NATS, the air navigation service provider, switched over to a new £50-million ($100-million) ATC tower at London Heathrow Airport on Apr. 21. The move, two years in the planning, included training controllers in a 360-deg. simulator valued at £1.5 million (AW&ST Aug. 7, 2006, p. 56). The 87-meter (285-ft.) tall tower is twice the size of its 1950s vintage predecessor. The airport is one of the busiest in the world and handles about 90 arrivals and departures per hour.
Time for your nap. Sleep pod (see photo) "stations" may become more commonplace at airport spas and first-class lounges around the world. Fatigue is a safety issue for air traffic controllers, as well as flight and ground crews, and passengers succumb to jet-lag after long flights and exhaustion from long delays. "Everyone in air travel has a reason to be tired," says Arshad Chowdhoury. In 2004, he launched MetroNaps, a New York-based "daytime sleeping salon" offering a quiet pod at $14 per 20-min. snooze.
GKN Aerospace will develop blended winglets for the 767-300ER and 737-300/500 under multi-year agreements with Aviation Partners Boeing, which builds the winglets for the 737NG and BBJ series.
NASA's Constellation program will pay Orbital Sciences Corp. $35-57 million for as many as four test boosters based on Air Force Peacekeeper ICBM solid-rocket motors for tests of the Orion CEV launch abort system. The competed award came through the Air Force's Sounding Rockets Program. The Space Development and Test Wing at Kirtland AFB, N.M., will conduct the launch abort tests at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The Orion vehicle will include a top-mounted escape rocket designed to pull the full capsule and its crew to safety if there's a problem.
Capt. Larry Newman, Chairman, Air Traffic Services Group (Air Line Pilots Assn., Herndon, Va.)
As you have reported, substantial interest exists in government and industry to develop the means to allow minimally restricted access to the National Airspace System (NAS) for unmanned aerial systems (UAS). The Air Line Pilots Asn. does not believe sufficient study, and more importantly, sufficient safety analysis, has been conducted to justify "file and fly" access to the NAS.
Kevin E. Cox has been appointed vice president-state and community affairs at American Airlines. He was senior executive vice president/chief operating officer of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Cox succeeds John Carpenter, who has retired.
Germany's MTU Aero Engines has seen a first-quarter revenue growth of 12% compared with the same period last year. Revenue for the period was €640.6 million ($873 million). Operating earnings were up 32% to €90.6 million, but a one-time charge caused after-tax earnings to be up only €300,000 on a year-on-year basis. The order book was largely flat. Free cash flow was down 34% due to the one-time charge, but did make up almost half of the full-year projection the engine maker has given in its 2007 earnings guidance.
Outspoken and assertive, Giovanni Bisignani became the director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Assn. in June 2002, and now has major initiatives under his belt that have shaped the industry. Aviation Week & Space Technology Contributing Editor Neelam Mathews caught up with him following his address to the Asia-Pacific Aviation Media Assn. in Singapore to discuss issues plaguing the industry.
Alaska Air Group, parent of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, posted a $10.3-million net loss in the first quarter, traditionally the weakest for the Seattle-based operation. Officials blamed a soft revenue environment and increased competition that eroded yields since January. Alaska plans a 4-5% capacity increase and Horizon's capacity growth will be in double-digits this year.
NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (Sofia) flew for the first time Apr. 26 after extensive modifications to accommodate a German-built 45,000-lb., 2.5-meter (8.2-ft.) infrared telescope. L-3 Integrated Systems of Waco, Tex., modified the Boeing 747SP with a 16-ft.-tall door that can open in flight to give the telescope a view of the heavens at altitudes as high as 45,000 ft., above 99% of the water vapor that hampers infrared observations at ground level. The initial 2-hr.
The Aerospace and Defense sector's thirst for product lifecycle management software remains strong, according to projections by infotech market research entity Daratech. It projects software and services sales of $13.4 billion this year, up 8% on the $12.3 billion achieved in 2006. Those returns represented an 8% growth over 2005. This boost occurred despite several challenges faced by some of the industry's biggest firms as they integrated recent acquisitions.
L-3 Communications CEO Michael Strianese is making good on his pledge to be more selective in acquisitions. The company last week announced its first two purchases of 2007: Global Communications Solutions, a supplier of portable satellite communications products; and Geneva Aerospace, a small company that specializes in technologies for UAVs. The two entities are expected to add about $100 million to L-3's annual sales. L-3 is slowing from its robust acquisition pace of 2005 and 2006, when it closed 12 and 14 deals, respectively.
Norway has restored parity in its future fighter aircraft competition, having awarded Saab a $25-million contract to work on future versions of the Gripen. After signing on earlier to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Oslo had promised to put some funding also against the other contenders. A similar deal covering the Eurofighter Typhoon will be signed May 15. The Gripen contract runs for two years and should buy access for Norwegian firms to benefit from more industrial cooperation. An initial industrial participation deal was signed with Eurofighter in 2003.
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USAF Maj. Gen. Stephen T. Sargeant has been named commander of the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, Kirtland AFB, N.M. He has been deputy chief of staff of the United Nations Command and U.S. Forces Korea, Yongsan Army Garrison, South Korea. He will be succeeded by Maj. Gen. Johnny A. Weida, who has been commander of the Air Force Security Assistance Center, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Weida, in turn, will be succeeded by Brig. Gen. Joseph M.
Safran is undertaking a thorough reexamination of its research and development plans as part of a revamped R&D policy aimed at ensuring that funds are directed at real sales prospects and not just technology for technology's sake.
The Air Force isn't giving an inch in its quest to become the military's focal point for unmanned aircraft. Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley says he has had lengthy discussions with the Marine Corps commandant, the chief of naval operations and the last two Army chiefs of staff. "What their staffs say, or what people say in an emotional moment, may not be what a service chief says," he contends.
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Patrick Gavin (see photo) has been appointed executive vice president-engineering of Airbus. He succeeds Alain Garcia, who will become technical adviser to the CEO prior to retiring June 30. Gavin was executive vice president-customer services and has been succeeded by Charles Champion (see photo), who was head of the A380 program.
David A. Fulghum (Patuxent River, Md., and Bethpage, N.Y.)
The world's navies have a new reality: They are facing rapidly changing threats and taking on more missions with fewer aircraft and ships. The following three articles focus on some of the ways the U.S. Navy is adapting to prolonged, low-intensity warfare. Its venerable P-3s are being deployed for overland reconnaissance and monitoring of the sea lanes used for weapons smuggling and the movement of insurgent leadership.
Recent letters on the difficulties experienced by F-22 Raptors heading for Japan brought to mind my first encounter with a "simulator test pilot" in the British Airways Flight Simulator Unit, which I managed in the 1990s.
In the aftermath of the Airbus A380 debacle, two major questions remain: Can Europe Inc. expect to become a strong reality if economic nationalism reigns unchecked? And will so-called cultural divergences eventually vanish and enable efficient cross-border governance to finally emerge?
Malaysian Airline Systems is looking for 55 aircraft to replace its 39 Boeing 737-300s, says a local newspaper, The Business Times. Proposals from Airbus, for A320s or A321s, and Boeing, for 737-800s and -900ERs, are due by June. The company has said it already knows which model it wants to buy.
The latest Citation to emerge from the drawing board is evolutionary, not revolutionary. But at $2.6 million for a well-equipped jet, the Mustang breaks the price barrier for entry into that exclusive club and provides pilots with significant gains in performance over turboprop-powered competitors.
