Once gain, Alitalia, the perennially ailing Italian carrier, finds itself in the unenviable position of needing to restructure. It must come to terms with the fact that it needs new investors and a strong partner. Being a SkyTeam member has not brought about the salvation the carrier hoped for, and the survival plan put in place in the late 1990s, although welcome, certainly does not ensure a workable future. In the short term, Alitalia, which posted a €294 million ($397 million) loss in the first half of 2013, reportedly needs €400-500 million to avoid bankruptcy.
Brent Monroe (see photo) has been named Dallas-based vice president for Western North American sales for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. He was head of aircraft sales in Texas for Bombardier Aerospace. Honors And Elections
“Textron's Gamble” (AW&ST Sept. 16, p. 22) could prove fruitful. The company could have taken a page from Alexander Kartveli, designer of the Republic P-47 who was brought out of retirement to design the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft, where he kept the engines high and behind the low wing and tail for protection from ground fire. I wish Textron better luck than Beech, with their AT-6, which lost, even when offered in response to an actual U.S. Air Force solicitation.
A consumer buying a car views the quality of the product simply: Does it work as promised and will it last? But the Pentagon inspector general's (IG) recent review of the Defense Department's most costly procurement program reveals that the military's definition of “quality” in its weapon systems is far more nuanced and tricky to manage.
I agree with the premise that Bill Sweetman puts forth in “Blast from the Past” (AW&ST Sept. 30, p. 17) that, when applicable, previously tested concepts should be reexamined. A possible solution for today's time-critical targets was within our grasp during the height of the Cold War. The High Speed Strike Weapon of the 1960s was the Douglas AGM-87A Skybolt, a hypersonic Mach 12.4 (9,500 mph) air-launched ballistic missile. Strategic Air Command Boeing B-52s would have carried four Skybolts, and launched the 11,000-lb. missiles at a standoff range of 600-1,000 mi.
By modernizing a component as rudimentary as a mechanical circuit breaker, Albuquerque, N.M.,-based Vertical Power has opened the door to a wealth of new applications and safety features for the experimental market, including an automatic landing system that flies to the threshold. The offering is similar to new systems being developed for high-end business jets, but at a much lower cost.
Now that the Air Force has placed the A-10 Thunderbolt II under consideration for cuts in a worst-case budget scenario, a grassroots movement is building to keep the aircraft, flying since 1977, around longer. The A-10 is not one of those programs, like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter or the KC-46A tanker, that the service wants to protect. In fact, a chart from Air Combat Command shows the entire fleet of close-air support aircraft may be divested by 2015.
A light bulb went off in Dan Miller's head several years ago as he struggled to complete the avionics behind the panel of his company's newest light sport aircraft, the Spirit Grand Edition. Miller, sales manager for World Aircraft Co., based in Paris, Texas, had an idea that was so obvious it seemed silly that no one had thought of it before.
Paul Sinton has become managing director for the Belfast, Northern Ireland-based European Space Propulsion subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne. He was an executive for analysis, test and senior program management with Thales Air Defense, also in Belfast.
Austin Meyer, developer of the X-Plane simulator and Xaxion emergency landing application for the iPad, tests Xavion in his Columbia 400 single-engine aircraft in this image by Jeff Amberg Photography. Meyer also provides the Xavion software to nascent avionics maker Vertical Power for the VP-400 backup flight display and “runway seeker” package that automatically guides an aircraft to the best-fit runway after an engine failure or pilot incapacitation. VP-400 is being offered to the experimental aircraft market.
When the NextGen Advisory Committee came out with a prioritized list of NextGen capabilities Sept. 19 to help the FAA decide how best to spend under shrinking budgets, “wake recategorization” made the Tier 1A cut, along with performance-based navigation and multiple-runway operations. Tier 1A is the gold standard of rankings, reserved for capabilities that are “shovel-ready” and provide maximum benefit for minimum money.
Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has received the first WTS Navigator Award from Washington-based WTS International, the association for the advancement of women in transportation. He was cited for standing “behind our mission and creating new opportunities for a diverse and inclusive workforce.” He was noted for having set the gender diversity issue in the transportation industry on an accelerated path.
Franz Josef Kirschfink (see photo) has been appointed managing director of Hamburg Aviation, which includes Airbus, Lufthansa Technik and Hamburg Airport. He succeeds Walter Birkhan, who is retiring. Kirschfink has been director of technology projects for Lufthansa Technik and had been chief operating officer of subsidiary Alitalia Maintenance Systems in Rome.
David O'Neill has been appointed director of sales for the Premier Aviation Overhaul Center, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. He was vice president of international sales and marketing for Aeroframe Services.
Low-cost operator Norwegian Air Shuttle is expected to return its grounded Boeing 787-8s to service early this month after the manufacturer implemented an aggressive “get-well” campaign to beef up spare-parts provision, maintenance and engineering support. The situation at Norwegian appeared to have come to a head by the end of September, following several weeks of reliability problems in the power distribution system, hydraulics, oxygen system and brakes.
India on Oct. 2 moved its Mars Orbiter to the launch pad at Sriharikota for its scheduled liftoff to the red planet on Oct. 28. After a series of tests, scientists at the India Space Research Organization (ISRO) approved transport of the 1,340-kg (3,000-lb.) orbiter to the pad for integration with the 350-ton rocket. It is an extended version of the space agency's workhorse launcher, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL), an ISRO scientist says.
At least one captain of industry thinks the Defense Department could lift its ban on prime U.S. contractors acquiring each other now that lower annual budgets appear locked in for years. “I don't see the department . . . standing in the way of consolidation,” Exelis CEO David Melcher says. The expressed ban on the Top 5 contractors—Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Boeing and General Dynamics—merging stems from Pentagon policy crafted before the Budget Control Act and its threatened sequestrations became law in August 2011.
The new Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) rules are all about numbers, regardless of actual experience, and will never address the real issues of pilot qualification and professional conduct.
The photograph that appears on page 47, which accompanies “The Shock of the New” (AW&ST Sept. 30, p. 44), is certainly not of a Lockheed TriStar. It appears to be a Vickers VC10. Prospect, Ky. (The reader is correct—Ed.)
