Contractors have begun working in earnest on design concepts for aircraft and related subsystems under contracts recently let by the Pentagon's Joint Advanced Strike Technology program office.
Albert L. Ueltschi, chairman of FlightSafety International Ophthalmology and pilot training are diverse subjects, but Albert L. Ueltschi has managed to make a significant contribution to both over the years. His contributions are identified by his role as chairman and chief executive of FlightSafety International and chairman of Orbis International.
Dissident creditors of Trans World Airlines are squeezing TWA to sweeten its debt-restructuring, but all parties stand to lose if the carrier is pushed back into bankruptcy. TWA has set a Jan. 30 deadline for voting on its debt-for-equity proposal (AW&ST Oct. 17, 1994, p. 35). Unless it is approved, there is a good chance that TWA again will have to file for bankruptcy.
Senior aviation officials from Egypt, Jordan and Israel are proposing that a regional aviation board be created to oversee air traffic management in the Middle East.
Virgin Atlantic Airways and Malaysia Airlines have formed a new, wide-ranging partnership under which they will operate joint flights from London to Kuala Lumpur, with onward service to Australia. The agreement is seen by both Virgin and recently privatized Malaysia as an important step in strengthening their global links in an increasingly competitive industry. ``Although technically it is for a minimum of 10 years, both of us see it as the start of a lifetime agreement,'' Virgin Chairman Richard Branson said.
Typically, AMR Corp., parent company of American Airlines, outperforms its competitors in good times and has smaller losses in bad. But even Wall Street is surprised at the strength of the carrier's earnings for the fourth-quarter of 1994 and full year. For the closing months of 1994, AMR posted operating earnings of $51 million or 59 cents a share, excluding an after-tax restructuring charge tied to cost-cutting measures. Wall Street's estimate was 46 cents. The results represented AMR's first fourth-quarter profit in five years.
The Toledo-Lucas County (Ohio) Port Authority has named Mark D. VanLoh airport director. He was director of aviation for the Greater Rockford (Ill.) Airport Authority.
NASA CHIEF DANIEL S. GOLDIN IS ON THE QUI VIVE to cut staff even more than what has already been ordered. Both the President and Congress want an even smaller government, Goldin told employees, adding that politicians ``are talking about it very seriously.'' Under Administration orders to date, NASA must trim 16.5% from the agency's 1993 civil servant employment of some 25,000 by the end of Fiscal 1999 (AW&ST Dec. 12/19, 1994, p. 19). ``We have about 2,500 more people to go,'' and ``it's not clear we can rely solely on attrition,'' Goldin said.
CANDIDATES FROM Japan and Canada will join NASA's astronaut candidate class of 1995, due to report to the Johnson Space Center in March. Takao Doi, 40, holds a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Tokyo. Dr. Dafydd (David) Rhys Williams holds M.D. and Master of Surgery degrees from McGill University. They bring to 21--10 pilot and 11 mission specialist candidates--the number to begin one year's training in Houston.
FlightSafety International of New York has appointed Aaron Reed mid-Atlantic regional marketing manager, based at Washington Dulles International Airport. He was a regional sales manager in Raytheon Aircraft Co.'s Hawker Jet group.
Long-established practices in airline ticketing and distribution are yielding to new ways for U.S. airlines to sell seat space, including the latest trend to ``ticketless'' travel. Recent airline developments and the spread of computer technologies are driving this wave of change.
THE WINGS OF the new Boeing 777 transport successfully passed the FAA-required 150% maximum commercial flight load test at Boeing on Jan. 14. Overall, the 2.5-hr. static destruction test bent the wings approximately 25 ft. each before they snapped under a load of 500,000 lb. at the forecast failure point.
KLM WILL USE CANADIAN MARCONI'S CMA-2102 Satcom High-Gain antenna for use with its world-wide in-flight telephone service. The initial order for 46 systems plus spares will be installed on Boeing 747 and 767 series and MD-11 aircraft. The CMA-2102 will be integrated with the Honeywell MCS-6000 avionics systems. Eighteen major airlines have selected the 2102 antenna.
SWEDEN WILL RECOMMEND A HYBRID ILS/GPS system for instrument approaches to an ICAO special communications/operations divisional meeting in Montreal in late March. Pilots would use the ILS glidepath signal for vertical guidance and differential GPS for lateral guidance. The Swedish CAA (SCAA) will suggest the hybrid architecture for multi-mode receivers as a low-cost step to take advantage of the large numbers of ILS during the transition to use of Global Navigation Satellite System for approaches.
INMARSAT IS CHANGING its formal name from the International Maritime Satellite Organization to the International Mobile Satellite Organization.When established 15 years ago, its mission was to provide commercial, distress and safety communications for maritime users, but has evolved into a provider of satellite communications for aircraft in flight and land mobile users around the world. The organization plans to launch a global hand-held satellite phone service (Inmarsat-P) by the end of the decade.
EXPECT NORTHWEST AIRLINES, which operates to London's Gatwick Airport, to begin flying nonstop service there from Detroit in March if its plan to buy the route from Delta Air Lines is approved by the U.S. London will be Northwest's 13th international destination served nonstop from Detroit, its largest domestic hub. Northwest also has decided to prohibit smoking on all its transatlantic services, beginning Mar. 1.
A senior U.S. Navy official says additional long-range B-2 bombers should be paid for out of the Air Force's budget, not at the expense of aircraft carriers.
Honeywell, Inc., Freeport, Ill., has named Ron Sieck (see photos) vice president/general manager of sales and marketing for its Micro Switch Div. He was vice president-marketing. Rick Rowe has been promoted to vice president/general manager of Micro Switch Products from division vice president-operations. Jim Laible has been promoted to vice president-electromechanical business from director of product management.
SPACE SHUTTLE Mission 63 has been set for launch Feb. 2 at 12:49 a.m. EST from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39-B. But the time could change by several minutes, based on the position of Russia's Mir space station, with which Discovery is to rendezvous.
A 25-YEAR U.S. AIR FORCE MODERNIZATION MASTER PLAN is nearing completion, and three areas have been identified for renewed focus--information warfare (IW), long-range precision strike and dominating maneuver. IW is subdivided to include the denial or corruption of a foe's information and attacks against his command and control network. IW also would ensure that the U.S. and its allies have unencumbered access to intelligence and precise navigation for precision weapons.
FEASIBILITY STUDIES on Takeoff Performance Monitor systems at the National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) of the Netherlands show the best system would incorporate current aircraft performance with predictions of both continued takeoff and stopping ability. Engineers from Amsterdam-based NLR are in the U.S. this month to brief the NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., and Society of Automotive Engineers aircraft specialists on their studies. The nearly six years of work has included takeoff simulations using dozens of pilots from multiple airlines.
Quarterdeck Investment Partners of Los Angeles has appointed three vice presidents: Vice Adm. Stephen Loftus, (USN, Ret.), previously the Navy's deputy chief of naval operations for logistics; Nathan Brostrom, previously with the California Treasurer's Office; and Stacy McCarthy, who was head of procurement for Marine Corps appropriations.
THE ADMINISTRATION HAS SIGNED an ``Agreed Minute on Defense Relations'' with India that promotes cooperation in research and production, particularly on the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) project. However, U.S. officials said no specific programs were discussed in terms of future defense production or technology transfers. The LCA is India's effort to build a low-cost replacement for its aging MiG-21s and a potential export aircraft to boost its aviation industry. Activities are to be guided by a Joint Technical Group of senior professionals that will meet in the spring.
