Schiphol, the operator of Amsterdam airport and an investor in facilities such as Terminal 4 at New York JFK International Airport, is in negotiations to take a 30% stake in Malaysia's airport operations.
The first two of five Kaman SH-2G(NZ) Super Seasprite helicopters destined for service with New Zealand's navy have been delivered, with two additional aircraft to follow next month. The aircraft will be used in transport, surveillance and combat roles, and will operate on board the Royal New Zealand Navy's ANZAC and Leander-class frigates. The fifth aircraft ordered by the service should be delivered late next year.
There has been so much red ink in first-half results for 2000 in China that Beijing authorities have been warning management to shape up or else. But China Southern Airlines, the nation's largest carrier, said last week that its net profit attributable to shareholders was 210.5 million yuan ($25.4 million) for the period (see p. 44). Revenues were up 14.3% over the first half of 2000 to 8 billion yuan. Although China Southern bucked the trend, 2001 has been a rough year. Profits are off 42.1% from last year.
Russian flight operations with the International Space Station are again moving to the forefront now that the orbiter Discovery has returned to Earth. Illustrating the aggressive pace of the effort, for a time last week U.S. and Russian ground controllers and flight crews were managing four separate station program vehicles. This involved the ISS itself, along with the shuttle, a depleted 15,000-lb. Progress departing the station and a new fully loaded Progress approaching the ISS.
After 19 months of work, San Jose International Airport has opened a reconstructed Runway 30R/12L and taken bids on rebuilding and extending its companion, 30L/12R, to the same 11,000-ft. length. The projects are part of a $2-billion, 10-year expansion program that will include development of new passenger and cargo terminals, parking and Customs Service facilities, better freeway access and such airside improvements as added fuel storage.
In a benchmark test conducted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Gasl, a miniature, gun-launched, scramjet-powered hypersonic vehicle has produced net positive thrust in a free flight environment.
Lufthansa German Airlines has joined the long list of carriers trailing red ink, although the company insists it will finish the year in the black. The airline posted a first-half net loss of 43 million euros ($39 million), after earning 460 million euros a year ago. Operating profit also declined, to 105 million euros, versus 349 million euros in 2000. The negative result, which had been anticipated, came despite a 13.7% increase in first-half sales, to 7.8 billion euros, fed by a 10.7% rise in traffic revenues and a 27.8% surge in nonairline activities.
U.S. airlines' domestic traffic showed signs of improvement in July, but yields sank faster than ever and international traffic softened, according to data from the Air Transport Assn. Within the U.S., passenger volume was down 0.6% from July 2000, the sixth consecutive year-over-year drop, but the previous five decreases were larger. Traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles (RPMs), increased for the first time since January, and the load factor was the highest since July 2000.
USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) James S. Clapper, Jr., has been named director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA). Clapper, who was director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 1991-95, succeeds Army Lt. Gen. James C. King, who has headed NIMA since 1998 and who is scheduled to retire later this year. Joanne O. Isham, the CIA's deputy director for science and technology, has been appointed deputy director of NIMA.
The Snecma group's revenues in the first half also increased dramatically (40% to $3.09 billion) in the wake of consolidation moves covering Turbomecca and Hurel-Dubois. Despite the economy's slowdown, Snecma's outlook for this year's second half remains good, company executives pointed out.
Astrium has sold its spacecraft momentum/reaction wheel business to Stork Aerospace of the Netherlands. Divestiture of the business unit was mandated by the European Commission as a condition for approval of Astrium's creation last year.
Philip A. Dur has been named corporate vice president and president of the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Ship Systems Sector, effective Oct. 1. He will succeed Jerry St. Pe, who plans to retire on Oct. 31. Dur has been vice president-program operations at the Northrop Grumman Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector (ES3) in Baltimore. Taylor W. Lawrence has become vice president/general manager of the Systems Development and Technology Div. of ES3, succeeding Kelly C. Overman, who has been appointed vice president-business development and strategy.
Myron Levy, who has been president of Herley Industries Inc., Lancaster, Pa., has been appointed CEO. He will succeed Lee N. Blatt, who will remain chairman. Howard M. Eckstein has been promoted to president from general manager of Herley Microwave Systems. John Kelley has been appointed president of Herley Commercial Technologies. He has been corporate senior vice president.
The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) design is proving to be even stealthier than the U.S. Air Force's requirement, say Lockheed Martin officials. The service dictated that a radar reflection from the new attack aircraft be no larger than that produced by a metal, golf-ball-size object. That result seemingly flies in the face of company and Air Force efforts to cut costs by permitting the JSF to have a larger radar signature than earlier-generation stealth aircraft.
The U.K.'s EH Industries hopes its EH 101 will be the winner in Japan's navy mine-sweeping competition to replace aging Sikorsky MH-53Es. The EH 101 is up against Sikorsky's H-92, the military version of the U.S. company's S-92. Japan bought 11 MH-53Es in 1986-91 and lost one in an accident. It is expected to buy 10 replacements, two of which are to be purchased before fiscal 2005, the end of the current five-year defense plan.
The cruise speed of the Boeing 777 was misstated in the article entitled ``777 Expands Its Niche With Derivatives'' (AW&ST Aug. 13, p. 25). The correct figure is Mach 0. 84.
Thanks to an 11th hour reprieve by the FAA, many airlines were able to keep their fleets flying last week despite having outdated digital flight data recorders (DFDRs). The FAA issued stiffer recorder requirements in 1997 at the behest of the National Transportation Safety Board, giving operators of transport aircraft that carry 20 or more passengers four years to comply. The upgrades--capturing more parameters, increasing the sampling rate or providing better resolution and accuracy--are designed to aid investigators in reconstructing accident or incident scenarios.
Despite strong opposition, the FAA will require operators of popular narrow-body Airbus aircraft to modify the elevator control systems to prevent potentially serious vibration problems.
NASA Langley Research Center is conducting crash tests of a Cirrus Design Corp. SR-20 prototype airframe to study how aircraft built of composite materials react under high-impact forces. The tests at Langley's Impact Dynamics Research Facility in Hampton, Va., are part of the agency's Advanced General Aviation Transportation Experiments (Agate) program, aimed specifically at determining whether a redesigned engine mount and energy-absorbing sub-floor can reduce the risk of injury to occupants.
President Kim Dae-jung called for an investigation of South Korea's Audit and Inspection Office and the country's air safety standards after the FAA downgraded its safety rating from Category 1 to Category 2 (AW&ST Aug. 20, p. 21). Kim rejected calls for the resignation of Transport Minister Oh Jang-Seop. The FAA's action prevents Korean Air and Asiana Airlines from expanding services to the U.S. and carrying out joint operating programs with U.S. carriers.
Haneda airport's experiment with two international charter flights per week has worked out so well that Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will open the Tokyo airport to 70 flights per week in April. Haneda has traditionally been a domestic airport, except for flights from Taiwan, which use Narita, Tokyo's international airport. Relocation of one runway and expansion to three runways has removed two big objections to Haneda handling more flights by cutting noise and increasing capacity.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which soon plans to order up to 34 300-seat long-range transports, sent requests for proposals to Airbus and Boeing, as well as to General Electric, Pratt&Whitney and Rolls-Royce engine manufacturers and lease companies. Some of the aircraft are being considered as replacements for 12 Boeing 747-300s in KLM's fleet.
