External pressures and unreasonable expectations contributed to the losses of Challenger and Columbia. I hope emerging manned commercial space ventures do not fall victim to similar traps. Alexandria, Va.
USAF Col. Sean L. Murphy has been selected for promotion to brigadier general and has been named commander of the Air Force Medical Operations Agency, Office of the Surgeon General, San Antonio. He has been deputy assistant surgeon general in the Directorate of Healthcare Operations at USAF headquarters at the Pentagon. Brig. Gen. Francis L. Hendricks, who has been commander of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service in Dallas, has been named special assistant to the deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services at USAF headquarters.
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has approved the initial operations capability for a sensors package to upgrade the largest spacecraft-tracking telescope in the Defense Department's inventory. Built by Boeing Defense, Space & Security for the AFRL under a $409 million contract, the sensors, control software and computer systems upgrade were made to the Advanced Electro-Optical System, a 12-ft.-dia. telescope that began operations in 2000 at the Maui Space Surveillance Complex on Mt. Haleakala, Hawaii.
Can we believe in the reliability of long-term airline traffic forecasts? Should we trust economists and industry experts who tell us how many commercial transports will be needed by 2050 to handle an impressive number of travelers? Will the world's airlines carry more than 10 billion passengers annually less than 40 years from now? And does it even make sense to try to predict how big the airline industry could be in 2150?
Buddy Walls (see photo) has been promoted to director of the Space Avionics Department from manager of the Avionics Systems Section in Southwest Research Institute's Space Science and Engineering Div. in San Antonio.
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.
