Israel's Israir Airlines is acquiring three Airbus A320s, giving the European airframe manufacturer a long-sought foothold in a market segment dominated by Boeing. The carrier will configure its aircraft in an all-economy class with 174 seats. Israir also operates Boeing 757s and 767s, and ATR 42s. Now that Israir has been authorized to serve international routes, it is attempting to grow from a domestic airline into a rival of El Al, Israel's largest carrier.
Completing a contract initialed in January, United Airlines is expanding line-maintenance services with Pratt & Whitney while picking up P&W's EcoPower engine wash technology for its fleet of 460 aircraft worldwide.
As the RTCA works on ways to give UAVs better access to civil airspace, it plans to define performance requirements for a new type of anti-collision technology that might change the way all air traffic is managed in the U.S.
Efforts by NASA and the FAA to promote space tourism and other new commercial space endeavors could run afoul of insurance risk issues, despite attempts by the U.S. government to write risk out of the contracts, insurers say. Concerns could be heightened by the shortfall of the second demonstration flight of the SpaceX launch vehicle late last month (AW&ST Apr. 2, p. 55).
Just as militaries use spacecraft to help fight wars, a former space-agency chief with wide experience in Earth observation sees spaceborne assets playing a key role in helping human populations adapt to the changing climate and cope with resulting natural disasters.
Exactly when Embraer's Phenom 100 very light jet will make its first flight is a $40-million question--literally. That's the sum the milestone event will trigger in progress payments from customers for the almost 400 aircraft on firm order. That day will be around mid-year, in just a few weeks' time, says Embraer Executive Vice President-Executive Jets Luís Carlos Affonso, who notes that customers have already paid $20 million in non-refundable $50,000 deposits.
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Three major accidents within 10 weeks, 123 deaths and now a safety warning from the U.S. have prompted tougher action from Indonesia, which says it will close airlines within three months if they fail to improve their operations. The country will also audit its airports. About half of the 19 main facilities don't comply with international safety standards, it says.
China has moved into operational deployment of its planned system of positioning satellites, with the launch of the first such spacecraft without the label "experimental." The Apr. 14 launch of the Compass 1M satellite may turn out to be just as important for the country's hard-pressed civil air traffic management system as it will be for the People's Liberation Army's ambitions to avoid reliance on the Pentagon's GPS.
David A. Fulghum (Tokyo and Washington), Douglas Barrie (London)
Top Japanese military officials are quietly but firmly insisting they want the U.S. to release the F-22 to compete for the air force's F-X fighter program, and are adamant about fielding the most advanced air-combat technology available. Tokyo wants a stealthy fighter equipped with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar for cruise missile detection and wide-band data links to push additional information into Japan's increasingly sophisticated air defense system. For the moment, only the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor offers all these features.
China Southern Airlines made money last year for the first time since 2002, reporting a 188-million-yuan ($24.4-million) net profit, compared with a 1.8-billion-yuan loss in 2005. Appreciation of the yuan helped, because it decreased the value of the company's dollar-denominated debt. Operating profit was 0.6% of revenue.
I have every confidence that the Boeing 787-8 will be rolled out on July 8, since airworthiness is not an issue for rollout. However, for first flight to occur in August, it is. Limit static testing and 10% of fatigue life testing must be completed prior to flight. Neither test rig is near completion, let alone started actual testing.
The Russian air force plans to start acceptance trials of its next-generation fighter in 2012, while the government moves to provide badly needed support for the aircraft's weapons suite. First flight of the Sukhoi T-50, selected in 2002 to meet the air force's future fighter requirement (known by the Russian acronym PAK FA), is expected in 2009. PAK FA is a twin-engine fighter in the class of the Su-27 Flanker.
Arinc is providing 126 of its common-use self-service kiosks for passenger ticketing at the north wing of Narita International Airport's Terminal 1 in Japan, a follow-on contract to an earlier order for 126 kiosks for the south wing. Arinc says the two contracts constitute one of the largest deployments of such kiosks in the Asia-Pacific region. A dozen international airlines will have their passengers use the kiosks for check-in.
Cessna Aircraft Co. displayed the latest configurations of its Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) and Next Generation Piston (NGP) airplanes at the Sun 'N Fun Fly-In at Lakeland, Fla., last week. Company officials say the two aircraft are proofs-of-concept only, and are being evaluated for design specifics and potential business models. Production decisions are expected later this year.
Neil Mackay has been appointed president of EMS Satcom and vice president/corporate development of Atlanta-based parent EMS Technologies. Gary Hebb has been named vice president/ general manager of EMS Satcom. He was vice president-engineering and business development. David Smith has become vice president/general manager of EMS Defense and Space Systems. He was managing director/CEO of Metal Storm.
Defense and Homeland Security department officials, ironically empowered by a newly Democratic-run Congress, are starting to question major contractors' performance as so-called lead systems integrators. The results could alter who enjoys contractual incentives over new equipment such as the HC-144A Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPAs), at least one UAV and, most of all, ships.
ROCKWELL COLLINS WILL UPGRADE THE XIAN AIRCRAFT CO.'S MA60 turboprop, a 50-60-seat aircraft with a suite of Pro Line 21 avionics including five 8 X 10-in. active matrix liquid crystal displays and a suite of communications, navigation and surveillance equipment. The aircraft has a range of up to 800 km. (430 naut. mi.). Rockwell Collins also supplies Pro Line 21 avionics to AVIC1 Commercial Aircraft Co. Ltd. on the ARJ21 regional jet.
Raytheon and the U.S. Navy have teamed to upgrade the Standard Missile-2 for improved maneuverability. The additional performance is needed to match that of new, anti-ship weapons. SM-2 is the Navy's primary surface-to-air fleet air defense weapon and is operational on cruisers, destroyers and frigates.
Buoyed by the ramp-up of work on NASA's Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, Orbital Sciences Corp. saw first-quarter revenues rise 19% compared with the same period last year. OSC is a subcontractor to Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin, and its Orion work was a major contributor to a 21% increase in revenues for Orbital's satellites and space segment, according to the company. First-quarter revenues were $228.2 million, compared with $192 million a year ago. First-quarter operating income rose 10% to $17.5 million, compared with $16 million in 2006.
Analysis of key large-capitalization defense stocks during the last six presidential election years indicates those issues outperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 in four of those periods.
Your recent article about the proposal to build an American-funded Lunar Beagle spacecraft using backup hardware designed for the Beagle 2 lander provides a double-strength dose of irony (AW&ST Apr. 9, p. 26). Surely nobody has forgotten that Colin Pillinger routinely bashed NASA while trying to gain funding for Beagle 2, and now seeks funding for Lunar Beagle. Beagle already has bitten the NASA hand it now wants to feed it.
Southwest Airlines, disappointed with first-quarter unit revenues and wary of "cooling domestic demand," is studying new ways to leverage its brand to offset rising operating costs.
Chinese airlines are showing improved profitability but a new threat is emerging in the form of high-speed railway service. On Apr. 18, China increased system-wide train speeds for the sixth time since 1997, slashing average travel times by 20-30% thanks to track improvements. The upgrades will make it more difficult for airlines to compete on routes of less than 1,000 km. (600 mi.). China has 1,000 km. of track rated at 200 kph. and 14,000 km. approved for speeds of 160 kph.
A Transportation Security Administration-industry initiative to improve employee screening at airports draws fire from labor, claiming it was "skipped over" as a potential partner. The TSA and its collaborators--the American Assn.
