan's military is moving ahead with several missile programs. In the new fiscal year that begins in April, the Finance Ministry has budgeted $897 million to cover three modernization and four procurement efforts. The total includes $326 million to upgrade an unspecified number of Japan's Patriot surface-to-air missiles, $176 million for a classified number of Hawks and improvements to the Japanese-built Type 81 short-range SAM.
British Aerospace and Saab-Scania have moved closer to a partnership on the JAS 39 Gripen program with a tentative agreement on marketing, further development and joint production of export models of the multirole fighter. The initial agreement, signed Jan. 24 after nearly two years of discussions, still has to be approved by the Swedish and U.K. governments and the boards of British Aerospace, the JAS 39 Industry Group and its individual companies.
WATCH FOR CANADA'S DEPT. OF NATIONAL DEFENCE to use commercial equipment and services as much as possible in the face of looming budget cuts. For example, Canadian Airlines International will dedicate one Boeing 737 and one Airbus A320 to charter service for the Defence Dept. personnel under a three-year, C$131-million ($92-million) contract, which runs through April, 1998, with a two-year option. The carrier's regional affiliate will also assign an aircraft to the program, probably an ATR42.
INSIDERS SAY THE SELECTION OF CHRISTOPHER A. HART to be the FAA's assistant administrator for safety appears promising--but his success depends on whether his boss backs him politically. Hart, a licensed commercial pilot with four years of experience as a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, will be responsible for analyzing a mountain of data and identifying key safety issues affecting air transport. He also will be called upon to help carry out the FAA's program to create a single level of safety regulation within the airline industry.
Airline pilots may soon be able to use a laptop computer simulation to help them transition into automated cockpits if new software proves successful in field trials.
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.
