Midway through the comment period on options to curb demand at New York LaGuardia Airport, the FAA is seeking ``market-based'' ideas on how to avoid congestion and delays at other airports in the longer term. Market-based measures, intended to affect airline decisions by changing their operating costs, include slot auctions, congestion pricing, peak-period surcharges, off-peak discounts, and flat fees instead of charges based on aircraft weight. All are under consideration at LaGuardia, as are administrative initiatives such as regulating aircraft size.
United Airlines will use polar routing when it launches 747-400 nonstop services Oct. 27 from Chicago O'Hare International to New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport. India's decision in the late 1990s to impose capacity restraints on United's flights from Hong Kong prompted the U.S. carrier to begin looking for alternatives. When polar routing became feasible, United had a solution that avoided the regulatory cap on seating and didn't involve a stop. That makes sense to the majority of passengers outbound from New Delhi because they are headed to the U.S.
Boeing is continuing to expand its freighter aircraft product line--both new-production models and conversion programs for existing Boeing passenger aircraft--in anticipation of a projected tripling in air cargo traffic growth over the next 20 years. Boeing has developed five production freighter models, conversion programs for seven existing passenger aircraft and is continuing to study two new possible factory-built transports, the 767-400XF and the 757-300XF.
Bombardier Aerospace has acquired Air Charter Online, which develops technology and systems for the distribution of information on charter aircraft availability. The company, which was founded in 1995, is based in Mahwah, N.J.
SAS Scandinavian airlines, which is implementing an external growth policy, plans to acquire a controlling stake in Braathens despite the Norwegian competition authority's opposition. Norway last week rejected SAS' planned acquisition on the assertion that the consolidation move would create a dominant position in the domestic market, significantly reduce capacity and favor fare increases. SAS executives, who fiercely dispute such a negative analysis, plan to appeal.
The Royal Air Force has taken the next major step with its small C-17 force, inducting the airlifters into operational use by conducting several missions to deliver material and personnel to Skopje in support of the NATO peace-keeping mission in Macedonia.
In one of the strongest quarterly performances of any aerospace company this year, Bombardier Inc. last week posted a 35% increase in earnings per share (EPS) for the period ending July 31, on a 44% sales jump.
The Pentagon agrees (mostly) with a GAO report on spectrum that the mobile wireless communications industry covets for third-generation systems now being developed. Industry wants the military to ``share'' the 1755-1850 MHz. band, but the Defense Dept. believes the new systems would interfere with its control of satellites, including GPS. Still, the prospect of huge economic benefits prompted the Clinton Administration to encourage federal agencies to study the potential for sharing or segmenting the band, with an eye to auctioning spectrum by Sept. 30, 2002.
The Planetary Society has decided to build a second solar sail spacecraft for the Cosmos 1 project following launch last month of a suborbital test vehicle on a converted Russian ICBM, which failed due to reduced third-stage thrust (AW&ST July 30, p. 21). The suborbital test vehicle and Volna rocket were covered by Russian insurance.
Philip F. Schultz, Sr., has been appointed interim president/CEO of Eagle-Picher Industries Inc. of Cincinnati. He has been vice president/chief financial officer.
Ailing Air Liberte and AOM completed an agreement on job cuts with judicial authorities and worker unions. The French carriers will cut a combined 1,400 jobs in the next few days, including nearly 600 employees who volunteered to quit after negotiating workable severance payments. Air Liberte and AOM will be combined rapidly into a unified airline and operate soon under a new name, officials said.
CargoLifter has completed helium inflation tests on the CL 75 AirCrane, precursor for its planned CL 160 heavy-lift airship. According to the German company, it was the first time an airship of this size--bigger than the famed Graf Zeppelin--had ever been filled with helium gas, and the first time this had been done on a large scale using the stratification method. Separately, CargoLifter added Eaton Aerospace and GKN to its development, supply and integration team.
The Pentagon may stop considering Taiwan's arms requests just once a year. Taipei's usually-long wish list leads to an annual ritual of complaints by Beijing and debate within the Beltway. ``We are trying to make it a more normal relationship,'' said Peter Rodman, the assistant Defense secretary for international security. Taipei may get to have its requests reviewed as they are submitted throughout the year, just as arms deals with most other countries are handled.
Harris Belman has been named vice president-business development for systems integration within the Information and Electronic Systems Sector of BAE Systems North America, Crystal City, Va. He held the same position at IBM Global Services, Bethesda, Md.
Two of the industry's largest international carriers, Japan Airlines (JAL) and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, have turned over management of their airframe spare parts to Boeing, much as some manufacturers outsource their infotech operations to computer services companies. The intent is for Boeing to free up capital at both airlines by more efficiently managing their aftermarket spares programs.
Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, a technically progressive, personally engaging former fighter pilot, is likely to be a willing and active participant in transforming the military to a smaller, more mobile, better integrated and information-intensive organization. President Bush was expected to nominate Myers, the current vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the Pentagon's top uniformed job late last week. Myers handled a series of tough assignments during the post-Cold War drawdown. Subordinates praise his laid-back management style and good humor.
The University of Toronto's Joseph L. Rotman School of Management has graduated its inaugural class of 21 executives who earned the Aerospace Executive Management Certificate after completing an MBA-style curriculum. The program is an initiative of the Ontario Aerospace Council (OAC) and the university. To ensure an industry focus, the curriculum incorporated recommendations of OAC's training committee, spearheaded by Bombardier Inc. The program is part of a broad initiative to help Canadian aerospace companies remain competitive worldwide.
GPS data aided Nascar in its investigation into the stock car racing crash that killed noted U.S. race car driver Dale Earnhardt during the Daytona 500 earlier this year. Data from a GPS receiver in Earnhardt's car was used to help determine the complex car and bodily loads that resulted in his fatal head injuries. The data, recorded at five times per sec., was utilized to compute impact velocity of the car with the wall, as well as the precise trajectory angle of impact.
FAA officials thought they had it right this time. After numerous tries and two federal court rulings saying otherwise, the agency finalized its prices last week for providing air traffic control services to ``overflights,'' commercial flights that fly through U.S. airspace but do not land or take off there.
Nearly six months late, Bush named his six members of the Presidential Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry. The law creating the panel set a Mar. 1 deadline for the appointments. The Bush appointees are: Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin, former astronaut and president of Starcraft Enterprises; Edward M. Bolen, president of the General Aviation Manufacturers Assn.; John W. Douglass, president of the Aerospace Industries Assn.; Neil de Grasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium; Robert Walker, congressman-turned-lobbyist, and Heidi R.
NASA officials have turned off a science instrument on the Odyssey spacecraft after it stopped operating as Odyssey continues cruising toward Mars for a scheduled orbit insertion Oct. 23. Project officials last week said no commands were being sent to the Mars radiation environment experiment (Marie) while an investigation team is formed to study the problem in detail.
A Carnegie Mellon University solar-powered robot has demonstrated a Sun-synchronous navigation concept that could be useful for long-term exploration of planets and moons. The idea is for the robot to track the Sun, monitor the electricity collected by its solar panel, and vary its energy expenditure to ensure it has enough to complete its assigned tasks. A robot named Hyperion used the Sun-tracking concept while exploring terrain on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic last month.
Elbit Systems Ltd. recently paid $2.3 million for a majority interest in AEL, a Brazilian electronics company, which has a key role in the modernization of Brazilian air force F-5s. AEL will serve as Elbit's center for production and logistics support, as well as export of defense electronics products for Brazilian military programs.
USAF Gen. (ret.) Hansford T. Johnson has been sworn in as assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy for installations and environment. He was president/chief executive operating officer of EG&G Technical Services Inc.
Brian H. Corliss has become Northeast U.S. representative of the Frededrick, Md.-based Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn. He owns Corliss Associates, a commercial aviation services firm, and is a director of the Aviation Assn. of New Hampshire.
