Your Person of the Year feature “Frau Nein,” fails to grasp the historic underlying tension among the participants of Germany, France and the ever-vacillating U.K.! Approving the EADS/BAE merger could have placed Deutsche Airbus and its employees in a potentially vulnerable position vis-a-vis France and Britain, since it could have lost control of its very survival in Germany.
The European Commission (EC) in November proposed to temporarily exempt non-European flights from the European Union's Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), but the 27 member states and the European Parliament (EP) must endorse the deal. More worrisome is that many airlines operating to Europe might have misinterpreted the buoyant “stop the clock” message of EU Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard and wrongly believe that they are no longer required to comply with the system at all.
I wonder why Michael Dyment, author of a recent Viewpoint (AW&ST Jan. 14, p. 54), did not mention the savings that would be realized by taking the money from the little-used WAAS (Wide-Area Augmentation System) and putting this toward NextGen. WAAS has not been used at all by commercial aviation in spite of the FAA trying to “hook” every system possible to it.
George Kelemen has joined Washington-based Airports Council International-North America as senior VP-government and political affairs. He was senior director-external affairs for the American Cancer Society.
Poland has set its sights on a new fleet of heavy transport and attack helicopters as it renews its rotary-wing assets over the next decade. On top of plans announced by the Polish ministry of defense in 2012 to purchase 70 medium utility helicopters beginning in 2014, Warsaw is planning to purchase a further 130 helicopters to replace its aging fleet of Polish and Russian-built rotorcraft. This helicopter procurement program will be the largest in Europe in more than a decade.
Jim Wurth, a former Eastern Airlines pilot and Pratt & Whitney engineer, became interested in batteries when his MD-500 helicopter would not start after a night out in the cold in New Mexico years ago. He and a friend had camped in a remote area and faced a long walk out even to get cellphone coverage. Fortunately, a warming sun got them on their way that afternoon. But Wurth thought there had to be a better answer for batteries.
France caused a flap last week with the public endorsement of Anne Lauvergeon as the potential new chairwoman of EADS, renewing doubts that efforts to curb government interference in the company's management will succeed. French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said Jan. 28 the ex-CEO of nuclear energy group Areva could play a “major role” at Airbus parent company EADS along with France's other board favorite, former European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet.
Former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) (see photo) has been selected to receive the 2013 National Space Trophy, presented by the Houston-based Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Foundation. She is being cited for her promotion of the International Space Station program and her efforts to support the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the Space Launch System and commercial space transportation.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. (SCAC), the designer and manufacturer of Russia's new Superjet 100 regional aircraft, is undergoing a leadership transition following the rocky start of series production.
Boeing is telling its 787 supply chain “ business as usual” even as the aircraft —its highest-profile development effort —is in its third week of being grounded and deliveries have been suspended.
Cameron Burr, founder of JetCapital Group, and Glenn Leonard, co-founder of Cavok, have been appointed to the board of directors of Ottawa-based Mxi Technologies.
The temporary change of the geographical scope of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) obligation has averted a trade war with key air transport partners such as China, India and the U.S., but airlines now have to amend their verified 2012 emissions plan and separate emissions from intra-European flights operated in 2012 from the flights between Europe and third countries. On the latter, operators do not have to surrender CO2 allowances if they opt to use the one-year derogation.
Paul Adams has been appointed chief operating officer of East Hartford, Conn.-based Pratt & Whitney. He has held a leadership role in P&W's Engineering and Operations.
Late last month, American Airlines CEO Tom Horton unveiled with great fanfare the airline's splashy new livery, the first update to the carrier's logo since 1968. But it will take more than a few gallons of silver paint to restore this U.S. icon to its former glory.
The French request for a British Sentinel radar surveillance aircraft to support Operation Serval in Mali highlights France's shortage of tactical intelligence assets, which have advanced little beyond helicopters and targeting pods on jets, despite years of experience in Afghanistan.
India has moved a significant step closer in integrating its strategic submarines with ballistic missiles after the test launch of a medium-range missile from a submerged platform in the Bay of Bengal. The 10-meter-tall (33-ft.) nuclear-capable missile was launched from a depth of about 50 meters Jan. 27, says Defense Research and Development Organization Director General V.K. Saraswat. It met “every” mission objective, he says.
