Chris Strong has become senior vice president-conventions and membership for the Washington-based National Business Aviation Association. He has been senior vice president-marketing and member services, and succeeds Kathleen Blouin, who will continue as a consultant.
Anton Lill (see photo) has been named managing director of Air Berlin’s loyalty program Topbonus. He was vice president/general manager for Germany at American Express Global Business Travel and had been managing director of Lufthansa subsidiary AirPlus.
Eija Hakakar has been named senior vice president-human resources for Finnair. She will succeed Manne Tiensuu, who is leaving Aug. 31. Hakakari has held the same position at Stora Enso’s Printing and Living division. Riku Aho has been appointed managing director of Finnair Aircraft Finance Ltd. and its subsidiary Finnair ATR Finance Ltd. He was assistant vice president.
Craig R. Cooning has been appointed president of Boeing’s St. Louis-based Network & Space Systems businesses. He has been vice president/general manager of N&SS’s Space & Intelligence Systems and succeeds Roger Krone, who has left the company.
Mbuvi Ngunze (see photo) has been promoted to group managing director/CEO of Kenya Airways from chief operating officer, effective Dec. 1. He will succeed Titus Naikuni, who plans to retire.
Robert A. Schacht has become CEO of Westfield Hydraulics Inc., Pacoima, California. He was chief operating officer of Ace Clearwater Enterprises and had been president of Hydra Electric.
Allan Goodbrand has been promoted to general manager for Circor Aerospace & Defense Europe from general manager for Circor UK. Don Stinnett has been promoted to general manager for Circor Aerospace & Defense California from product line director for landing gear and actuation. And Paul Devaux has been appointed president of Circor Chemille (France). He was a general manager for United Technologies Aerospace Systems in Indonesia.
Anthony Carbone has been named non-executive chairman of Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He has been lead independent member of the board and succeeds Clay Jones, who plans to retire July 31. Carbone was executive vice president of the Dow Chemical Co. and later was vice chairman of its board.
Airbus initially planned the A320neo family as a minimal upgrade to the current A320 family, but this is no longer true for the A321neo, which is gaining more cabin capacity. Over the years, the A321 has gradually evolved from a niche product for a few dense routes to an aircraft meant for the center of the market. At the end of May, the A321 backlog stood at more than 1,100 aircraft, while the A319’s was just 104. If conversion rights are exercised, the A321 share will rise further; almost half of the manufacturing slots are now planned for the model.
After working for two decades with little government support, Britain’s Reaction Engines Ltd. (REL) is gaining ground with the U.K. and European space agencies and is now collaborating with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory on an innovative synergetic air-breathing rocket engine, known as Sabre.
With its increasingly industry-friendly space policies, Britain is seeing a surge of activity in the growing field of small-satellite technology as the government aims for a regulatory environment supportive of space-based enterprise in the U.K. The government is reducing the amount of insurance that satellite companies must acquire before it will ensure third-party liability. Britain is also weighing how cubesats are regulated in an effort to shorten the time it takes operators of small satellites to acquire a license.
Only four years ago, Boeing and Airbus were in a bitter fight for the largest contract for aerial refuelers to come on the scene for at least a decade.
The big question for the U.S. Air Force’s T-38C replacement program—the largest tender for fast-jet trainers in years—remains what Boeing will bring to the table. The answer remains—as it was a year ago—a ways off. The service is starting to put muscle behind the effort. But the competition isn’t expected to begin until late next year. So until that request for proposals is released, contractors likely to vie for the work remain largely mum.
Russia is continuing its comeback effort in the commercial narrowbody market with the new MS-21, in production and aimed at domestic, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Southeast Asian markets.
J ack Smith has been promoted to senior vice president-operations from vice president-ground operations for Southwest Airlines . He will be succeeded by Steve Goldberg , who has been promoted from managing director of ground operations.
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) of Guilford, England, will build the medium-resolution Alsat-1B remote-sensing satellite for Algerian space agency ASAL, along with a new spacecraft assembly and integration center in Oran, on the country’s northwestern coast. Based on the SSTL-100 small satellite bus, Alsat-1B will carry a 24-meter-resolution (39-ft.) multispectral imager and a 12-meter-resolution black-and-white imager.
Boeing could face “long-term credit risks” if the U.S. Export-Import Bank, the official export credit agency of America, is not reauthorized before October, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said July 8.
Japan has delayed entry into service of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries C-2 airlifter by two years to 2016 following an airframe failure in a strength test. Concentrated loads around the frames near the cargo door caused the failure, the ministry of defense says. The strength of the wing has evidently been verified. When the program was launched at the beginning of the last decade, the first delivery was due in 2011. More recently, the type was supposed to be in service this year. Japan has ordered six C-2s.
French lawmakers said July 8 that the nation’s €190 billion ($258 billion) military spending plan for 2014-19 is short €1.5 billion for next year, owing to an anticipated gap in revenue expected from the sale of radio-frequency spectrum allocated to the nation’s military. These exceptional resources, gleaned from the one-time sale of real estate, spectrum allocation and other state assets, will be used to fund €6.1 billion of the France’s defense budget, including €1.77 billion in 2014, €1.77 billion in 2015 and €1.25 billion in 2016.
