Based on conclusions of its study of main deck floor strength in converted Boeing 727 freighters, the FAA has established payload limitations for freighters modified under four supplemental type certificates dating to a decade ago.
South African Airways and Air Namibia are to explore joint business opportunities. Under an agreement which was signed Jan. 7 in Johannesburg, the carriers may link their frequent-flier programs, operate flights jointly as well as combine customer services at some stations. Operating alliances will include SAA's South African Express Airways and South African Airlink as well as Air Namibia's Kalahari Express Airline. Johannesburg-based SAA is pursuing a strategy of building a global network, offering passengers flights to every major international destination.
Peter L. Kujawski (see photo) has been named president of Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems, Sunnyvale, Calif. He was president of Lockheed Martin operations in Eagan, Minn., and Akron, Ohio.
Arianespace's partners hope to determine soon if launching Starsem's four-stage Soyuz commercial boosters from the French space agency's Kourou complex could improve the French-Russian consortium's efficiency. The Kourou, French Guiana, launch facilities, which are close to the equator, would add 25-30% to the Soyuz vehicle's geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) capability.
Japan Airlines and British Airways will begin cooperating on shared passenger lounges and frequent-flier programs, extending cooperation they have already established in cargo. JAL previously established similar cooperation with American Airlines, British Airways' partner in the Oneworld alliance. British Airways is continuing cooperation with JAL's main rival, All Nippon Airways, on frequent-flier programs, but ANA's allegiance to the Star Alliance means the BA-ANA tie would be ended.
The U.S. has lodged trade penalties against three more Russian institutions, among them an aviation agency, bringing to 10 the number of Russian entities the U.S. has sanctioned for allegedly providing sensitive missile and nuclear assistance to Iran.
Lorrie Secrest has been appointed vice president-public affairs of Iridium LLC of Washington. She was director of media relations in Europe for Ameritech.
Philip G. Walker (see photos) has been appointed chief technical officer of Eastman Kodak Commercial and Government Systems, Rochester, N.Y. He was program manager for commercial remote sensing. Other recent appointments have been Alan Marchant, operations manager for marketing and program development; William T. Seewagen, manager of operational imaging programs for imaging products and systems; David A. Parkes, image management marketing manager; and Robert Thomas Delaney, director of commercial remote sensing.
A series of tamper-indicating shipping containers is being developed by Z:ro Limit Composites, a spinoff from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash. Available in sizes from hand-held to large 40-ft.-long intermodal shipping containers, the composite material boxes and retrofit liners use embedded fiber optics to determine if security has been breached, according to Paul Sliva, company president and senior research scientist at PNNL.
J. Chris Fairey and Ann D. Montgomery have been appointed KSC director and deputy director, respectively, of safety and mission assurance. They will succeed P. Thomas Breakfield, 3rd, and Joel R. Reynolds, who are retiring. Fairey has been director of shuttle process integration. Montgomery has been director of quality assurance.
Raytheon Photonic Systems will supply its fiber-optic network solutions for the Triband Tactical Terminal (T-3) program, a mobile communications system being built for the U.S. Army by Raytheon.
Twenty-eight Globalstar satellites will be launched on seven Delta II boosters under an agreement between Boeing and Space Systems/Loral. Boeing plans to use a Delta model with nine solid rocket motors (SRMs) for two launches from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., in the fourth quarter of this year. Delta IIs with four SRMs will be used for launches from Cape Canaveral. They are scheduled to be conducted from the second quarter of this year through the first quarter of 2000.
The State Dept. has fired another shot across Russia's bow to pressure Moscow to stop aiding Iran's missile program (see p. 22). Russia is expected to fill its quota for launching U.S-built commercial satellites at the end of 1999, a year ahead of schedule. The Russians and U.S. launch partner Lockheed Martin would dearly like to see the quotas raised or, better yet, scrapped. Last week, State Dept. spokesman James P.
International investigators are assessing whether emergency oxygen leaking from tubing damaged by arcing on Swissair Flight 111 may have intensified the cockpit fire that apparently led to the MD-11's crash off Nova Scotia last September.
Defense Dept. bean-counters are wrestling with a curious case of cost increases in a weapons program. The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), one of the Air Force's highest profile acquisition reform efforts, has experienced 6-7% cost growth in recent months. That has some at the Pentagon nervous and clamoring for cost control. But other Pentagon officials see the situation differently. ``To me that's not bad,'' says Ron Mutzelburg, who oversees weapons programs in the office of the Defense Secretary.
Singapore Airlines is expected to move quickly to buy a financial stake in Ansett Australia after withdrawing an offer to take an equity share in Taiwan's China Airlines. China Airlines was counting on the Singapore Airlines' (SIA) investment and management program to underpin a revival of its public image after two fatal crashes damaged its reputation.
Giuliano Berretta has been named director general, Volker Steiner head of commercial affairs and development, and Jean-Paul Brillaud head of corporate development and external relations, all of Eutelsat. Berretta succeeds Jean Grenier, who has retired. Steiner was senior executive director for cable and broadcasting systems/multimedia communications of Deutsche Telekom. Brillaud was vice president-satellite communications of France Telecom.
Pratt&Whitney is set to resume tests of its Joint Strike Fighter powerplants later this month, after confirming the ability of the engines' fans and low-pressure turbines to operate satisfactorily under high power conditions.
U.S. intelligence officials are seeing signs of a serious threat with the development of surface-to-air missiles guided by millimeter-wave radar that can locate and attack stealthy aircraft while remaining undetected by U.S. combat aircraft.
David Arendt has become senior vice president-finance and administration of Cargolux. He headed Banque Generale du Luxembourg's corporate finance department.
Despite the outstanding earnings growth of most aviation services companies last year, the stocks performed poorly. Part of the reason may be investor reaction to production problems at Boeing. Also, this group is dominated by micro- and small-capitalization companies, and investors seem more enamored with large caps.
Former Japan Airlines President Yasumoto Takagi died of heart failure on Jan. 9 in Tokyo. He was 86. Takagi joined Great Japan Airlines, a pre-World War II prede- cessor to JAL. He became JAL's president in 1981 but resigned after the Aug. 12, 1985, crash of a JAL Boeing 747. The crash was the result of a failed bulkhead, but he took personal responsibility for the loss of 520 lives. He visited with each victim's family afterward and donated $182,000 to maintain a garden in their memory.
EasyJet recorded pretax profits of 2.3 million pounds ($3.8 million) last year. The rapidly growing U.K. airline posted revenues of 77 million pounds ($126 million) during the 1997-98 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, up 67% over the previous year. The number of passengers carried rose 65%, to 1.7 million. EasyJet, launched in late 1995, is set to take delivery of eight 737-300s during 1999.
