John Fortson has been appointed vice president-finance of AAR Corp., Wood Dale, Ill., effective July 1. He later is expected to also become CFO and treasurer. Fortson has been managing director of investment banking for Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
East Africa is home to two of Africa's most successful carriers, Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways, but increasing competition from foreign airlines raises questions whether there is a future for two hub-and-spoke operators vying for the same market in the same region.
Jennifer Hoil has been promoted to account executive from account manager at Longbottom Communications, Arlington, Va. She has been an officer of Women in Aerospace and a board member of the local chapter of the Society of Satellite Professionals International.
The aerospace and defense (A&D) industry achieved record revenue and profits in 2012 on the strength of a surging commercial aviation market. Industry revenue and operating profit increased 2% and 4%, respectively. Median Top-Performing Companies (TPC) scores for the largest A&D companies improved to their highest levels since 2007, the year before the Great Recession. Mid-size company scores were flat, but remained at historic highs, and smaller company scores dropped considerably, after a brief peak last year.
It does not even have a formal name, but a new aviation and travel industry coalition could have a big impact on those long lines and wait times at Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that are dissuading travelers from coming to the U.S. It also could be setting the stage for an intense battle over a critical element for some of the improvements: How to pay for them.
Out of the blue, like a precision-guided strike from a stealth aircraft, a legislative provision suddenly being considered on Capitol Hill could mean the beginning of the end of the notorious Navy A-12 Avenger II. If so, the development at least would settle the long-running lawsuit between Washington and General Dynamics (GD) and Boeing, which is good news—but it also would indelibly stain U.S. acquisition practices, and could have ramifications for the Navy's tactical air posture for most of this century.
The great strides that Africa's commercial aviation industry has made in recent years—with the emergence of strong scheduled carriers such as Egyptair, Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways—has not been beneficial for Africa's wet-lessors. “Wet-leasing is not as popular as before,” says Apandi Lakhiyalov, group CEO of Aerovista, a leasing company based in Dubai that provides wet leases in Africa and other emerging markets using its Georgian and Tanzanian air operator certificates (AOCs).
Vincent Pagano, Jr., has been appointed to the board of directors of New York-based L-3 Communications. He is a retired partner in the New York law firm Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett.
In the 1930s, large segments of France's economy—including the aviation industry—were acquired by a newly elected left-wing government. The final part of the nationalization program became reality shortly after World War II ended, when engine manufacturers Gnome & Rhone and Renault were consolidated to form state-owned Snecma.
Roderick McLean has been named vice president/general manager and Michael Cawood vice president/deputy of the F-16/F-22 Integrated Fighter Group (IFG) at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. in Fort Worth. McLean was vice president/program manager for the next-generation trainer program and had been IFG vice president/deputy. Cawood was vice president of F-16/F-22 IFG product development.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is taking the unusual measure of activating an in-orbit Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) spare as experts try to rescue the primary spacecraft, which that has failed to transmit imaging and sounding data for a second time in less than a year.
Bombardier's new Challenger 350 will have 20% taller cabin windows, more standard cabin equipment, a modular galley and a Lufthansa Technik high-definition cabin management system that offers touch-screen controls.
Randy Phillips (see photos) has become senior vice president-corporate development/chief strategy officer of TASC, Chantilly, Va. He was vice president-corporate development and strategy for the Computer Sciences Corp. Joseph Pacileo has been named vice president of the Mission Solutions unit. He was vice president-cyber operations for the ManTech International Corp.
Steffen Wurst has been named senior vice president-human resources of Zurich-based SR Technics. He was director of executive search consulting firm Odgers Berndtson in Hamburg and had been chief human resources officer at the transport and logistics division of Deutsche Bahn.
Paul R. Adams, who is chief operating officer of Pratt & Whitney, is among the new members of the Washington-based National Academy of Engineering. He was cited for leadership and innovation for gas turbine engines, especially the geared turbofan. Other new members are: Charbel H. Farhat, who is Vivian Hoff Professor of Aircraft Structures/chairman of the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department at Stanford (Calif.) University, for contributions to computing fluid-structure interactions and their applications in aeronautical, naval and mechanical engineering; R.
As much as Boeing is benefitting from a 737 customer base that is replacing older models, it also has seen a 13% cancellation rate this year. The company reported a whopping 101 737 orders from an unidentified customer or customers in its May 21 update, but it also racked up 24 unidentified cancellations in the same period. For the year, Boeing has seen 57 cancellations from 424 gross orders. The order boost includes 40 737NGs and 61 737 MAXs, raising that reengined version's total to 1,376.
The French air force is responding to operational needs of special forces fighting Islamist rebels in Mali, speeding integration of a new laser-guided air-to-ground missile on the Rafale fighter and declaring initial operating capability for its use against moving targets.
With air threats to ground forces expanding beyond traditional manned aircraft and ballistic missiles, the U.S Army must decide how to counter lower-cost unmanned aircraft and cruise missiles, as well as rocket, artillery and mortar (RAM) threats at an affordable price.
This week, Aviation Week publishes two editions. On the far left cover, a Dassault Falcon 7X business jet and Rafale fighter fly near the Bay of Biscay in southern France (photo by Katsuhiko Tokunaga). Like some others in our annual Top-Performing Companies analysis (page 48), Dassault, the leader in its class, balances defense and commercial business to achieve exemplary results. Elsewhere in both editions are a special report on African aviation (page 39) and articles on Indian helicopters (page 31), 787 glitches (page 35) and aero aluminum technology (page 37).
Eliza Southard (see photo) has become product support director for Cincinnati-based Nexcelle, the joint venture of GE's Middle River Aircraft Systems and Aircelle. She has been business partnerships leader for the GP7000/GEnx engine programs and business leader for GE Engine Services' component repair.
While fixed base operations (FBOs) are key elements in business aviation's infrastructure, their existence is largely unknown to the public. Except in San Jose, Calif. Silicon Valley's Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) is owned and operated by the city. Business aircraft alighting there use Atlantic Aviation, which succeeded the San Jose Jet Center when its parent, Australia's Macquarie Group, acquired it in 2007.
