The U.K. government and aviation industry are trying to jump-start at least a mini-recovery from the effects of Sept. 11. Hard hit by the downturn in airline travel, British Airways is offering as many as 50,000 free business-class tickets to its Executive Club frequent fliers. Those who book a premium long-haul return flight will be able to take a friend for free the next time they travel. The airline promises more promotions to stimulate a comeback before the post-holiday doldrums set in. Concerned about weak domestic demand, U.K.
Going against the pessimistic mood gripping the aerospace industry, Embraer has unveiled a new aircraft in its 70-110-seat regional jet line and presented an aggressive schedule for introducing the various models. Without denying the seriousness of the present industry crisis, Embraer Chairman/CEO Mauricio Botelho sounded a resolutely upbeat note here at the rollout ceremony for the Embraer 170, the first aircraft in the planned new family.
Qantas Airways has decided to buy 15 Boeing 737-800s, with options for 60 additional aircraft to progressively replace the airline's existing 737-300 and -400 transports. Boeing said the order is valued at more than $900 million at list prices. Airline officials said the buy would enable the company to add immediate capacity to its Australian operations, with delivery of the first aircraft in January and the remaining 14 by July 2002. The aircraft will come from existing orders that American Airlines had in place with Boeing, Qantas said.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is initiating development of a low-cost satellite launcher targeted at what is being seen as a growing demand to serve small, military satellites that need to be put in orbit quickly. The launcher is supposed to combine a reusable first stage with an expendable second stage in a novel way. The goal is to rapidly deliver a 50-kg. payload into low-Earth orbit. Potential bidders recently were briefed on the government's plan for the Responsive Access Small Cargo Affordable Launch (Rascal) project.
Saab Ericsson Space has terminated negotiations to acquire Fokker Space BV, citing a lack of ``satisfactory guarantees'' for certain unspecified earlier commitments. Bengt Mortberg, the Swedish company's president and CEO, said that without those guarantees, ``we cannot enter a joint ownership. Although we have had positive expectations for a long time, it has not been possible to arrive at a common solution.'' Stork N.V., the Netherlands group that previously bought the surviving units of Fokker, acquiesced, saying it respected Saab Ericsson Space's decision.
SatCon Technology Corp. of Cambridge, Mass., has received a U.S. patent covering the optical signal processing component of its biological and chemical detection system. In addition, the company recently completed the demonstration and validation phase of its advanced biological contamination sensing technology program for the U.S. Army. The optical sensing-based system is designed to detect traces of chemical and biological agents in food and liquids using a very small sample size and in real-time.
Charles Vanek has been appointed assistant director for safety and security at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. He was director of the Office of Systems Safety and Mission Assurance. Vanek has been succeeded by Wentworth O. Denoon, who was deputy director.
While steadily climbing load factors in the past several weeks have been encouraging, America West Airlines lost $31.7 million in the third quarter and will have to seek additional financing to get through the downturn. Douglas Parker, America West chairman, president and CEO, said the Phoenix-based airline has been outperforming the industry average in passenger load factors, with a level of 74% for the quarter.
The Lockheed Martin team's development of the lift fan was a top reason it won the Joint Strike Fighter competition, according to the losing Boeing team, which was ``outbriefed'' by high government officials last week. Despite initial pessimism about a Boeing role on the F-35 program, the door cracked open to cooperation on Nov. 1 when Dain Hancock, president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., started talking with Jerry Daniels, president and CEO of Boeing Military Aircraft and Missile Systems. The two planned to meet in Fort Worth late this week.
The long-term prospects of aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce are considered bright because its decision to shed 5,000 jobs sets the stage for a quick comeback when the airline slump is over. Labor leaders objected that the company had moved too hastily, failing to treat them as partners in proceeding with the Oct. 19 layoff of 3,800 employees at home, 1,200 abroad, from a 43,500-strong workforce (AW&ST Oct. 22, p. 22).
Daniel B. Goodman has been named vice president-strategy of TRW Inc. of Cleveland. He was manager of strategic planning and business development for Boeing subsidiary Continental Datagraphics.
Weaver also says the recently completed Quadrennial Defense Review ``was nice to read,'' but the ``real QDR started [taking shape] on Sept. 11.'' Very high on the new QDR list is a fleet of modern wide-body tankers that would be followed by new intelligence aircraft. Among the latter would be a new Commando Solo-type psychological warfare aircraft. The Guard has that mission, but its elderly EC-130s are overloaded and the new EC-130J wouldn't provide the necessary room.
One natural response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks concerns the security of corporate computer and communications systems. The attacks have hit Boeing's commercial aircraft industry hard. But the company has seen a spike of interest by airlines in Connexion, the inflight Internet service it has under development, according to Phantom Works President George Muellner. The reason: ``There's a great deal of interest in getting more information on and off the aircraft, hence air traffic management becomes a market,'' he said.
The era of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other giant software systems has waned, at least for a while. ERP systems have gone from shiny baubles that would advance an executive's career to dangerous career-killers. A famous case was Hershey Foods ruining its 1999 Halloween candy sales because of an ERP project gone awry. Just last week, one of the reasons given for Ford sacking CEO Jacques Nasser was that several e-commerce ventures he promoted had to be written off.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS at Philadelphia International Airport have a new tool to increase capacity during their busiest times or bad weather. The recently commissioned Precision Runway Monitor could increase arrivals by 15-20% during the most difficult conditions, according to manufacturer Raytheon. PRM, an electronically-scanned monopulse secondary-surveillance radar, gets aircraft location every second, which is almost five times the update rate of conventional SSRs, which are limited by the rotation rate of the radar antenna.
Pakistan has asked the U.S. to compensate for losses by Pakistan's aviation industry because air strikes in Afghanistan are reducing air traffic and use of Pakistan's airspace. The Civil Aviation Authority and Pakistan International Airlines estimate losses at $8 million per month. The U.S. is expected to announce a relief package for Pakistan next week during a visit to Washington by Chief Executive Gen. Pervez Musharraf. In addition, the Exim Bank said it would extend credit of $400-500 million for the airline to buy four Boeing 777s for delivery in January.
Eurowings has selected Rockwell Collins' Flight Dynamics Head-up Guidance System for its Bombardier CRJ 200 fleet. The Dortmund, Germany-based carrier has 15 firm orders and 30 options for the CRJ200.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China plans for Chinese carriers and airports from its three aviation centers--Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou--to invest in nearly 100 of the country's smallest airports because their combined debt is overwhelming profits made by China's better run airports.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are hastening the reinforcement of cockpit doors and flight deck security. British Airways is fortifying the door locks and hinges, and installing a full-length metal armor plate to prevent unauthorized access. Installation is underway, and the carrier is considering the addition of closed-circuit television (CCTV) to the flight deck and the introduction of computer software that can ``name trap'' suspect passengers at check-in.
Parker Counts has become acting deputy associate administrator of NASA for the space shuttle. He succeeds Norman Starkey. Counts has been manager of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster Project Office at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
Leslie Jay Cohen has been appointed vice president-business development of Hitco Carbon Composites of Los Angeles. He was manager of business development at Cytec Fiberite.
Chinese and Japanese scientists have revealed initial details of major space science missions with the European Space Agency, and Italy is seeking to augment its participation in the Mars program as nations continue to reinforce cooperation in an era of tight budgets.
It looks like the White House will have to take up NASA don Daniel S. Goldin's offer of help finding an interim helmsman before he leaves Nov. 17. Agency insiders say no one on the outside has agreed to take the job, although retired Air Force Gen. Thomas Moorman is said to have flirted with it again.
A Boeing Delta II 7320-10 rocket placed the QuickBird imaging satellite into a Sun-synchronous 280-mi. orbit on Oct. 18 from Space Launch Complex 2-West at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. (AW&ST Oct. 22, p. 23). Satellite checkout was underway last week, and it should be providing imagery for customers in early 2002.
