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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 0173.PDF
Airbus withdraws USAir's future delivery positions RAMON LOPEZ/WASHINGTON DC AIRBUS Industrie has with drawn all of USAir's 1998 and 1999 firm delivery positions, as well as support for a planned air craft lease, because die US air car rier ".. .has not demonstrated that it will be able to affirm its Airbus aircraft purchase". USAir has told its employees that it "...remains hopeful it can affirm its contract with Airbus to facilitate our becoming the carrier of choice." In November, USAir said it was planning a $ 12 billion, 400-aircraft deal with the European consor tium, including firm orders for 120 A319s, A320s and A32 Is, plus an additional 120 orders to be recon firmed at a later date, and 160 options (Flight International 13-19 November 1996). Twelve aircraft leased from third parties were scheduled for delivery in 1998, with 22, 29 and 37 new production aircraft set to arrive in 1998, 1999 and 2000 respectively. Thereafter, 48 aircraft would be delivered annually until die order was completed around 2004. The list price for the entire order would top $12 billion. The deal was, however, depen dent on USAir achieving "a com petitive cost structure", and on the airline's ability to win extra conces sions from pilots, flight attendants and mechanics, which amounts to some $2.5 billion over five years. Airbus says that it has reclaimed die delivery positions because USAir has not signed a firm con tract for the aircraft and cannot do so until the labour concessions are in place. "We are in a high peak- buying period [and] must respond. We are in a difficult position, but must provide aircraft to cus tomers," says Airbus. The Airbus decision comes as USAir and the Air Line Pilots Association negotiate concessions which would allow for creation of a low-cost airline operation. USAir management will not comment on the talks, except to say that the airline and die pilots' union ALPA ".. .must take steps to meet competitive threats...We've had productive discussions with ALPA, but there is much to do". • Italy receives new MB.339 trainers THE ITALIAN air force took delivery of the first of an initial batch of 15 Aermacchi MB.339CD advanced jet trainers in December 1996. The air craft are equipped with three multi-function dis plays and one head-up dis play in each cockpit. The first four aircraft will go to the Pratica di Mare flight- test centre before being redeployed to Lecce AB. NASA plans interim module for Space Station NASA IS TO build its own Interim Control Module in an attempt to reduce the effect of die delay in the production of the Russian Service Module for the International Space Station (ISS) (Flight International, 18-31 Dec ember, 1996). The Service Module, the third major component of the ISS, was scheduled to be launched in April 1998, but has been delayed until at least December 1998 by Russian budget funding difficulties. The $100 million Interim Control Module, based on a unit designed originally to fly classified US Department of Defense mis sions, would be launched in about April 1998 to allow the first three- crew expedition to man the ISS in about May 1998, after the launch of Russia's Functional Energy Block on schedule in November and the US Node 1 in December. • The Space Shuttle Atlantis/ STS81 docked with the Russian Mir 1 space station on 15 January. It is due to return on 2 2 January widi astronaut John Blaha, who joined the Mir crew in September 1996, and who was replaced by Jerry Linenger from the STS81. • HEADLINES Lockheed Martin has eyes on FATE designs LOCKHEED MARTIN plans to offer a tailless-delta design for the US Air Force's planned Fighter Aircraft Enhancement (FATE) programme to build pilot- less demonstrators to flight-test new technologies. The company has been working on the tailless- fighter design since 1991, most recently under the Air Force's Innovative Control Effectors (ICE) research programme. Produced by Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems of Fort Worth, Texas, die design, dubbed Configuration 101, is for a single- seat, single-engined fighter with a 65°-sweep delta planform. The design is intended to combine the low radar-signature of the Lock heed Martin F-117 with die agility of a Lockheed Martin F-16 with multi-axis thrust-vectoring. Under die FATE programme, which may eventually involve the US Navy, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and NASA, the Air Force plans to select two teams to each build two differ ent subscale, pilotless, aircraft to demonstrate structures, flight- control, aeromechanics and sub systems technologies for manned and unmanned combat aircraft. Four 16-month, $250,000 study contracts are scheduled to be awarded in June. Under die $1.1 million ICE pro gramme to investigate new flight- control technologies, Lockheed Martin has windtunnel-tested models of the Configuration 101 and a naval variant equipped with foreplanes for carrier suitability. • NEWS IN BRIEF • AMR NETS $1 BILLION American Airlines parent AMR has kicked off what is due to be a record round of year-end financial results for the US airline industry, with a group net profit of $854 million before special items. The figure reached $1 billion after including a $497 million gain from the partial flotation of the Sabre computer reser vation late in 1996. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 22 - 28 January 1997 7
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