A little bad weather and a big computer problem turned June 8 into the worst day so far in 2007 for U.S. airline delays. The thunderstorms weren't abnormal but the computer problem magnified them and created delays of its own. A computer in Atlanta that processes flight plans failed early Friday, and when the FAA rerouted the work to a computer in Salt Lake City, that computer became overloaded because of the high volume. The FAA resolved the computer problems by 11 a.m.
Regarding your article "Record Delays Loom" (AW&ST May 28, p. 54), to place all blame for projected delays on an anticipated ATC system is pure nonsense. Do the FAA and Air Transport Assn. really believe the air traffic problems can be laid solely at the feet of the ATC system? Even to the most casual observer, the "legacy carriers" have been reducing capacity since 9/11 in a drive to lower costs and improve profit margins.
Chris Pratt (see photo) has been promoted to director of marketing and strategic planning from director of marketing for BBA Aviation's Engine Repair and Overhaul organization in Dallas.
USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Michael M. Dunn (see photo) has been appointed president/CEO of the Arlington, Va.-based Air Force Assn., effective July 1. He will succeed Donald L. Peterson, who will be resigning. Dunn has been president of the National Defense University in Washington.
Key Pentagon tactical and strategic laser weapon systems face vital testing periods in the second half of this year to prove they are moving closer to combat-caliber, but funding and policy questions remain developmental dark spots. While contractors aim to demonstrate they can shoot down Stinger missiles in midflight with tactical lasers or that an Airborne Laser (ABL) on board a modified jumbo air freighter can take out a ballistic missile, company and military program officials are engaging law- and policy-makers to ensure funding.
Your "Turning Up the Heat" editorial complains a lot about Natca behavior but doesn't make any suggestion of how to fix that long-running nuisance. Turn ATC over to the U.S. Air Force. It would be considerably cheaper and a great deal more reliable. You may think that's ludicrous. What's really ludicrous is the way Natca is whiplashing the ATC system and those who depend upon it. Controllers are playing games with aircraft and their occupants to pressure their demands. It's just not reported. We need a Natca housecleaning a la Reagan.
The U.K. and Belgium may be close to joining the Franco-Italian Athena-Fidus broadband satellite system, French officials say. France and Italy recently signed a letter of intent to go ahead with detailed design and development of the encrypted but unhardened and non-jam-protected system, which will support military operations and provide unencrypted capacity for welfare and government traffic. Belgium and the U.K. are each interested in one of the satellite's 6-8 spot beams, representing about 12-13% of the €220-250-million ($292-332-million) system cost.
A NASA Engineering and Safety Center peer review of Crew Exploration Vehicle reentry heating and aerodynamics work finds that critical areas lack the sufficient "risk management processes." These guide decision-making in developing hypersonic-reentry thermal and aerodynamic advancements necessary for the CEV. As the ongoing repair and reentry issues with STS-117 illustrate, the NASA reentry-analysis process needs to include ongoing assessment capability even as the program enters its last three years of life.
Trite but true: It isn't the offense, it's the coverup. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), chairman of the House Science subcommittee on investigations and oversight, and the ranking minority member, Republican stalwart F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (Wis.), asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales June 14 to investigate and possibly prosecute NASA General Counsel Michael Wholley for obstruction of justice in destroying video records of an Apr. 10 meeting between Administrator Michael Griffin and the staff of NASA Inspector General Robert Cobb.
Angela K. Owens has been appointed president of the Fort Worth-based American Airlines Federal Credit Union. She was the airline's general auditor and had been the credit union's senior vice president-community relations and financial services.
I fly for a Part 121 carrier, and have recently turned 60. One might argue that I'm fortunate to have a flight engineer seat to move into, given the current admonition of front-end flying beyond 60. I have belonged to the Air Line Pilots Assn. since our pilot group voted for ALPA representation some years ago, but therein lies the rub.
Malaysia's Fly Asian Xpress, an AirAsia affiliate that plans long-haul services as AirAsia Long Haul, has shortlisted Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce to supply engines for 15 Airbus A330s it has on order and option.
Strong demand is prompting Cathay Pacific to increase its daily services to New York and San Francisco to twice daily in the fall. Delivery of new aircraft will allow the Hong Kong-based carrier to respond to the demand.
Europe's air transport sector is heading toward the next step in its ongoing reshuffling, following SAS Group's announcement of a major shift in corporate strategy. The airline's new CEO Mats Jansson last week said SAS plans to focus on its core market in Scandinavia and sell units such as Spanair, BMI and Air Greenland. The carrier is also considering pulling out of units such as ground handling or maintenance.
With the possibility that North Korea, Pakistan and/or Iran may possess both ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads before long, and that these devices could make their way into the hands of extremists, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency is dusting off analyses of what damage a nuclear attack could do. Researchers conclude that a single 10-50 kiloton weapon detonated 60 mi. or more in space would knock out all unprotected low Earth orbit satellites in months, possibly weeks.
More than a generation ago, Turkey, Pakistan and India were developing their aerospace industries, trying to find a place in a global economy that hadn't taken shape yet. In a bipolar world where, for the most part, you did business with one superpower but not with both, they seized opportunities where they could find them. South Asia's aerospace and defense companies, tortoises among Western hares, persevered.
Maria Sulej (see photo) has been appointed manager of sales and marketing for Cudahy, Wis.-based Ladish Co.'s Polish subsidiary ZKM Forging. She was assistant to the managing director.
French military officials are exploring new Rafale tactics and whether to tweak the fighter's upgrade plans after a year of operational experience with the multi-role version, including its first combat assignment.
Mary Armstrong has become vice president of Chicago-based Boeing's Environment, Health and Safety Group. She was president of Boeing's Shared Services Group.
Britain's future air systems equipment program is, on paper at least, in comparatively robust health. Unfortunately, the near-term prognosis is less encouraging. Supporting prolonged combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq is exposing the stresses of an air force operating at levels beyond the Defense Ministry's planning assumptions, with cumulative demands on personnel and equipment.
Jon D. Greenwood has become vice president/chief financial officer and John McCoury vice president-engineering of the Mooney Airplane Co., Kerrville, Tex. Greenwood succeeds Barry Hodkin, who has been named vice president-corporate planning. Greenwood was vice president-finance for San Antonio-based M7 Aerospace. McCoury was vice president-engineering/chief engineer of the Aviation Technology Group, Englewood, Colo.
As an aside to David Hughes' article on Required Navigation Peformance (AW&ST May 21, p. 28), JetBlue Airways has been involved in RNP flight operations and research for a few years. Our line flight operational testing is now focused on data from the execution of our tailored RNAV RNP 0.3 approaches to Runway 13L/R at JFK International Airport in New York.
The stealth versus radar contest is making another of its periodic swings--this time in favor of new, advanced radars. But stealth specialists say it won't be enough because stealth is improving even faster than the radars.
Some are weather-wise, some are otherwise." Benjamin Franklin might have been describing aviators who face the perpetual dilemma of how to get under, over or around the bad stuff. And Jeppesen is now offering software that squarely places general aviation pilots in the "weather-wise" category. The JeppView 3.5 electronic chart application allows overlay of real-time XM WX Worx's Satellite Weather, also known as XM Weather, on approach and en route charts.
