Airbus didn't get the tanker contract in the U.S., but I agree that as the only player they stand a good chance of seeing U.S. purchases on this plane—depending of course on how many times we re-engine and re-wing the Galaxy fleet.
At a pre-air show briefing for journalists in Paris, EADS leaders presented a graphic that would suggest the Pentagon owes them a big favor. In the 2008 competition for the U.S. Air Force's tanker contract, Boeing bid $42 billion. When the program was re-competed, Boeing's ultimately successful bid came in at $31.5 billion. The not-so-subtle implication: EADS's decision not to pull out of the tanker competition last year after U.S. partner Northrop Grumman quit will save U.S. taxpayers more than $10 billion.
Bombardier recently ended a 15-month order drought for its CSeries program with a 10-aircraft deal from Sweden, bringing total orders to 100 aircraft. This has done little to silence critics of the program, including those at competitors Boeing and Airbus. In an interview with Aviation Week Business Editor Madhu Unnikrishnan, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft President Gary Scott brushed off these criticisms, but remained coy about order announcements at next week's Paris air show.
Daniel J. Adamski (see photo) has been named VP-business development at PAS Technologies, Kansas City, Mo. He was VP-sales development at Heico Aerospace Corp. HONORS & ELECTIONS
Boeing says it will cut 225 jobs at Boeing Defense, Space and Security's Maintenance, Modifications and Upgrades facility in Wichita. The job losses are the result of programs coming to an end. The first notices to 60 employees were received June 17.
With the risks in technology and market timing inherent in bringing out a new airplane, it is no wonder that Boeing's senior management wants all the flexibility it can muster as it considers whether to bet big on a New Small Airplane (NSA) successor to the 737 Next Generation family or be more conservative by re-engining the NGs.
Kimberly Herrell has rejoined San Diego-based Schubach Aviation as director of charter sales after a one-year hiatus. Before coming to Schubach, she was charter sales coordinator for Million Air Salt Lake City.
The Colgan Air Flight 3407 crash near Buffalo, N.Y., in 2009 and the Air France crash have something in common. The latter crew had sudden confusing instrument readings, alarms and no external cues with the Airbus A330 entering a stall at high altitude. The Colgan pilot inadvertently stalled his commuter aircraft, a Bombardier Q400, at low altitude, also at night. Both pilots reacted by lifting the nose a little. Why? One can speculate, but the reason may be a poor grasp of the physics of flight coupled with panic.
Jez Last has joined Baines Simmons, Surrey, England, as a consultant on the safety management system consultancy team. Last has worked with Air New Zealand, Britannia Airways, Laker Airways, BCAL Charter and Malaysia Airlines.
Shannon Okinaka (see photo) has been promoted to VP-controller from senior director at Hawaiian Airlines. Before joining the airline in 2005, she was a manager with what is now PwC.
Cebu Pacific plans to buy 30 A321NEO (new engine option) aircraft and also has boosted its buy of standard A320s by seven units. The airline operates 10 A319s, 15 A320s and eight ATR 72-500 turboprops. Cebu has a remaining order backlog of 25 A320s and 30 A321NEOs. The additional aircraft deal is valued at $3.8 billion at list price, with deliveries due between 2015-21. The aircraft previously on order will be delivered through 2014.
There is some agreement among F-35 customers about the ongoing controversy over the estimated $1 trillion long-term sustainment cost for the new stealthy, single-engine aircraft. No one wants to sign on for such a huge bill, and it is likely no one will have to. Pentagon officials say the pricing model, relayed in April to Congress in a “selected acquisition report,” is just that—a mathematical model that fails to realistically capture the true cost of operating the new fighter being built by Lockheed Martin.
Anthony Sanchez (see photo) has joined Comlux Aviation Services of Indianapolis as director of sales. He has been VP-new business development for Sentient/JetCorp. and director of sales for MedAire.
Years ago I wrote a computer program involving an automated control system with human interactive input. Program schedule pressure led to a test system that deliberately limited the validity testing of all possible operator inputs before execution of commands, although a best effort was made to filter obvious input errors.
Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney has no illusions about capturing the spotlight at this year's Paris air show. That will likely shine on rival Airbus, which is expected to announce more orders for its re-engined A320 narrowbody, dubbed the NEO (new engine option). Shortly before he left for the Paris air show, McNerney sat down in his office at Boeing's Chicago headquarters with AW&ST Editor-in-Chief Anthony L. Velocci, Jr., and Senior Business Editor Joseph C.
Uyen Dinh (see photo) has been promoted to VP-government affairs from senior director at Herndon, Va.-based GeoEye. Dinh was counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Committee on Intelligence.
A three-day strike by 3,800 Air Canada customer service and sales staff ended June 17 with only part of the dispute resolved. Under pressure from the recently elected Conservative government, the two sides agreed to a tentative deal that excluded the airline's demand for ending defined benefit pension plans for new employees in favor of defined contribution programs. Instead, that issue will go to arbitration, where the company is expected to prevail.
Back in the days of Space Station Freedom—the Cold War precursor to the International Space Station—Japanese space officials would joke that when they started work they had the smallest module in the station-development plan, and that it became the largest without growing a millimeter.
Human behavior will play as great a role as technology in defining the future cockpit. Looking for ways to help pilots cope with increasing complexity inside and outside the aircraft, designers want to develop cockpits that can tolerate human error and be used without extensive training.
Many times bitten, and now at least once shy, Australia—after a long run of foul-ups in naval equipment acquisitions—is playing it safe with its choice of combat helicopters for the Royal Australian Navy. Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin will supply the navy with 24 MH-60R Seahawks after winning a competition that may boost the manufacturers' chances in Malaysia and South Korea. Australia's order will be the MH-60R's first export contract.
Mouna Moussi has been named senior business development manager in the Middle East and North Africa for Travelport, Langley, England. She has worked for Sabre Airline Solutions and was executive director of the Arab Air Carriers Organization.
I may only be a 1,000-hr. instrument-rated private pilot, but wouldn't a direct read-out of angle of attack (AOA) in the cockpit of commercial transports remove ambiguities in assessing the flying state of the aircraft and whether a pilot's control inputs were sending the aircraft deeper into a stall or bringing it out of one? Lansdale, Pa.
In “Hyper Hopes” (AW&ST June 6, p. 61), I note the intent for this new hypersonic weapons system is to utilize a turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC)system concept. This could be a cost-saving opportunity for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) involving an existing engine development program that has been terminated from taxpayer funding—the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136. Since the company has agreed to self-fund this engine to completion, this could serve as a free contribution to the TBCC hypersonic effort.
Reading the BEA French accident investigative board's May 27 update on AF447 underscores an observation I have had for years. I became a military aviator in 1954 and have flown for a major commercial carrier for 25 years. In that time, I have never been able to understand the commercial airplane certification rational of inputting AOA data to auto-flight systems but not making this data available, in direct reading form, to the crew.
