The administrators of former Ansett regional airlines Hazelton Airlines and Kendell Airlines have named the Australiawide consortium, which comprises former Ansett staff, as the preferred bidder for the subsidiaries and have received a A$500,000 ($269,000) deposit. Manugistics, a Maryland- based developer of cost-saving software for aerospace and defence companies, has acquired Western Data Systems (WDS) to provide what it claims will be the industry's first "end-to-end" predictive service package for the maintenance, repair and overhaul business. WDS, which had revenues of $28 million in 2001, provides application software to 135 aerospace and defence companies worldwide and has 33,000 concurrent users. General Dynamics is to take over Advanced Technical Products, a composite specialist based in Roswell, Georgia, for $250 million in cash. The company will become part of General Dynamics' Armament Systems division. GKN has acquired ASTECH, a US-based high-performance aerostructures manufacturer, for $32 million.
Source: Flight International
