The Canadian government will consider--but is not committed to--financial help for airlines beyond its agreed-to compensation for direct losses during the six days that followed Sept. 11, Transport Minister David Collenette told reporters during a Washington visit. The U.S.
Terrorism is the latest target for avionics companies, which are rushing in to offer the FAA a wide range of proposals that would exploit their technologies to help spot terrorists at airports and thwart any that board aircraft.
Henri Courpron will become president/CEO of Airbus North America Holdings on Jan. 1. He will succeed Nick Tomassetti, who is scheduled to retire. Courpron heads Airbus' marketing and sales unit for the U.S. and Canada.
Colin Hall has become managing director in the London office of Avmark. He was alliances manager for British Airways. Brendan Gallagher has been named editor of Avmark's Aviation Economist and Gael Cusenier senior analyst.
A congressionally chartered commission to review the U.S. aerospace industry will try to strike a balance between addressing near-term problems resulting from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and longer-term, systemic problems that have bedeviled companies' prospects for years.
USAF Capt. Jodi A. Neff has been chosen to receive the Katherine and Marjorie Stinson Award for Achievement for 2001 from the National Aeronautic Assn. Neff is the first woman to command a special operations low-level C-5 and is assigned to the 3rd Airlift Sqdn., Dover AFB, Del. Her missions have included airlifting equipment to Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm, transporting munitions during the air war in Yugoslavia and humanitarian flights into East Timor and the Korean peninsula.
Boeing's X-45A unmanned combat air vehicle is in final preparations for first flight, which Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency managers expect will occur before year-end. Low-speed taxi testing at Edwards AFB, Calif., should commence this month, followed by a quick transition to medium-speed tests.
Arthur L. Money has been appointed to the board of directors of Silicon Graphics Inc., Mountain View, Calif. He was assistant secretary for command, control, communications and intelligence/chief information officer of the U.S. Defense Dept. Money succeeds Robert Lutz, who has resigned to become vice chairman-product development of the General Motors Corp.
Brian Gora has been named president for Landing Gear Systems of the Goodrich Corp., Charlotte, N.C. He was vice president/general manager of the Landing Systems Services division. Gora has been succeeded by Theunis Botha, who was vice president/general manager for the Turbine Component Services division. Bill Walthall has become company-wide vice president-customer relations. He was group vice president of the Engineered Products division.
Vought Aircraft Industries has delivered the 1,000th shipset of empennages and graphite composite wing spoilers for the Boeing 757, and the 1,000th shipset of doors for the Boeing 737. The company's facilities in Milledgeville and Perry, Ga., and in Dallas build large airframe assemblies for Boeing, including the main fuselage, doors and empennage for the 747.
France has deployed three units of surface-air missiles around a nuclear waste processing facility at La Hague, Normandy, as part of a plan to bolster air defenses in the western part of the country. A program to protect civilian populations against biological attack is also being put in place.
Despite the widespread security tensions generated by the war on terrorism, organizers of this year's Dubai air show in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are hoping for a large official turnout. In the days since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, Dubai officials have said they still expect defense missions from as many as 78 countries, the heads of 66 airlines (passenger and cargo) and 50+ civil aviation authorities at the biennial Persian Gulf venue. The show is scheduled for Nov. 4-8.
Maj. Gen. Robert F. Behler has assumed command of the Aerospace Command and Control, and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center of the Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, Va., He was deputy commander, Headquarters Allied North Europe of NATO, Stavanger, Norway. Behler succeeds Maj. Gen. Gerald F. Perryman, Jr., who is now the assistant deputy Air Force chief of staff for communications and information at the Pentagon.
No one knows what new surprises the war against terrorism will bring. So far Al Qaeda and its network of terrorists have stayed ahead of the U.S. and its allies by attacking with truck-borne explosives in Saudi Arabia, a boat-delivered bomb in Yemen, suicide squads on airliners in the U.S. and, possibly, mail-delivered anthrax, say senior officials here. In contrast, the war against the Taliban has gone largely without a hitch so far, as a low-tech, land-bound Taliban army is pummeled by a high-tech, largely airborne force.
Buoyed by a spate of helicopter deals and prospects for major sales of military transports and missiles, EADS officials hope investors and analysts will take a more positive assessment of the company's outlook, despite dim projections for Airbus sales.
Michael Stellwag has become Los Angeles-based manager of e-marketing for the Americas for Singapore Airlines. He was manager of airline partnerships for Orbitz.
Eurockot has received an order to launch two satellites to replenish the Iridium mobile satphone constellation. The launch, scheduled for June 2002 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia, is one of four maintenance missions under an option agreement with Iridium. The EADS-Khrunichev venture's Rockot booster was qualified during a demonstration flight last year. The first commercial mission, to orbit a pair of Grace scientific spacecraft developed by German aerospace center DLR and NASA, is set for November.
NASCAR TEAMS THAT OPERATE BUSINESS AIRCRAFT HAVE FORMED the Race Team Aviation Assn. (RTAA) to foster safety and cooperation with FAA facilities and airports used by teams during weekend races. There are more than 200 pilots flying 50 drivers and 55 teams to and from NASCAR events, according to RTAA President Wayne Cook. Team owners Richard Childress and Joe Gibbs said the RTAA could help standardize procedures used by teams and decrease expenses by working with air traffic control to obtain improved handling and routing.
Charlie Higgins has been named head of the Security and Safety Services division of Seattle-based Boeing Commercial Airplanes. He was vice president-safety and airworthiness.
The House defense appropriations subcommittee wants to kill the low-Earth orbit component of the Space-Based Infrared System, SBIRS-Low. The panel wants to take all the $385 million requested and instead fund satellite sensor technology at $250 million this year. The reason? Cost projections for the constellation have more than doubled to $23 billion from $10 billion, software requirements have increased and satellite weight has grown. Without SBIRS-Low, the Pentagon's national missile defense program won't be able to handle more advanced threats, Pentagon officials warn.
Darrell Frey has been appointed general manager of the General Dynamics Aviation Services'center in West Palm Beach, Fla. He was manager of service center operations for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., Savannah, Ga.
The FAA has cleared VFR flights to begin operating in an additional 12 enhanced Class B zones across the country, adding to the 15 Class Bs that had been opened for visual flights earlier in October.
Italian defense minister Antonio Martino has expressed ``deep doubts'' about the usefulness of Europe's planned A400M airlifter for Italy's force projection requirement, particularly when the country is already committed to purchasing 22 C-130Js. Martino's remarks increased the likelihood that Rome will not be among the countries expected to approve full-scale development of the new aircraft on Nov. 16 (AW&ST Oct. 22, p. 22).
