This month, the citizens of Munich made a decision that sent Germany's air transport industry into a state of shock. In a local referendum, a majority of voters opted against the construction of a third runway at Munich Airport. Legally, the vote is only binding for one year, but Munich's mayor has already stated that the he considers it's a long-term decision. A new runway in Munich is now on the back burner, if it ever happens at all.
Reducing energy consumption, not buying alterative fuels, is the only way the Pentagon can cut its fuel costs, says a report by the otherwise defense-friendly Rand Corp. think tank. “Alternative liquid fuels do not offer [the Defense Department] a way to appreciably reduce fuel costs,” concludes the new report for the Air Force. Instead, the armed service should use its resources to forge international security partnerships that promote the production and protect the supply of petroleum.
All Nippon Airways has adjusted its Boeing 787 order book to substitute four long-range -9 models for standard-sized -8s that were due to be delivered starting next April. The Tokyo-based launch customer for the twin-engine jet says it wants “greater flexibility” to expand its international route network. ANA initiated 787 international services last year with a Tokyo-Frankfurt route and expects to launch services from Tokyo to Seattle and San Jose, Calif., later this year. With the switch, ANA will take delivery of 36 787-8s and 19 787-9s.
The FAA's NextGen air traffic modernization program has cleared another hurdle, as the House Appropriations Committee approved nearly $1 billion for the program in a spending bill for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. The bill also scraps controversial user fees that would have instituted a $100-per-flight charge for both commercial and business jets and nearly tripled a passenger security fee.
The U.S. Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program is 50-for-50 with the liftoff June 20 of a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office on an Atlas V, notching a perfect record in 50 launches since August 2002. Here the Atlas V, a 401 configuration with a 4-meter payload fairing, lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral, with the NROL-38 payload. Liftoff was at 8:28 a.m. EDT, and the NRO termed the mission a success.
International Lease Finance Corp. CEO Henri Courpron is keeping his title, but he has been demoted to second in command and is losing $1 million in annual compensation because of a “personal relationship” with an employee under his supervision, says ILFC parent company American International Group.
Aireen Omar (see photo) has been appointed CEO and executive director of AirAsia Malaysia, succeeding Tony Fernandes, who retains his title as group CEO. Omar was the group's regional head of corporate finance, treasury and investor relations.
That Ryanair's CEO has a way of showing his contempt for regulators is no longer news in Europe, so it is perhaps par for the course that the carrier is launching a takeover attempt of Aer Lingus just as overseers look into whether the existing shareholding relationship is problematic. Nevertheless, the move creates renewed uncertainty about the future of Aer Lingus and its shareholding structure, as the airline is hoping to ride the structural changes it has made in recent years into a more profitable future.
Michael Dergance (see photo) has been named VP-sales and marketing of Turbodesign Technology of New York. He was director of software sales for Concepts NREC.
Marco Laos has become quality assurance manager for Heads Up Technologies, Carrollton, Texas. He was director of quality engineering at St. Jude Medical.
The U.K. defense ministry has awarded BAE Systems a £15.5 million ($24.2 million) contract to convert two BAe 146-200QC (Quick Change) to military aircraft for passenger and freight transport to offload more mundane tasks from airlifters. The aircraft were previously operated by TNT Airways. The work is to be completed by March 2013.
Members of the House are trying to reinstate a rule to allow a business write-off for aircraft and other major purchases in the year the purchase is made, rather than to spread the expense over many years. The write-off, known as “bonus depreciation,” expired last year but a new bill, sponsored by Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), would retroactively allow companies to use that write-off for all of 2012.
Although Central and Eastern Europe are experiencing faster growth than any other part of the continent, many of the region's airlines are still old-school national carriers. Now many of them are trying to find a new model.
Embraer's year-old Phenom business jet factory in Melbourne, Fla., has earned its FAA production certification. The Brazilian airframer has been shipping Phenom 100s from Melbourne since last December under the type certificate of its Brazilian-made aircraft. The Florida aircraft are assembled from components made in Brazil.
Bill Kozane and Todd Romanski (see photos) have been appointed international market managers at Sifco Applied Surface Concepts, Independence, Ohio. Both men have had longtime sales roles at the company.
Kenn Ricci, chairman of Flight Options, has received the William A. Ong Memorial Award from the Alexandria, Va.-based National Air Transportation Association for “extraordinary achievement and extended meritorious service to the general aviation industry.” Y.H. Cho, Hanjin Group and Korean Air chairman and CEO, has been honored as a “Treasure of Los Angeles” by the Los Angeles Central City Association for his legacy of business and philanthropy there.
It may surprise you to know that a retired astronaut agrees with the recent editorial “How to Nip 'New Space' in the Bud” (AW&ST May 28, p. 66) about our present approach to human flight being too costly. (And I'm sorry that some astronauts act as little more than NASA cheerleaders.)
Rainer Ohler has been appointed head of corporate communications of EADS, Leiden, Netherlands. He was senior VP-public affairs and communications at subsidiary Airbus.
The European Commission has called on the U.K. and other EU members to make good on their commitment to implement new rules to ease the arms trade among EU members. The U.K., as well as Belgium, Luxemburg, Poland and Finland, so far have failed to advance any measures to implement so-called Directive 2009/43/EC. The implementation deadline was June 30, 2011. Denmark also has been criticized for moving forward only with partial implementation of the rule.
One must question the term “private” when applied to the SpaceX venture. All NASA rockets have been purchased from private corporations but launched from NASA facilities. SpaceX received about $400 million to develop Dragon and a $1.6 billion contract for International Space Station cargo deliveries for which they use NASA launch facilities. How is that any different then Boeing, Lockheed or Douglas?
Tail-mounted interconnected engines as proposed by reader David Stutman (AW&ST May 28, p. 10) are in contradiction to the “Engine Isolation” spirit of Federal Aviation Regulation 25.903. Closely-mounted engines are more prone to mutual destruction, especially by rotor burst, and should certainly not be mechanically interconnected. This may be the reason why tail mounting is not in fashion anymore, except for small business jets. Binyamina, Israel
