The Canadian government, under its broad-based Anti-Terrorism Plan, recently proposed legislation and provided C$79 million to further enhance airport security in which the Royal Canadian Mounted Police may play a larger role.
BAE Systems' Information and Electronic Warfare Systems unit has fulfilled one of its strategic objectives with the recent opening of an advanced technology office in the Washington area (AW&ST May 7, p. 78). The operation was established to enhance the company's ties with key defense laboratories, such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Naval Research Laboratory. The Washington Technical Office, as the operation is known, can support up to 50 technical, program-management and business-development personnel.
Capacity cutbacks enabled Continental Airlines to regain some of the load factor it lost following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but yields remained low. The carrier said its system-wide load factor was 65.5% during the first two weeks of October, down 5.5 percentage points from the same period in 2000, but 13.2 points higher than the preceding two weeks. The load factor for domestic operations, 71.3%, was up 1.3 points year over year. Revenue per available seat mile (RASM), the product of load factor and yield, was down 26-28% Oct. 1-14, year over year.
Ukraine has acknowledged that the fatal crash of a Russian Tu-154 on Oct. 4 was caused by an errant Ukrainian surface-to-air missile. ``We know that we are implicated, and I present my excuses to the families and friends of those who died in the catastrophe,'' said Defense Minister Alexander Kuzmuk. However, the exact cause of the error, Kuzmuk said, remained to be determined. A Russian commission of inquiry had earlier found that the plane had indeed been downed by a missile, without naming the country responsible.
As he prepared to meet President Bush and other Asian leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Shanghai on Oct. 20, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was engineering a remarkable turnaround in his country's foreign policy.
Southwest Airlines reported net income of $151 million for the third quarter--down 18% from $184 million a year ago--in the wake of terrorist attacks in the U.S. on Sept. 11.
Ann F. Whitaker (see photo) has been promoted to director from deputy director of the Science Directorate at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
Members of the House Science Committee have a gut understanding about bioterrorism this week, as they return to their offices following a five-day hiatus while experts checked the Capitol complex for anthrax contamination. The shutdown forced cancellation of a closed hearing for members and staff Friday on bioweapons and bioterrorism that was to have included a presentation by Ken Alibek, a former top Soviet germ warfare official. Even before the germ warfare scare, Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.), the committee chairman, was explaining how the Sept.
Delta Air Lines has put its brand name on the 16-year-old charter operation Comair Jet Express, changing its name to Delta AirElite Business Jets. The company, a subsidiary of Delta's Comair regional carrier, operates 10 aircraft, four of which are owned by Delta. Frederick Reid, Delta president and chief operating officer, said demand for charter operations and aircraft management has been growing. The branding of the Comair operation was part of a ``business strategy to provide professional services to these premium clients.''
Five airports--Stockholm Arlanda, Dublin, Lyon-Saint Exupery and Nice Cote d'Azur in France, and the EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg serving Switzerland, France and Germany--are implementing Maestro arrival manager system software, which DGAC, the French Civil Aviation Administration, began developing in the late 1980s. . . . The U.S. Air Force Academy is using CEI's EnSight software to visualize airflows generated by computational fluid dynamics.
THE EARTHDATA COMPANY USED LIGHT DETECTION and ranging (Lidar) laser terrain-modeling systems for rapid airborne mapping of the World Trade Center wreckage, to support recovery and cleanup efforts. The airborne position of the sensors was established using GPS and inertial navigation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Geodetic Survey aided the accurate aircraft positioning by increasing the data rates on the Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) from the standard 30-sec. interval to 5 sec. at Sandy Hook, N.J., and 1 sec.
The 43,000 workers at Rolls-Royce were bracing for layoffs as the company's board of directors met last week to discuss the impact of the attacks on the U.S. and the resulting drop in airlines' demand for equipment. Like other companies heavily dependent on the civil aviation market, Rolls-Royce's stock has been hammered, losing one-third of its value since Sept. 11.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Fuji Heavy Industries expect to sustain losses as the ripple effect of postponed deliveries for Boeing's 767 and 777 programs take effect among suppliers, although they have received no word of a drop in delivery plans. The three produce fuselage panels, doors and the wing center section and other wing components representing about 20% of the airframe structural value for the 777. They produce a major portion of the fuselage for the 767.
George Fernandes has returned to his post as India's defense minister following a video expose in March that showed various senior politicians, generals and civil servants accepting bribes to push a nonexistent handheld thermal imaging camera for the infantry. Reporters posed as arms dealers for the fictitious product. Fernandes stepped down ``on moral grounds.'' External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh had been holding the position on an interim basis. He said Fernandes is ``the right person'' for the job due to increased sensitivity in the Middle East.
The U.K.'s Customs and Excise Agency made its largest cocaine seizure ever from an aircraft last week, approximately 500 kilos, whose street value officials estimated at 32 million pounds ($46.4 million). The seizure occurred under cover of darkness after six large bags were dropped from a Boeing 707-323C on a remote part of the runway at the U.K.'s Southend Airport. Customs officers seized the cargo aircraft, secured the cocaine and arrested six men. Five were crewmembers, but the sixth individual's affiliation was undisclosed.
Jeffrey Gotschall has been appointed chairman of Sifco Industries of Cleveland. He succeeds Charles H. Smith, Jr., who has retired but will remain a director. Gotschall will continue as president/CEO.
But ARC does like the prospects of global logistics softwarehouses such as Savi Technologies Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., which got its big break making asset management tracking software for the U.S. military. The services realized they couldn't keep track of all the cargo boxes sent to the Middle East for the Persian Gulf war (see photo). Most recently, Savi has combined ``smart'' physical seals with its tracking software so that shippers can be assured cargo hasn't been tampered with while it's waiting to be loaded.
Boeing Co. may discontinue production of the 717 owing to weak demand and because the line isn't economical. The company also has delayed completion of the development program for the long-range 777-200LR for 18 months due to weak sales of the new model coupled with the impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The aircraft was to have entered service in January 2004. Boeing only has three firm orders for the transport.
Behind the scenes of the U.S. air campaign in Afghanistan, signs are emerging of intelligence limitations and shortage of some key munitions. Despite a large intelligence collection effort before air strikes began Oct. 7, U.S. planners are still finding new targets as the air war unfolds. ``The terrain is brutal,'' which makes it harder to find elusive targets, said one official familiar with the intelligence effort.
Charles S. McLeran has been promoted to executive vice president/chief operating officer from vice president-flight operations and standards of TAG Aviation USA Inc. of San Francisco. Mark Spindler has been appointed vice president-employee services and Dave Huntzinger director of safety. Spindler was senior director of corporate services for Gap Inc., and Huntzinger was vice president-safety for America West Airlines.
Computational biology is a hot topic in computerdom, and NASA's Center for Computational Astrobiology and Fundamental Biology (www.cca.arc.nasa.gov) is at Ames Research Center, next to the supercomputing horsepower. Astrobiology broadly covers the origin and evolution of life in the universe, but the NCCAFB also investigates space genetics, which characterizes the structural, genetic and protein signatures of cells in space.
Of the many proposals to enhance aviation security in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., none may be more controversial than arming aircrews. To explore the pros and cons, Aviation Week&Space Technology turned to two veteran airline captains. On the left, Tracy W. Price, who flies Boeing 737s for a major carrier, argues in favor. On the right, Roger Waldman, a U.S. citizen who flew for Air Canada, argues against firearms on the flight deck.
Logicon Europe Ltd., a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman's Information Technology (IT) sector, signed a new contract with the NATO C3 Agency (NC3A) on behalf of participating NATO members. Since September 1997, Logicon Europe has been providing one of its IT products to the Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic, as the core component of the Maritime Command&Control Information System (MCCIS). MCCIS is integrated by NATO support staff and includes commercial off-the-shelf products as well as NATO-developed applications. It's installed in every NATO maritime headquarters.
Airservices Australia's new control center here, and an identical one in Melbourne, have set a new global standard for efficient oceanic and continental air traffic services. The centers control aircraft in about 11% of the Earth's airspace, covering portions of the Indian and Pacific oceans, all of the Australian continent, and a sizable chunk of Antarctica. Brisbane handles 40 sectors (six oceanic) and Melbourne 51 (two oceanic). They also provide some terminal services, and, together, process approximately 5,000 flights a day.
