Jay B. Shelat has been named senior vice president-cargo terminal services-North America for Dallas-based Worldwide Flight Services. He was vice president-cargo of Jet Airways and had been director of alliances and interline for American Airlines Cargo.
As the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) latest cargo security deadline for passenger air carriers nears, much has changed since the original Dec. 31, 2011, date, but some of the concerns have not. The carriers must be able to inspect 100% of their cargo traveling on international U.S.-bound flights by Dec. 3. The TSA postponed its original mandate after nearly one-third of the airlines commenting on the deadline balked at the time frame allotted, according to Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports.
Embraer delivered the first of three EMB-145 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) testbed aircraft to India on Aug. 16, following the completion of ground and flight tests of the heavily modified aircraft in Brazil. Changes include an inflight refueling system, increased electrical and cooling capability, and structural provisions for the mission system, which includes an active-array radar mounted in an antenna above the fuselage.
USN Capts. John P. Neagley and Charles A. Richard have been selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half). Neagley has been named deputy commander of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command at San Diego. He is program manager for Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington. Richard has been appointed commander of Joint Functional Component Command for Global Strike of U.S. Strategic Command, Offutt AFB, Neb. He has been the command's chief of staff for special activities-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va. Honors And Elections
In a clever parry, Airbus is preparing to establish A320-series final assembly facilities in the U.S., right in Boeing's backyard. On first glance, it looks like a daring tactic designed to further strengthen the company's global image and boost its long-term goal to become the leading player in the air transport market. But several question marks hover over this decision.
Most aerospace technologies cannot hope to match the rate of progress enshrined in Moore's Law—the observation that microchip performance doubles every 18-24 months. But in small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), where payload size, weight and power are critical, rapid progress in communication, sensor and even power electronics is paying speedier dividends.
Congress may have left Washington for its summer recess, but that hasn't stopped calls for lawmakers to end the gridlock over the federal budget deficit. New and powerful players trying to avert a potential $1 trillion across-the-board federal budget cut are emerging, as former senior officials in the Transportation and Defense departments weigh in on the debate.
Joe Locandro (see photo) has become director of information technology for Cathay Pacific Airways. He succeeds Tomasz Smaczny, who has resigned. Locandro was director of group information technology for CLP
Shortly after ST Aerospace decided not to acquire Pemco World Air Services, it appears the bankrupt MRO based in Tampa, Fla., found a new buyer. And that buyer, Avion Services Holdings, an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, does not appear to be making major changes—at least for now.
Copa Airlines reported lower operating margins for the quarter ended June 30, but CEO Pedro Heilbron is shrugging that off. The Panama-based carrier is pushing ahead with an ambitious plan to expand its capacity by 23% in 2012. “We expect improvement through the third and fourth quarters,” Heilbron told analysts earlier this month. “We're expanding in mostly underserved markets with a growing middle class.”
The Pearl River Delta is one of the most infamously congested parts of China's airspace and now work is underway on another runway there, with yet one more likely to follow soon—and then a sixth airport.
Bezhalel “Butzi” Machlis (see photo) has been appointed to succeed Joseph Ackerman as president/CEO of Elbit Systems, Haifa, Israel, who is scheduled to retire March 31, 2013, and then be named vice chairman. Machlis is executive vice president of Elbit and general manager of its Land and C4I Div.
India's Go Airlines has awarded a 10-year contract to Lufthansa Technik for component support for its 20 Airbus A320 classics and forthcoming 72 A320 NEOs, which are scheduled to enter service beginning in 2016. Under the contract, Lufthansa Technik will supply spare parts for regular maintenance to GoAir's Mumbai and New Delhi bases.
To support business growth, StandardAero has moved its Singapore helicopter operations to a larger facility in Seletar Aerospace Park. The new facility has received or is in the process of getting approvals and certifications from aviation authorities in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and the U.S. The move comes at the same time as the appointment of a new general manager for the company's Singapore operations. Raghunath Reddy formerly directed operations at Singapore Aerospace Manufacturing.
The Civil Air Patrol (CAP), the system of 60,000 unpaid volunteer pilots who help conduct search-and-rescue and disaster-relief missions in the U.S., is in line for a leadership makeover. The patrol's board of governors will roll out the revamped internal governance structure during its annual conference and national board meeting in Baltimore this week. CAP anticipates its flying hours will increase by 8,000 hr.
I read with interest Frank Morring, Jr.'s commentary “Big Boosters” (AW&ST July 23, p. 22), about the Saturn V's F-1 first-stage engine that may fly again. One aspect not mentioned is whether any F-1 engines are still in storage and, if so, how many? If stored engines do exist, could they be used for a future booster in the same way stored space shuttle main engines are intended for use with the planned Space Launch System and then followed by newly built engines?
The Israeli prime minister convened a special session of his cabinet last week to discuss the defense budget, due to dramatic changes in the Middle East and the country's own finances. “This is more than a debate about priorities between the defense ministry and other ministries. This is about the priorities within the defense budget itself,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the beginning of the meeting.
A forthcoming U.S. Missile Defense Agency flight trial will be the first of its kind to test a layered defense pitting multiple air- and missile-defense systems against both ballistic missiles and air-breathing targets at once. But, hurdles remain toward achieving a truly integrated defense against air and ballistic missile threats to allied interests at home and abroad. FTI-01 is a major graduation exercise slated for this fall, and designed to position three of the Pentagon's missile-defense systems against five targets launched nearly simultaneously.
