In a bid to advance its concept for a carrier-borne Gripen fighter aircraft, Saab says it will open a design center in London. Saab CEO Hakan Buskhe says the concept design phase will take 12-18 months and believes that through rapid prototyping, Saab could deliver aircraft starting in 2018 if it secured a contract. A flight demonstrator may also be built. The decision to base the work in London is linked to design expertise in the U.K., rather than the British navy's move to a catapult and arresting gear carrier approach.
Large telecommunications satellites built in India, Japan and the U.S. are en route to their operational orbital slots after Proton and Ariane 5 launches on May 20 only 1 hr., 23 min. apart. A Proton M/Breeze M carrying the Telstar 14R/Estrela do Sul 2 spacecraft, built by Space Systems/Loral for Canada's Telesat, lifted off at 3:15 p.m. EDT from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. At 4:38 p.m.
Johnny Hobayan (see photo) has been promoted to vice president of sales and marketing from senior director of sales and business development at Aloha Air Cargo. He was U.S, Defense Department contracts administrator for DHL Express-Hawaii.
The first Boeing 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) “Peace Eye” aircraft for South Korea is entering the final phase of mission system flight testing at the company's Seattle facility, and is on track for likely delivery in August. South Korea, which signed a contract in November 2006 for four Peace Eyes after an extensive evaluation for its EX requirement, expects to receive all four aircraft by the end of 2012. The other three airframes are undergoing modification at Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI).
Defense industry representatives from Australia, Canada, the U.K. and U.S. will meet in London in September as they look for more opportunities for cooperation. “As the challenges of the global economic situation puts pressure on national defense budgets, there is a desire for even closer business cooperation between the four nations' industries,” say U.S. boosters in an announcement from the National Defense Industrial Association. The London meeting, the first with Australian representatives joining the talks, comes after trilateral Canada/U.K./U.S.
Charles Dickens' Bleak House had Jarndyce and Jarndyce, the interminable chancery court case in which legal fees finally consumed the entire estate in dispute. Aerospace has the case of the canceled Avenger. Legal fees are not apt to consume the money at stake here—potentially $3 billion the U.S. government wants from General Dynamics and Boeing because of the failed effort to produce the Navy's stealthy A-12 Avenger II attack aircraft. Still, even a unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court last week did not end the battle that began two decades ago.
Tom Wilson (see photo) has been appointed chief operating officer and board member of Airinmar, Finchampstead, England. He was vice president of component solutions and business development at Aveos Fleet Performance.
Karim Makhlouf (see photo) has been promoted to chief commercial officer from director of commercial planning at Bahrain-based Gulf Air. He was senior vice president of Lufthansa subsidiary German Wings.
I had to react with a large dose of ironic humor to Robert Wall's “Automated GA,” which outlines Europe's general aviation effort (AW&ST May 16, p. 62). Does anybody remember the U.S.'s “Free Flight” program? I prayed that the U.S. would develop a jet engine based on the priority of low initial cost instead of letting engineers run unbridled toward the ultimate engine nobody could afford, only to watch Williams Research ditch what should have been a very promising program.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program achieved a first on May 21—its initial air show flight. U.S. Navy Lt. Cdr. Eric “Magic” Buus flew an F-35C from NAS Patuxent River, Md., where the service's JSFs are being tested, and conducted a single pass down the show line at Andrews AFB, Md., outside Washington. Its appearance was an opening act for the Joint Service Open House. According to Joe Dellavedova, JSF communications director, the aircraft was flown in the same manner as a controlled test sortie. The aircraft flew within its approved flight envelope.
After nine years as director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Giovanni Bisignani, 64, is leaving center stage. The IATA annual general assembly is expected to elect Cathay Pacific CEO Tony Tyler as his successor. In an interview with International Air Transport Editor Jens Flottau in Geneva, Bisignani reflected on his reign at the association and the state of the industry. AW&ST: What's next for you after IATA?
BAE Systems has sold its asset management business and commercial aircraft lease portfolio to New York management firm Fortress Investment Group for $187 million. BAE will transition 151 legacy aircraft to Fortress, a portfolio comprised of BAe 146 and Avro regional jets as well as Jetstream and ATP turboprops. However, BAE plans to retain its engineering and support services. Fortress plans to use the aircraft as a starting point for growing its overall commercial transport leasing portfolio.
SITA plans to bring six large regional data centers online to support its foray into the world of cloud computing. The first of the applications and services available as part of the ATI (air transport industry) Cloud program, announced in April, are scheduled to go live in late June.
The inflight entertainment (IFE) industry is facing another revolution with new technologies and players entering the market, but it is unclear how many of the latest projects will be around in the long run.
NASA will continue its contract with Lockheed Martin for development of the George W. Bush-era Orion crew exploration vehicle, rechristened the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) by Congress, but will stretch out the contract while figuring out how to build a heavy-lift “Space Launch System” (SLS) to carry the spacecraft beyond low Earth orbit.
Linda A. Mills (see photo), corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman's Information Systems Sector, has been recognized for her leadership and professional achievements in the technology industry at the 12th Annual Women in Technology Leadership Awards.
Many major U.S.-based defense companies are planning for a more subdued showing at the upcoming Paris air show than in recent years as the Pentagon zeroes in on corporate overhead as a potential area for savings. Though Defense Secretary Robert Gates—who has warned of a period of “austerity” and tried to rein in some spending on procurement programs—is on his way out of office, stateside defense firms are not yet ready to be seen ramping up spending at next month's show.
Air Berlin is facing what is perhaps the most difficult phase in its corporate history—preparing to join the Oneworld alliance and aiming for a financial turnaround as CEO Joachim Hunold's more than 20 years at the helm draw to a close.
NASA plans to launch a probe to a primordial carbonaceous asteroid in 2016 for an $800 million-plus start of the New Frontiers mission to bring back a sample for study on Earth. Japan has returned tiny samples of the asteroid Itakowa, but the Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (Osiris-REx) program will be the first asteroid sample-return mission for the U.S.
Sept. 12—A&D Finance Europe. London. Sept. 14-15—MRO for Aircraft & Engine Leasing. Dublin. Sept. 26—Aircraft Composite Repair Management Forum. Zurich. Sept. 27-29—MRO Europe 2011. Madrid. Sept. 28—MRO Military Europe. Madrid. Oct. 12-13—Fifth Edition of Lean Six Sigma for MRO Forum. San Francisco. Oct. 20-21—MRO IT. Chicago Oct. 24-26—A&D Programs. Phoenix. Nov. 8-10—MRO Asia. Beijing. Nov. 16-17—Lean Six Sigma for MRO Europe. Amsterdam.
Vincent Lam has become vice president of Asia-Pacific marketing for Dublin-based aircraft lessor Macquarie Airfinance. He comes from Cabot Aviation, where he was responsible for aircraft remarketing in the same area.
Last year, Delta Air Lines threatened to cut back investments at its main hub, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and shift traffic to its other hubs. The airline was piqued over the cost of the airport's new Maynard H. Jackson International Terminal and tough negotiations over a new Delta lease. Talks turned bitter after it was revealed that then-Hartsfield-Jackson General Manager Ben DeCosta had secretly recorded negotiations with Delta.
Jackson Schneider has become vice president of institutional relations for Embraer, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil. He was president of the Brazilian Automotive Manufacturers Association and vice president of Mercedes-Benz of Brazil.
The U.S. Navy, NTSB and FAA continue to investigate the crash of an Omega-operated Boeing 707 tanker at Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu, Calif., on May 18 after an aborted takeoff. The crew of the 1969-built, former Pan Am-owned 707-321, escaped from the cockpit after the incident, which occurred at 5:25 p.m. PDT. Investigators are looking into the possibility of engine failure during the takeoff run before the aircraft came to a halt on the south side of Point Mugu's 11,102-ft. main 3/21 runway.
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether conduct by global distribution systems (GDS) violates antitrust law, adding more heft to a fight that already includes two lawsuits by U.S. carriers alleging GDS antitrust violations. The department already has contacted several U.S. airlines and all of the major GDS providers.
