Yves Bonnet has been appointed executive vice president-aeronautic and space propulsion of France-based Snecma. He was senior executive vice president. Alain Marcheteau has been named senior vice president-finance. He succeeds Jacques-Henry Dufour, who is now senior vice president-equipment.
Boeing Commercial Airplane Group is reorganizing its design and production support processes around individual aircraft model ``platforms'' rather than functions such as systems, structures or payloads. An expansion of the cross-functional, integrated product team concept successfully used on the new 777 and 737NG transports, each platform team will be organized around major elements of the product, such as the main cabin, forward cabin, airframe and power, according to Boeing.
Philip D. Hattis will receive the Distinguished Service Award of the Reston, Va.-based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Hattis, who is a principal member of the technical staff of the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Cambridge, Mass., will be cited for ``excellence in serving public policy for the aerospace community.''
Lufthansa Cargo continues to expand its express product line, inaugurated last year. This month, the airline will add 63 destinations to its current 100, making time-definite services available virtually around the world. Management is also testing a new addition to the product line--a tailor-made integrated transport package called Service Packages. Last November, the service offering was expanded to include same-day service to 40 destinations within Europe. The basic express product line comprises ``td.Pro,'' ``td.X'' and ``td.flash'' (AW&ST Mar. 9, 1998, p. 57).
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) full-scale mapping activities are underway following deployment of the spacecraft's 1.5-meter, high-gain antenna. The antenna was deployed on a 2-meter-long boom on Mar. 28. It had been stowed since the spacecraft was launched to avoid possible contamination from the spacecraft's main engine during orbital operations. MGS was launched in November of 1996.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems and Elbit Systems Ltd. of Haifa, Israel--a major supplier of avionics systems for the F-16-- have teamed up to pursue business opportunities for the C-130 aircraft, as well as for other potential business worldwide. Separately, Elbit has signed a letter of intent to acquire International Enterprises Inc., a privately held company in Talladega, Ala. IEI provides repair, maintenance and logistics support for various military electronics equipment on aircraft and ships.
Major expansion is on the way for MetroJet, US Airways' competitive response to low-fare rivals such as Southwest and Delta Express. The U.S.' sixth-largest carrier will significantly increase the number of MetroJet daily nonstop round-trip routes in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Florida and Midwest in the near future. Boston will get nine new MetroJet flights daily; Columbus, Ohio, four; Hartford, Conn., five; Raleigh-Durham, N.C., six; and the Washington-Baltimore area, eight. These additional flights will begin on July 9.
Direct-to-home satellite television services have taken over as the growth engine of the worldwide satellite industry and now account for more than one-quarter of industry revenues, according to a comprehensive new survey. At the same time, two other studies are forecasting that government spending on space activities will remain relatively flat in coming years.
Tim Archer has been appointed vice president-sales and marketing, Dave Rogers international sales and marketing manager, and Gary Greenwood national sales and marketing manager, all of Superior Air Parts Inc. of Dallas.
A half-billion-dollar cost overrun has shaken the Navy's Area Wide ballistic missile defense effort. One driver of the $540-million hike is the SM-2 Block IVA interceptor. Additional testing, design changes during development and Raytheon's consolidation of its missile business drove up the missile's cost. The program also was blighted by problems the Navy encountered in integrating its Aegis surveillance radar, cooperative engagement capability data network and ship self-defense system.
Boeing delivered 148 commercial transports in the first quarter. The figure puts the company on track to meet its goal of 620 deliveries for 1999, as production of next-generation 737s recently reached a new high of 24 a month. Boeing also has several new aircraft in storage that the original customers were not able to take owing to the Asian financial crisis and other reasons. The first-quarter deliveries included 75 737s, 23 777s, 14 747s and 17 757s. Also handed over during the first three months of the year were 11 767s, seven MD-80s and -90s and an MD-11.
The French Helios 1 imaging reconnaissance satellite and two air force Mirage IVPs are making a significant contribution in providing detailed assessment of the effectiveness of NATO air strikes against military targets in Yugoslavia. ``Helios and the Mirage IVPs provide high-quality pictures showing [the damage] with great precision and also help evaluate the numbers of refugees,'' Gen. Jean-Pierre Kelche, chairman of France's joint chiefs of staff, said late last week.
The Defense Dept. is inclined to support the continued consolidation of lower-tier aerospace suppliers, but is unlikely to make any explicit pronouncement confirming as much.
Continental Airlines officials said the carrier successfully completed an airborne Y2K test of its Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) by simulating a date change to Jan. 1, 2000. A 737-700 was flown for 1 hr. to demonstrate a flight on Dec. 31, 1999, originating and returning to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. ACARS is installed on all Continental aircraft. In addition, the flight management computer also was reset to the new date during the test.
The medium-data-rate (MDR) communications payload for Milstar F-5 is undergoing final testing at Hughes Space and Communications Co. in preparation for delivery next month. The payload, designed to provide jam-resistant communications for U.S. forces, will be shipped to prime contractor Lockheed Martin Missiles&Space Co. for integration on the spacecraft, scheduled for launch in 2000.
Korean Air has selected AlliedSignal Inc. to provide wheels and brakes for the airline's future fleet of Boeing next-generation 737 aircraft. The carrier has 27 new 737 transports on order, with the first aircraft scheduled to enter service early next year.
Scientists in Germany are concerned that future spending demands for European programs, coupled with an expected decrease in federal government support for research, may severely curtail funding for national R&D projects.
Boeing plans to lay off about 280 workers at its St. Louis fighter line because of falling sales and order backlogs for its F-15E Eagle and F/A-18 Hornet fighters. A total of 900 workers at the plant could lose their jobs by year-end.
The U.N. has suspended sanctions against Libya now that Tripoli has handed over two men, accused of planting the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, for trial in the Netherlands under Scottish law.
Robert M. Ball, executive director of the Lee County (Fla.) Port Authority, has received the George M. Skurla Outstanding Alumni Award from the Florida Institute of Technology School of Aeronautics. Ball oversees operation of Southwest Florida International Airport and Page Field General Aviation Airport, both in Fort Myers.
A large-scale humanitarian relief operation cranked into gear last week, as NATO and chartered civilian aircraft ferried tons of food and supplies into Albania and Macedonia--where hundreds of thousands of Kosovar refugees have fled after being forced from their homes by Serb forces.
