Across the northern half of the main Japanese island of Honshu, aerospace managers are bringing factories back online, working around problems left by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and sending parts out the door. The hardest hit of the big manufacturers, IHI Corp., has resumed some production at its two aero-engine factories in Soma and hopes to get its whole operation in the city back online by May. Fuji Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries say most of their suppliers are also working again.
For the U.S. Navy, vertical-takeoff-and-landing has long been the answer to getting aircraft onto as many ships as possible. Cost and complexity has always been the enemy of VTOL, but unmanned technology has rekindled interest.
James G. Ehrig has joined the aviation practice of Eckert Seamans Cherin and Mellot of Washington. He was an attorney adviser at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Hearings and held a similar position at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The operating profit of the world’s top 100 aerospace and defense companies climbed 19% in 2010 to $58 billion as the industry recovered from the global recession, according to a new study by PwC. Revenues rose 2%, reaching a record $646 billion. The study also found a steep reduction in large-program charges and impairments that had dragged down performance in prior years.
Power cuts are a bigger problem for Fuji Heavy Industries than earthquake and tsunami damage to suppliers, the company says. All of Fuji’s product lines are influenced by the difficulties, says the company, whose products include Japanese military aircraft and major assemblies for foreign aircraft builders, including Boeing. While it is unclear when full electricity service will be restored in Japan, Fuji appears optimistic, since power companies are progressively bringing coal-fired generating units back on line.
Jack Jones has been named vice president and general manager of Boeing South Carolina of Charleston, succeeding Tim Coyle, who will lead operations at Boeing’s Aviation Technical Services facility in Everett, Wash. Jones was vice president of the Everett Delivery Center.
Across China, airports are being expanded, airline traffic is booming and civil aircraft development is moving ahead, but that seems to be not enough for Beijing, which is according the sector high priority in a new national five-year economic plan. Aircraft-building is included in seven industries that the plan has elevated to strategic significance, with specific mention of the importance of the Comac C919 narrowbody airliner program.
When Delta Air Lines merged with Northwest Airlines in 2008, it acquired a crown jewel: a hub at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport that provided lots of capacity into the Asia-Pacific region, the world’s fastest-growing aviation market. Today, Delta’s Tokyo operations generate $2 billion annually, or 8% of total revenues.
The British government plans to make changes to its controversial air passenger duty (APD) as part of its new budget plan, in a proposal that is drawing mixed reviews from industry. The government has offered a temporary freeze on raising the APD rate, but now is indexing the levy to inflation. Airlines have applauded the move not to raise APD, but are unhappy about the inflation indexing and still want the charge to be eliminated. The government also is moving forward with plans to consider extending APD to flights on business jets.
Despite a host of hypotheses about the absence of the Lockheed Martin F-22 in the air war over Libya, the U.S. Air Force says the answer is simple. The aircraft were not in the right place at the right time. “Because of the speed upon which the operations came together with our coalition partners, [Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn] needed to look realistically at the fighter assets already within Europe to execute operations,” according to officials on the Joint Task Force.
Taxiways that will be used by Virgin Galactic’s suborbital SpaceShipTwo and its WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft are reflected in the windows of the terminal at Spaceport America. Crews are completing the exteriors of the terminal buildings and beginning internal finishing at the facility, which is about 30 mi. east of Truth or Consequences, N.M. Drop-testing of SpaceShipTwo continues at the Scaled Composites facility in Mojave, Calif., with more tests likely in the coming “month or so,” according to George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic.
March 30—Wings Club Annual Meeting and Outstanding Aviator Award honoring WASP Group. Also, March 31-Luncheon featuring IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani. Both events at the Yale Club, New York. See www.wingsclub.org/upcomingevents April 6-8—University of Westminster Aviation Seminar: “Air Transport Economics and Planning.” London. See www.westminster.ac.uk/aviation April 12-14—Aerial Refueling Systems Advisory Group International’s 2011 Conference. Hyatt Regency Atlanta. Call +1 (937) 431-8106 or see www.arsaginc.com
As in many other domains, the French approach to low-cost carriers (LCCs) is enigmatic. Travelers, although increasingly familiar with the low-fares/no-frills formula, do not openly admit they are ready to make concessions in order toslip away from legacy carriers. Perhaps for reasons of status or self-esteem, they remain uneasy confessing to friends or colleagues that the rock-bottom prices of LCCs are difficult to resist. But traffic numbers unveil the LCCs’ true story.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) and XCOR Aerospace are planning a joint effort to develop a low-cost upper-stage engine in the same class as the venerable RL-10, using technology XCOR is developing for its Lynx suborbital spaceplane. The two companies have been testing actively cooled aluminum nozzles that XCOR plans to use in its liquid oxygen/kerosene 5K18 engine for the Lynx, a reusable two-seat piloted vehicle the company intends to use for commercial research and tourist flights.
Brazilian manufacturer Embraer’s creation in January of a defense and security division has as much to do with sporting events as it has with aircraft. Brazil will host the soccer World Cup in 2014 and Summer Olympics in 2016, with hundreds of thousands of visitors expected for both events plus the annual Carnival. Public safety and security will be a government priority, and Embraer wants to use this boost to build up its defense business.
Higher-profit widebodies continue to shine in Boeing’s order book. The manufacturer added four unidentified orders for 777s through its March 22 listing and two 747-8 Freighters for Korean Air. Four 777s previously listed as unidentified have been named as freighters belonging to FedEx. Meanwhile, El Al signed for four 737s. Of 76 net orders, 33 are for 777s and 46 for 737s (including six for the U.S. Navy P-8A program).
An article on commercial satellite procurement (March 7/14, p. 85) incorrectly identified the frequency band of an Australian hosted payload on the Intelsat 22 spacecraft. It is a UHF payload.
The military powers that began air strikes in Libya last week were right to act. Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s forces were poised to overrun Benghazi, promising retribution against the eastern city that is the stronghold of Libyans who seek to rid the country of the erratic despot.
Safety is the highest priority in aviation. The benefits are obvious and the call to reduce accident rates is self-evident. So why is it such a challenge to create common goals and standards? The latest aviation safety statistics show that while there are some improvements, the disparities in safety standards worldwide and within the Latin American and Caribbean region are still quite significant.
The European Aviation Safety Agency expects new icing certification standards for turbofan-powered aircraft to be implemented in the second quarter of 2012, after publishing a proposal to update existing rules. EASA says “the proposed . . . update aims at better protecting large aeroplanes and turbine engines when flying in atmospheric icing conditions.
As a leading supplier of hydraulic, fuel, motion control and propulsion/air management systems on a wide range of commercial and military aircraft, Eaton Corp. Chairman/CEO Sandy Cutler has a broad view of the aerospace and defense industry. Eaton also is a leading Western supplier in China, where it has won roles on Comac’s new ARJ21 and C919 jets. In a meeting with AW&ST Senior Business Editor Joseph C.
Gregory J. Sahr is Moline, Ill.-based Elliott Aviation ’s new vice president of sales, marketing and business development. He joins the company from StandardAero, where he was sales director for the Western U.S.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Robert Wall (London)
Establishing a no-fly zone over Libya may not be a massive challenge for the coalition trying to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1793, but the operation has nevertheless exposed serious military and political pitfalls.
Air Vice Marshal Peter Stockwell has been appointed chief of the Royal New Zealand Air Force , succeeding Air Vice Marshal Graham Lintott. Stockwell, currently commander of joint forces New Zealand at Trentham, will begin his three-year term on May 1.
