Creditors of AeroPeru have allowed the bankrupt carrier until July 12 to develop a new restructuring plan after Continental Airlines on June 17 withdrew its bid to invest in the Peruvian carrier.
John T. Russell (see photo) has become vice president-international sales of RSI of Atlanta, a TriPoint Global subsidiary. He was director of businss development for Media4 Inc.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Center for Aviation Training will assist Argentina's National Civil Aviation Institute in improving its flight training programs. A group of flight instructors from the Buenos Aires school, which is run by Argentina's air force and trains pilots for Aerolineas Argentinas and other organizations, is to visit Embry-Riddle's Daytona Beach, Fla., campus later this year for training in aviation English and technical subjects.
British Aerospace plans to cut 2,200 jobs as part of a streamlining initiative within its Military Aircraft and Aerostructures Group. Plans to close Harrier production at Dunsfold, England, would result in the loss of 800 jobs. The last new Harrier rolled off the line at Dunsfold last year. Harrier support work will be transferred to other facilities. Another 1,400 jobs will be lost, BAe said, largely in manufacturing and support activities. The move comes as the company begins to implement ``lean manufacturing'' and production techniques for the Eurofighter program.
William L. Shillito has been appointed Sterling, Va.-based vice president/general manager for technical products and Nathan A. Knutson as Richardson, Tex.-based operations manager for universal antennas for TriPoint Global Communications, Gastonia, N.C. Shillito was vice president-operations and engineering of TriPoint subsidiary Prodelin and succeeds Fred Metcalf, who has resigned. Knutson was president of Ranger Satellite Communications.
Technologically, NATO's air war against Yugoslavia emphasized the immediate need for an EA-6B Prowler replacement, and heralds a future of ever-increasing reliance on unmanned aerial vehicles and precision ordnance like the satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition, military experts say. Strategically, the war has furnished strong evidence of the continuing usefulness of long-range bombers, including the B-2, B-1 and B-52, they agree.
Socata is teaming with the regional carrier Air Open Sky on development of a cargo version of the French airframe maker's TBM700 business aircraft. A prototype of the TBM700 Freighter, fitted with a wide door and a quick-change interior, is to enter service with the airline in November. The carrier will evaluate the configuration's suitability for cargo operations. Socata officials see a market for the high-performance, pressurized turboprop with scheduled express freight and small-package carriers.
The House handily cleared its version of the Fiscal 2000 Transportation appropriations bill last week, 429-3. Unfortunately, the FAA did not share in the afterglow. A procedural challenge nixed $5.9 billion of FAA operations money from the measure, but lawmakers seemed confident it could be restored in short order in conference with their Senate counterparts, who are proposing agency funding just under the $10.5-billion House total.
The U.S. Air Force plans to improve its Lantirn targeting pods by adding a bomb damage assessment capability and digital recording of the forward-looking infrared sensor image.
Uncle Sam has finally put it in writing: there are no plans to send security monitors to Kourou, French Guiana, to oversee the launch of U.S.-built commercial satellites on European Ariane boosters. The Defense Dept. has determined the monitors are not needed after reviewing security at the site. Neither the Pentagon nor the State Dept. will ``routinely'' apply strict new export controls on satellite transactions involving NATO nations and other major allies, Barbara Larkin, Foggy Bottom's senior legislative official, informed the House Appropriations Committee.
Maj. Gen. Carl H. McNair, Jr., (Ret.) has been named president of the Army Aviation Assn. of America. He is special assistant for government affairs to the president/CEO of DynCorp and is retired president of its Enterprise Management Div.
The International Space Station and space shuttle programs are gearing for a busy schedule of missions during the second half of 1999 following the Shuttle Mission 96 logistics flight to the ISS which inaugurated both shuttle and station missions for the year.
Boeing's year-old Aircraft Trading group is now focusing its marketing efforts on aircraft trade-ins and lease turn-ins. The group has sold or holds commitments for all of the 36 new-build transports Boeing had parked in desert storage last year due to customer order deferrals or cancellations, many due to the Asian financial crisis (AW&ST Mar. 22, p. 46). The group now has an inventory of about 20 aircraft of various models, including a handful built by competitor Airbus, according to Toby Bright, vice president for aircraft trading.
Robert Hawthorne has become manager of information systems and William Sunderlin manager of purchasing of Advanced Refractory Technologies Inc., Buffalo, N.Y. Hawthorne was software development manager and Sunderlin pur- chasing manager, both for International Imaging Materials.
The House of Representatives has overwhelmingly cracked down on satellite and supercomputer exports to China, incorporating a host of legal curbs in a $289-billion defense authorization bill for next year. Approving multiyear procurement of the Navy's F/A-18E/F fighter and the Army's AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter, along with $300 million for new Tomahawk cruise missiles, the House also put implementation language for 26 of the Cox Committee's 38 recommendations into the Fiscal 2000 defense budget bill (AW&ST May 31, p. 26).
The French and German governments have contracted to buy a first batch of Tiger combat helicopters, putting an end to months of speculation that the new German government intended to scale back procurement of its half of the purchase.
The FAA has granted a type certificate for the Ilyushin Il-96T freighter, the first CIS transport aircraft to be certificated by the agency. The approval was given under an airworthiness bilateral agreement established by Russia and the U.S. last September. The first model of any kind to be approved under the agreement was the Il-103 light aircraft, in December.
The U.S. Air Force's Europe (USAFE) is introducing a new training tool that will allow fighter aircraft to undergo combat training almost anywhere and eliminate the need for dedicated ranges.
Using a state-owned oil company, the Malaysian government is set to bail out Malaysia Airlines (MAS), which is being hobbled by the financial woes of its largest shareholder. The oil company, Petronas, is reported to be close to buying the 28.8% stake in MAS now owned by Chairman Tajudin Bin Ramli. The move amounts to a rescue of the nation's major airline and has been expected for some time because Ramli's business setbacks have left him unable to sustain the carrier's development as it battles archrival Singapore Airlines.
Boeing is continuing to define the next variant of the 747 as key Asian airline customers, needed for its launch, rebuild finances and traffic following the region's economic downturn.
Brit Air, a French regional airline that operates domestic/European routes under a franchise agreement with Air France, expects to carry nearly 2 million passengers this year. To attract additional traffic, Brittany-based Brit Air recently inaugurated a secondary hub at Lyons, France, and is evaluating additional regional hubs.
