Lufthansa German Airlines last week concluded an order for 10 247-seat Airbus A340-300s and six 185-seat A321s. The German carrier has acquired 164 Airbus transports and remains the biggest airline customer in the European consortium.
Most electronic warfare system producers are moderately bullish because they will soon begin delivering new EW systems to protect aircraft against infrared and radar-guided missiles, and other new systems are nearing production commitments. Most EW suppliers expect slightly rising orders for 1999, although they are feeling the impact of Asia's economic problems.
Maj. Gen. Kenneth R. Israel (USAF, Ret.) has become senior vice president-Air Force programs and Col. Joseph R. Bream (USAF, Ret.) vice president-finance and administration of Burdeshaw Associates Ltd., Bethesda, Md.
Entrepreneurs will likely push an alternative to Sen. John Breaux's bill to provide federal loan guarantees for companies building low-cost commercial space launchers. Breaux (D-La.) will probably reintroduce the bill in the next Congress. Most entrepreneurs working on new rockets, many of which would be reusable launch vehicles (RLVs), hate Breaux's bill. They believe the government would give all the guarantees to Lockheed Martin, which is working on the X-33 single-stage-to-orbit demonstrator with NASA. The follow-on VentureStar RLV is supposed to be purely commercial.
Thomas W. Crowley (see photo) has been appointed chief financial officer of the Atlantic Aviation Corp., Wilmington, Del. He was vice president-business planning for Garrett Aviation.
Bombardier Aerospace will add a super midsize-cabin corporate jet, situated in size and performance between its Learjet 60 and Challenger 604, to its family of aircraft in 2002.
For the first time since Swissair Flight 111 plunged into 200-ft.-deep waters off Nova Scotia, piles of debris are on shore and available for examination by investigators searching for the reasons why the MD-11 crashed. A special salvage rig last week began scooping up tons of wreckage from the floor of the Atlantic southwest of Halifax as crews raced to recover what is left of Flight 111 before the onset of winter weather next month makes such work impossible. The MD-11 crashed Sept. 2, killing all 229 on board.
Air France's cockpit crews, after lengthy negotiations, have approved a revised labor agreement that is expected to restore a lasting peace to the state-owned airline. Pilots will acquire company shares in exchange for a slightly reduced salary and have agreed to work to prevent additional walkouts. In case of disagree- ment, a three-month moratorium would be declared to allow revision of the pact.
Much has changed in the two years since South Korea sponsored its first air show, but the country's resolve to be counted among the world's leading aerospace manufacturing nations has not. As 155 exhibitors from 17 countries gather for the Oct. 26-Nov. 1 Seoul Air Show '98, Korea's debilitating financial crisis has the aerospace divisions of three major chaebols, or family-controlled corporations, jockeying for position to meet a government-ordered industry consolidation.
The Russian government has decided to waive the customs duty, equal to 20% of the total cost, on 16 Western-made aircraft to be ``temporarily imported'' by Aeroflot, according its director-general, Valery Okulov. The exemption covers 10 Boeing 737s, imported for up to 15 years, and four Airbus A310-300s, plus engines and simulators, imported for up to seven years.
The electronic portion of the U.S. Defense budget will grow slowly over the next 10 years despite a decline in overall Pentagon spending, according to the latest forecast by the Electronic Industries Alliance. The electronic content in procurement and operations/maintenance will grow 10% over that period--to $22 billion and $21 billion, respectively, in Fiscal 2008. RDT&E spending will remain level at about $18 billion.
The U.K.'s General Electric Co. is looking to export the Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aids System (Hidas) which it has developed for the WAH-64 Apache being procured for the British army and is investigating defensive aids systems for special mission and transport aircraft. The company's GEC-Marconi subsidiary, now operating under the name of Marconi Electronic Systems, has seen its EW portfolio boosted by the acquisition of Tracor in the U.S. which brings additional expertise in the area of countermeasures dispenser and laser detection systems.
Enigma Inc. of Waltham, Mass., has introduced Xtend software for vendors and airlines that is designed to reduce the cost of producing documents and improve the effectiveness of field maintenance staff. It is built on Enigma's Insight electronic publishing product that is customized for aerospace applications. . . . Western Data Systems of Calabasas, Calif., is providing enterprise-wide business process automation and re-engineering with Raytheon Systems' STX Corp. to support 18 Army, Navy and Marine Corps maintenance depot facilities. . . .
Brig. Gen. James C. Bobick has been elected to a three-year term as national commander of the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary by leaders of the Civil Air Patrol. Chosen as members of the CAP National Executive Committee are: Col. Richard L. Bowling of Knoxville, Tenn., national vice commander; Col. Joseph D. McMillan of Kansas City, Mo., chief of staff; Col. David N. Simmons of Denver, national legal officer; Col. Larry D. Kauffman of Mt. Holly, N.J., national finance officer; Col. Andrew E. Skiba of Tampa, Fla., national controller; Chaplain Col. James E.
Pascal de Izaguirre has been appointed executive vice president-Americas and Jean-Louis Pinson vice president/general manager for the U.S. of Air France. De Izaguirre was vice president-European operations. Pinson succeeds Jean-Luc Grilhault des Fontaines, who is returning to headquarters in Paris.
U.S. policy has been quietly changed to allow the military to fly unmanned aerial vehicles over countries that have not given over-flight approval. Terry M. Ryan, director of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for the Defense secretary, says the National Command Authority decision last month changes a policy of ``stand-off'' reconnaissance that dates to the 1960 shoot-down of the U-2 flown by Francis Gary Powers. The change apparently was spurred by the increased use of cruise missiles. ``We have two UAVs nose-down in Pakistan right now,'' Ryan said.
Negotiations between FedEx and the FedEx Pilots Assn. (FPA) are expected to resume this week in an increasingly tense atmosphere at Memphis. The FPA negotiating committee rejected a company contract proposal on Oct. 18 as ``substandard,'' said FPA official Bob Clement. This was followed by the 20-member FPA board voting unanimously to ask FedEx's 3,600 pilots for strike authority. Ballots will be counted by early December. According to FPA rules, support of two-thirds of eligible pilots is required for strike authority.
The omnibus appropriations law also provides $886.5 million to the Treasury Dept., during Fiscal 1999-2001, for procurement of 10 P-3B early warning aircraft and 10 P-3B Slick aircraft for use by the Customs Service for expanded air coverage of suspected drug transit countries. The Navy will furnish the aircraft, already identified for transfer. Lawmakers directed the Pentagon to produce a report by Jan. 31 on options for a counter-narcotics air base, or possibly several such bases, to replace Howard AFB, Panama.
One outgrowth of the privatization of air traffic control systems has been a demand for higher quality air traffic management data. Airlines are paying far more attention to the performance they receive in relation to the routes they are assigned as they evaluate the ATC bills they receive to support these new systems. Germany was one of the first nations to privatize its ATC network, and has become a leader in software that is the ATC equivalent of a computer reservation system.
Third-quarter U.S. airline earnings, solid for all majors but two, should dispel some confusion among investors about the strength of the carriers and the economy, at least in the short term. The 18-day pilots' strike at Northwest Airlines muddied the waters, sending it into a tailspin with a $224-million net loss. Rivals benefitted, notably United Airlines, which claimed a $75-million revenue advantage.
The U.K government is moving ahead with plans to privatize National Air Traffic Services (NATS) despite admissions of further delays in opening a new air traffic control center in southern England. Transport Minister John Reid told a parliamentary committee last week that the already long-delayed en route ATC center at Swanwick is not likely to be operational until the winter of 2001-02, one year later than shown in the latest revised schedule. The system was initially scheduled to be running by 1996.
Despite signs of potential economic problems on the horizon that could slow market growth next year, business aircraft manufacturers and operators attending the National Business Aviation Assn.'s 51st annual convention held here Oct. 19-21 remain optimistic about near-term prospects for the industry.
Germany's rapidly growing Eurowings and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines will establish a ``long-term partnership'' in an effort to jointly double, to an estimated 15%, their market share on 15 German/Dutch city-pairs. In addition, Eurowings will join KLM's World of Difference frequent-flier program.
