American Airlines Chairman Donald J. Carty said the carrier does not dispute facts included in an antitrust filing issued by the U.S. Justice Dept. against American. The lawsuit alleges that the airline used a predatory pricing policy toward Vanguard Airlines, Western Pacific and Sun Jet International Airlines at its Dallas-Fort Worth hub (AW&ST May 17, p. 20). Carty said, however, that the airline's competitive actions were legal and that it will be difficult for the Justice Dept. to convince the court that American violated existing federal antitrust laws.
Boeing will spend the next year assessing options to reduce the 13-meter (42.6-ft.) accuracy of the GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions to 3 meters (9.8 ft.). The Navy has provided funding for Boeing to investigate possible solutions, which are expected to focus on the use of terminal seekers. Results will be presented to the Navy and Air Force, which will then decide whether to invest in the JDAM upgrade. The cost of the seekers will be critical, as they likely will exceed the price of the entire $18,000 JDAM guidance kit.
U.S. Air Force officials expect the turboprop-powered T-6A Texan II aircraft for the Joint Primary Aircraft Training Systems (JPATS) program will receive FAA certification in July and achieve initial operating capability (IOC) in August 2001.
Mark R. Rosekind, founder/president/ chief scientist of Alertness Solutions, Cupertino, Calif., has received the Flight Safety Foundation Business Aviation Meritorious Award, for leadership toward improving flight-crew alertness management.
In consolidating recent mergers, Boeing has committed itself to ruthlessly cutting programs that aren't going to make near-term profits. One victim is a stealthy, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft project, most of which is still classified. The Pentagon cut the unmanned DarkStar aircraft program, and Boeing--despite years of research and its assemblage of unique expertise in stealth and reconnaissance technology--has chosen not to retain even a core development group.
British Aerospace's Systems and Equipment Div. is expanding its cooperation with Sumitomo Precision Products of Japan to exploit the silicon motion sensing technology they have developed for large-volume commercial applications. A 50-50 joint venture, to be called Silicon Sensing Systems, is being created to develop, manufacture and market low-cost miniature gyroscopes and accelerometers.
Ted Farid has been named vice president-worldwide jet sales for Raytheon Aircraft, Wichita, Kan. Other recent appointments were: Bradley Hatt, vice president-worldwide Beech sales; Mike Scheidt, vice president-airline programs; Jim Link, vice president-global sales; Tom Bertels, vice president-marketing; John Thomas, director of flight management; and Kent Barnes, director of commercial contracts.
With continuing signs of economic recovery in Asia, Airbus Industrie is moving toward a January 2000 deadline to offer a 555-seat version of the proposed A3XX transport. Key to the launch will be the confirmation by Airbus engineers that the baseline A3XX-100 has sufficient technical innovations to achieve a 15% operating savings when compared with the 747-400. Vice President John Leahy, the four-nation consortium's chief salesman, has no doubts. ``The A3XX [would] cost 15% less to operate than the 747,'' he said.
The fate of bankrupt AeroPeru may be known by June 1. Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori set this date to meet with airline creditors and to review a plan to reorganize or to liquidate the carrier. Fujimori, who had set the review date originally for May 17, permitted the delay after published reports named Continental Airlines as an interested investor. Continental officials offered ``no comment'' to inquiries. Two new-start carriers are waiting for Peruvian operating certificates, according to Bob Booth, president of Aviation Management Services of Miami.
The Polish government has announced plans to issue requests for proposal for combat aircraft and attack helicopters in the next 2-3 months. Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek said the first RFP for helicopters would be released next month. Bids probably will be tendered by Agusta, Bell, Boeing and Eurocopter, and a contract should be awarded by the end of the year.
Air France has agreed to subscribe to a convertible bond offering by CityJet that could eventually make it a shareholder in its Irish franchisee. Air France will purchase 2.5 million euros ($2.6 million) worth of bonds under a 10-million-euro new capital issue, and take two seats on the board.
Germany`s Liebherr Aerospace has acquired ZF Luftfahttechnikwerke Friedrich- shaffen. It is slated to be incorporated into Liebherr in June, pending approval by the German competition authorities.
Beginning in mid-June, Southwest Airlines--breaking a 20-year-old hiring requirement--will accept applications from pilots who do not yet have a type rating in the Boeing 737, the only aircraft operated by the low-fare carrier. Pilots who complete the hiring process will have six months to obtain a type rating before becoming eligible for a training class assignment. A company official said the change is necessary because of the highly competitive market for airline pilots.
General Dynamics Corp. plans to acquire Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. through a stock purchase worth $5.3 billion, marking the defense contractor's return to an aerospace industry it abandoned early in the 1990s.
Rather than trying to better each other in bilateral air-services treaty talks, European countries and the U.S. should work to establish a single transatlantic market. And regulators should anticipate airline alliances being key players in that unified, open market. That's the message Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Juergen Weber brought to Washington's International Aviation Club. He cited research pointing to a 5% average-fare drop in U.S.-European open skies markets from 1996 to 1997, while fares in the restricted U.S.-U.K. market rose about 6%.
The war in Yugoslavia has accelerated wear and tear on tactical aircraft. Ironically, Air Force and Navy officials are hinting that they would like to see the next generation of tactical aircraft, the Joint Strike Fighter, slip a year or two. Instead, the Air Combat Command is pushing for the Air Force to increase its planned purchase of 30 new Block 50 F-16s to 100 airplanes. Here's the logic: the brass doesn't want to wait for JSF before they retire older F-16s from the reserves and Air National Guard.
The June 13-20 Paris air show will open its doors at precisely the right moment, providing participants with a solid opportunity to reconcile divergent views on consolidation in Europe and beyond, and the industry's future economic outlook. Against the show's backdrop, the French aerospace industry finds itself in the process of completing a long-waited domestic restructuring and expecting to play a major role in international partnerships.
One key Boeing expectation is that Phantom Works, the company's wellspring of new ideas, technologies and processes, will stoke the fires of the company's competitiveness.
Boeing's post-merger rededication to hard-nosed business practices has resulted in a projected layoff of 7,000 workers at the company's St. Louis facility by the summer of 2001. The layoffs will follow earlier management cuts of up to 50% in some merged business units.
Richard Crum has been appointed managing director of Washington-based Air Travel Card. He has been interim managing director and was senior director of operations and services.
US Airways Chairman Steven Wolf said he and CEO Rakesh Gangwal would not take advantage of a plan put before the airline company's stockholders to grant bonuses of up to 500% of annual salaries to top executives. Labor groups criticized the plan, saying many US Airways workers have not received raises for several years. Stockholders approved the plan at the airline's annual meeting in Charlotte, N.C.
