Randy Sloan (see photo) has been named senior vice president/chief information officer and Craig Maccubbin chief technology officer of Southwest Airlines.
Airline leaders cannot be accused of wishful thinking in their optimistic assessment of the industry's outlook. Clear signs are emerging that the sector is past the bottom of the latest trough in the cycle and on the way up again. These indicators have led the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to lift its 2013 profit forecast for the global airline industry to $12.7 billion, thanks partly to anticipated easing of oil prices and the average load factor exceeding 80% for the first time.
Saab is pulling its JAS 39E Gripen out of Canada's fighter reevaluation, having “decided not to take part”—for now. The next-generation Gripen was among candidates to replace the Lockheed Martin F-35A as Canada's future fighter. “Our conclusion is that the conditions were not yet ripe for us to act,” says Saab spokeswoman Karin Walka. Faced with mounting controversy over its original decision to join the U.S.-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program as an international partner, Canada has embarked on a “seven-step plan” to re-evaluate its fighter choice.
When Lockheed Martin began developing the F-35 in 2001, several technologies needed for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) to succeed were far from ready. One was a revolution in helmet-display technology. The goal was to combine the functionality of head-up and head-down displays and a helmet-mounted cueing system into a single helmet for the F-35 pilot. But Vision Systems International (VSI), a Rockwell Collins/Elbit Systems joint venture, encountered some thorny issues while maturing the technology.
On any given morning, groups of US Airways Airbus A330s head west out of various European countries on North Atlantic tracks that ultimately lead to Philadelphia International Airport.
Yves Leclere has been appointed adviser to the chairman of Paris-based Safran, Jean-Paul Herteman. Leclere has been executive vice president-transformation. Other appointments effective July 1 are: Jean-Pierre Cojan, executive vice president-strategy and transformation, who was executive vice president-strategy; Eric Dalbies, vice president-strategy who was vice president-information technology; and Olivier Horaist, deputy director for European and international relations who was chairman/CEO of the Hispano-Suiza division and head of executive management at Safran.
Gary Northam, dean of the College of Aviation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Prescott (Ariz.) Campus, has been named the next Aviation Accreditation Board International president.
With troubles on its eastern borders, it is perhaps no wonder that Turkey wants to keep a close eye on its frontiers. Turkey sees unmanned aerial vehicles as the ideal platform for this important role but has been frustrated by export controls which have prevented the country from being able to buy the U.S.-built armed General Atomics Predators and Reapers it has long desired.
The recent Viewpoint on UAVs and civil threat is an excellent description of the mire pit into which the future of the small UAV and the FAA are sinking. It is unreasonable to force the FAA to find a magic way to design the integration of unmanned aerial systems into the NAS, just as it is unreasonable to have the FAA design the way forward for industry to adopt additive manufacturing, or any new industry-side sea change. For the FAA, UAV integration is almost a conflict of interest. Be careful what you ask for.
Airbus is seeking FAA approval to install four “mini-suites” on JetBlue Airways' new A321 aircraft as part of a 16-seat business class—a dramatic departure for an airline that has been an economy class-only, low-cost carrier. JetBlue Chief Commercial Officer Robin Hayes said in March that New York-based JetBlue would start offering a “premium” product next year, solely for its transcontinental flights, using a dedicated fleet of A321s that it will start receiving later this year. But he would not confirm whether the plan calls for a separate cabin.
With US Airways and American Airlines flying toward a merger, some experts expect federal regulators to require slot divestitures at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. But American CEO Tom Horton stresses there is no need to do so—based on passenger destination data, not slot numbers. Now American appears to be gaining strong congressional support for this argument, as more than 104 House Democrats and Republicans have written regulators opposing slot divestitures.
“Signifying Leadership” (AW&ST May 20, p. 23), a commentary that hopes that the Obama administration will sign the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, and that it be ratified by a likely hesitant Senate does not belong in Aviation Week & Space Technology.
Drew McEwen (see photo) has been appointed vice president-sales and marketing of Piper Aircraft Inc., Vero Beach, Fla. He was head of global sales and business development. Honors And Elections
Recent articles in Aviation Week regarding the Boeing 787 Lithium-ion battery safety concern seem to indicate that the safety fix is a new fire containment system. However, it seems to me that the fix is more accurately characterized as a passive, vented, confinement system.
Live-fire testing on pressurized single-aisle and widebody aircraft cabins is set to start at the U.S. Army's Aberdeen Test Center in northern Maryland. The work is part of a long-running Army and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program to study locations or designs that will yield the least damage if a bomb found onboard an aircraft detonates.
While Bangkok is one of the world's largest international air hubs, it ranks third behind Singapore and Kuala Lumpur among those serving Southeast Asia. But that may soon change as new regional airlines launch services there. The premier carrier based in Bangkok, Thai Airways International, has focused for many years on long-haul markets to Europe and the U.S., which is reflected in its fleet, largely comprising Airbus A380s, Boeing 747-400s and 777s, along with five Boeing 737-400s.
Boeing has elected to build key elements of the engine nacelle for the 737 MAX at its recently developed 787 assembly line in North Charleston, S.C., as part of a continuing effort to expand its commercial aircraft footprint beyond its home state of Washington. The establishment of Propulsion South Carolina is part of a broader expansion of design engineering and information technology work for North Charleston, in support of the company's pledge to invest $1 billion and create 2,000 jobs there.
For Western aviation equipment manufacturers, setting up joint companies with Avic usually offers lower costs and a boost to sales, thanks to access to the controlled Chinese market. For the Chinese side, partnership has a more fundamental value: It provides access to a business that would otherwise not be accessible at all. But in the latest Sino-Western partnership, aimed at developing and building commercial flight simulators, both sides need each other to make any headway.
Scott Beutel has been named Virginia Beach, Va.-based sales manager for business aviation for the U.S. for Cobham Satcom, Lyngby, Denmark. He was corporate aviation sales manager for Carlisle Interconnect Technologies.
Daniel F. Lyons (see photo) has become senior director of performance engineering and operations analytics for Hawaiian Airlines. He was an aeronautical engineer for the U.S. Navy and a program manager for Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems' Advanced Technology Group.
Gordon Morrison has been named aircraft sales manager of Greenwich AeroGroup subsidiary Atlantic Aero, Greensboro, N.C. He was Beechcraft sales associate at Carolina Aircraft Inc. Mark Woods has become Western U.S. director of aircraft sales for Western Aircraft, Boise, Idaho, another Greenwich AeroGroup company. He is coming from Delta Aviation.
An effort by the Republican-run House Armed Services Committee to guard against Defense Department use of information technology manufactured by companies with official or suspected ties to Beijing is drawing the ire of U.S. technology lobbyists.
