Joseph Vreeman has been named vice president/general manager and Stephen Van Gordon director of operations for the BAE Systems commercial aircraft modification, maintenance and repair facility in Victorville, Calif. Vreeman was senior vice president-customer support for Fairchild Dornier in San Antonio. Van Gordon was vice president-quality for AAR Aircraft Services in Oklahoma City.
Stephen Crable has been named assistant director of representation, effective Mar. 11, for the Washington-based Air Line Pilots Assn. He was chief of staff for the National Mediation Board.
FlightSafetyBoeing's Long Beach (Calif.) Training Center is to provide full-flight simulator training for more than 200 MD-90 pilots for China Northern Airlines. In 2003, FSB is to add an MD-90 simulator to its Kunming Training Center in China to support China Northern's crew for as long as the carrier flies the aircraft, according to a contract announced last week. China Northern flies 13 MD-90s.
Martin De Prycker has become president/CEO of France-based Barco. He succeeds Hugo Vandamme, who has become vice chairman. De Prycker was chief technology officer of Alcatel.
U.S. and European weather forecasters are beginning to incorporate wind speed and direction data from NASA's Quick Scatterometer spacecraft--also known as Quikscat--into their operational global weather analysis and forecast systems. The satellite uses a specialized microwave radar that continuously measures both the speed and direction of winds near the surface of the globe's oceans. Armed with data from Quikscat, forecasters believe they will be able to predict hazardous weather events over the oceans as much as 6-12 hr. earlier than before.
The FAA has increased AirTran Airways' intervals for two types of maintenance checks on the carrier's fleet of 30 Boeing 717 transports. The agency has granted the airline authorization to increase ``A'' classification maintenance checks from the current 450-hr. requirement to 500 hr., while the C check for the aircraft goes from 3,600 hr. or 15 months to 4,500 hr. or 18 months. The aircraft continues to average better than 99% dispatch reliability for the overall fleet, according to Boeing.
BOEING HAS DELIVERED to Lockheed Martin the latest integrated avionics software package for the F-22. The Block 3.1 software provides nearly 90% of the functions planned for the aircraft and will allow the flight test program to complete its objectives, according to Boeing. The new software adds a GPS capability and has increased radar, electronic warfare, communication, navigation and identification potential.
The push is underway again to spin off regional airlines from mainline carrier owners. Airlines tabled spinoff plans after Sept. 11, but the potential to bolster mainline balance sheets has put them in a selling mood. Continental Airlines resumed the process for an IPO last week for its subsidiary, ExpressJet Holdings Inc. Northwest Airlines filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to begin the spinoff process for Express Airlines I, to be renamed Pinnacle Airlines Corp. Susan Donofrio of Deutsche Banc Alex.
The U.S. Navy is flying surveillance and intelligence-gathering missions in the Philippines to support a growing campaign against Islamic militants there. However, the mission isn't new. Aircrews have been involved in an expanded overland intelligence mission since the mid-1990s' Balkans crises.
Israeli electronics maker Elisra plans to sell a share in its business. The move is aimed at increasing access to capital and to help open markets, according to company executives. A deal could be completed this year. Elisra's parent company, the Koor Group, will maintain a majority hold on the company.
THE FAA HAS ESTABLISHED agreements with three companies to develop the avionics to integrate digital voice and data into an air/ground communications system. The agency will fund about 50% of the industry development of the airborne components of the Next Generation Air/Ground Communications (Nexcom) program. Selected to create the avionics for VHF Data Link Mode-3 (VDL-3) for commercial air carriers were Rockwell Collins Commercial Systems in Melbourne, Fla., and Honeywell Aerospace Electronic Systems of Redmond, Wash. Avidyne Corp.
Australia will train air force operators in Canada under its basic air navigator course, beginning this year. A Royal Australian Air Force navigator instructor also will be attached to the staff of the Canadian Forces Air Navigation School
Within the U.S. Air Force, the debate about whether to first build a new tanker or a new intelligence-gathering aircraft appears to have been resolved. The service plans to start both as parallel programs in late 2003.
USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Donald L. Cromer has been appointed to the board of trustees of The Aerospace Corp. of Los Angeles. He was president of the then-Hughes Space and Communications Co. and is a former commander of the USAF Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB.
Prime manufacturers and specialists are proposing a shopping list of added security enhancements for aircraft cockpits and cabins to meet terrorist threats, even though regulatory authorities have yet to complete their mandates of what must be done. At Asian Aerospace, Boeing announced the formation of a new division, Security and Safety Services, in its Commercial Airplanes business to carry the industry beyond interim bolts and bars on cockpit doors to a more permanent solution that takes cabin/cockpit depressurization into account.
United Airlines will start training its pilots in April to use Taser stun guns for cockpit protection, assuming the Transportation Security Administration approves their use. Tasers fire two electrical charges that can disable attackers for about 5 sec. The carrier plans to keep Tasers in locked boxes on the flight deck.
Noise watchdogs in the Washington area are questioning whether an FAA airspace redesign plan slated for implementation sometime next year will be as benign on the ears as the feds are promising. Such concerns will be aired next month when the FAA holds a series of public workshops to discuss three new routing options designed to boost airline arrival and departure traffic flow efficiency in a 75-naut.-mi. ring around major airports in the area.
Asian Aerospace 2002, held in Singapore last week, was the first major air show since Sept. 11. It reflected both the effects of the worldwide recession and the aftermath of the Sept. 11 tragedy, as well as the aspirations of numerous companies for the recovery of all sectors of the aerospace market in the region.
The Pentagon wants an air-to-air missile for its unmanned aircraft. With the fielding of the wide-body Multisensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A), equipped with multiband radars, the U.S. Air Force would have by around 2010 an airborne system capable of detecting and targeting helicopters, UAVs and stealthy cruise missiles.
In a major engine decision, Dubai-based Emirates has selected the GP7000 engine family made by the General Electric-Pratt&Whitney Engine Alliance to power its 22 A380s ordered last year. Emirates also holds an option for 10 more aircraft. The 20 passenger aircraft will use the GP7270 rated at 70,000-lb. thrust, while the two cargo aircraft are slated to operate GP7277 engines, rated at 76,500-lb. thrust. The deal is valued at $1.5 billion and should ensure that both the GE-Pratt team and Rolls-Royce will continue to compete for A380 business.
In his first Hill appearance since becoming NASA administrator, Sean O'Keefe, a former comptroller at the Pentagon, tells the House Science Committee of some things he wants to do to straighten out the space agency's books. Henceforth, the costs of shuttle flights other than those that go to the space station will be picked up by the projects requiring the missions, instead of coming out of the human space flight account. There are many ways to figure the cost of a shuttle flight, and O'Keefe didn't say how the charge will be figured.
Israel Aircraft Industries has become a team member on the T-50 trainer built by Korea Aerospace Industries and Lockheed Martin. The manufacturers hope the deal will pave the way for sales in Israel.
Raytheon will cease building the Beech 1900D turboprop commuter airliner. The market for the aircraft has changed, and Tom Culligan, CEO for Raytheon International, said production already has been reduced.
