Kayce Kraft (see photo) has been selected as product line director for California of Corona-Calif.-based Circor Aerospace. He was aftermarket business team leader at Parker Hannifin Corp.
Boeing tried to get a restart of negotiations on a four-year contract proposal to the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace off on the right foot last week with language clarifications, a day after 96% of Speea members eligible to vote rejected its original offer. The company clarified language pertaining to medical, dental and long-term disability benefits and acknowledged the “overwhelming rejection” of its initial proposal.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft returned Armavia's Superjet 100 on Oct. 2 after the two sides resolved their argument over delivery terms of two subsequent SSJ 100s on order. Armavia's first SSJ 100 regional aircraft had been parked in Russia for several months following a maintenance check because Armavia had threatened to cancel delivery of the second aircraft. It could not agree on a lease with Russian Vneshekonombank. Sukhoi said at that time Armavia owed $4 million for the first SSJ 100 plus maintenance costs. Armavia now leases that aircraft directly from the manufacturer.
Greg Williams has joined Newtown, Pa.-based Optellios as director of finance and accounting, and Kevin Bradley has become senior VP-sales and marketing. Williams was VP/controller at FreedomPay and VP-finance at Virgin Charter; Bradley was president for North America at IndigoVision.
Transparency International U.K. estimates the global cost of corruption in the defense sector now amounts to at least $20 billion annually, based on data from the World Bank and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The watchdog group asserts in a new study that two-thirds of the world's biggest defense companies do not provide enough public evidence about how they fight corruption, starting with publicly filed financial documents, company websites and CEO statements.
United Space Alliance (USA), NASA's Houston-based space shuttle prime contractor, laid off 157 workers on Sept. 28 as program retirement and transition activities wind down. The losses—121 personnel in the Cape Canaveral area, 35 in Houston, and one in Huntsville, Ala.—leave the space operations company with a workforce of 2,263. More layoffs are planned for December and January, though the numbers are not clear, USA representative Tracy Yates said Oct. 1.
Australia's 2009 defense white paper unveiled a great pile of proposed equipment orders and pledged a great deal of money to pay for them. It was, more than anything, Australia's long-term defense plan for coping with a rising China. Yet even then analysts doubted that the promised budget would be enough, and they wondered whether the extra money would really come through.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has raised its 3.4-ton GSAT-10 communication satellite closer to its final geostationary orbit by firing the spacecraft's liquid apogee motor on Oct. 1. “In the second orbit-raising exercise, the satellite has been placed at 31,822 km perigee [lowest point] and 35,734 km apogee [highest point ], which is closer to its designated geostationary orbit,” an ISRO official says. The first orbit-raising burn took place Sept. 30. The GSAT-10 satellite, India's 101st space mission, was lofted on Sept.
David Barger, president and CEO of JetBlue Airways, has joined the Dallas-based ISTAT Airlink Advisory Council. Barger also is chair of the FAA's NextGen Advisory Committee and a member of the board of governors and treasurer of the Flight Safety Foundation.
The suspension of commercial trade sanctions against Myanmar, coupled with a push by the country's civil aviation department for the operation of newer aircraft, is leading state-owned Myanma Airways to renew its fleet and expand internationally. Myanma Airways has signed a lease with GE Capital Aviation Services (Gecas) for two Embraer 190s for delivery in November and December, says Gecas.
Engineers at NASA, Boeing and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne are making good progress on the initial version of the agency's planned Space Launch System (SLS) for deep-space human exploration, but it's the advanced configuration that may actually drive some innovation in the field. The first few flights will use the 70-metric-ton version (at left in illustration). But Congress wants the 130-metric-ton rocket (at right) for serious exploration, as well as mix-and-match versions in between to launch big space telescopes and other scientific hardware, and the U.S.
Oct. 8-11—2012 Bombardier Safety Standdown. Wichita Hyatt Regency Hotel. See www.safetystanddown.com/aviation-safety-seminars/united-states Oct. 9-14—Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies' Japan Aerospace 2012 International Aerospace Exhibition. Port Messe, Nagoya. See www.japanaerospace.jp/English Oct. 10-12—Technology Training Corps' Unmanned Aircraft Systems West Conference. Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina. See www.uaswest.com
Rarely is the economic decision to retrofit an aircraft with fresh communications, navigation and surveillance equipment as straightforward as for Airbus and its A300-600ST Super Transporter, better known as the Beluga.
Sen. James Inhofe was incorrectly identified as “the Senate's only commercial pilot.” In truth, he is just another politician who happens to hold a commercial certificate. Marina del Rey, Calif.
EADS and BAE Systems are scrambling on several fronts to put together their proposed merger, and while decisions in favor or against the deal are being made in Paris, London and Berlin, Washington is playing an important role, too. BAE Systems executives believe any threat from the merger to its special security agreement (SSA) with the U.S. government would be a “deal breaker,” says an industry official close to the talks. Each SSA is tailored to the specific business of a particular company.
Irkut, a subsidiary of Russia's United Aircraft Corp., began flight tests of the twin-seat Sukhoi Su-30SM multirole fighter with two aircraft in late September.
I agree with Karl Kettler that there should be a methodical program leading to permanent human presence in space. However, he seems to believe that finding minerals and water on potential future habitable bodies is not important to that aim. It is an essential component of extraterrestrial settlement. Does he envision forever sending water and other resources from Earth? Dianella, Australia
The European Commission has presented major changes to its aviation policy in an effort to react to the declining competitiveness of European airlines. The commission is taking on three areas—air services agreements, competition clauses and ownership and control regimes—where it sees urgent need for change. “Faced with the dramatic changes in global aviation, Europe must respond and adapt rapidly or will be left behind,” EC Vice President Siim Kallas says.
