Walter E. Skowronski has been appointed vice president-finance/treasurer of the Boeing Co. of Seattle. He held the same positions at the Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md. Skowronski will be succeeded there by Janet L. McGregor. She has been vice president-finance of the Lockheed Martin Electronics Sector.
Internet sites such as Priceline.com and Travelocity.com have become the tools for airlines to reach a new breed of discretionary travelers--those potential passengers who won't fly unless the ticket prices are right for them. Delta Air Lines and American Airlines are the best known beneficiaries of the new ticket distribution channels. And, United Airlines reported last week that its own Web site, ual.com, brought in revenues of $30 million in April.
Robert S. Rearden, Jr., has been named F-22 program vice president/general manager at Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems, Marietta, Ga. He was vice president/deputy general manager.
The Boeing Co. as a whole may be suffering indigestion from its recent mergers, but its aircraft and missiles division made a good, early post-consolidation showing with $1.2 billion in profits on $13 billion in business in 1998. The division's cost-cutting initiatives made defense Boeing's major profit center last year by meeting a self-imposed goal of reducing expenses $1 billion and pegging executive performance bonuses to the reduction. For 1999, management has upped the ante with an even more rigorous plan to cut expenses by another $1.5 billion.
Almost 75% of airlines plan to have individual in-seat video for economy class passengers on long-haul flights by 2004, according to a recent survey of airline managers by the World Airline Entertainment Assn. More than 75% of respondents said their carriers already have in-seat video available for their first and business class passengers. The remainder said they will have in-seat video installed in their premium class cabins within five years.
The U.S. Army is trying to get involved in the Discoverer 2 ground moving target indicator (MTI) satellite program. The U.S. Air Force, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and National Reconnaissance Office are partnered in demonstrating the space-based MTI capability. The Army's contribution to Discoverer 2 would be a Tactical Exploitation Station--the mobile ground station tactical forces use to receive intelligence from national systems. The Army would also provide a deputy program manager to coordinate the ground segment activity.
Florida state and U.S. federal space officials are beginning an initiative in Europe to lure European government and industry investment to new commercial and research facilities near Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. As part of the effort, Edward A. O'Connor, CEO of the Spaceport Florida Authority, visited Paris in mid-May to brief managers at a Euroconsult launch services conference and to meet with European officials.
ICO Global Services says it recorded revenues of $468,000 in the first quarter for its new ICOroam inter-standard cellular roaming service, the first product launched by this Iridium and Globalstar competitor. The service, inaugurated earlier this year, allows European cellular customers to use their cell phone numbers anywhere in the U.S. Financial analysts termed the performance ``surprisingly high,'' considering that ICOroam did not start up until February and only two national markets--the Netherlands and the U.K.--were involved.
The European Space Agency and the National Space Development Agency of Japan have conducted a series of joint experiments in space robotics using NASDA's Japanese Engineering test Satellite (ETS-VII). The experiments concerned advanced schemes for planning, controlling and monitoring the activities of a space robot arm system. One set of tests evaluated the ``interactive autonomy'' mode, a condition in which a group of tasks is executed autonomously utilizing preprogrammed sensor-based control loops.
Ansett Australia is expected to place a A$2.4 billion ($1.58 billion) order for 35 Airbus aircraft before Christmas to underpin a fleet revitalization. The buy is conditional on Singapore Airlines (SIA) injecting cash into the carrier in addition to the $320 million it is expected to pay for a 50% stake in Ansett Holdings, the carrier's parent company. Ansett is expected to buy 10 A321s to replace twin-aisle Boeing 767s and up to 25 of the smaller A318s and A319s to replace its 737s and some BAe 146s.
Richard J. Kaplan has become senior vice president/chief financial officer of DeCrane Aircraft Holdings Inc., El Segundo, Calif. He succeeds John R. Hinson, who has resigned. Kaplan was a partner with Price Waterhouse.
Pratt&Whitney has powered up its latest Joint Technology Demonstrator Engine and expects to take it to full power this week. The engine, designated the XTE-66/1, is running at company facilities in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Boeing's assembly facility for the Joint Strike Fighter here is striking in its spartan simplicity. The High Desert Assembly, Integration and Test Center serves as an apparent metaphor for the company's overall consolidation effort that emphasizes cost-cutting and lean production practices.
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace has transformed its representative office in Japan into a wholly owned affiliate. This will improve product support for local customers and facilitate cooperation with Japanese aerospace companies. Over the next decade, the German-U.S. corporation intends to raise local sales from $120 million to $1 billion per annum as part of a corporate strategy aiming to generate 20-25% of overall revenues in Asia, compared with 3% currently.
One vision of flight in the future is remarkably consistent. Almost everyone involved in space flight looks to a 21st century frontier opened by reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) that fly reliably and routinely to orbit with ``aircraft-like'' operational efficiencies. The vision is shared by NASA, the U.S. Defense Dept. and the commercial sectors. And it dates to the origins of the space program. Realizing this vision, however, has proven to be a huge challenge.
Cassini is set to make a second flyby of Venus next month. The spacecraft will pass within 373 mi. of Venus on June 24, taking advantage of the planet's gravity to gain a velocity boost on its circuitous route to Saturn. The flyby is part of a series of encounters that includes a pass by Earth at a distance of 725 mi. in August and a later flyby of Jupiter to fling the spacecraft toward Saturn. Cassini's cosmic dust analyzer began measuring the dust environment in the inner solar system on Mar. 25 and has returned some of the mission's first science data.
The FAA has asked the RTCA to develop a concrete strategy for implementing satellite navigation that would have wide support from the aviation community. RTCA will use its Free Flight Select Committee to propose a strategy and time line for implementing GPS, Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) and Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) in aircraft and ATC systems. The challenging assignment asks RTCA for recommendations by December and a complete draft satellite navigation transition plan by June 2000.
The FAA has told the Federal Communications Commission it no longer objects to ultrawideband (UWB) devices. Other regulatory hurdles still remain, though. Time Domain Corp. (TDC) of Huntsville, Ala., wants an FCC waiver so it can deliver up to 2,500 of their gizmos to military, law enforcement and public safety organizations. The UWB radars at issue could help rescuers locate survivors buried under rubble in disasters and give police a through-the-wall image of occupants.
American Airlines and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) have tentatively agreed on a five-year contract affecting the carrier's 20,000 cabin attendants. The new pact, which would become amendable in 2004, includes ``major gains'' in wages as well as retirement benefits and scheduling flexibility, according to APFA President Denish Hedges. The agreement, however, must be ratified by a simple majority of the union's membership. Negotiations on a new contract had been underway for more than nine months.
U.S. officials are disappointed that Argentina last week postponed talks aimed at establishing an open skies air-services agreement between the nations. The move could stall U.S. approval of a code-sharing pact between Aerolineas Argentinas and American Airlines. American bought an 8.5% stake in Aerolineas Argentinas last year.
Competitors for the Joint Strike Fighter have trimmed program costs--Boeing by 5% and Lockheed Martin, which had substantial overruns, by considerably more, about $100 million. Boeing officials were in Washington last week to say they reduced spending by eliminating three steps: an intermediate design upgrade, a few avionics technology demonstrations and some unnecessary supportability efforts. ``There's no requirement for a design beyond the 375 configuration,'' said Boeing's JSF program manager, Frank Statkus.
Despite persistent rumors earlier this year that Boeing was going to shed its military helicopter business, the company plans to retain that product line and is pursuing avenues for long-term growth. Following on the heels of Boeing's decision to get out of the commercial helicopter business, Pentagon officials heard that military helicopters were next to be spun off by the defense industrial giant. The rumors were beginning to undermine employee morale at Boeing's two main rotorcraft sites, Ridley Park, Pa., and Mesa, Ariz., company officials concede.
