Estelle Janer has been appointed vice president for OEMs and contracts for CIT Commercial Air, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. She has been senior legal counsel for the Airbus Financing and Commercial Group.
Patrick de Castelbajac has been named CEO of ATR. He succeeds Filippo Bagnato, whose four-year term has expired. De Castelbajac has been head of contracts and negotiations in the commercial division of Airbus Group.
Koussai Mrabet (see photo) has become director commercial of corporate and industry affairs for the Nairobi, Kenya-based African Airlines Association. He was head of international affairs and alliances for Tunisair. Mrabet succeeds Raphael Kuuchi, who is now vice president-Africa for the International Air Transport Association.
Giuliano Felten has been been appointed president/CEO of Piaggio America Inc., West Palm Beach, Fla. He succeeds John M. Bingham, who has left the company. Felten was executive vice president-civil sales.
David Abney has been named CEO of Atlanta-based UPS . He was chief operating officer and had been president of UPS International. Abney succeeds Scott Davis , who plans to retire Sept. 1 and become non-executive chairman.
Lockheed Martin’s Kaman K-Max unmanned helicopter will return from Afghanistan this month having proved the case for autonomous cargo resupply, but with the Pentagon’s plans for the capability far from clear.
Boeing and Sierra Nevada Corp. are in the midst of key tests and final critical design reviews (CDR) as NASA prepares to award Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts under the second phase of its plan to certify a U.S.-developed means of transporting astronauts to the International Space Station starting in 2017.
