BELFAST GEARS UP FOR CSERIES WING PRODUCTION
Construction of Bombardier's CSeries wing factory in Belfast is now underway, and plans are in place for the airframer to add 800 jobs at peak production to the 270 engineering and support staff currently engaged in research and development of the wings. CSeries investment in Belfast will total £520 million ($860 million), which Bombardier claims is the largest-ever single inward investment in Northern Ireland.
F-15 DISPLAYS HELP ROCKWELL COLLINS
Growth in government business partly offset falling commercial markets, leaving Rockwell Collins' sales down 6% to $4.47 billion and pre-tax profits down 9% to $867 million for the year to 30 September. Commercial Systems sales dropped 21% to $1.89 billion, whereas the Airborne Systems unit was up 6% at $1.76 billion, with help from higher sales of head-down displays for Boeing F-15s and unmanned air vehicle control systems.
DUCOMMUN GETS THIRD-QUARTER MILITARY BOOST
Sales to military programmes such as the Northrop Grumman X-47B UCAS and the Boeing C-17 helped Ducommun post a 2.7% rise in third-quarter pre-tax profits to $9.24 million on sales up 9% to $109.9 million. For the nine months to 3 October, the Los Angeles engineering company saw profits fall 2.5% to just short of $20 million as sales rose 7.6% to $325.1 million..
CIT AEROSPACE PARENT FILES FOR CHAPTER 11
CIT Group, parent of lessor CIT Aerospace, has filed a pre-packaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, with hopes to emerge by the end of the year. Separately, Carl Icahn and Icahn Capital have agreed to support CIT's restructuring with an incremental $1 billion committed line of credit. CIT Aerospace has 332 aircraft under various leases and, as of 30 September, had 107 aircraft on order.
HYDERABAD TO GET CFM56 TRAINING CENTRE
GMR Hyderabad International airport and CFM International will establish a CFM56 training centre to support the engine's users in south Asia. The training centre will begin operations by late January 2010 and be located in the aviation special economic zone at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International airport.
SIA ENGINEERING SEES SOME RECOVERY IN Q2
SIA Engineering's net profit fell 16.8% year-on-year to S$61.1 million ($43.6 million) on revenue down 11.2% to S$248 million in the second quarter ending 30 September. The maintenance arm of Singapore Airlines says: "In tandem with the airline industry's early signs of recovery, the group posted a better performance in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. However, the prospects for a sustained recovery remain uncertain."
AERO INVENTORY: TROUBLES BROADEN
Parts management firm Aero Inventory says the inventory valuation issue that led to the suspension of its London share trading last month is "broader than first thought", involving both accounting book value of parts and physical quantities. The board is reviewing the accuracy of recent financial reports and the positions of chief executive Rupert Lewin, finance director Hugh Bevan and chief operating officer Martin Dodge. Business development director Colin Trupp is now acting chief executive and Swag Mukerji is responsible for financial operations.
Source: Flight International
