Thales will redeploy space-related activities to Thales Alenia Space to enable the Franco-Italian space contractor to establish a significant presence in Germany. Chairman/CEO Luc Vigneron says the company will transfer undisclosed equipment activities to Thales so it can build up an industrial base in Germany that will allow it to bid more effectively for German and European institutional awards.
Aircraft equipage—or lack of it—is the focus of attention as the FAA rolls out the infrastructure and initial capabilities across the U.S. that underpin its NextGen airspace modernization effort. Aircraft operators will not equip for NextGen until there are economic benefits, but there will not be benefits until they equip, the argument goes. Both sides agree that the faster airspace users equip, the quicker the benefits will come (see pp. 60-74).
Europe hopes to validate this year the first technologies of its massive “Sesar” air traffic management modernization project. But the fate of the endeavor hinges as much on imminent funding decisions as on the outcome of those ATM trials.
I agree with reader Bill Valentino (AW&ST Feb. 14, p. 8) that “the highest priority of Marine Air is to support the infantry.” As a former Marine Boeing CH-46 pilot who served in Vietnam, I believe that any aircraft that doesn’t directly serve the “grunts on the ground” is unnecessary. However, eliminating a Lockheed Martin F-35 engine choice is not the way. The Marine Corps should eliminate its purchase of the F-35 altogether and update the A-10 to provide close air support; it can’t be that hard to put a tailhook on it.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Amy Butler (Washington), Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington)
Commercial satellite communications operators complain that a broad overhaul in satcom procurement initiated a year ago, under the new U.S. National Space Policy to help overcome a glaring shortfall in bandwidth, is not working as intended because of contracting inefficiencies.
I, like many others, did not pay any attention to Southwest Airlines when it started, though I was operating out of the DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) area before it was called the DFW area. Now, the airline is approaching its 40th operational anniversary on June 18. The management style of this remarkably profitable entity is studied by many top-ranking business schools. So, why does your analyst in “Stocking Up” (AW&ST Jan. 17, p. 14) only study the airlines that the government started in the 1920-30 era?
Moshe Tal has become CEO of Aitech Rugged Group , Chatsworth, Calif., succeeding Roger Rowe, who has retired. Tal was vice president of AudioCodes USA.
Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast is in service in the U.S., and aircraft operators and avionics manufacturers know what to build and install. The question now is when they will equip, and that depends on what benefits they will see, and how soon.
Local government enthusiasm for economic development will help propel Chinese general aviation development over the coming decade, perhaps accelerating the opening up of low-altitude airspace that is creating the industry’s opportunity.
March 14-17—White Eagle Aerospace Short Courses “Aerodynamics for Engineers.” And, March 21-24—“Fundamentals of Earth Reentry.” Both events at AERO Institute, Palmdale, Calif. Call +1 (520) 219-0526 or see www.whiteeagleaerospace.com March 21-24—National Business Aircraft Association’s 38th Annual International Operators Conference. Sheraton San Diego Hotel. See www.nbaa.org/events/ioc/2011
Swedish air traffic control provider LFV is laying the groundwork for its first operational use of a remote ATC tower, giving controllers the ability to monitor takeoffs and landings at airports hundreds of miles away. The LFV project will help prove technology that will allow ATC organizations to centralize tower services and make them more cost-effective for smaller airports. Saab, the manufacturer of the remote tower system, says it is gaining considerable interest in the product from many different countries.
Gunnar Rosenfeld (see photo) has joined Sandel Avionics , Vista, Calif., as sales representative for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Rosenfeld, who will be based in Cortaillod, Switzerland, was director of DAC International’s European division.
Anousheh Ansari, co-founder and chief executive of Prodea Systems, Plano, Texas, and a participant in the Russian space program, has been chosen to receive the 2011 Horatio Alger Award from the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans , for professional success after humble beginnings. Following a childhood in revolutionary Iran, Ansari co-founded Telecom Technologies and became the first female private space explorer and the first astronaut of Iranian descent.
The threat to Chinese airlines from fast trains will become clearer and maybe uglier this year, as the railways ministry opens thousands of kilometers of high-speed track. New lines will include one between Beijing and Shanghai that will challenge China’s premier air route with trains running at up to 380 kph (236 mph) and connecting the two cities in just under 4 hr. According to several studies, the trains can expect to take at least 45% of the business.
Your analysis of India’s fighter competition suggests that political aspirations to forge stronger ties with the U.S. will give the Lockheed Martin F-16 and Boeing F/A-18E/F contenders a major advantage in the selection process (AW&ST Feb. 7, p. 46).
Goran Jansson has become chief financial officer and deputy president of SAS , succeeding Mats Lonnqvist, who is leaving the company. Jansson has held various consulting and board assignments.
Finmeccanica is facing the prospect of a significant revenue shortfall owing to turmoil in Libya, as the first Western aerospace and defense company to directly feel the effects of the regional turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlesconi had heavily courted Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi in recent years for deals on a variety of fronts. In, aerospace and defense, those were about to pay off before anti-Qaddafi unrest erupted in the country.
David Daws has joined Oxford, England-based Blake Lapthorn ’s aircraft finance team as partner, bringing in solicitor Chris Knott and paralegal Niall Daws as part of his team. Daws, of IWG Daws, advises global helicopter operators and lessors.
Malaysia low-fare, long-haul operator, AirAsia X, is adding A330-200s to its fleet in 2014 under a new deal with Airbus. The addition of three aircraft of the type brings the airline’s total A330 order to 28 widebodies. AirAsia X also has signed for 10 A350XWBs, the eventual A330 successor.
As the cost to aircraft operators of fuel, delays and environmental measures continues to build, air traffic management (ATM) stands at a crossroads. Transformative technologies to increase capacity and efficiency are coming to fruition, but policy makers are still debating the framework under which new systems will operate.
Jorge L. Perez (see photo) has been added to Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. ’s staff of field service representatives based in the U.S. He has worked as a technician at Gulfstream headquarters in Savannah, Ga., and as a line maintenance supervisor for Jet Aviation in Palm Beach, Fla.
The space shuttle Endeavour, being lifted onto the STS-134 stack at Kennedy Space Center on March 1, was scheduled to make its final trip to the launch pad on March 9 in preparation for an April 19 launch to the International Space Station (ISS). As technicians prepared Endeavour for the last funded shuttle mission, the six-person crew of Discovery breezed though the final days in space of the fleet-leading orbiter’s 39th flight.
