Feb. 4-6—MRO Middle East. Dubai. Feb. 10—Air Transport World's 40th Annual Airline Industry Achievement Awards. Pan Pacific Singapore Hotel. March 4-5—Defense Technology and Affordability Requirements Conference. Washington. March 6—Aviation Week's Laureate Awards. Washington. April 8-10—MRO Americas. Phoenix. Oct. 7—MRO Europe. Madrid. You can now register ONLINEfor Aviation Week Events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/events or call +1 (212) 904-4682.
Rockwell Collins has completed its $1.4 billion acquisition of airport information systems provider Arinc from the Carlyle Group, with integration activities to be completed in 6-9 months. Not joining the combined company are Arinc's industry standards organization, which it sold to SAE International to avoid “any perceived conflicts of interest,” and Arinc's Aerospace Systems Engineering and Support business, for which Rockwell Collins “has initiated preparatory efforts to divest” as it does not fit with the company's “long-term” strategy.
Emirates President Tim Clark, Aviation Week & Space Technology's Person of the Year, was selected for his outsized influence on the airline industry and aircraft manufacturing. Clark has played a major role in building Emirates from a tiny startup to the world's fourth-largest airline, in the process buying a lot of airplanes. On a single day in 2013, Emirates shored up the Airbus A380 program and helped launch the Boeing 777X. The airline has also leveraged its clout to influence the designs of next-generation airliners such as the 777X.
Kevin Dutton (see photo) has been appointed vice president-operations finance for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Ga. He has been director of materials and production finance. Scott Clarey has been named sales director for the Southwest U.S. and Kevin Brink for the Northwest U.S. Clarey was Western U.S. and Western Canada sales director for Piaggio America; Brink was sales director in that same area for Dassault Falcon Jet.
1984 A team of 10 managers starts work on a business plan for a new airline based in Dubai. 1985 Emirates is formally launched with Maurice Flanagan at the top. He has $10 million and five months to get the airline off the ground. Sheikh Ahmed bin Said Al Makhtoum and Tim Clark join. On Oct. 25, EK600 takes off from Dubai to Karachi, Emirates' first scheduled flight. The airline also flies to Mumbai and New Delhi.
Barely a decade ago, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) demonstrated that driverless vehicles could navigate desert roads and negotiate city streets. Now car manufacturers from Audi to Toyota are promising that autonomous driving technology will make their vehicles safer by the middle of this decade.
Textron's Scorpion two-seat advanced trainer is now in the flight-test phase. The company's public relations efforts remain minimal, although this is a valuable initiative, company-funded programs of such magnitude being a rare occurrence. But can an all-new military aircraft expect export success in the absence of domestic orders? Can Textron overcome such a handicap ? On the opposite side of the Atlantic, Dassault Aviation has not developed the Alpha Jet's long-overdue successor: Perhaps they should talk and jointly create a global product.
Were thousands of commercial airline flights in the U.S. canceled last week due to 1) the “polar vortex” that plunged most of the country—especially the eastern half—into a deep freeze, 2) the long-awaited implementation of a new FAA flight-time/duty-time regulation for air carriers operating under Part 117 or 3) both? Regardless, at least one regional carrier was quick to blame the new pilot rest rule. On Jan. 6, Northeast-focused JetBlue Airways imposed a 17-hr. shutdown, canceling more flights than any other carrier.
The Pentagon is speeding UAV missile deliveries to Iraq under an existing foreign military sale, according to a Defense Department spokesman. “We're expediting delivery of 10 operational ScanEagles for part of the original purchase, as well as an additional four non-operational ScanEagles, which will be sent to help facilitate maintenance of the original 10,” Army Col. Steven Warren said Jan. 7. According to Warren, officials anticipate an additional 48 Raven surveillance UAVs will be delivered in the spring.
U.S. congressional investigators agree NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, one of the agency's most complex and costly science projects, is proceeding well along its restructured plan. But the Hubble successor has little fiscal room for error or surprise difficulties leading up to its expected October 2018 launch (AW&ST Dec. 16, 2013, p. 24).
Airbus has started the high-altitude flight-test campaign for the A350. The manufacturer has sent MSN003, the second of an eventual five flight-test aircraft to Bolivia where it will perform tests at airports in Cochabamba and La Paz. The two airports were chosen because of their different altitudes: At an elevation of 13,300 ft., La Paz has one of the world's highest airports. Cochabamba is at 8,300 ft. Airbus says MSN003 will perform takeoffs, landings and go-arounds at the two airports in various configurations, including simulated engine failures.
Australia's new leadership faces some major aviation policy challenges this year. In each case, the government cannot avoid playing a key role—because even inaction or delay would have significant ramifications for the industry. However, the Liberal-National coalition elected in September has signaled that it will attempt to resolve these issues in 2014. Chief among them are the vexed question of a second major airport for Sydney, the elimination of a costly carbon tax and whether to give some form of aid to struggling Qantas.
A pushback collision between an Etihad Airways Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 777-300 at Abu Dhabi in May 2012 reveals the complexities involved in solving the ramp damage problem, and in its final report on the incident, the United Arab Emirates' General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) focuses largely on non-technical solutions.
Singapore's Tigerair will sell its struggling Philippine affiliate to competitor Cebu Pacific, which will replace Tigerair's direct presence in the Philippine market. Tigerair's retreat follows the expansion into the Philippine market by the largest of the franchising low-cost groups, AirAsia, which bought Zest Air last year and rebranded it as AirAsia Zest. Cebu Pacific will buy 40% of the equity of SEair—which also uses the brand Tigerair Philippines—from Tigerair of Singapore, and the remaining 60% from local shareholders. The total price is $15 million.
Marillyn A. Hewson (see photo) has become chairman of the Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md. She continues as president/CEO. As chairman, Hewson succeeds Robert J. Stevens, who plans to retire.
Michael Ryschkewitsch has been selected to lead the Space Sector at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md. He has been chief engineer at NASA and had been deputy director for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and director of its Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate.
In 2013 scientists announced that, for the first time, a man-made object had left the Solar System. Voyager I actually entered interstellar space in August 2012, but its operators had to wait until a solar storm generated enough data at the spacecraft to confirm the historic moment. Voyager I has been traveling away from the Sun since 1977, and is more than 11.7 billion mi. from Earth now. In 1996 it pointed its camera back on the Solar System it was leaving and collected this narrow-angle image of Earth at a distance of more than 4 billion mi. (below left).
Africa •Engine MRO expenditures are projected to be more than $800 million. •The continent's total fleet will decrease by six aircraft. Asia-Pacific •The region—excluding China and India—will generate $1 billion of spending on modifications, about one-fourth of the global modification market. •Excluding China and India, the region's fleet will increase 13%. China •Chinese operators will spend $1 billion on component MRO.
