Andy Nativi (Genoa), Joris Janssen Lok (The Hague)
AgustaWestland and Boeing are strengthening ties, based on the CH-47, with the European manufacturer to lead sales efforts for the Chinook in two key markets. The first target is the potential sale of the CH-47F Chinook to the Italian army, while a future British heavy-lift requirement is also in the sights. The two companies signed an agreement that focuses first on an Italian army aviation requirement, but has provisions for expansion to the U.K. and beyond.
The National Aeronautic Assn. has given the 2006 Collier Trophy to Lockheed Martin and the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter team for the "greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics" in America. The citation particularly notes the aircraft's performance during the Northern Edge Exercise in Alaska. The team also included Boeing, Pratt & Whitney, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, BAE Systems and the U.S. Air Force.
CAE IS EXPANDING ITS BURGESS HILL TRAINING FACILITY in the U.K. with four additional bays for simulators and has plans for more expansion in the future. The existing facility houses six simulators and projects that up to 6,000 pilots will receive instruction this year. Burgess Hill is CAE's chief base for business aviation training and offers programs for the Dassault Aviation Falcon 900EX and 2000EX with EASy cockpit and avionics, as well as the new Falcon 7X. In addition, the facility offers training for the Airbus A320, A340-600 and Boeing 747-400.
Thanks for having the courage to state in your editorial "Profits Are Nice But the Airline Glass Is Only Half Full" (AW&ST Jan. 22, p. 58) what many in the trenches know: the obscene salaries and stock options some have awarded themselves at the expense of the employees who contributed so much to these carriers. Your statement--"The last thing an employee needs is executives getting bonuses for the wonderful jobs they've done squeezing the last drop out of the system"--is right on target.
HOUSTON EXECUTIVE AIRPORT IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS after two years of construction. Located west of Houston, the facility is designed specifically to serve and support general aviation. Ron Henrikson, owner, says plans call for the existing runway to be lengthened to 7,000 ft. to accommodate larger business jets. Henrikson Jet Center is the primary fixed base operator and offers fuel and rental car service. Additional information can be found at www.HoustonExecutiveAirport.com.
Airports Council International forecasts that more than 9 billion passengers per year will take to the skies by 2025, compared to 4.2 billion in 2005. The growth rate will continue at an average annual rate of 4%, with Asia leading at a 9% rate until 2009. India, at 10.4%, and China, at 8.1%, have the fastest growing passenger volumes.
Engineers from across NASA are working on a design for an Orion crew exploration vehicle pressure shell made entirely of composite materials, but it will never get off the ground. Instead, the effort led by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) is aimed at gaining in-house composites experience for the agency to tap when it begins building other spacecraft needed for its lunar-and-beyond exploration effort, starting with an all-composite lunar lander and perhaps habitats for the Moon's surface.
Telespazio has won three contracts to handle technical and operational services for French space agency CNES at Europe's Kourou, French Guiana, spaceport, which is managed by CNES. The contracts will run five years and be worth €103 million.
Mike Barclay has been named New Delhi-based Asia-Pacific vice president of the International Air Transport Assn., effective May 14. He will succceed Andrew Drysdale. Barclay has been CEO of SilkAir.
Industry insiders say EADS is attempting to convince France and Saudi Arabia to fold a range of pending helicopter buys into a single framework so the economies of scale could permit Saudi industry to have a major role in assembly, parts production and product support and give EADS's Eurocopter affiliate a local industrial beachhead. Purchases could total 150 units, including 10 NH90 frigate helicopters and 35 EC130s trainers, and are expected to be concluded this year. EC155s and EC225/725s are also part of the eclectic mix.
The National Air Company Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) has contracted to buy two ATR 42-500s (below) and four ATR 72-500s in a deal valued at $100 million, according to the manufacturer. Azerbaijan's flag carrier, once a part of Aeroflot, offers domestic and international services out of Baku's Heydar Aliyev International Airport. AZAL, which is undergoing expansion and fleet renewal, plans to open new regional routes with the aircraft, which are scheduled for delivery in 2007-08.
Lockheed Martin's first Space-Based Infrared System satellite (GEO-1) finished testing, without its main payload, in the company's thermal altitude chamber in Sunnyvale, Calif., last month. The program has suffered schedule probleems and five cost overruns, but officials say Northrop Grumman's payload will be delivered in the middle of this year for integration. Progress with GEO-1 is considered a step to regain confidence from the Defense Dept. for additional satellite buys.
I enjoyed the articles on the F-22 Raptor's success in the Alaskan exercises (AW&ST Jan. 8, p. 46). I wish the aircraft and pilots all the best, but am concerned that senior officials are badly misjudging the main scenario in which the F-22 will be used. There will be many "show-the-flag" flights. There will be many "beat-down-the-door" confrontations, where we pick the time and place. The F-22 will overwhelmingly win these.
Indonesia's National Air Carriers Assn. says aircraft lessors are imposing tougher demands on Indonesian carriers since the Jan. 1 crash of an Adam Air 737, whose cause remains unknown. Lease rates are up by $1,300-1,500 a month, and lessors are demanding safety audits of the airlines before delivering aircraft and insisting on arranging for maintenance, instead of giving the work to Indonesian firms. The association calls for government action to improve safety.
A key test for the Airborne Laser (ABL) is expected to slip. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) officials aren't publicly acknowledging it yet, but it could show up in the Fiscal 2008 budget proposal to Congress. Following the latest of several program restructurings, the MDA was planning for a late-2008 demonstration of the ABL's ability to destroy a ballistic missile in the boost phase. Army Brig. Gen.
Engineers are troubleshooting a second failure of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the Hubble Space Telescope, after an apparent electrical short tripped a fuse in the backup power-feed, but they don't expect to regain use of the instrument. Nor are astronauts likely to repair or replace it, given the full schedule on the planned Hubble servicing mission in September 2008 and the inaccessibility of the ACS inside the orbiting observatory.
AirBridge, an investment group affiliated with the Russian airline alliance AirUnion, has won a tender on Hungarian national Malev airline privatization. In coming months, AirBridge, Malev and APV, the Hungarian privatization agency, are expected to close the deal. AirUnion, headed by Russia's fifth largest airline, Kras Air, which is based in Krasnoyarsk, includes five domestic carriers that cumulatively carried 3.342 million passengers last year.
The aerospace industry isn't attracting anywhere near the number of skilled workers it will need to replace the legions of baby boomers who will retire over the next few years. The looming shortfall is casting a long shadow across the industry from military scientists to commercial pilots to maintenance, repair and overhaul technicians. But the danger is most acute in engineering, where a shortfall could sap the industry's competitiveness and make it harder for the U.S. military to maintain its technological edge. Is enough attention being paid to the gathering storm?
EADS and Northrop Grumman, which are teamed as EuroHawk GmbH., have won a €430-million ($555-million) contract from the German defense ministry for development, test and support of an unmanned signals intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.
Worried that Iran's fleet of ancient F-14As could be given new life through illegal purchases of surplus U.S. military items, the Pentagon has stopped sales of the fighter's spare parts. A review will examine the dangers of allowing parts associated with aircraft and missiles to be released into the poorly policed commercial world. Iran is the only nation still flying the venerable, two-seat, variable-sweep fighter, and U.S. government sting operations have intercepted surplus F-14 items on their way to Iran. However, in at least one case, the parts made it. Sen.
The French government has agreed to the merger of Thales's naval systems into shipyard DCN. Under the plan, Thales will transfer all of its French naval activities except equipment manufacture to DCN, along with €100 million ($129 million) in cash, in return for a 25% share in the naval systems contractor, and reserves the right to increase its stake to 35% for two years.
The future of the technical workforce in the U.S. is a top priority for Raytheon Chairman/CEO William H. Swanson. The veteran engineer is co-chair of a Business-Higher Education Forum initiative to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics. He also is this year's chairman of the Aerospace Industries Assn. Swanson discussed the workforce challenge with AW&ST Editor-in-Chief Anthony L. Velocci, Jr., and Senior Business Editor Joseph C. Anselmo. Excerpts follow. An open valve
Although the offer is still open, space entrepreneur Robert T. Bigelow doubts any company will enter his $50-million America's Space Prize contest now that NASA has made manned orbital transportation a downstream part of its commercial orbital transportation services (COTS) program.
