Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and SAS are poised to begin offering joint express services as the first step in harmonizing their individual freight networks and merging them into a global brand, called Wow (formerly New Global Cargo). The offerings are intended to give customers a single point of contact and common service/information technology standards and handling procedures (AW&ST Aug. 27, p. 58). The first joint services, to become available on Oct. 1, cover premium express delivery of packages up to 100 kg.
By BRUCE A. SMITHEDWARD H. PHILLIPSFRANCES FIORINO
The next several months will be a critical time for U.S. airlines, which in a period of about two weeks since the terrorist attacks have announced plans to lay off nearly 90,000 employees. The remainder of the year will be especially challenging for those carriers that were already in relatively weak financial positions prior to the Sept. 11 attacks, according to industry officials. Direct federal relief funds that U.S. airlines are to receive will provide them with more time to adjust to radically changed market conditions.
MiG Corp has reportedly signed a $300-million contract with Yemen for an undisclosed number of MiG-29 fighters. The award, which is said to include $100 million in options, follows the unconfirmed sale of eight MiG-29s and two MiG-29UB trainers to Myanmar for $150 million earlier this year.
Air Line Pilots Assn. President Duane Woerth, appearing before the House aviation subcommittee hearing on security, last week called for a complete overhaul of the U.S. air transportation security system and recommended measures that would transform the flight deck into a fortress against intruders.
I have a personal interest in the current discussion about airline security in the U.S. My daughter, Jean Roger, was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11 when it crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, rendering her one of the first victims of the many deficiencies of our present system.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command continues to be the focal point for heightened military air protection over the U.S. and Canada, directing fighters sitting alert duty and those flying combat air patrol over both nations. Officials are understandably tight-lipped about the details of these air operations, but public details of the Norad response to terrorist hijacking of commercial air transports on Sept. 11 provide some insight into the command's capability to respond to air attacks (see p. 27).
Iridium Satellite LLC says the aeronautic version of its low-Earth orbit satellite cell phone network can back up flight data recorders on commercial jetliners, allowing investigators to read the same voice and flight data from permanent ground recorders that is now captured by hardened on-board recorders for post-crash analysis. The company, which took over the 66-satellite constellation after the original Iridium venture failed (AW&ST July 23, p.
Lufthansa subsidiary Thomas Cook confirms it is close to completing a deal to buy 100% of troubled Belgian charter airline CityBird, currently under creditor protection, for approximately 10 million euros ($9 million). CityBird has a fleet of five Boeing 737-300/400s, two 767-300ERs, two A300-600s and three MD-11s. However, it plans to end long-haul and noncharter services and to rationalize its fleet around the 737.
Industry-wide efforts are underway in Europe to cushion the economic impact of the terrorist attacks in the U.S., as the European Commission, national governments and trade groups try to formulate a unified position.
By MICHAEL MECHAMAnthony L. Velocci, Jr., in New York and Michael A. Taverna in Paris contributed to this report.
Airline manufacturers have reacted swiftly to the plunge in demand for air travel by issuing sweeping layoff notices. Aerospace Industries Assn. President and CEO John W. Douglass said losses could reach $5 billion over the next two years with layoffs of as many as 100,000 workers.
A small spacecraft that could eventually give countries like Iran and Pakistan a limited autonomous space-imaging capability is under development as part of a Chinese-led program. China and Iran are spearheading the small multimission spacecraft (SMMS) project in connection with Thailand to help broaden the space technology base in Asia-Pacific nations more aligned with Chinese goals in the region. Pakistan also is involved with China in the regional remote-sensing initiative, but not necessarily in the SMMS hardware.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has delivered the first production S-76C+ featuring a fuselage built by Aero Vodochody in the Czech Republic. Aero Vodochody began delivering fuselages to Sikorsky in January 2001. The aircraft's interior was installed by Keystone Helicopter Corp. of West Chester, Pa. In related news, Bell Helicopter Textron has completed the first of five special edition Bell 430 intermediate twin-engine helicopters built especially for sale in the 2001 Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog.
FlightSafety International Pilot Training Academy at Vero Beach, Fla., recently took delivery of Environmental Tectonics Corp.'s GAT II general aviation trainer. The device uses a three-axis motion platform that supports VFR flight training as well as instrument and spatial disorientation training. According to the company, FAA statistics indicate that about 17% of all general aviation accidents involve spatial disorientation, and nine out of 10 accidents are fatal.
EADS is reorganizing EADS Telecom as part of a move to reinforce its ailing Defense and Civil Systems business. The company will focus on overhauling the EADS Defense and Security Networks (ESDN), a military communications partnership with Nortel Networks. The Franco-German company plans to fold Cogent Defense Systems that was recently acquired from Nortel into EDSN along with a Nortel European Internet switching activity and EADS affiliates DASA Com Networks and Matranet.
Advances in electronic warfare are coming in small steps, yielding affordable improvements--a happy coincidence given the current low levels of military funding around the world. Imaginative uses of new technology are offering aircraft significantly better protection against radio frequency and infrared threats. At the same time, air-launched antiradiation missiles are becoming more effective in eliminating surface threats.
Airports Council International-North America President David Z. Plavin says airports should continue expansion projects despite a near-term 40% decline in airline passengers and an estimated $1 billion in additional security measures that will likely be called for in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist crashes. To do that, however, Plavin says airports will need some federal help.
Consolidation of the German domestic airline industry is set to move forward another notch, following conditional approval of the Lufthansa German Airlines' takeover of Eurowings by the German government last week.
THE U.S. AIR FORCE HAS SELECTED eMagin's organic light emitting diode (Oled) displays for the helmet mounted display in the Strike Helmet 21 system, which uses integrated panoramic night vision goggles. The small flat panel displays, with a less than 1-in. diagonal, provide a viewing area magnified by optics that appears similar to that of a full-size computer screen. Unlike liquid crystal displays that require a separate light source, Oleds are emissive devices that create light.
The Pentagon's widely expected use of special operations forces in response to the Sept. 11 terror attacks will hold up to scrutiny a 15-year U.S. effort to improve those highly specialized warfighting capabilities. Antiterrorism misssions have long been one of the primary activities for special operations units. In almost all the major regional theaters, countering terrorist actions or their cells has ranked as one of the top three priorities. That includes the U.S. Central Command responsible for Afghanistan and the Middle East.
Russia added another pressurized module to the five already in orbit on the International Space Station with the automatic docking Sept. 16 of the Russia Pirs (Pier) docking compartment to the nadir port of the Zvezda service module. The rendezvous (shown in an image snapped by the ISS crew) and linkup came without a hitch at 9:05 p.m. EDT, when an instrumentation and propulsion unit based on Russia's Progress supply vehicle nudged the 16-ft.-long, 8,000-lb. compartment into position, and 12 latching hooks closed.
The first resolved images of a comet nucleus were taken by Deep Space 1 on Sept. 22 as it made a 1,350-mi. flyby of Comet Borrelly. The nucleus was shaped like a 5-mi.-long bowling pin and had a variety of features and brightness levels. Collimated jets emanating from the surface were visible, and a plasma instrument on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory spacecraft indicated that the resulting ionized cloud was displaced from the nucleus by 7,000 km. (4,350 mi.), a result that scientists did not expect.
France is developing a network of experimental electronic eavesdropping satellites that it hopes will lay the groundwork for Europe's first satellite-based signals intelligence capability while pioneering in low-cost microsatellite technologies.
Bin Laden Associates, a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabia-based Bin Laden Group, has made an offer to acquire Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Pakistan International Airlines Investment Ltd., according to The News of Islamabad. The report said the Bin Laden Group has disowned Osama bin Laden, who is suspected in the recent terrorist attacks on the U.S. PIA is wholly owned by the Pakistan government. In turn, it owns 50% of PIA Investment along with a Saudi investor. PIA Investment's holdings include the Roosevelt Hotel in New York.
Northrop Grumman's recent acquisition of Litton Industries has given its Defensive Systems division (headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Ill.) the broadest spectrum of electronic warfare capabilities of any U.S. supplier by adding radar warning receivers and electronic support measures (ESM) systems to its line of radar and infrared guided missile jammers. Defensive Systems, one of six divisions of the Electronic Systems sector, whose headquarters is near Baltimore, is headed by John Chino, vice president and general manager.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld confirmed a report in The New York Times that a few mid-level air defense generals have been authorized to take action against a civilian airliner involved in a threatening situation. U.S. combat aircraft have been patrolling U.S. cities since Sept. 11, and Rumsfeld confirmed the rules of engagement have changed. While declining to go into detail, he said that to even think before the terrorist attacks that a U.S.
