Using numbers released by Boeing after a recent reorganization of its Commercial Aircraft Segment, industry analyst Paul Nisbet, head of JSA Research in Newport, R.I., estimates that the company lost about $1 million per airplane during 1998. Boeing recently divided its commercial operations into Narrow-Body Aircraft, Wide-Body Aircraft and Customer Services. Customer Services, which included initial and follow-on spare parts modifications, engineering and training, was revealed as being a $4 billion per year revenue operation.
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) ordered the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) to cancel a scheduled strike at two separate Lockheed Martin facilities, IAM reported Friday. The FMCS ordered the two sides to resume contract negotiations on Monday. Workers at facilities in Marietta, Ga., and Palmdale, Calif., rejected contract offers and would have begun a strike this weekend (DAILY, March 3).
The U.S. Navy sends the F/A-18E/F to sea this week for operational test and evaluation aboard the carrier USS Truman. Navy Secretary Richard Danzig tells Congress that he anticipates the Super Hornet will do quite well in OT&E with only nominal problems, comparable to "birth pains."
NASA plans to post interim reports by its space transportation architecture study contractors on the Internet as soon as they can be vetted for proprietary information, but some interesting findings are already dribbling out. Gary Payton, deputy associate administrator, aero-space technology, tells the House space subcommittee NASA won't be the only federal agency to benefit from lowering the cost of getting to orbit.
GKN of the U.K. and Finmeccanica of Italy have reached an advanced stage in lengthy discussions about a merger of their helicopter units - Westland and Agusta, respectively - with few points remaining to be resolved, says a Westland official. However, he says, it's not possible at this stage to say when the talks will be completed. Westland's interest in Agusta intensified early last year, following joint-venture proposals by Eurocopter Chairman Jean-Francois Bigay to the Italian group.
In a development that's sure to cheer Space Station adherents, Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.), a critic of the Station almost from the first day he arrived in the House in 1991 from South Bend, Ind., is leaving the House Science Committee. No, he hasn't gotten weary of losing House votes to cut the Station. He has won a seat on the House Intelligence Committee, and House rules limit Intelligence members to one other committee assignment. Roemer has elected to keep his seat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee.
Acting U.S. Air Force Secretary F. Whitten Peters on Friday announced the addition of five mobility wings to the new Aerospace Expeditionary Force (AEF) structure. He also named the lead wings for the AEFs and for two Aerospace Expeditionary Wings (AEW).
The Air Line Pilots Association expressed support for attempts to permit the Boeing 777 to fly up to 207 minutes from a suitable landing site, a 15% increase over the current limit of 180 minutes. ALPA officials said they are "concerned by a last-minute effort by one or two unaffiliated pilot groups to derail the carefully crafted agreement." It said that, like the Independent Association of Continental Pilots, it too has placed conditions on the extension.
Rada Electronics Industries Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding with Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems to supply data transfer systems and maintenance data recording systems for F-16. The Israeli company said it will supply the systems - the Advanced Data Transfer Equipment (ADTE) for data loading and the Fatigue Monitoring (FACE) engine and avionics health monitoring system for recording maintenance information - to Lockheed Martin, which will then offer them to F-16 customers.
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation's Inspector General says developing digital data link technology to meet the "urgent issue" of growing demand for air travel will be a "complex, long-term effort" of "substantial but uncertain" costs. The technology has been under development at the FAA for 15 years and was to be in use at select air traffic control facilities by late 1996, but estimates now are that the datalink "will be in use at only one location in mid 2002 - six years later than anticipated," the IG said.
All four of Litton Industries Inc.'s business segments posted gains in operating profit, with the company earning $44 million in its 1999 second quarter. Litton said earnings climbed 8% from the same period a year ago, as sales reached $1.13 billion. In the 1998 second quarter, Litton earned $40.6 million on sales of $973.8 million.
The U.S. Air Force wants to prohibit Howmet Corp. from doing any more business with the U.S., the company said yesterday. Howmet, which makes precision investment castings for jet aircraft and industrial gas turbine engines, said it "discovered certain testing and specification non-compliance issues at its aluminum casting operations" last year, and that the matters were reported in its Form 8-K to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 9 "and brought to the attention of all relevant customers."
LOCKHEED MARTIN SANDERS delivered the first operational System Integration Lab (SIL) developed under the EMD phase of the Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures (ATIRCM)/Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) program. The SIL will analyze performance of the AAR-57 CMWS aboard the F-16. The CMWS uses sensors made by Lockheed Martin Infrared Imaging Systems, Lexington, Mass., and a control unit developed by Sanders.
The first two of 10 Bell Huey II helicopters in a modernization package funded by the State Dept. have been delivered to the Colombian National Police, Bell Helicopter Textron said yesterday. The aircraft will be dedicated in a mid-March ceremony.
The Justice Dept. field suit against Pratt&Whitney in U.S. District Court in Ohio Wednesday to recover about $75 million that P&W allegedly overcharged the service for jet engines. The complaint says P&W violated the False Claims Act, knowingly inflating estimated costs and withholding data. The complaint also said P&W falsely certified to the Air Force that its estimated costs were based on accurate, complete and current cost data.
Boeing and FlightSafety Boeing Training International won a contract from the U.S. Air Force to update the training manuals used by maintenance technicians and systems specialists responsible for Air Force One, Boeing reported yesterday.
A team under Lockheed Martin has conducted a static test firing of a demonstration fleet ballistic missile motor using low-cost commercial technology. Lockheed Martin's Missiles&Space unit, Sunnyvale, Calif., said the test was the first in a series of static firings, and that the work is aimed at lowering the life-cycle cost of any future strategic missile system without adversely affecting performance.
LOCKHEED MARTIN Tactical Aircraft Systems received authorization to execute an option for 18 additional F-16A/B mid-life update kits for the Belgian Air Force. The option is valued at $46 million, and delivery is scheduled to begin in March 2002, with the last kit arriving in June 2003. The avionics and cockpit upgrades will be installed by SABCA in Belgium.
STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS INC., Trenton, N.J., has won contracts from Boeing Co. valued at over $2 million for 50 additional Interference Blanker Units (IBUs) for the F/A-18E/F aircraft. The company said the IBU provides the blanking interface between the aircraft's onboard transmitters and receivers to prevent mutual interference and/or receiver damage when operating on multiple overlapping frequencies. The new orders are for LRIP II and III of the Super Hornet program.
NASA has selected four advanced Earth-observing technologies for possible testing on the Earth Observing 3 (EO-3) mission planned under the U.S. space agency's New Millennium technology testbed program.
JONATHAN ETHERTON was named to the newly created post of assistant VP of Legislative Affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association in Washington. He was a staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee for 14 years.
U.S. military pilots are becoming increasingly frustrated with a lack of aircraft ready to fly and fewer available spare parts to fix them, key commanders and Defense Dept. officials told Congress yesterday. Aviators listed more funding for aircraft and parts as one adjustment that could change their minds about leaving the military. They also want more pay and easier deployment schedules, according to testimony presented by Mark E. Gebicke, director of national security division at the General Accounting Office.
DCH Technology Inc., Valencia, Calif., and AlliedSignal signed a multi-year strategic alliance agreement in the area of gas sensors, control electronics and hydrogen energy technologies, DCH reported yesterday. It said AlliedSignal will develop aerospace systems that integrate DCH technology for areas ranging from active corrosion control and nuclear safety to the development and integration of hydrogen powered vessels.
TRW won a $47 million contract modification from the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) for operations and maintenance responsibilities at the Joint National Test Facility (JNTF), Schriever AFB, Colo.
