Finnair is reviewing its future operational strategy following a $87.7 million, or 20%, drop in pretax profits for the first half of 1998. Although revenues were up 7.5%, operating costs rose 9.4%. Chief Executive Officer Antti Potila, who retires on Dec. 31, said most of the carrier's growth has come in sectors with below average unit revenues. Faced with increased competition, as well as slowing passenger and cargo demand, Finnair may seek a strategic investor if the Finnish government moves ahead with plans to reduce its 58% stake in the airline.
As many as 90% of all company executives and managers are required to comply with strict in-house travel guidelines, compared to 66% in 1997, according to OAG Worldwide Business Travel Lifestyle Survey. The more than 3,000 U.S., European and Pacific Rim travelers surveyed make an average of 20 trips per year, down slightly from 21 in 1997. The findings reflect a continuing trend by companies to reduce travel expenses and cut overhead, according to the OAG survey.
The Radar Technology Encyclopedia is now available on CD-ROM, offering every page from the print edition with explanations of more than 5,000 terms and concepts related to radar, antennas and microwave technology. The encyclopedia, edited by David K. Barton and Sergey A. Leonev, includes descriptions and illustrations of all types of radar systems, including information on Russian systems that was not previously available outside that country. Artech House Inc., 685 Canton St., Norwood, Mass. 02062.
Patrick Brannelly, manager of passenger entertainment and communications for Emirates, has been elected president of the World Airline Entertainment Assn. (WAEA) for 1998-99. Other elected officers are: vice president, Karen Schipper, director of inflight sales and entertainment for El Al Israel Airlines; secretary, Joan Barker, sales and marketing director for Inflight Productions; and treasurer, Linda Palmer, senior vice president-nontheatrical sales for Buena Vista Pictures Nontheatrical.
Howard L. Wesoky has been appointed the first chief scientific and technical adviser on the environment in the FAA Office of Environment and Energy. He was team leader for environmental compatibility assessment in the NASA Office of Aero-Space Technology.
Eighteen months after their first merger attempt disintegrated into a $5-billion lawsuit, EchoStar Communications Corp. and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. have agreed to make up and try again to create a mammoth direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV system.
Two Stroke International is using an epoxy electrocoating process to provide corrosion protection on its line of engines plus reduction gearboxes, jet pumps and ancillary devices. The aluminum castings and structural parts are coated inside and out before final assembly. The thinness of the electrocoating process provides good heat transfer while still protecting against corrosion. Two Stroke International, 8 Schein Loop, Beaufort Industrial Park, Beaufort, S.C. 29906-8524.
Boeing's Phantom Works will design, build and flight-test two canard rotor-wing ``Dragonfly'' unmanned aerial vehicles under a 3-year, $24-million program jointly funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
A circular compressed wire mesh rope, impregnated with silicon gel, is Raychem Corp.'s new solution to electromagnetic interference shielding and electrical grounding. The multi-function dBseal is an alternative to two-piece rubber and metal mesh gaskets. It will sell for 50 cents per foot in volume applications, according to the company. The copper-nickel alloy mesh provides the shielding, while the silicon gives an environmental seal. The gel shielding's effectiveness was greater than 75 dB. over the 100 MHz.-1 GZHz. range after salt spray testing.
British Airways' acquisition of CityFlyer Express, one of its eight franchise partners, will give the carrier nearly 40% of all takeoff and landing slots at London Gatwick Airport. CityFlyer has the second largest presence at Gatwick, controlling 13% of the takeoff and landing slots. BA holds 26% of the slots at Gatwick, the U.K.'s second largest airport after Heathrow.
The AIOP-1 family of analog input-output VME cards provides 16 input channels with 4 output channels for high-reliability control system applications. Features include software programmable input ranges, input filtering and a flexible acquisition control mechanism that allows some channels to be sampled simultaneously while others are sampled in sequence. The AIOP-1 architecture also includes self-calibration and built-in-test features. Radstone Technology Plc., Water Lane, Towcester, Northants NN12 6JN, England.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has a new report on the changing structure of the large civil aircraft industry. It doesn't mince words in assessing Boeing's current woes (see p. 28). Nor does the ``Asia crisis'' loom large in the commission's principal findings. ``Boeing's post-merger performance has been characterized by lagging integration progress and production problems that have led to poor financial performance, customer dissatisfaction and debt downgrading,'' the agency says.
Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems and Aerostructures (ISA) sector in Dallas is implementing an Automated Purchase Order Reschedule System (APOR) that uses the Internet to exchange supply and demand requirements for production of airframe subassemblies with subcontractors. The system facilitates online communications with ISA and more than 350 suppliers, and allows the sector to utilize high-volume, leveraged buying while minimizing procurement time.
NATO planners want to attack enemy air defenses during peacekeeping missions without having to work around the burdensome rules of engagement they've been handed in Bosnia. Political concerns about collateral damage and fratricide tied planners' hands, a U.S. Air Force official said. To eliminate those constraints, NATO has kicked-off an in-depth study into minimizing collateral damage during lethal air defense suppression missions flown in peace-keeping operations.
U.S. government restrictions on the export of encryption software and hardware are ``futile,'' says a report by the Cato Institute. The U.S. restricts the export of encryption products with key lengths of more than 56 bits. But Cato's report found that high-level encryption software can be obtained easily over the Internet or from non-U.S. producers. ``Foreign-made encryption products are as good as, or better than, U.S.-made products,'' asserts the report's author, Henry B. Wolfe, a graduate-level teacher of computer security at a New Zealand university.
Finding ways to avoid the interference from television broadcasts, FM radio stations and cellular telephones is a major obstacle in the development of low-frequency radars that could find stealth aircraft and cruise missiles.
United Technologies' Hamilton Standard Div. plans to sell its UTMC Microelectronic Systems Inc. unit to Aeroflex Inc. of Plainview, N.Y., for $46 million in cash. UTMC is one of only a few suppliers providing radiation-hardened, semi-custom and standard very-large-scale integrated circuits for aerospace and defense applications. Although a leader in its market segment, Colorado Springs-based UTMC is outside of Hamilton Standard's aerospace business, according to a company official. Aeroflex provides advanced technology microelectronic products.
Ronald K. Sable (see photo), senior vice president-corporate development of The Aerospace Corp., has been elected to the International Academy of Aeronautics and has become a member of the International Activities Committee of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Two spacecraft which have been developed to study Mars--one from the planet's surface and the other from orbit--are being prepared for launch as part of NASA's long-term strategy for Martian exploration. The space agency's Mars exploration program, which began two years ago with Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor, is aimed at studying climate changes over time, the planet's resources and the possibility of life ever existing. The two missions being readied for launch will primarily address the issue of climate.
South African Airways is set to inaugurate a round-trip, twice-weekly service between Johannesburg and Lagos, Nigeria, on Dec. 3 using a Boeing 767. The approximately 7-hr. direct flight will beSouth African Airways' first service to Nigeria.
Matt Keegan has become senior manager in the Ernst&Young LLP Manufacturing Revenue Team, focusing on aerospace and defense issues. He was aerospace and defense practice director for Oracle Consulting Services on the U.S. East Coast.
