US Airways intends to add 50-69-seat regional jets to its mainline hub operations; reduce frequency and increase the size of aircraft it flies to Florida; replace some mainline jets with regional affiliates' 50-seat RJs at big East Coast airports; reduce costs of its MetroJet service, or start phasing it out; strengthen east-west flying and join a global airline alliance. The carrier plans to slip Airbus deliveries for two years, starting in 2003.
Arianespace's V143 launch, using an Ariane 44L booster, was rescheduled to Aug. 30. The six-day delay results from the need to complete further checks on the Intelsat 902 spacecraft, according to company officials.
Boeing warns employees traveling to the capital around the time of the World Bank's annual meeting, Sept. 29-30, to brace for big-time trouble from protestors. The company's security consultants say the morning-line odds are that ``hard-line anarchist, Marxist, Trotskyite and environmental factions'' will put on a nasty show. ``Police have indications that some radical protestors will use Molotov cocktails against the police,'' an e-mail circulating at Boeing warns.
Hans Messelink (see photo) has been named general manager of Terminal 4 at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport. He was executive vice president of Schiphol International Airport in Amsterdam. Messelink succeeds Alain Maca, who is now with Hudson General parent company GlobeGround.
The International Civil Aviation Organization and Singapore last week inaugurated a joint aviation training program for developing ICAO-member countries. ICAO will administer the program, and Singapore Aviation Academy will provide instruction for courses focusing on flight safety, navigation systems and civil aviation management.
Fresh from a blistering pace of space launches from its Eastern Range in Florida, the Air Force wants to hear from industry what else it can do to upgrade launch facilities. The service is soliciting input from companies and government organizations interested in commercial space activities on ``future development of launch bases and ranges and policies that would have the potential of impacting the international competitiveness of the U.S. space launch industry,'' according to an Aug. 16 Federal Register notice.
NASA has selected four teams to transition technology derived from the agency's Advanced General Aviation Transportation Experiments initiative into the five-year, $69-million Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) research and development program. The teams comprise Maryland Advanced Development Laboratory, North Carolina-Upper Great Plains laboratory, Southeast SATS Lab led by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Virginia Lab Research Alliance.
Paul Edwards has been named director of the new London office of Los Angeles-based Quarterdeck Investment Partners. He was vice president-strategic development at Smiths Group Aerospace.
Space Systems/Loral will build two satellites to provide leased transponder and network communications services to the Spanish ministry of defense and U.S. government agencies.
Adria Airways has ordered Zonal Drying System from CTT Systems AB for their fleet of CRJ 200 aircraft. Installations will begin next month at the airline's Slovenia facilities.
James Hoblyn (see photo) has been named London-based managing director of Bombardier Aerospace's Flexjet Europe Ltd. He was vice president-marketing and programs for Bombardier Aero- space Business Aircraft.
Malaysia has called off plans to build a $3-billion regional international airport to serve the upper Malaysian peninsula. Initially designated for a site near Penang, the project was later moved to Kuala Muda. Work was to start in 2003 and be completed in 2009. It was to replace the existing Penang airport, which is used heavily by tourists.
While pilot hiring slowed in July, it is expected to proceed at a brisk pace for the remainder of the year, according to Air Inc. The Atlanta-based airline career consultant says 1,178 new pilots were hired in July--329 by the majors, 346 by national carriers, 153 by jet operators, 101 by fractionals and 180 by nonjet operators and 69 by other types of operators. Pilots on furlough for the month totaled 818, compared with 551 in June. Air Inc. predicts a 16,500-pilot hiring requirement this year, which while strong, is not expected to match last year's levels.
Ian C. Aitken has been appointed president for corporate aircraft and John W. Gill vice president-human resources of Rolls-Royce North America Inc., Chantilly, Va. Aitken will remain executive vice president-airlines for the Americas. Gill was vice president-people and organization services for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
THE FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION (FSF) HAS LAUNCHED an international study to identify fatigue and other factors that can affect flight crew performance during ultra-long-range (URL) flights. A workshop group is assembling data that could lead to recommendations that ensure URL missions are flown at a level of safety at least equal to or higher than that of the airlines. Issues include trip scheduling and personal strategies for sleeping, eating and exercising. Two business jets--the Gulfstream V and Bombardier Global Express--are capable of flying more than 6,000 naut. mi.
Russia's Saturn/Lyulka engine design bureau and Central Institute of Aviation Motors concluded an agreement to participate in the development of Snecma Moteurs' all-new SM146 turbofan. The proposed SM146 would power the 55-85-seat regional twinjet jointly proposed by Boeing, Ilyushin and Sukhoi.
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. completed the prototype Gulfstream V-SP on Aug. 14 at its Savannah, Ga., facilities in preparation for first flight late this year. The GV-SP is a specially equipped version of the Gulfstream V long-range business jet that will have improved takeoff performance because of upgraded, increased-thrust Rolls-Royce BR710 engines. The airframe also has undergone drag reduction work to increase cruise speed.
Orbital Sciences Corp. will develop a concept for the Boeing Co.'s alternative boost vehicle used for the U.S. missile defense system in a seven-month contract valued at $11 million. Contract follow-on would include completion of concept development flight test and production of 50 ground-based launch vehicles.
Initial cancer research is getting underway on board the International Space Station this week as the new U.S./Russian Expedition 3 crew begins at least four months aloft on the 132-ton outpost. Studies on the growth of ovarian cancer cells will be started by about Aug. 24 in the new Cellular Biotech Support System hardware being operated by Expedition 3 commander Frank Culbertson and cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin.
Northrop Grumman's Logicon division has been tapped by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to develop the Network Early Warning Systems (NEWS) capable of providing advanced warning of Internet-based attacks on Defense Dept.'s computers. ``This program represents the means to advance the current protect-detect-respond network defense strategy to a survivable strategy by anticipating attacks, assessing intrusions, and adapting defenses to counter the attack,'' said program manager Paul Zavidniak.
Jerry A. Krill has become head of the Power Projection Systems Dept. of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md. He was head of air defense programs in the Air Defense Systems Dept.
Edward Nicol has been appointed CEO of Tenzing Communications Inc. of Seattle. He was CEO of Cathay Pacific Airways' catering companies in Asia and North America.
House aviation subcommittee chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) is annoyed about further delays in deploying the FAA's Airport Movement Area Safety System (Amass) program, and he let Administrator Jane Garvey know about it last week.
Aviall Inc.'s Services unit has been awarded 10-year $100-million worldwide aftermarket distribution rights by Honeywell for hydromechanical control products used on the Rolls-Royce T56-series engine. Aviall Services will handle supply-chain management including aftermarket part sales, marketing, order administration and additional management responsibilities.
