The U.S. Air Force has not announced when it will replace its T-38C fast jet trainer, but industry is already posturing for a competition that will likely result in insourcing manufacturing jobs, amid high U.S. unemployment.
Virgin Galactic says Scaled Composites is on track to attempt the first suborbital flights of the SpaceShipTwo (SS2) space tourist vehicle in 2012 following a successful full-duration firing of the Sierra Nevada RM2 rocket motor.
European and U.S. satellite manufacturers are preparing for a global downturn as budget pressures curb funding for large government contracts and major commercial customers wind down their recent spending sprees. U.S. aerospace giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing are bracing for spending cuts in Washington as Congress seeks savings in the Pentagon's annual budget, which last year topped $663 billion.
NASA's next round of awards to support development of commercial systems to fly crews to the International Space Station (ISS) will be fixed-priced contracts, not the more flexible Space Act agreements favored by industry, the agency announced as it released a draft solicitation for the program's Integrated Design Phase.
Over the next two years, Alenia Aeronautica will execute a major restructuring that could shed as many as 1,700 jobs in an effort to make the company more efficient and competitive in the global market. Chief Executive Giuseppe Giordo and newly appointed Chairman Amedeo Caporaletti say the move is the second, more aggressive phase of a broader reorganization launched in November 2010 that reduced the company's workforce by 1,000 during the past year.
One might have thought that Chinese labor rates and abundant government capital would guarantee low-enough costs for any aircraft maker. Yet Avicopter says it is looking at outsourcing production to lower-cost countries.
AgustaWestland and a Chinese company are working to set up a privately owned helicopter assembly line, in a project that would mark a great advance for the country's non-government aircraft sector. If an agreement is concluded, the factory will begin delivering helicopters next year. AgustaWestland's aim is not only to save costs but also to establish a technical base for training and support.
Low-fare carriers have all but abandoned their original model in favor of broadening their presence in higher-yield markets. In the next phase of expected slower growth, even more innovation may be needed. The pressure to come up with new revenue streams is particularly intense in Europe and North America, where markets are mature and growth is slackening even for market leaders such as Southwest Airlines, Ryanair and EasyJet. And carriers in faster-growing markets are also adding creative product features.
Airbus is studying how to increase production of its single-aisle aircraft to up to 50 per month. The move is based on the manufacturer's updated global market forecast, which sees even higher demand for all categories of aircraft than predicted a year ago. John Leahy, chief operating officer for customers, believes the European manufacturer will soon decide to raise monthly output to 44 from the currently planned 42. He said in an interview that the 60 units Boeing is looking at as part of its longer-term plans were “ridiculous.”
Perhaps the trickiest decision in designing a turboprop airliner is choosing the speed. The main point of such aircraft is economy, but speed for a turboprop simply equates to power, and power equates to fuel burn—not to mention engine mass and cost. Moreover, many aviation professionals argue that, over the ranges that such aircraft usually fly, the passenger barely notices even a 20% difference in cruising speed.
The image should be one of a knight in shining armor—or perhaps a hundred of them, riding in from Montreal. Bombardier, offering potentially critical support to the C919 program, expects to begin signing definitive agreements of cooperation with Chinese manufacturer Comac before the end of the year. The deals could conceivably include support with the detail design of the C919, the Canadian company says. It is preparing a proposal to dispatch a team of engineers to help Comac, according to an industry executive.
A new tool being developed by the FAA and Saab Sensis Corp. promises to yield fresh insights into runway safety hazards, and is set to play a key role in assessing the benefits and risks of air traffic modernization projects.
Air cargo traffic collapsed from mid-2008 through mid-2009 and then recovered just as dramatically through the first half of 2010. Traffic levels regained, or modestly surpassed, prerecession levels by the year's halfway point. Since then, however, cargo growth has been listless at best, freight load factor is down and some in the industry are concerned about yield-damaging overcapacity. And with the traditional peak season looming, the next few months will go a long way toward determining how 2011 is remembered by the air cargo market.
Boeing's 787, the most talked about airliner of this young century, is no longer a dream in an engineer's computer. The long-sought advances of plastics being aerodynamically molded into a new kind of airframe, less-thirsty engines being kinder to the environment and passengers being flown more comfortably, thanks to electric motors, has become concrete.
After several false starts and the most intensive build-up to the entry of revenue services for any commercial program, including the 747 and 777, Boeing feels as prepared as it can ever be for 787 operations to begin. “The aircraft is certified and going through the first of model testing,” says 787 Services Vice President Mike Fleming, who adds, “It's been a long time coming.”
As some analysts see weakening in air cargo, Boeing's 747-8 Freighter program has been rattled by the cancellation of three airplanes by Atlas Air and a contract dispute over two others with launch customer Cargolux. In a Sept. 16 notification to Boeing, Atlas Air cited “lengthy delays in delivery” and “performance considerations” for canceling the first three of the 12 firm orders it placed in September 2006. President and CEO William J. Flynn told analysts one delivery is set for October and two more in November.
As wrangling continues over the delayed delivery of the first Boeing 747-8F to Cargolux, General Electric is starting assembly of an improved engine designed to narrow the performance-guarantee gap at the heart of the controversy.
Walter J. Zable lights up as he talks about some of the advanced defense technologies his company is developing. The chairman and CEO of Cubic Corp. describes an optical communications system that can help steer a sniper's bullet to a target a mile away, an advanced system to detect improvised explosive devices and a compact, encrypted data-link system for smaller unmanned aircraft. “You have to stay ahead of the game,” he explains.
Europe's maintenance, repair and overhaul sector is facing tough market conditions and long-standing structural disadvantages over competitors with lower costs, but that does not seem to stimulate any fundamental change to the shape and size of the industry.
There is a basic assumption that as Europe and the U.S. curtail purchases of new defense equipment, support services will grow. But as is the case for prime contractors, it may be the export business that is really critical to future revenue streams for companies focused on maintenance services and upgrades.
Chinese aircraft maintainer Gameco will try strict specialization as a way of driving up efficiency, allocating one of its sites to only A320 maintenance. The company is emphasizing scale as well as efficiency at its main base, at Guangzhou, eyeing a third-stage expansion even as it breaks ground on the second stage.
Oct. 12-13—Fifth Edition of Lean Six Sigma for MRO Forum. San Francisco. Oct. 20-21—MRO IT Conference and Showcase. Chicago. Oct. 24-26—A&D Programs. Phoenix. Nov. 2-3—Engine MRO Forum. Istanbul. Nov. 7—China Business Aviation Forum. Beijing. Nov. 8-10—MRO Asia. Beijing. Nov. 16-17—Lean Six Sigma for MRO Europe. Amsterdam. Nov. 30-Dec. 1—Aerospace & Defense Finance Conference. New York. Feb. 1-2—MRO Middle East 2012. Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Oct. 2-5—Air Traffic Controller Association's 56th Annual Conference and Exposition. Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, National Harbor, Md. Call +1 (703) 299-2430 or see www.atca.org/56Annual Oct. 3-7—International Aeronautical Congress 2011. Cape Town (South Africa) International Convention Center. Call +27 (21) 460-9357 or see www.iac2011.com Oct. 6-9—Australasian Society of Aerospace Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting. Crowne Plaza Hotel, Newcastle, Australia. See www.asam2011.org.au
In January, I came to Washington with certain preconceived notions about how things work in our government. Before I could get settled as ALPA's president, I ended up with an expired FAA reauthorization bill, significant flight- and duty-time concerns, and questions about foreign ownership.
The U.S. Air Force is departing from its long-standing pursuit of cutting-edge technology and embarking on a new philosophy of “incrementalism” in the procurement of new aircraft, rockets, satellites and weapons. This calls for integrating existing technologies onto new platforms, and is as much about reigning in spending as Washington sorts out a national debt reduction plan as it is about regaining lost confidence in its ability to conduct source selections without mishaps.
