Claude Valle (see photo) has been appointed director of military export operations at France-based Snecma Moteurs. He succeeds Thierry Hurtes, who has been reassigned within the Snecma group. Valle was deputy director of customer support for Thales Airborne Systems.
Lonnie Arima has been named vice president-worldwide consumer sales and marketing and Karen Carbonnet vice president-corporate communications for Thales Navigation, Santa Clara, Calif.
Astronomers are using NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory to investigate some of the most violent events in the cosmos, ranging from the explosive death of stars to eruptions at the center of galactic clusters that send out ``bubbles'' the size of the Milky Way galaxy that Chandra's instruments can resolve.
Thales generated sales of around 10 billion euros ($9 billion) last year, compared with 8.6 billion euros in 2000, Chairman/CEO Denis Ranque said last week. He declined to venture a figure for orders, which he termed ``satisfactory,'' or to speculate on financial results for the company, whose books do not close until March. Revenues, orders and earnings were all up sharply in the first half of the year (AW&ST Oct. 29, 2001, p. 74; Mar. 19, 2001, p. 42).
The disappointing performance of stocks in both Aviation Week indexes--the Aerospace 25 and Airline 25--for the week ending Jan. 16 would suggest the two industry sectors essentially are moving in lockstep.
Despite the perennial tensions on the Taiwan Strait and the war fever in Kashmir, the military trend in Asia-at-large is one of technological advance, not feverish arms competition. The focus on modernization and streamlining reflects a consensus of U.S. threat assessments that American defense technology will outpace Asia's for decades, including China's. Asian governments recognize they have a lot of catching up to do with the West.
Italian national carrier Alitalia plans to lay off 2,500 employees in an effort to lower costs, bringing job cuts to 6,900 employees. The carrier also intends to eliminate unprofitable routes. Its board last week approved the cost-saving plan presented by CEO Francesco Mengozzi. According to Italian legislation, however, the company now has to negotiate with unions but could implement job cuts unilaterally if no agreement is reached in 75 days.
France Telecom has created a fully owned subsidiary, France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications, to manage its fast-growing portfolio of mobile satcom services. The Paris-based company recently acquired the Inmarsat business of German operator DeTeSat, took a 40% stake in French distributor TDCom and completed the takeover of Glocall, a distributor based in the Netherlands. France Telecom is now the third largest provider of Inmarsat services, with 16% of the market.
Stabilizing production lines and cutting manufacturing costs are two top priorities for Boeing Commercial Airplanes this year after capping 2001 with the delivery of 527 aircraft and orders for 335 aircraft. The last-minute surge of Boeing deliveries at the end of last year beat the company's total the previous year by 38 aircraft, while orders for Boeing aircraft during 2001 fell from the 611 level reached during 2000.
DAVID BONDEDWARD H. PHILLIPSANTHONY L. VELOCCI, JR.
Continental Nears Breakeven Continental Airlines expects to return to profit this spring and summer, but fears that attempts by United Airlines and US Airways to survive might hold down revenues throughout the industry in the fall.
Floris J. van Pallandt has been named president/chief executive of Transavia Airlines, effective Apr. 1. He will succeed Peter J. Legro, who is retiring. Van Pallandt is chief executive of KLM uk.
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. will terminate business jet completion activities at its Alliance Airport facilities in Fort Worth during the next six months and lay off a majority of the 355 workers and 80 contract employees at the site, which was headquarters for Galaxy Aerospace until it was acquired by Gulfstream last June. According to a Gulfstream official, the facility is inadequate for performing completion work and has no growth potential for the company. Future use of the complex is under review.
Low-fare carrier Southwest Airlines posted a net income of $63.5 million for the fourth quarter--down nearly 59% from the $154.7 million earned a year ago--including a special, pretax gain of $67 million from a federal airline grant issued after the terrorist attacks in September 2001. For the year overall, Southwest reported a net income of $511 million compared with $625 million in 2000.
The FAA has finalized its Secret Service-generated plan for securing the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City from air taxi or general aviation threats. From Feb. 8-24, flight restrictions will be in place throughout a 45-naut.-mi.-radius, 17,999 ft.-high zone over the city, with smaller no-fly zones established in nine locations near the activities. To fly into the Olympic zone, pilots must pass a rigorous security check and enter via four ``gateway'' airports outside of Utah. Four nearby public use airports will be shut down for the duration.
Competitors are lining up to try to fill the shoes of the Navy's canceled Area-Wide missile defense program. Both Raytheon, prime contractor for the failed effort, and Lockheed Martin are trying to convince the Missile Defense Agency--the renamed Ballistic Missile Defense Organization--they can do the job. Both are eyeing hit-to-kill technology, not a blast/fragmentation warhead like that of Area-Wide. Raytheon wants to convert Area-Wide's Standard Missile 2 Block 4A into a hit-to-kill system. Lockheed aims to put Patriot PAC-3 on ships.
Northrop Grumman followed up its recent court victory over rival inertial reference system (IRS) manufacturer Honeywell (AW&ST Jan. 7, p. 19) with a major contract win. Qantas Airways and Singapore Airlines placed orders for the company's LTN-101 Flagship IRS product earlier this month. Qantas plans to install the equipment on 13 new A300s; Singapore will use the system on five new A340-500s.
The Pentagon should buy both unmanned, expendable radar jammers and new electronic attack aircraft to replace the aging EA-6B Prowler, according to a long-term assessment of the U.S.' ability to batter down future enemy air defenses.
American Airlines' parent company, AMR Corp., reported a net loss of $734 million for the quarter, or a loss of $4.75 per share, compared with earnings of $56 million during the same period a year ago. The company ended the year overall with a net loss of $1.4 billion compared with net earnings of $752 million last year. As for the near-term, Thomas W. Horton, AMR's chief financial officer, said the first quarter of this year is projected to be ``a substantial loss'' for American as the airline struggles to ascertain future demand.
Airbus chose Honeywell to be the standard flight management system supplier for the A380 with an award worth up to $200 million over 15 years. In related news, Marubeni Corp. of Japan became the latest to sign on as a risk-sharing partner on the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine, which will power the aircraft. Samsung Techwin of Korea and Ishikawajima Harima Industries (IHI) will join the program as associate partners, with responsibilities for the combustor and low-pressure turbine blades, respectively.
John Thackrah has become vice president-aftermarket for the Large Commercial Engine unit of Pratt&Whitney, East Hartford, Conn. He was vice president-worldwide engineering for Otis Elevator, a sister company of UTC.
Precise altimetric data from Europe's largest and smallest satellites will help transform oceanography into a reliable tool for marine weather and sea state forecasts, climate change models and other operational applications, according to European and U.S. space officials.
Jose Achache has become director of Earth observation of the Paris-based European Space Agency. He was deputy director general for science of the French space agency CNES.
Northwest Airlines sustained a net loss of $216 million during the fourth quarter of 2001, but is positioned well for whatever rebound occurs and will be among the first U.S. airlines to turn a profit again, executives said Jan. 17.
EADS and BAE Systems have initiated a plan to reorganize their space business and prepare for further consolidation of satellite and launcher activities.
