David Hygate has joined Denver-based TeamSAI as director for Europe. He was an aerospace consultant who worked mainly for Rolls-Royce.

There are worrying signals that a significant part of the airline industry could implode in the coming months, and despite the doom and gloom predictions from Europe this horror is occurring on the other side of the Atlantic.

The Oneworld alliance is facing severe headwinds on many fronts: Malev is bankrupt, American Airlines is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, Royal Jordanian is instituting serious network cutbacks and Kingfisher Airlines is putting its plans of joining on hold. Now the big hope is that Air Berlin will provide the alliance with the robust European network it needs.

Marc Montagner has been named CFO of Reston, Va.-based LightSquared. He was executive VP-sales, marketing and strategy at SkyTerra.

Michael Stofferahn has been appointed VP-North American sales for the Kaydon Bearings Div., Muskegon, Mich. He was VP and general manager of Rexnord Product Services.

Deliveries from Bell Helicopter Canada's facility here crept up last year on the strength of new product offerings, but Bell is no exception to the rotorcraft industry's struggle with a soft commercial market and uncertainties in defense spending. Home to assembly of all of Bell's commercial rotorcraft, Mirabel is being asked to play an increasingly important role for the company as it becomes “more engaged in commercial operations,” says President Barry Kohler.

Greg Diognardi has been appointed Falcon 900 technical sales manager at StandardAero Business Aviation, Tempe, Ariz. He was regional sales manager for Landmark Aviation.

Philip King (see photo) has been appointed president of San Jose, Calif.-based Vision Systems International, succeeding Drew Brugal. King has held leadership positions at McDonnell Douglas and Boeing.