FLUG REVUE update: Week ending March 9, 2003

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UPDATE
Week ending March 9, 2003

+++ Bombardier cuts another 3000 jobs +++ Teltschik to lead Boeing Germany +++ Lufthansa expands flights with PrivatAir +++ Lufthansa to take majority in Air Dolomiti +++ New A300-600 Freighter launched by Air Hong Kong +++ News in brief +++

Bombardier cuts another 3000 jobs
Neue Entlassungen bei Bombardier

On March 5, Bombardier Aerospace announced that it is taking additional steps to meet the continuing challenges facing the aviation industry. Measures include a further reduction in staffing. A total of 3,000 employees will be laid off at the Bombardier Aerospace facilities in Montréal, Toronto and Belfast over the next 12 months. “In view of challenging market conditions, we have a responsibility to take aggressive actions to continuously improve our competitive edge and align our production rate with market demand,” explained Pierre Beaudoin, president and chief operating officer, Bombardier Aerospace. “In this period of consolidation, Bombardier Aerospace will continue to invest in customer service and to support in-service aircraft. Along with the most diversified line of innovative products, Bombardier Aerospace will emerge stronger as the premier manufacturer of the world's finest aircraft,” added Mr. Beaudoin.

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Teltschik to lead Boeing Germany
Neuer Boeing-Lobbyist in Deutschland

Boeing has named Horst Teltschik President of Boeing Germany. Teltschik is a German business executive and former senior official in the Office of the Chancellor. In this newly created position, Teltschik will be responsible for coordinating all company business activities in Germany. He will lead strategic business planning, develop relationships with key stakeholders and identify growth opportunities for Boeing. He will be based in Berlin at a new Boeing-Germany headquarters to be established soon. "Germany is a special market for The Boeing Company," said Phil Condit, Boeing chairman and chief executive officer. "Not only is it home to some of our best customers, but it is also a center of high technology and industrial innovation. Horst will focus on expanding Boeing's presence by pursuing opportunities to build closer business relations with German industry, government and academia in areas of mutual interest."
Teltschik's appointment marks the 11th new country or regional executive appointed by Boeing over the past 18 months. “The appointments are a key part of the company's globalization efforts to strengthen Boeing's ability to operate broadly and effectively with the entire globe as a market and as a source of production and resources,” said Tom Pickering, Boeing senior vice president, International Relations. “The new executives are focusing on further continuing to develop Boeing's local-market presence and identifying ways to grow the company's business.”

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Lufthansa expands flights with PrivatAir
Neue Lufthansa Business-Linien

From 19 May 2003 Lufthansa is offering flights from Munich to Newark and from 9 June 2003 from Düsseldorf to Chicago with aircrafts of the Swiss charter company PrivatAir. The 48-seat Business Jets will then provide non-stop connections between the economic regions of southern Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia and major business centres in the United States. "The expansion of our unique and attractive Business Jet service is targeted mainly at business travellers. Besides providing a non-stop service, we offer ideal connections to the business centres on the East Coast of the United States and the Mid-West. Departure times for the Business Jet service from Munich and Düsseldorf have been coordinated with feeder flights to these airports," explained Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Chief Executive Officer of Lufthansa Passenger Airlines. The flights can be booked under Lufthansa as well as under United Airlines flight numbers.
Six non-stop Business Jet flights a week will be operated from the Bavarian capital to New York's Newark Airport in New Jersey. Flight time is nine hours. The flight from Newark to Munich takes only seven hours and 45 minutes. The new connections to Newark supplement Lufthansa's scheduled services between Munich and New York. Passengers have a choice of 13 flights a week to New York, seven of them to John F. Kennedy Airport, six to Newark.
Flight time from Düsseldorf to Chicago is eight hours and 50 minutes, while the return flight is about one hour shorter. Chicago's O'Hare is the world's largest airport in terms of passenger numbers and flights depart from this modern hub to destinations worldwide.

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Lufthansa to take majority in Air Dolomiti
Italien-Investment von Lufthansa

Lufthansa and Air Dolomiti have reached an understanding on an increase of the share acquired by Lufthansa in 1999. The President and majority shareholder of Air Dolomiti, Alcide Leali, today announced that he would exercise the option already contractually agreed at that time, to sell 31.2 percent of the shares in Air Dolomiti to Lufthansa. As a result, according to the current status and subject to approval by the cartel authorities, with effect from 16 April 2003, with 51.9 percent Lufthansa will hold the majority in Air Dolomiti. The transaction is estimated to be worth around 40 million Euro. In a second step, it is planned for Lufthansa to make a public offer to purchase the shares of the other shareholders of Air Dolomiti which is traded on the Milan Stock Exchange.
The cooperation between Lufthansa and Air Dolomiti, which has existed since 1994, has developed extremely successfully for the two partners: as a qualitatively excellent feeder to Lufthansa's Munich hub, Air Dolomiti has regularly achieved double-digit growth rates and is now Italy's most successful regional airline. As the largest foreign carrier in Munich, Air Dolomiti has made a major contribution to ensuring that this hub today already occupies a leading position in Europe. With the start of operations of the new terminal, further growth possibilities will open up in the next few years.

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New A300-600 Freighter launched by Air Hong Kong
Air Hong Kong bestellt neuen Fracht-Airbus

Air Hong Kong (AHK) has signed a contract for six Airbus A300-600 Freighter aircraft as part of its fleet expansion programme. The all-cargo carrier, in which Cathay Pacific and DHL Worldwide Express hold a 70 per cent and 30 per cent stake respectively, has also taken options for a further four aircraft of the type. AHK is the launch customer for the A300-600F “General Freighter” variant, which differs from A300F4-600R aircraft currently offered in that it has a loading system and side door capable of handling large items of general freight in addition to small packages. The six wide-body aircraft are scheduled for delivery between 2004 and 2005.
“With this order, Air Hong Kong launches a new variant of Airbus' most successful freighter, an endorsement of the strength of the Airbus product line,” said Noël Forgeard, Airbus Chief Executive Officer. “The freighter market continues to grow for Airbus aircraft and this new variant is the result of Airbus listening and reacting to market demands.” Today, in a highly competitive marketplace, there are more than 250 A300, A310 and A300-600 freighters in service or on firm order.

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

Rolls-Royce results for the year ended December 31 2002 were in line with the guidance provided in October 2001, reflecting the balanced nature of the company's business and the swift action taken to mitigate the downturn in the civil aerospace market. Underlying profit before tax was £255 million, a fall of 46 per cent, which resulted primarily from the predicted difficult conditions in the civil aerospace market. Aftermarket service revenues in 2002 were in line with the company's expectations and, at £2.5 billion (2001 £2.4 billion), accounted for 44 per cent of total revenues. Aftermarket sales, including joint venture businesses, exceeded £3 billion. Encouragingly, order intake at £8.7 billion remained strong during 2002. The firm order book was £16.2 billion (2001 £14.4 billion) at the year-end, with a further £0.9 billion business announced. Aftermarket service revenues accounted for 33 per cent of the order book, including long term service agreements, which accounted for 21 per cent. The company's business strategy and market position have enabled it to manage the uncertainties of the short term and secure long term growth which will deliver shareholder value. Over the next decade the emphasis of investment will change. The company will continue to focus expenditure on technology acquisition and in support of new product development and in-service improvements. However, the pace of new product development will slow, particularly in civil aerospace where fewer new aircraft are now being developed. While continuing to develop new products that deliver value, the emphasis will be on unit cost reduction, development of derivatives, improvement of in-service operation and the creation of capabilities which increase the scope and value of the company's service activities.
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Lufthansa Technik AG has acquired an additional 60 percent of the shares of Frankfurt-based Condor/Cargo Technik GmbH (CCT). With now 90 percent of the latter's shares, Lufthansa Technik has become its majority shareholder. To protect its own interests, the Thomas Cook subsidiary Condor Flugdienst GmbH retains the remaining ten percent, having previously held 70 percent. Neither side has revealed the price paid by Lufthansa Technik for the new block of shares. Condor/Cargo Technik specializes in providing maintenance for the Boeing B757 and B767 (including C-checks) as well for the MD-11. The Frankfurt-based company offers its customers immediate technical servicing worldwide 24 hours a day. Its most important customers will continue to be Thomas Cook Airlines “powered by Condor”, with its Boeing 757s and 767s, and Lufthansa Cargo with its MD-11 freighters. CCT currently services some 60 aircraft under long-term contracts. For Lufthansa Technik, becoming the majority shareholder in Condor/Cargo Technik broadens its line of services to customers also outside the Lufthansa Group. Thomas Cook AG, on the other hand, does not consider the servicing of either its own aircraft or of those of other carriers to be part of its core business. Condor/Cargo Technik currently has more than 600 employees. At the Frankfurt airport it occupies three hangars with a combined floor space of 11,000 square meters (over 118,000 square feet).
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Ryanair announced seven new routes from London Stansted Airport to Ostend (Bruges) in Belgium, Groningen in Holland, Leipzig (Altenburg) in Germany, Palermo in Italy, Bergerac and Rodez in France and Blackpool.
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Luxair, the national airline of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, has signed an agreement with Boeing to purchase two 737-700 jetliners, with an option to buy two additional aircraft. The two 737-700s, which will be equipped with winglets, will be the first Next-Generation 737s for Luxair and the first to be operated out of Luxembourg. Luxair currently flies two 737-400s and three 737-500s.
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CAE announced it has received its first FAA FTD (flight training device) Level 4 qualification for a CAE Simfinity. Integrated Procedures Trainer (IPT). The IPT was qualified as a Bombardier CRJ200 FTD as part of Atlantic Coast Airlines aviation training program. “CAE Simfinity is transforming training standards in the aviation industry by incorporating the same high fidelity simulation software used in CAE's full flight simulators into ground-school training devices,” said Kamilia Sofia, Vice President, Integrated Training Solutions, Civil Simulation and Training division, CAE. “This new approach provides an integrated, efficient and flexible training solution.”
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Sikorsky Aircraft announced that a Brazilian offshore oil support company has signed a contract to purchase four S-76C+ helicopters, marking the introduction of this latest technology S-76 into the Brazilian market. The aircraft will be delivered later this year to Senior Taxi Aerea, based in Porto Allegre, Brazil. Brazilian customers already operate more than forty S-76s for offshore oil missions, Pino noted, but with this purchase Senior Taxi Aerea will operate the first C+ models in the country.
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Boeing announced that the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) program has successfully completed all ground and flight objectives for the first phase of demonstrations and is ready to begin the second phase of flight demonstrations, focused on more advanced, multi-vehicle operations. The completed demonstrations are an important step toward a planned experimental capability of the UCAV system by the U.S. Air Force by 2008. In the first phase of demonstrations, known as Block 1, 48 discrete laboratory, simulation and flight demonstrations were conducted, primarily focused on initial systems checkout, including a total of 16 flights for the two air vehicles. The final demonstration flight occurred on Feb. 28, which verified safe operation of the weapons bay door at 35,000 ft. and speeds up to 0.75 Mach, the maximum planned altitude and speed for the X-45A demonstrator vehicles.
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The Egyptian air force has accepted delivery of the first of six E-2C Hawkeye 2000 export configuration aircraft upgraded by Northrop Grumman Corporation. The former U.S. Navy fleet aircraft was remanufactured and upgraded by the company's Integrated Systems sector to the Hawkeye 2000 export configuration, which includes a more powerful, commercial off-the-shelf mission computer, and advanced operator workstations. A second upgraded aircraft for Egypt is scheduled for delivery in early 2004. The upgrade program began in 1999 and is valued at $174 million.
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The UK Civil Aviation Authority has approved charges increases for the BAA at Heathrow Airport by some 9% from 1 April this year, followed by increases of 5.6% above inflation for the following four years. These increases would help to pay for future airport infrastructure investment. In total the airlines would be asked to pay 40% additional costs on top of inflation. Such costs would inevitably have to be paid for by passengers through higher fares. „The proposed increases are excessive and unacceptable to the airlines, especially now when they are just starting to get back on their feet. In addition, the idea of paying today to use the airport in the future is absurd,“ said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA Director General and CEO. Bisignani pointed out that „Air transport is going through one of the worst crises in its hundred year history and the proposed increases are counter-productive to the effort the airlines are making toward stabilisation and recovery.“
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Four North Korean fighter jets intercepted a U.S. Air Force plane in international airspace over the Sea of Japan early March 2, Defense Department officials said. Two North Korean MiG-29 fighters and two other North Korean aircraft believed to be MiG-23s engaged an American RC-135S Cobra Ball reconnaissance aircraft on a "routine mission" 150 miles off the coast of North Korea, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said March 3. The North Korean fighters "shadowed" the American plane for 22 minutes starting at 10:48 a.m. local time. Davis said the North Korean aircraft closed to within 50 feet of the American airplane at an equal altitude. The fighters were armed and at least one may have engaged its fire-support radar and "locked on" to the American jet, he said. The RC-135S then returned unharmed to its home base in Kadena Air Base, Japan.
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The Air Force recently designated its new multisensor command and control aircraft the E-10A. The "E" designation stands for electrical systems. While the "E" is specific to the mission of the aircraft, 10 was used simply because it is next in the inventory sequence. The "A" stands for the first variation of the aircraft. The Electronic Systems Center here is managing the acquisition and development of the E-10A. Hanscom is also the birthplace of three other Air Force aircraft that share the E designation -- the E-3B Sentry airborne warning and control system aircraft, the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System and the E-4B, which serves as the National Airborne Operations Center for the president and secretary of defense.
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Newark Liberty International Airport added its 50th international non-stop route with the introduction of Continental Airlines' new direct return service to Geneva. The announcement comes as the Port Authority airport celebrates its 75th anniversary, which will be marked with an anniversary flight later in the year. The Port Authority has invested $3.8 billion to improve and advance the airport's facilities which includes major terminal improvement, a new control tower and the new high-tech AirTrain Newark service which, since it started operating in October 2001, cuts rail connection to downtown Manhattan to less than 30 minutes. These developments are designed to retain Newark Liberty International's position as a world-class airport.
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Xian Aircraft Company of China has selected Rockwell Collins' Pro Line 21 avionics system for integration into new MA-60 regional aircraft. Deliveries of the initial shipsets will begin later this year, with aircraft certification expected in 2004. "The MA-60 avionics upgrade program continues Rockwell Collins' long-standing relationship with Xian Aircraft Company and the Chinese aircraft industry,” said Denny Helgeson, vice president and general manager of Business and Regional Systems for Rockwell Collins.
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Hervé Guillou (47) is appointed President & Chief Executive Officer of EADS Launch Vehicles, a subsidiary of EADS, with effect from 15 March 2003. One of his first tasks, in association with Astrium Space Infrastructure, will be to bring to a successful conclusion the creation of the future launch vehicle and orbital structures company as part of the reorganization of EADS Space Division. Philippe Couillard (57) is appointed Chief Technical Officer of EADS Space Division with effect from 15 March 2003. His primary task will be to implement a reorganization of engineering activities, and to improve the management of programs and major risks.
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Boeing and AeroMexico formally announced contracts that will provide Mexico's largest airline 15 Boeing 737-700s with winglets. The transactions will help significantly reduce the carrier's operating costs. By replacing its fleet of 15 DC-9s with 737-700s, Aeromexico will reduce the average age of its fleet from 15.9 years to 10.7 years. The operational efficiencies and reduced maintenance needs of the Boeing 737 will help lower operational costs and improve profitability. The 737 has the highest reliability of any airplane in its class, which means fewer delays and greater satisfaction for passengers. In one of the contracts, a sale-leaseback arrangement with Boeing, AeroMexico will lease six of the jets from Lombard Aviation Capital and the other five from International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC). This arrangement will enable AeroMexico to operate the new airplanes at a lower annual cost. The contract is accounted for on Boeing's orders Web site for 2002 and was previously attributed to an unidentified customer.
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Northrop Grumman Corporation and Raytheon Company have formed a team to compete for the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) program. Part of the layered missile defense architecture envisioned by MDA, the program is designed to produce interceptors capable of shooting down enemy ballistic missiles during their boost and ascent phases of flight. Responding to a request for proposals released by MDA in February for the KEI concept development study, Northrop Grumman will lead the team and serve as systems integrator. Raytheon will serve as the principal subcontractor responsible for developing and integrating the interceptor and a significant portion of weapon system engineering. Up to three teams are expected to be selected in early April, each being awarded an eight-month, $10 million, firm fixed priced contract. The development and testing phase of the program is planned to be awarded to one contractor team in early 2004.
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The U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation's Electronic Systems sector a $32.6 million contract to provide 24 LITENING ER precision targeting systems for use aboard its F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft. This award follows recently completed efforts by an Air Force and contractor team to rapidly integrate the LITENING system with existing F-15E carriage provisions and interfaces. Deliveries of the contracted LITENING systems have already begun and should be completed by the middle of the year.
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The V-22 Osprey Joint Program Office and Naval Air Systems Command have directed a temporary suspension of flight operations pending the replacement of specific hydraulic lines in the engine nacelles of the five aircraft currently assigned to the flight test program. After completing extensive quality inspections and tests, program technicians determined that several production lots of ¼-inch hydraulic lines provided by an Osprey Team supplier do not meet performance specifications. Although a single failure of any of the hydraulic lines in question would not immediately jeopardize an aircraft during flight, program officials decided to replace suspect high- and low-pressure line components that control the aircraft's swashplate actuators. That means 20 lines per aircraft will be replaced.
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The Indian Air Force got a shot in the arm with the first of the six IL-78 mid-air refuellers joining the force, making India only the sixth Air Force in the world to have such force multipliers. The first IL-78 landed at Agra airbase today from Uzbek capital Tashkent to make newly raised Squadron-78" nicknamed "battle-cry" operational, giving the IAF capability to strike targets as far as 7,000 km with two mid-air refuels. An IAF spokesman said the second refueller would join the force in April and all the six giant IL-78s, each capable of carrying 36 ton of aviation fuel to a distance of 3,000 km, would be inducted by the year end.
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Between 24 and 26 February, a number of trial flights into Dakar using the EGNOS (European Global Navigation Overlay Service) Test Bed system were carried out to show how the planned provision of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) services over Central Africa could be implemented. ASECNA (Agence pour la SECurité de la Navigation Aérienne en Afrique et à Madagascar) has worked with the European Space Agency, the European Commission and various other European partners to make these trials possible. The Africa and Indian Ocean (AFI) States have adopted a three-phase strategy to implement GNSS for aviation in their region in the framework of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) APIRG (AFI Planning and Implementation Regional Group). The Dakar trials represent the first experimental test phase for the introduction of GNSS, which comprises the deployment of mobile EGNOS test stations in the AFI region to extend test signal coverage. These stations will be used to demonstrate an EGNOS service over the AFI land masses.
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Cessna's Citation CJ3 continues to record important milestones as it prepares for first flight. Recent achievements include the installation of the CJ3's vertical and horizontal stabilizers in late January and engine installation in early February. The CJ3 prototype airframe is now complete. “Operation of the engines and avionics is an important milestone in any new aircraft program,” said Joe Hepburn, CJ3 Program Manager. “To date, we have three Williams International FJ44-3A engines and two complete Collins Pro Line 21 avionic suites in-house. We've already begun engine and avionics systems tests and have had great success. The engine and avionics incorporate new features, and we're confident that CJ3 customers will appreciate their advanced technology.”
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On March 5th, at the Ministry for Education, Universities and Scientific Research, in the presence of the deputy minister Possa, the Italian Space Agency and Alenia Spazio, a Finmeccanica company, signed the contracts for COSMO-SkyMed, an Earth observation satellite constellation, and SHARAD, a radar system to search for water on Mars.
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Netherlands State Secretary for Defence Cees van der Knaap informed the House of Representatives on Tuesday (25 February) that the Royal Netherlands Air Force will acquire 384 laser guidance systems, 708 GPS guidance systems, 718 bomb bodies and nearly 130,000 rounds for the F-16 air fleet in the next few years. These new precision weapons make it possible to attack ground targets by day or night under all weather conditions, and thus supporting and protecting friendly forces at night.
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British Airways will move its Moscow operations from Sheremetyevo II to the city's modern, state-of-the-art Domodedovo airport on 01 July 2003. “Domodedovo offers maximum levels of customer comfort, excellent transfer services and increased speed and flexibility,” said Daniel Burkard, British Airways regional commercial manager Eastern Europe, based in Moscow. “We will move to a modern, user-friendly airport with a high level of customer appeal. It offers state-of-the-art facilities, a good infrastructure, excellent transfer services and easy accessibility. The terminal displays an open, well-lit and spacious environment.
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SWISS is expanding its offer by means of attractive codeshare agreements. A few days ago, agreements were signed with Japan Airlines for the Zurich – Tokyo route and with Qantas for the Zurich – Sydney route. Both will enter into force with the introduction of the Summer timetable The codeshare with Qantas of Australia means that SWISS can now offer flights to all five continents. This latest agreement was signed by SWISS Chairman Pieter Bouw and Isao Kaneko, President and CEO of Japan Airlines. The wide-ranging partnership between the two airlines includes a codeshare agreement for the Zurich – Tokyo route, which comes into force on April 1. It is also planned to link the frequent flyer programmes of the two airlines in the near future and to expand the agreement to cover additional flights in Europe and Asia from Zurich and Tokyo respectively.
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Speaking at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, Germany, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer, Akbar Al-Baker, today announced that the airline is going to operate an Airbus Corporate Jetliner (ACJ) configured for A319 Long Range operations. The aircraft delivered for A319 Long Range applications is Qatar's second ACJ. It is scheduled to enter service in mid 2003 and will be named “Oryx Long Range”. Qatar's first ACJ is in operation with the airline since mid 2001, carrying the name “Oryx Express”. The A319 Long Range is the latest addition to the Airbus A320 Family of aircraft, combining the performance capabilities of the Airbus Corporate Jetliner (ACJ) with the qualities of a premium-class airliner. The A320 Family comprises the A318, A319, A320 and A321, offering the highest degree of economy and passenger comfort for aircraft seating from 100 to 220 passengers. The ACJ, a longer-range version of the A319, can fly as far as 6,000 nm/11,100 km with 12 passengers on board.
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Boeing has named Joris M. Vos, a former senior diplomat from the Netherlands, to the new position of Boeing President for European Union and NATO Relations. Vos will be responsible for representing The Boeing Company at all European Union institutions and NATO. He will be based in Brussels at the Boeing-Europe headquarters. „We are committed to collaborating with Europe,“ said Phil Condit, chairman and chief executive officer, The Boeing Company. „As a partner, customer and supplier, we have actively participated in the European aerospace community for more than 60 years, and we are here for the long-term. With the appointment of Joris Vos, we are taking our relationship with Europe to a new level that clearly demonstrates our growing presence in Europe is real and has mutual economic benefits.“
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As of 19 May 2003, Lufthansa will serve the Canadian city of Montreal non-stop from Munich. The new service is the first Lufthansa connection exclusively from its second hub in Munich to Canada. An Airbus A340 will then depart daily at 15.45 hrs. for Montreal, the return flight will arrive in Munich at 10.00 hrs. each day. As a joint service, the flight can also be booked under the Air Canada flight number. Lufthansa and Air Canada already cooperate from Munich on flights to Toronto which are flown by Air Canada and are also bookable under Lufthansa flight number.
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