The European airline industry's post-Sept. 11 downturn is exacerbating financial concerns, further weakening the most fragile players and intensifying the need for consolidation. The European Commission (EC), policy makers and analysts agree that the fragmented European airline industry should be restructured. However, national pride remains stronger than economy statistics, so governments continue to pour more bailout funding into ailing flag carriers despite the realities of the marketplace.
Wesley T. Huntress, Jr., director of the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution in Washington, and Neil de Grasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, have been named president and vice president, respectively, of The Planetary Society, Pasadena, Calif. Louis Friedman continues as executive director and a director.
Lockheed Martin has completed development testing of its PAC-3 ballistic missile and air-defense system and will now turn the system over to the U.S. Army for an independent assessment. So far the system scored 12 successes out of 13 tests. The first operational test is slated for January with a full-rate production decision planned for 2003. Moreover, the company is arguing that the international (U.S., German, Italian) Medium Extended Air Defense System (Meads) program should be accelerated.
Robert Garrymore has been appointed Woodbridge, N.J.-based senior vice president-aircraft management sales and Julie Diamond as Van Nuys, Calif.-based vice president-aircraft charter sales for Executive Jet Management of Cincinnati.
In a further sign of increased reliance on small spacecraft for Earth observation, French space agency CNES is fleshing out a new mission that would use a Ka-band microsatellite for altimetry applications.
U.S. defense contractors may reap fresh business from India as a result of the easing of Washington's sanctions against the subcontinent in the wake of the Sept. 11 disaster. Indian officials say the Bush Administration wants to explore cooperation in a number of long-delayed military programs, including the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft and the Advanced Light Helicopter. Both have languished for years for want of funding. The U.S.
Lufthansa is making even deeper cuts to its flight network and will ground more aircraft in an effort to reduce capacity and costs in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., which have hit the airline more seriously than anticipated.
AMR Corp., parent company of American Airlines and TWA LLC, suffered a record net loss during the third quarter of $525 million, or $3.40 per share, as senior officials warned of further bloodletting in the fourth-quarter due to weak traffic projections and persistent low yields. After special items, a government grant and two one-time charges, AMR's net loss was adjusted to $414 million compared to earnings of $313 million a year ago.
United Bizjet Holdings has concluded a contract to purchase 122 Falcon Jets from Dassault Aviation for its new fractional ownership program. The deal covers 46 aircraft firm plus 76 on option--significantly more than the 100-aircraft order placed under an initial letter of intent signed at the Paris air show (AW&ST June 25, p. 28). The difference is accounted for by 22 midsize Falcon 50 EXs not included in the LOI.
Three weeks into its war on terrorism, the Pentagon is recognizing it may not have the tools to be successful. So, the Defense Dept. is turning to industry to find new ways to combat terrorism, defeat difficult targets, conduct protracted operations in remote areas and counter weapons of mass destruction. The goal is to find ideas that can be fielded within 12-18 months.
American Airlines will lay off another 409 pilots beginning Nov. 7 in addition to the 380 new-hire pilots already furloughed who were in the training pipeline or serving probationary periods. In addition, American has reduced overtime for its maintenance workers in an effort to further reduce costs, which could result in fewer mechanics losing their jobs. To date, the airline has furloughed about 2,000 mechanics.
GERMANY HAS CERTIFIED RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT CO.'S Premier I entry-level business jet, clearing the way for deliveries of 26 airplanes to operators based in that country. The first delivery is scheduled for January 2002. Of the 300 Premier I jets on order, 51 will go to European operators, according to Raytheon Aircraft officials. Certification is pending in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, the U.K. and Switzerland.
Thomas E. Schick has been appointed to the board of directors of Panama-based Copa Airlines. He is a retired executive vice president of Boeing Commercial Aviation Services.
America West Airlines says it will dispute $667,050 in FAA-imposed civil penalties linked to alleged maintenance and flight violations from 1997 to 2000. According to the FAA, the carrier used the wrong bolts in the elevator systems for 13 aircraft and knowingly flew 1,605 passenger flights with the discrepancy in May and June of 1999. The airline also flew thousands of passenger-carrying flights, the FAA contends, with numerous other aircraft that had not been modified in accordance with 11 airworthiness directives through the period.
NASA's Odyssey spacecraft, the space agency's first Mars mission since the loss of two science probes there in 1999, scored a ``bull's-eye'' by flying to within 1 km. of its target aimpoint prior to entering orbit around the planet, according to project officials. Matt Landano, Odyssey project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said the 1,600-lb. spacecraft ``flawlessly achieved its most critical one-time event'' Oct. 23 in preparation for its primary 2.5-year science mission. ``Our navigation was superb.''
AVIATION SAFETY TRAINING IN HOUSTON IS OFFERING flights in a Cessna Citation business jet to demonstrate the effects of ``unloading'' an aircraft ``as a means of neutralizing, disabling or injuring a terrorist.'' The training, which is part of the company's unusual attitude recovery course, involves placing the jet into a 0g unload for about 2 sec. followed by return to 1g. Chief pilot Donald Wylie said the techniques can be applied to Transport Category aircraft.
NASA breathed a sigh of relief when the Mars Odyssey spacecraft phoned home upon reappearing from the back side of the planet (see p. 64). Interestingly, until that critical radio signal, Goldin was nowhere to be seen, certainly not on television from the control room. Space science chief Ed Weiler was on tap to answer reporters' questions after the event. But once MO phoned home, Goldin appeared in the control room footage, and Weiler got the hook. Would Goldin have remained the invisible man had MO's orbit insertion failed?
ALIEN TECHNOLOGIES of Morgan Hill, Calif., developed a manufacturing technology to reduce the cost of displays. The company's first product will be a small, flexible monochromatic display for a smart card; among the potential uses is personal identification. The manufacturing process is called fluidic self-assembly. Integrated circuits produced on wafers are cut apart and floated over a plastic substrate in a bath. The substrate has holes the shape of the chips. When a chip crosses a hole with the correct shape and orientation, it slides in.
GE CAPITAL SIMUFLITE IS EXPANDING ITS TRAINING FACILITIES at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport for the third time in six years. Plans call for construction of a 70,000-sq.-ft. addition that would house six simulator bays, classrooms and office space. The new unit is scheduled to be completed in mid-2002 and will bring total area at the facility to 411,000 sq. ft., according to the company.
Primagraphics has won an additional $1-million contract from DRS Techno- logies Inc. to supply its commercial-off-the-shelf Vantage VME-based radar scan converters.
CESSNA HAS SOLD A CITATION X BUSINESS JET TO THE AIR TRAFFIC Management Bureau of the Civil Aviation Authority of China. It will be based in Beijing and flown along with two other Citations to monitor and calibrate navigation aids and for other special mission applications.
THE FAA HAS ISSUED A SUPPLEMENTAL TYPE CERTIFICATE for installation of the Enhanced Vision System (EVS) on Gulfstream V business jets. The approval permits Gulfstream Aerospace to offer the EVS as an option for new airplanes and to retrofit the system into existing GV aircraft. The EVS uses Flir technology to project a real-world image on a Honeywell head-up display.
