Robert Wall (Santiago, Chile), Michael Mecham (Sao Jose Dos Campos, Brazil)
As Western aerospace and defense (A&D) companies flood into Latin America to establish ties to help them win military business, local firms have to decide what long-term gains they might garner from the arrangements. For Embraer—the region's industrial heavyweight—the goal is clear. It is interested in gaining access to new markets and securing development work that can boost its industrial capacities. This is especially true in Brazil's biggest defense project involving foreign suppliers, the F-X2 fighter program.
The recent mental collapse of a JetBlue pilot inflight underscored a hazard many of us worried about when aircraft manufacturers began to design for a two-person cockpit crew. Airbus with its fly-by-wire initiative and Boeing with the advent of the 737 eliminated the position of flight engineer. But we did not receive the order-of-magnitude increase in safety promised by these quadruple-redundant automatic systems.
A program to develop technology for a solar-electric unmanned aircraft able to stay aloft in the stratosphere for at least five years is being terminated by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa). Instead of flying a demonstrator, prime contractor Boeing will use the $13.7 million remaining from the Vulture program to continue development of photovoltaics for solar energy collection and solid fuel cells for energy storage. The company was planning to fly the SolarEagle full-scale flight demonstrator in 2014.
James Sweeney, president of Fargo Jet Center, has been named chairman of the board of the Alexandria, Va.-based National Air Transportation Association. He succeeds Todd Duncan. Marian H. Epps, CFO of Epps Aviation, is the new treasurer. NATA also named Brett A. Greenberg, officer and director of Galaxy Aviation and president of Aura Jets, chairman of the Business Management Committee. Patrick Moylan, director of health, safety, environment and security for Signature Flight Support, was named chairman of the Environmental Committee.
Robert Wall (Santiago, Chile), Michael Mecham (Santiago, Chile)
When Eurocopter inaugurates its new final assembly line in Brazil at its Helibras facility, it will signify how much Western aerospace companies are banking on the Latin market's potential.
Choices at the gas pump in Brazil—100% ethanol or petroleum?—are indicative of the country's status as a biofuels pioneer, so it is little wonder that the biggest names in aviation are coming here to learn more about how biofuels can become a common choice at airports.
In a recent AviationWeek.com article, Graham Lake, director general of the Civil Air Navigation Service Organization, touted integrated air traffic management over the Atlantic Ocean, with the prospect of more efficiency.
Brazil is unusual among top-rated emerging markets because it can support manufacturing, services and natural resource development simultaneously. This is due, in part, to its low external and public debt, low unemployment, an enviable 90% literacy rate, expanding capital markets and declining poverty. And to top it off, the country is self-sufficient in water, food and energy. Brazil recently passed the U.K. to become the world's sixth-largest economy. By 2040, Goldman Sachs expects it to be fourth behind China, the U.S. and India.
Among foreign aircraft manufacturers, General Electric Aviation has some of the deepest roots in Brazil and is growing them deeper with an expansion of its industrial presence in this hillside city of 300,000 people. It was here where aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont lived after his Belle Epoque flying exploits in France.
America overreacted after 9/11, put-ting some useless or extreme measures in place, and a similar scenario could play out if the nation doesn't wake up to the threat of a catastrophic cyberattack, says a former director of national intelligence (DNI). “When we overreact, we will reengineer the Internet and do a lot of draconian things,” Booz Allen Vice Chairman Mike McConnell, President George W. Bush's last DNI, told Bloomberg's Cybersecurity Conference April 19. He believes the Obama administration and Congress are not taking the threat of a cyber 9/11 seriously enough.
Brazil's new entrants in aviation design and manufacturing are specializing in niche markets for domestic consumption and are receiving support from industry, academia and government agencies.
Sometimes divorce is best, as seems to be the case with business aviation's most intriguing flying machine. Bell Helicopter launched the 609 tiltrotor in 1997 as the civilian counterpart to the larger V-22 Osprey. Agusta (now AgustaWestland) joined as a partner the following year.
Ronald Williams has joined Yingling Aviation of Wichita as customer and administrative specialist. He recently completed 27 years with Stinson Morrison Hecker.
High operating costs and scheduling conflicts prompted Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce to think that Tennessee was maybe not the best place to do ice certification testing. It was time to find a locale where it is really, really cold.
Tom Trenga has been promoted to senior VP from VP-revenue management and Devon May to VP from managing director of financial planning and analysis for US Airways.
Maintenance outsourcing plays an increasingly important role in the business model of airlines around the world. Cathay Pacific Airways has a unique perspective on outsourcing, having taken the concept further than almost any other carrier. Cathay's Engineering Director Christopher Gibbs talks to Aviation Week's Adrian Schofield about the challenges and benefits of an outsourced maintenance model and Cathay's relationship with long-time MRO provider, Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Co. (Haeco).
While it serves as an industry advocate, lobbyist and information provider, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) gets much of its wherewithal for all that from playing quite another role: Showman. The association's annual convention has grown to become one of the largest and richest industry gatherings in the U.S. That signal, three-day event is now complemented by a host of other NBAA-sponsored meetings including conventions for schedulers and dispatchers, maintenance managers and international operators, plus regional forums and seminars.
The German government's cuts to military spending could lead to a contraction of the industry particularly with smaller suppliers, warns the country's aerospace lobby group, BDLI. “The Bundeswehr [German armed forces] reform already has small and medium-size businesses at the very front of the supply chain fearing for their survival today. Our survey indicates that some businesses will withdraw from the military market segment in the future,” says Arndt Schoenemann, vice president for equipment and materials, as BDLI released its latest data on the state of the industry.
As the calendar inches closer to May 31, when the Export-Import Bank's operating authority will expire, signs of a compromise are beginning to emerge. Industry sources on both sides of the debate say the discussion is less about whether the bank should or should not continue to exist and more about discussing the details of a compromise. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who supports a long-term extension of the Ex-Im Bank, believes House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who has opposed a long-term extension of the bill's authorities, is ready to make a deal.
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. (ret.) Robert A. Carr (see photo) has been appointed corporate lead executive for Northrop Grumman Corp.'s business at Fort Meade and Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. He was director of the Defense Counterintelligence and Humint Center at the Defense Intelligence Agency.
