Southwest Airlines has moved to secure its position as the U.S.' leading low-cost airline by signing a contract that swaps up to 14 million shares of stock for a five-year freeze in pilots' salaries.
Leonardo da Vinci airport officials are determined to make Italy's major international hub southern Europe's main international gateway. Aeroporti di Roma (ADR), the Rome airport authority, plans to invest about $2.9 billion over an unspecified time frame to heavily extend passenger and cargo facilities. The airport's passenger capacity is expected to increase gradually to 32 million passengers per year by 2005, up from the current 20 million.
LAUNCH VEHICLE manufacturers continue to chalk up new business. Europe's Arianespace signed its 12th contract for 1994 with the order to launch the Inmarsat 3 F5 relay satellite. The satellite's launch is planned for the second half of 1997. Arianespace continues its rapid-paced mission rate to work off its backlog, with the next mission set for Dec. 1. In the U.S., NASA has selected Orbital Sciences Corp. to negotiate a firm fixed-price contract for Pegasus launch services with the space agency's new class of smaller, low-cost missions.
Micron Technology, Inc., Boise, Idaho, has appointed W.G. Stover, Jr., to its board of directors. He is vice president-finance/chief financial officer.
NATO air attacks against Serbian sites Nov. 21 and 23 pitted allied aircraft from four nations against vintage Warsaw Pact-type missile defenses during the first large-scale coordinated multinational strikes in the 44-year history of the alliance.
Rockwell International Corp. has named Kenneth A. Medlin, Sr., (see photo) vice president/general manager of its Communication Systems Div., Richardson, Tex. He was executive vice president and succeeds Ronald A. Kodimer, who will retire.
Boeing has started detailed design of its next-generation 737 transport family and already is cutting metal for long-lead items. Firm orders for the new 737-700 and 737-800 have climbed to 93, according to Harold Arnold, chief engineer, Next Generation 737 Program. Southwest Airlines has ordered 63, and Denmark's Maersk Air, six of the 128-passenger 737-700s. In addition, there have been orders from at least one unannounced customer. First 737-700 deliveries to Southwest are scheduled for October, 1997.
A B-1B squadron completed a congressionally mandated operational readiness test with an 84.6% mission capable (MC) rate, demonstrating the bomber's ability to operate at wartime tempos from an austere location.
A TRENDSETTING AGREEMENT between forest products company Georgia-Pacific Corp. and environmentalists could provide a major boost for helicopter heavy-lift companies. Under terms of the pact, The Nature Conservancy will co-manage over 21,000 acres of GP-owned North Carolina forest to help protect fragile ecosystems and wildlife. Timber harvests will be removed by helicopter to avoid building environmentally damaging roads (AW&ST May 9, p. 68).
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is considering construction of an assembly plant at Nagoya's new offshore airport that would probably be used to make the YS-X 100-seat regional jet, according to officials. In a recent speech, Mitsubishi Chairman Yohtaro Iida did not mention the YS-X specifically, but said his company was considering construction of an assembly plant on a 200-hectare (494-acre) site at the new airport. But other officials said the plant would be built for the YS-X program.
Asiana has put into service its first Boeing 747-400 freighter. The delivery brings Seoul, Korea-based Asiana's all-Boeing fleet to 32 transports, including seven 747s. The new freighter will be used on a Seoul to Los Angeles route. Asiana began revenue service in 1988.
CHINA IS INCREASING exports from former defense facilities that now are producing civilian products. Official reports said the factories had revenues of $532 million in the first 10 months of this year. Exports are expected to grow to $560 million by year's end. Civil production includes tools, mini-vans, motorcycles, autos, machinery and parts for civil aircraft.
America's next civilian weather satellite, the Martin Marietta/Astro Space NOAA-J, is scheduled for launch Dec. 6 from California's Vandenberg AFB on a converted Atlas E intercontinental ballistic missile (see photo). This will be the first NOAA-series spacecraft launched since the loss of NOAA-13 in August, 1993, which suffered a power failure 12 days after launch. The NOAA-13 problem came amidst a series of setbacks for Martin Marietta, including the Mars Observer spacecraft loss and the explosion of a Titan 4 during ascent.
ITALY'S AEROSPACE ARMAMENT COMPANIES will slash about 10,000 jobs next year due to the nation's sharply decreasing defense budget. Reduced procurement of AMX tactical fighters, Spada antiaircraft systems, EH-101 and A-129 helicopters is fueling the steep plunge in industry workload. The Italian government also intends to defer work on the Sicral telecommunications satellite.
A NEW TECHNIQUE USING electrically ionized gas streams, or plasma, to destroy toxic waste gases is being perfected by the Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Wash. The process has the potential to treat certain industrial emissions more cheaply and efficiently than alternate methods, including catalytic incineration. Despite its name, the High Energy Corona System uses little power and operates near ambient temperatures and pressures. The plasma energy alters the chemical composition of certain toxic gases but does not create hazardous by-products.
AIR MALDIVES, THE NATIONAL AIRLINE of the republic of Maldives in the Indian Ocean, is inaugurating its international operations with services from the capital of Male to Dubai; Trivandrum, India; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Colombo, Sri Lanka. Flights will be operated with a 246-seat Airbus Industrie A300B4 leased from Malaysia Airlines. The new international push was set in motion when Malaysian Helicopter Services, which has a 32% stake in Malaysia Airlines, acquired a 49% share in Air Maldives in July. The Maldives government retained 51%.
A TRANS WORLD AIRLINES MD-80 on takeoff roll struck a Cessna 441 Conquest 2 business aircraft at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport at 10:02 p.m. Nov. 22. There was no fire. Eight of Flight 427's 132 passengers and crew of five received minor injuries during the evacuation, according to the FAA. The weather was clear with 25 mi. visibility. The MD-80's cockpit voice and flight data recorders were retrieved and sent to safety board headquarters in Washington. Both occupants of the Cessna were killed.
Unisys Corp., McLean, Va., has named Vincent Obsitnik president of its systems development unit. Previously vice president-strategic marketing for Unisys Government Systems Group, Obsitnik succeeds James E. Howard, who is retiring. Druck Holdings, Plc., Groby, England, has appointed Paul Burnett director of corporate development for its U.S. subsidiary, Druck, Inc., New Fairfield, Conn. He was manager of corporate development for Ametek, Inc.
Flyrt is a small, unmanned aircraft developed by the Naval Research Laboratory that can be launched from a NATO-standard chaff launcher as a decoy to protect ships from radar-guided missiles. The autonomous Flying Radar Target (pronounced flirt) is to act as a radar repeater decoy, but the 25-lb. payload capacity could be used to carry other packages.
Mercury Computer Systems, Chelmsford, Mass., has appointed Sherman N. Mullin to its board of directors. He recently retired as president of the Lockheed Advanced Development Co.
The definition of supercomputers is changing from large machines used by a few elite scientists to many computers that are connected by networks and used by large numbers of people. Edward R. McCracken told scientists at Supercomputing `94, held here recently, that three trends are working together to cause the shift-limited funding, a larger pool of more sophisticated users who need supercomputing power, and technology that permits networked science.
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics has named Cary R. Spitzer winner of its 1994 Digital Avionics Award. He is president of AvioniCon, Inc. Minoru S. Araki, executive vice president of Lockheed Missiles and Space Systems, has received the von Braun Award for Excellence in Space Program Management. David W. Thompson, chairman/president/chief executive officer of Orbital Sciences Corp., has won the 1994 George M. Low Space Transportation Award.
New ideas about how to manage aerospace businesses have been systematically replacing traditional methods since about 1988, and synchronous manufacturing is one approach producing meaningful, measurable results. Synchronous manufacturing involves flowing materials through the manufacturing process as quickly as possible, based on customer orders and eliminating constraints that can slow this process down.
Japan's Maritime Safety Agency will use modified Saab 340s for its new search and rescue aircraft. Funding for an initial aircraft, designated the 340B-Plus SAR-200, is included in the Ministry of Transport's fiscal 1995 budget plan that the Diet is expected to act on early next year.
