John was editor of Aviation Week's ShowNews for nearly two decades. He retired in 2020. His background in business journalism before joining Aviation Week includes stints at Reuters, the American Banker daily banking newspaper and as business news editor at the Milwaukee Journal and the Cincinnati Enquirer.
A lifelong aviation enthusiast, John has been a private pilot for 34 years and won an award at EAA Oshkosh for his restoration of a vintage British Auster army spotter aircraft. He is currently building a 1920s Staaken Flitzer biplane from plans. John attended his first Farnborough Air Show in 1952, when just eight months old.
LE BOURGET — GE Aviation’s helicopter engine business is bringing in $1 billion a year, with sales weighted 70% to the military. But a resurgence of interest in its civil CT7 is expected to swing sales to 70% commercial by 2016. The quantities will remain the same – around 800 engines a year, says Jean Lydon-Rodgers, VP and General Manager of GE Aviation’s military systems. The engine in question is the 2,000 shp-class T700, which powers all Black Hawk and Apache helicopters.
The delivery of a Sukhoi Superjet 100 to Mexican airline Interjet marks the aircraft’s entry into service in the West. And that, says Nazario Cauceglia, CEO of Superjet International, is extremely significant. “Everybody is watching its entry into service,” Cauceglia says. “This gives us a unique chance and we cannot lose it. This could open the door to the Western market.”
“This is a full-steam ahead transition, not a course correction. There is no change in direction,” says Kelly Ortberg, president of Rockwell Collins and the successor to CEO Clay Jones when he retires at the end of next month after 34 years. Jones was named president in 1999, and became CEO in 2001 after leading Rockwell through its initial public offering.
