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.
Two demonstration Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) satellites, built by Northrop Grumman, captured these infrared images of a ballistic missile intercept from their low Earth orbit. In 2009, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) lofted the two STSS satellites, developed under the then-Space-Based Infrared System-low program, to explore whether orbiting spacecraft could be used to track warheads in mid-flight.
Israel's aerial refueling requirements are moving to the forefront as the country mulls possible air strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, and although a U.S. offer of surplus KC-135s would help, it is not a long-term solution. The ingress and egress routes to distant Iranian targets present planners with enormous challenges, including several midair refuelings under hazardous conditions, tasking every single asset that the Israeli air force (IAF) can put in the sky. Keeping fuel-guzzling jets flying to their targets and back would depend on tankers.
The Italian government is proceeding with new measures to protect “strategic” companies against foreign takeovers, with aerospace and defense entities topping the list. The first companies to be protected are Finmeccanica, Avio and Fincantieri. Future decrees will take care of energy, transportation and telecommunications companies.
Timothy Walsh (see photo) has become director of aviation services for New Orleans-based GCR Inc. He was vice president in the Energy, Environment and Infrastructure unit of the Science Applications International Corp. and had been director of airports for San Diego County, Calif.
Jerry Grey has taught engineering at Princeton University and been science and policy director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
The Latin American and Caribbean Air Transportation Association (ALTA), whose members account for 90% of the region's commercial air traffic, saw June passenger volume increase by 9.6% to a total of 11.6 million passengers compared to June 2011. With capacity up 8.1% over June 2011, the month's load factor also increased by 2.3 percentage points to 76%.
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has fended off a fierce primary challenge from Sandy Adams. Mica's electoral triumph follows two big legislative ones—passing multiyear FAA and highway bills. And now he has a new fight on his hands, as his next role on the Transportation Committee is unclear. To remain chairman in a Republican-led House, Mica would have to request an exemption from party term limits that prevent him from staying at the helm of the panel that sets policy for the FAA. Rep.
Aviation Week's 2012 Workforce Study data come from respondents that collectively employ 80% of the A&D industry's workforce of 624,000. Newcomers to this year's study include Alenia Aermacchi North America and Acutec Precision Machining.
Angela Gittens, world director of Airports Council International, has been named to receive the 2012 Aviation Award of Excellence from the Airport Consultants Council.
John Wojick (see photo) has been named vice president-sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. He succeeds Ray Conner, who is now president/CEO. Wojick has been vice president-North America sales and will be succeeded by Brad McMullen, who has been head of Japan and Oceania sales. Bernie Dunn has been named to succeed Greg Pepin as president of Boeing Turkey. Pepin plans to retire in October. Dunn has been vice president of business development for Middle East and Africa for ITT Defense International.
Thomas L. Hendricks has been appointed president of the Alexandria, Va.-based National Air Transportation Association, effective Sept. 1. He will succeed James K. Coyne. Hendricks has been senior vice president-safety, security and operations for Airlines for America.
Northrop Grumman has completed close-formation flight tests with two RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft as it moves closer to an autonomous high-altitude aerial refueling demonstration for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under the KQ-X program.
