Jean-Pascal Meo (see photo) has been named general counsel at Eurocopter Group, Marignane, France. He was head of corporate matters in the legal department.
Finnair is launching labor talks to shed 280 positions as the airline moves to outsource engine and component services to SR Technics. The move is part of a wider Finnair group effort to realign the business and seek €140 million ($185 million) in savings. The airline did not disclose the value of the outsourcing deal or expected savings. Airline COO Vile Iho says, “This plan is based on a thorough analysis, where we first examined the costs and structures of our own operations, and then compared the results to tens of external service providers.”
Winglets and a lift-distribution control system are next on the agenda as Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force pursue fuel-burn improvements on the large fleet of C-130s. Although principally aimed at the C-130J, with more than 250 now in operation, some of the features could also find use on older models. The effort fits in with a larger USAF effort to reduce fuel-burn fleetwide.
With the ability of heavy-lift rockets to perform piggyback launches, and even after making 100 A2100 geosynchroneous communications satellites since 1996, Lockheed Martin has not seen two launched on the same ride.
The race is on to become one of the six U.S. sites responsible for testing UAVs in civilian airspace. The contest represents a huge opportunity at the dawn of a new industry, and a call last week from the FAA attracted interest from businesses large and small, universities, airports, lawmakers and the U.S. Army. The FAA says it will choose the test sites by December and is currently looking for comments that will help it winnow the many contenders.
Senior Editor Amy Butler's article “Can USAF Buy a $550 Million Bomber?” about pursuit of a stealthy aircraft with a capped price, elicited a lively exchange that included: Sukhoi noting: NO! Typical game-playing will go on and in the end, if the program survives budget cuts, we'll end up with maybe 10 bombers at $10 billion apiece . . . and possibly obsolete by the time they are deployed—10-15 years late.
Ron de Bos has been appointed head of sales in North America for Air France Industries/KLM Engineering & Maintenance. He was director of integrated services.
In Ares, our defense-related blog, International Editor Robert Wall reports on RAF commencing MRTT operations. Airpower notes: Initial multi-role tanking trials with the Tornado GR4s uncovered unexpected problems. The first “training” mission was a crew familiarization sortie only.
NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center is expanding opportunities for payloads that cut across multiple technologies to fly on suborbital reusable launch vehicles or high-altitude balloons. The agency's goal is to help technologies mature, but it is not funding their development, only their chance to fly. NASA also notes that its current manifest for parabolic flights is full through “at least late 2013.” Specifics on opportunities may be found at http://nspires.nasaprs.com
The murky world of U.S. electronic warfare and its more esoteric airborne electronic attack (AEA) subset is being overtaken by a new generation of international threats. Cyberweapons and other sophisticated countermeasures can now attack aircraft, ships and ground vehicles through their antennas and sensors.
It's no secret that Hawker Beechraft has been having a tough time since the business aviation market took its swan dive in 2008. That was just a year after the Wichita maker of King Airs (photo upper right), Hawkers and T-6 military trainers was acquired by Goldman Sachs and Onex Corp. for a hefty $3.2 billion, two-thirds of which was borrowed. The company has streamlined operations and reduced costs, but suffered operating losses of $1 billion, and servicing the debt has added mightily to its burden. Something had to give.
That the face of Europe's network carriers is changing has been clear for some time, but even those in the drivers' seats are wondering just how deep those changes will go.
Three years ago, Rolls-Royce & Partners Finance was leasing an engine for a large narrowbody jet for $120,000 a month. Today, a similar powerplant commands a rate of just $50,000. Underpinning the 58% price cut is a simple equation: supply and demand.
In a highly anticipated ruling, a German federal court has blocked night flights from Frankfurt airport. The move could have wider consequences, with anti-noise campaigners in other locations expected to use the ruling to press their cases. The Hesse state government had authorized 17 night flights from Frankfurt, but that will have to be revisited.
Boeing delivered 99 737s and 20 777s in the first quarter, beating market expectations and marking a record-setting pace that contributed to 137 commercial aircraft deliveries so far in 2012. The tally, which also included five 787s, six 747-8s and seven 767s, compares to 104 deliveries for the same period in 2011 and 108 in 2010, and reflects the first significant indications of Boeing's rising production and delivery rates across the 737, 747-8, 777 and 787 lines.
Russian aero engines maker Salut has completed the climatic bench tests of new Al-31FM2 turbojet engine, which is a further development of the Al-31FM that powers the Sukhoi Su-27 fighter family. These tests have confirmed the static thrust increase of 4,080 lb. to 32,000 lb., compared with the basic engine. It also produces 2,200 lb. more thrust than the Al-31FM1, an earlier upgrade. An improved low-pressure turbine and full-authority digital engine control system are behind the FM2 improvement. Also, the engine has an assigned life of more than 3,000 hr.
Expensive automobiles and the most advanced military aircraft share a common vulnerability to cyberattack. The overlapping weaknesses have fixed the attention of scientists and electronic warfare (EW) specialists who are trying to plan for future wars.
Within the next three weeks, the Air Force will release a modified request for proposals (RFP) for the botched Light Attack Support contract. The service selected Sierra Nevada/Embraer to build 20 Super Tucanos for use in Afghanistan over a Hawker Beechcraft AT-6-based design. But the $355 million contract was abruptly terminated earlier this year after Hawker Beechcraft filed suit in federal claims court. “We lacked confidence in the documentation available,” Air Force Secretary Michael Donley says. “That was the basis for withdrawing the contract award.”
Taiwan is hoping improved relations with China, an upgrade to Taipei's international airport and a new aerospace park will help it establish itself as an Asia-Pacific hub. Better relations with China have led to the opening of flights across the Taiwan Strait, a boon for Taiwanese carriers that are now being welcomed into global airline alliances. Late last month, EVA Air signed an agreement that paves the way for it to formally join the Star Alliance in 2013.
NASA pilots will take the space shuttle Discovery for a spin over the nation's capital—and Capitol—before delivering it to the Smithsonian Institution's Udvar-Hazy Center later this month (see photo). The retired orbiter, known as the workhorse of the shuttle fleet, is due to leave Kennedy Space Center April 17 atop a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) en route to the National Air & Space Museum annex at Dulles International Airport. Two NASA T-38 trainers scouted photo angles over Washington last week, descending to about 1,500 ft.
