Credit crunch? High oil prices? What economic slowdown? The financial woes that are battering the U.S. economy and airlines in particular haven’t filtered down to the bottom lines of commercial airplane manufacturers or their suppliers, who are still feasting on record orders placed during the past three years. Just look at the first-quarter gains in net income posted by Boeing (up 38% from a year earlier), Goodrich (58%), Hexcel (57%) and Rockwell Collins (20%).
Poor coordination among federal agencies involved in the export control system is creating “vulnerabilities” in the way sensitive U.S. technologies are kept out of unfriendly hands, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says. The State Dept., which handles arms export licensing, and the Commerce Dept., which manages export licensing for dual-use (military and civilian) technologies, are not coordinating their efforts and have had jurisdictional disputes, the GAO says. “There are disconcerting gaps in the safety net,” says GAO’s Ann Calvaresi Barr.
Airbus is evaluating how best to build an industrial setup to handle its out-of-service aircraft with a minimum amount of waste. The company, along with several industrial partners, spent almost three years trying to figure out how to dispose of end-of-service aircraft more efficiently than the quick-and-dirty approach traditionally used. Several viable ideas have emerged and now the focus has shifted to devising a plan to establish a formal process that will be acceptable to airlines.
Ulrich Gehling (see photo) has been named managing director of Grob Aerospace , Tussenhausen-Mattsies, Germany. He was head of the Next Generation PC-12 program for Swiss-based Pilatus.
Aircraft diesel engine maker Thielert filed for insolvency after the board of directors ousted management last week, including founder Frank Thielert. The board took the action over concerns of improper bookkeeping between 2003 and 2005. Industry officials believe the business will still be bought, which is critical to the likes of Cessna and General Atomics, which rely on the company’s powerplants.
In flagrant denial of the obvious, the commercial aviation community—with few exceptions—seems determined to ignore an economic crisis on the horizon. Even worse, it appears that undetected by most, the downturn actually started several months ago, although it has recently picked up speed. It is surprising that few corrective actions have been taken to deal with emerging problems. Down the line, the airline industry may face even costlier disappointments for not reacting more quickly to the precursors of serious difficulties.
FlightSafety International is building a new learning center at St. Louis dedicated to regional aircraft training. The 80,000-sq.-ft. facility, scheduled to open in December, is to accommodate nine full-flight simulators. The new center is in addition to the current 40,000-sq.-ft. facility now in place; combined, they will offer 18 simulators for BAe, Bombardier, Embraer, Fairchild and Saab regional aircraft, as well as for the Sabreliner business aircraft. Last week, FlightSafety’s Embraer 170 simulator at St. Louis won FAA Level D certification.
Linda A. Mills (see photo) has been named corporate vice president of the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. and president of its Information Technology Sector. She succeeds James R. O’Neill, who is retiring. Mills has been president of the sector’s Civilian Agencies business group. Joseph K. Dodd (see photo) has been promoted to vice president from director of business development and marketing for the sector’s McLean, Va.-based Intelligence Group.
Gulfstream’s planned output of 83 G650 business jets in the first 2.5 years of production is oversubscribed by a factor of six to seven, says parent company General Dynamics. Gulfstream began accepting $500,000 refundable deposits on the new $58.5-million ultra-long-range jet on Apr. 15, signing time-stamped letters of intent with customers that it is now working through in sequence to convert to orders. GE CEO Nicholas Chabraja says Gulfstream and its suppliers are revising the initial production plan. The wide-body G650 is to enter service in 2012.
Screaming babies, cramped seating next to obese people that is so tight I can’t open my laptop, canceled flights, delayed flights, lost luggage and long security lines help combine to make air travel a worse than miserable experience. Add to it the prospect of some 13-year-old yapping into a cell phone or an egomaniac big shot who is conducting business at 35,000 ft. while subjecting the rest of us to the din, and flying becomes terrifying, with the potential for a complete nervous breakdown.
Darryl K. McDonald and David Mason have been appointed aviation principal architects and Edward Hyatt a project manager at the HNTB Companies , Kansas City, Mo. McDonald and Mason have been managers of major airport terminal projects, while Hyatt was an FAA executive.
Anne Lambert has been appointed director of government and European affairs for U.K.-based NATS . She was the U.K.’s deputy permanent representative to the European Union.
China’s civil aviation administration has withdrawn a range of service rights held by China Eastern Airlines as punishment for bad management of a labor dispute that culminated in pilots turning back flights last month. The airline has lost two routes to competitors and must cut back services on others.
A Boeing/Ball Aerospace team has completed testing of the payload electronics and high-speed gimbal for the Space-Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) Block 10 satellite’s sensor. With the completion of the gimbal tests, about 85% of the system’s flight hardware is complete. The two-axis gimbal will be used to quickly slew the sensor from target to target in space, and it will allow operators to track targets as they are launched and thrust into orbit. SBSS will be launched in 2009 into a polar low Earth orbit and will provide imagery of satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
Bolstered by strong backlogs for airliners, aircraft makers and interior-furnishing suppliers are planning to piggyback on the looming wave of deliveries with a range of new cabin offerings. Airbus is experimenting with a wholesale overhaul of the familiar galley concept. The idea is still in its final refinement stage, but within the next year Airbus will decide on a formal industrial offering, says Bob Lange, Airbus head of cabin strategy.
In February, the U.S. shot down one of its own satellites over the Pacific ocean using an SM-3 missile. The sole, stated reason for doing so was to prevent a 1,000-lb. tank of hydrazine, a toxic rocket fuel contained in the satellite, from bursting if it hit a populated area.
Pilots love new airplanes, so it’s no surprise that cockpit crews at All Nippon Airways are eager to get their hands on the 787. They’ll be first in the industry because ANA is the launch airline. But they’ll have to wait. Instead of meeting the original arrival date of next month, their first 787 won’t arrive in Tokyo until the third quarter of 2009, at best. One ripple effect from the airplane’s development delay is a push-back in pilot and mechanic training. Nonetheless, ANA’s crews have already gotten a taste of what is in store for them.
High-level efforts are underway to solve two of the air transport industry’s most vexing environmental challenges—achieving a global deal on emissions trading and reducing the sector’s carbon footprint.
John Sepulveda (see photos) has been named executive vice president/general manager and Brian Holt senior vice president-sales and marketing of Milwaukee-based Derco Aerospace Inc. Sepulveda was chief financial officer and has been succeeded by Peter Winkler, who was assistant controller. Holt was vice president-international sales. Markus Heinrich has become vice president-U.S. sales.
Satellite navigation system planners are beginning to move forward in their efforts to address compatibility and interoperability issues, say program officials.
Malaysian Airline System is looking for a merger partner, says Chief Executive Idris Jala, while stressing that the company is not yet negotiating with anyone. A preferred partner would be one that is dissimilar to Malaysian, says Idris.
Space Systems/Loral will build an eighth EchoStar satellite for Dish Network’s direct broadcast constellation under a new contract. SS/L already has a string of Dish contracts in the works, including the pending summer liftoff of EchoStar XI on a Sea Launch Zenit rocket. CMBStar and EchoStar XIV are under development at the company’s Palo Alto, Calif., factory. All the Dish spacecraft are based on the SS/L 1300 platform. A launcher for EchoStar XV has not been selected, but launch is scheduled for 2010.
Michael A. Taverna (Noordwijk, Netherlands, and Paris)
The European Space Agency is poised to launch the second test spacecraft for the Galileo satellite navigation system, in the last major step before the program transitions to its new all publicly funded organizational framework.
The Turna target drone powered by a Turkish Engine Industries turboprop engine completed its first flight this month. The effort to fit a turboprop on the Turna was undertaken by drone prime contractor Turkish Aerospace Industries and the engine company, and ensures the system no longer requires technology from overseas. The engine delivers 90 lb. thrust and a maximum propeller speed of 6,000 rpm.
