The Russian air force is preparing to begin live-weapons trials with the Yak-130 advanced jet trainer. The outcome will be key to both the aircraft’s future service and its procurement numbers.
Nearly 1,000 small regional jets will be forced from the U.S. fleet in the next five years due in part to rising fuel prices, say some industry analysts, and other observers point out that airlines will have to be creative in employing the aircraft until their leases expire.
Big-ticket defense programs risk major cutbacks in the coming months as Europe’s main military players wrestle with a mismatch between procurement ambitions and available funding. Germany, France and the U.K. are facing unpalatable choices as they prepare to downsize their modernization plans. European industry executives and analysts have been signaling for some time that defense budgets cannot support the looming bow wave of spending demands.
The U.K.’s proposed Aviation Duty has been slammed by the Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) as a way to raise taxes without providing a coherent strategy for addressing its environmental objectives. Current travel taxes are covered by an Air Passenger Duty that raises about £2 billion ($3.96 billion) annually without any allocations to benefit the environment, says AAPA Director General Andrew Herdman.
The days of graduating from flight school, working for at least a year as an instructor, and gaining more than 1,000 hr. of flight experience before moving on to a regional airline are over. The worldwide demand for pilots is now so high that student pilots are leapfrogging over the instructor position as a first job, and applying to regional airlines with as little as 250 hr. of experience. And they are having no trouble finding positions; the regionals have led in pilot hiring for the past seven years.
The first U.S. Marine Corps squadron to operate Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey tiltrotors in Iraq has returned to the U.S., leaving its aircraft behind. VMM-263 has ended its deployment and been replaced by VMM-162, which is expected to remain in Anbar Province until September-October, says V-22 program manager Col. Matt Mulhern. Two additional Ospreys have been deployed to Iraq, taking the total to 12, to augment the fleet while aircraft in theater are retrofitted with modifications including forward-firing flares and an all-quadrant defensive gun.
Space Systems/Loral says ICO Global Communications’ G-1 spacecraft has deployed its 12-meter Harris Corp. antenna reflector and is on schedule to be declared operational by May 15.
Lufthansa’s announced plan to take a majority stake in BMI next year presages a fundamental change for the British airline industry. How exactly the reshuffling will play out is not quite clear yet, as Lufthansa has made no comments about its plans for BMI. It’s a toss-up as to whether British Airways (BA) or Virgin Atlantic will be the big winner or big loser.
The U.K. Defense Ministry is considering the purchase of the Selex Titan 385 ES forward looking infrared turret for a number of its Boeing Chinook Mk2/2A transport helicopters. Some RAF Chinooks used for the special-forces role already have the turrets.
U.S. and European Union negotiators face a long list of differences to bridge as they begin to take the month-old open skies agreement to the next level. With the euphoria over the initial deal and its expanded traffic rights abating, the two sides have started to ponder what to do next. However, observers are skeptical that much will be accomplished anytime soon.
The editorial on the proposed DL-NW merger (AW&ST Apr. 7, p. 66) falls on deaf ears because greed is a stronger driving force than reason or business values. The greed of hedge funds, CEOs who are paid in stock options and one pilot group to take advantage of another seems more important to the CEOs and boards of these airlines. In one day, the announcement by the CEOs of both Delta and Northwest set the two pilot groups against each other for the next 20 years or more.
Commercial aerospace stocks have taken a battering in recent months as investors fret that the financial woes of U.S. airlines could ultimately trigger a steep drop in demand for new aircraft. But B/E Aerospace, the world’s leading supplier of aircraft seats and other cabin interior products, isn’t seeing signs of a slowdown. The Florida company, which has a strong presence in both the new aircraft and aftermarket segments, reports that first-quarter orders continued to outpace deliveries, pushing its backlog to a record $2.3 billion amid a 51% earnings gain.
High fuel prices and an inability to raise additional capital has forced U.S. all-business-class carrier Eos to cease operations and into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. That’s a fate U.K. rival Silverjet has been able to avoid thanks to a $25-million infusion from an unnamed investor from the United Arab Emirates; the white knight has promised another $75 million.
A Brazilian investment fund has signaled it may bid for Alitalia, just as Italian banks indicate readiness to support an “Italian” team to try to save the struggling carrier. Meanwhile, the airline has lost a legal battle to retain control of Volare. A €1-billion ($1.56-billion) legal battle continues between the Milan airport authority and the airline.
Bulgaria has signed on to the European Defense Agency’s effort to streamline defense procurement in Europe. The voluntary regime is meant to open most defense procurements to competition within the subscriber states, knocking down walls that historically protected national industries. The nearly two-year-old effort has seen some results; more than 260 competitions have been run under the liberalized terms, according to EDA.
Predator UAV and A160 rotorcraft designer Abe Karem has unveiled his concept for a 110-120-seat civil tiltrotor, the TR53 AeroTrain. The design uses Karem’s patented optimum-speed tiltrotor technology and is similar in size to the demonstrator proposed for the U.S. Army-led Joint Heavy Lift program. Powered by two Rolls-Royce AE1107Cs, the TR53 would take off vertically at 120,000 lb. gross weight, and cruise at Mach 0.6 at 35,000-41,000 ft. over 200-1,000-n.m. stage lengths.
Lockheed Martin has completed the Baseline Integrated System Test phase on its first Space-Based Infrared System satellite bound for geosynchronous orbit in a late 2009 launch. This testing sets a baseline for performance of the ballistic missile early warning system that will be used for upcoming environmental testing. Next up is integration of the satellite’s solar arrays, deployable light shade and thermal blanks, and preparation for acoustic and pyroshock testing.
International Space Station Expedition 17 will leave its Soyuz lifeboat docked where it is, while a Russian State Commission investigates why the two previous Soyuz vehicles malfunctioned on reentry. Other ISS operations could be affected as well.
Citing an “urgent need,” Pentagon acquisition czar John Young says the Defense Dept. will need to modernize its fleet of HC-130 and MC-130 aircraft. He instructs the Air Force to pull together an acquisition strategy for 68 aircraft by December. The HC-130 is used by Air Force Special Operations Command to refuel its helicopters; the MC-130 is used to covertly insert and retrieve forces. And, there’s already money in the Pentagon’s tight budget for the program. Young has authorized $75.2 million for Fiscal 2008 advance procurement of six of the specialized HC-MC-130Js.
Eight Smiths Detection Advanced Threat Identification X-ray Systems (Atix) have been installed at Albuquerque (N.M.) International Airport. The system, already in use in the U.K., captures multiple views of carry-on baggage in a single sweep in normal throughput time, increasing an operator’s ability to detect potential threats, according to Smiths Detection.
Paul Van den Eynden has been appointed senior manager for airport safety and operations in the Montreal office of Airports Council International . He was director of safety management systems for the Calgary (Alberta) Airport Authority.
George K. Muellner, who is president of Advanced Systems within Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, becomes president on May 15 of the Reston, Va.-based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), for the next year. He will be succeeded next year by AIAA President-elect David W. Thompson of the Orbital Sciences Corp. Other officers will be: vice president-elect for finance, A. Tom Smith of ATS Solutions Inc.; vice president-elect for publications, Michael B. Bragg of the University of Illinois; vice president-elect for standards, Wilson N.
Wayne Newton has been promoted to managing director of station operations from director of station operations in California and Todd Sproul to managing director of operations support from head of airport affairs in the Corporate Real Estate Div. for Alaska Airlines . Joe Sprague has been appointed vice president of Alaska Air Cargo. He was vice president-inflight services and has been succeeded by Ann Ardizzone, who was managing director of customer experience.
