It's one thing for airport security to reduce delays, and it's quite another for travelers to be confident that they've been reduced. Delta Air Lines awards its Northeast shuttle passengers 20,000 frequent flier miles if they don't get from curb to gate in 20 min. The airline says the guarantee improved revenue per seat-mile 15% in the second quarter compared with the first. And the cost to Delta was minimal; five out of 400,000 passengers got the miles. USAirways launched a comparable program on its shuttle service July 11. Through Aug.
Airlines in the U.S. are continuing to struggle to increase their revenues, and they aren't seeing much success. And, UBS Warburg analyst Samuel Buttrick, in his most recent forecast, has predicted a loss exceeding $5.5 billion for 2002 for the airline industry as a whole. Until revenues increase, there will be prolonged pain for numerous commercial aerospace suppliers whose own fortunes are linked to the health of commercial air transportation.
William G. Eline has become vice president/chief information officer for the Parker Hannifin Corp. of Cleveland. He succeeds John White, who has retired, as CIO. Eline was vice president-information technology for international operations.
Taking its cue from the Bush administration, Boeing has entered separate pacts with three European aerospace companies to cooperate on ballistic missile defense, and more may follow, but the agreements--to collaborate on efforts up to and including national missile defense--mean more politically than they do financially or to specific programs. The agreements with BAE Systems, EADS and Alenia Spazio, announced with fanfare at the Farnborough air show last week, are described as broad long-term alliances, but there are almost no specifics about the work.
Satellite services continue to drive growth in the worldwide satellite industry, estimated at 16% this year in a new report by the U.S. satellite industry association. A survey conducted by Futron Corp. for the Satellite Industries Assn. (SIA) projected revenue of $91.3 billion this year for all industry sectors, up from $78.5 billion in 2001 revenues. Worldwide prime contractor launch revenue alone is estimated at $5.5 billion this year, up from $3 billion in 2001. U.S.
Mike Nellinger, project executive for Rolls-Royce North America Inc.'s Indianapolis-based AE 3007 regional jet engine program, has been appointed chairman of the Embraer & Suppliers Advisory Council.
A first in Pakistan: the Airport Security Force is training 50 women to work as sky marshals for Pakistan International Airlines flights. ``This will instill confidence in all passengers, especially international companies operating here,'' said ASF commander Brig. Jawed Iqbal Sattar. He added that every flight within Pakistan will have a sky marshal on board. The female marshals will be deployed at random.
Steve Fossett, who was the first to circumnavigate the globe solo in a balloon on July 2, and do it in the shortest time, is now trying to break the absolute glider altitude record set by Robert Harris over California's Sierra Nevada mountains at 49,009 ft. in 1986 (AW&ST July 8, p. 34). Working with retired NASA test pilot Einar Enevoldson, Fossett wants to take a modified two-place Glaser Dirks DG-505 glider to above 62,336 ft. in the mountain wave near the town of Omarama on New Zealand's South Island. NASA has provided pressure suits for the attempt.
Two new digital data links that will be critical to the ability of the U.S.' air traffic system to accommodate growth pose tough challenges for the FAA to have ready by the target date of 2009, when some predictions say the existing equipment could be overwhelmed.
Trying to manage demand at congested airports--not just New York LaGuardia, but throughout the country--would be ``a cure worse than the disease'' even if it worked, Boeing Co. told the FAA. Answering an invitation for comment, the transport manufacturer said limiting demand might mask congestion problems and would divert attention and money from measures to increase capacity. Benefits would be eroded by the likelihood of ``a politically-driven mosaic'' of exemptions from demand curbs, for example, promoting service to small communities.
Rockwell Collins last week signed a memorandum of agreement with Airbus and Tenzing Communications Inc. to provide passenger connectivity on board commercial aircraft. As part of its commitment, Rockwell Collins intends to make a $10-million investment in Tenzing and work with that company to develop next-generation passenger connectivity products. In the first phase, Rockwell Collins will concentrate on e-mail and other messaging capabilities.
Despite Global Hawk's misadventures, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper proposed operating a constellation of the UAVs as low-flying, intelligence satellites. Analysts here called it a ``shot across the bow'' to warn officials in the Future Imagery Architecture satellite program to get the troubled system on track or risk its being replaced with cheaper and operationally more flexible UAVs.
Threatened with FAA layoffs of air traffic services personnel in September, congressional conferees nonetheless appropriated less to the agency than Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta says it needs, and the approved package came with strings attached. Amassing $200 million in higher-than-expected operating costs during Fiscal 2002, including $90 million for increased security after Sept. 11, the FAA absorbed half of the total and proposed $100 million in transfer authority as part of the emergency supplemental appropriations bill.
The Global Hawk that crashed in Pakistan was lost because it had ``bad'' digital terrain elevation data (DTED). It was the third (out of six built) of the long-endurance UAVs to crash. The aircraft lost power and experienced ``heavy engine vibrations'' over Afghanistan, and operators put it into a glide toward an emergency landing site in Pakistan. According to the Air Force, Rolls-Royce officials suggested that while the UAV was still in flight the engine's core had failed, which likely meant lost turbine blades or damaged bearings.
Visitors to Farnborough '02 will have the chance to appreciate the U.K.'s first foray into powered flight. Few realize that the international air show lies on hallowed ground. On Oct. 16, 1908, American-born Col. Samuel F. Cody piloted ``British Army Aeroplane No. 1''--a full 1,390 ft. Ironically, he later died in a crash at Farnborough, but his contributions to aviation have rarely been commemorated. A rededication ceremony to mark his accomplishments will take place early in the week.
Attempting to bridge a capability gap with the U.S. and to bolster its own equipment program, Britain is upping its defense expenditure, with increased emphasis on rapid mobility, tactical and potentially strategic unmanned air vehicles, and network-enabling technologies. The British Labour government on July 15 revealed what it claims is a 3.45-billion-pound ($5.51-billion) increase in the defense budget out to 2005-06. Three days later, it unveiled its response to the events of Sept.
Modern Technologies has won a two-year, $17.9-million task order under the Flexible Acquisition and Sustainment Tool Contract for the Roll-on Beyond Line-of-Sight Enhancement Program to provide communication upgrades for USAF KC-135 aircraft.
There would be more than a vague hint of irony if, come September, Britain opts for a conventional aircraft for its next-generation carrier, bringing to a close a procurement saga begun in 1986 to find a short-take-off-and-vertical-landing successor to the Harrier. Two flavors of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are the main focus for Royal Navy's (RN) two future carriers (CVF)--the U.S. Marine Corps' Stovl variant, and the U.S. Navy's carrier-borne (CV) aircraft.
Northwest Airlines logged an operating loss of $46 million and a net loss of $93 million during the second quarter, but CEO Richard Anderson predicted NWA will be the first network carrier to turn in a post-Sept. 11 quarterly profit. Like the other hub-and-spoke airlines, Northwest is keeping a rein on costs and capacity as it waits for traffic and yields to rebound. But its unit revenues are better than the industry's, showing a double-digit premium in May, Anderson said, and its load factors are the highest.
NASA chose two new Small Explorer missions from a field of seven finalists. An $89-million Boston University mission to map the hot gas that makes up half the normal matter in the nearby Universe was picked for launch in 2005. In 2006 the second mission--a $92-million effort led by Hampton University in Virginia--is set to launch. It aims to determine if mounting concentrations of greenhouse gases at high altitudes are responsible for an increase in the number of clouds in the upper atmosphere.
Russian authorities will pull the Su-30 MK fighter-bomber, upgraded MiG-29 fighter and MiG-AT advanced trainer from the Farnborough air show to prevent them from being seized for unpaid debts. Officials fear the planes could be impounded by court order under a ongoing legal dispute with Noga, a Swiss import/export company. The dispute prompted an early departure of Russian aircraft from last year's Paris air show and kept them out of a recent exercise in France as well (AW&ST June 24, p. 41).
Michelle Branham has been appointed public information officer for the Jacksonville (Fla.) Airport Authority. She was marketing manager for Elkins Constructors in Jacksonville.
Although the Airbus A380 is still almost a decade away from its first D check, Lufthansa Technik is already starting to reflect on a maintenance, overhaul and repair strategy for the new transport and its potential as a VIP aircraft. Officials at the German company, the world's largest independent MRO provider and the leading supplier of VIP conversions, noted that the size of the aircraft, and the relatively small number likely to be ordered in the initial years, demanded a novel MRO approach.
To kick off their merger plans against rival All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and Japan Air System have outlined a series of discount fares, expanded routes and other incentives beginning in October. They are to operate more flights from Tokyo's Haneda airport, the country's busiest domestic hub, on routes where All Nippon is now dominant. Regular domestic fares will be cut 10% and a range of other discount fares introduced. Some frequencies will be reduced because slots have been lost at Haneda and at Osaka's Itami airport, Japan's second busiest domestic facility.
