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 AIA UPDATE: June/July 2006, Volume 10, No. 9
Aeronautics Research Report Reinforces Association Agenda Unless NASA dramatically broadens its approach to aeronautics beyond fundamental research, advances in aeronautics will be on a "glide path to irrelevance." The chair of the National Academies' committee that studied NASA aeronautics research made that prediction at a briefing before AIA's Civil Aviation Research & Development Committee and its Aeronautics Working Group. Findings of the study, funded by the National Research Council, parallel changes advocated by AIA. The report, Aeronautics Innovation: NASA's Challenges and Opportunities, amplifies recommendations proposed by AIA. For example, researchers found that NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) must narrow its aeronautics mission focus to transferable technology research that furthers the public good — safe, efficient, and environmentally benign air operations — as well as world leadership in technology. Documented planning for technology transition to external stakeholders should be a universal management practice for all ARMD R&D projects, the study reports, echoing a recurrent theme of AIA for enhanced research utility. Moreover, the argument for government involvement is strongest in areas of public good where users depend on outside suppliers to deliver well-proven technologies and where NASA has superior capabilities, according to the study. The authors also emphasize the need for the administration, Congress, and industry to achieve consensus on the direction and priorities of aeronautics research. More accurate costing of NASA facility use and establishing programs to address the future workforce are also covered in the report. Similar to AIA's proposals for NASA change, researchers determined that NASA should establish a program of ongoing industry consultation for prioritization and implementation. In May members of AIA's Civil Aviation R&D Committee and the Aeronautics Working Group discussed the study's findings with Alan Schriesheim, director emeritus of Argonne National Laboratory and chair of the National Research Council's research committee, and Steve Merrill, the study director and executive director of the National Academies' Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy. The report is available at www.nationalacademies.org/more news/20060509.html. The National Research Council is part of the National Academies, which includes the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council. More industry perspective on aeronautics R&D is available as a white paper (PDF format). AIA Source: susan.mertes@aia-aerospace.org AEROSPACE FOCUS  AIA Companies Win Safety Awards AIA has inaugurated a Worker Safety Award program, recognizing member companies with exemplary records with four awards. "The aerospace and defense industry is one of the safest in the world, but that does not mean we should let down our guard when it comes to protecting workers," AIA President and CEO John Douglass said. "These companies should be proud of their achievements." Aerojet, based in Sacramento, Calif., received the award for Worker Safety Improvement, logging the greatest reduction in injuries and illnesses from 2004 to 2005. Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon won in three categories of the AIA 2005 Worker Safety Leadership Award — Aircraft, Missile and Space Vehicles, and Aerospace Components. The awards, presented at AIA's Environment, Safety, and Health Committee Spring 2006 meeting in Washington, D.C., in May, recognize companies with the lowest workplace injury and illness rates in their U.S. aerospace operations. AIA established the awards to acknowledge outstanding safety practices and encourage companies to share health and safety data and best practices. For the Worker Safety Improvement Award, the committee looked at the incident rate, lost workday case rate, and lost workday rate categories calculated as average percentage reduction from 2004 to 2005. The three categories in the Worker Safety Leadership Award recognized the fewest number of incidents as reported using the Occupational Safety and Health Administration method. AIA Source: hoai.huynh@aia-aerospace.org WASHINGTON PIPELINE: Mackenzie Is Vital to Aerospace Industry's Future and U.S. Leadership By John W. Douglass, AIA President and Chief Executive Officer  Mackenzie Howell could be the embodiment of optimism for the aerospace and defense industry.
The senior from Plantation High School in Florida skipped her graduation ceremony to attend the Team America Rocketry Challenge in May even though she was to be honored as class valedictorian. She is heading to Dartmouth and her love for rockets needs only to head off an interest in biomedical engineering to deliver her to the aerospace industry as a bright young leader in several years. This was one of many compelling stories circulating during the TARC, and it underscores the importance of spreading the gospel of aerospace to our young people. As many AIA members know, the contest is an effort to capture the interest of middle and high school students as they begin pondering college majors and career paths. We have received input from many companies alarmed at the future of the aerospace and defense workforce and how they will maintain their technical edge with high-caliber employees. Challenges facing the industry are certainly daunting:
These glum statistics are in contrast to some good news in the industry. After falling to a 50-year low in February 2004, aerospace employment is rebounding, adding 46,000 jobs through the end of 2005. While these numbers are certainly welcome news, it exacerbates the workforce issue because we have more jobs and fewer people to fill them. By any measure TARC has been extremely successful in its efforts to reverse the negative trends. This year about 7,000 students took part from 47 states and the District of Columbia. That participation ramps up the total from all four years of the contest to about 33,000. We are proud to have reached so many potential aerospace industry assets, but a rocket contest cannot be the only way we react to the workforce crisis. AIA is promoting a bill by Congressman Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.) that would create a federal interagency task force to seriously address the problem. It would task 11 executive branch agencies to identify new aerospace workforce opportunities through scholarship, training, and recruitment programs in partnership with the private sector and state governments. U.S. leadership in aerospace and defense depends on the people we can attract to replace the large group leaving our workforce in the coming years and decades. We must work to ensure that we have the human capital we need and that more young people like Mackenzie are opting for a rocket-propelled future. WASHINGTON WATCH: Congressional Effort on Military Specialty Metals Issue Planned The House and Senate Armed Services Committees took action in early May on their respective versions of the fiscal 2007 Defense Authorization bill. H.R. 5122 passed the House in May, and the Senate is now considering its version, S. 2766. Both bills authorize fiscal year program expenditures and operations in Iraq and Afghanistan at levels of approximately $513 billion in the House and $517 billion in the Senate. Language in H.R. 5122 would modify the so-called Berry Amendment, passed in 1941, which requires the purchase of military food and uniforms in the United States and domestic sourcing of all specialty metals used for weapons systems unless the metals are not available in sufficient quantity or quality, emergency combat requirements necessitate a foreign purchase, or domestic sourcing would contradict U.S. obligations under international defense trade agreements. The House bill, however, doesn't contain exceptions for low-value or dual-use commercial items, and it applies to contractors at every tier of the supply chain. The Senate version of the bill proposes no similar language to Sec. 831. An AIA-led industry coalition is developing a legislative strategy for a possible Senate floor amendment to the authorization bill in an effort to counter the pending House language. AIA is seeking a resolution to exempt military components with small amounts of specialty metals from Berry Amendment restrictions in the interest of maintaining a broad industrial supply base for American forces. AIA Source: patrick.mccartan@aia-aerospace.org WASHINGTON WATCH: New National Security Division Focusing on Defense Policy The Executive Committee of AIA's Board of Governors last year authorized establishment of a National Security Division to increase focus on defense policy issues. The new division is responsible for three of AIA's top issues for 2006:
Earlier this year, the division's corporate counterpart — the National Security Council — was established under the leadership of William Inglee, vice president of plans and policy for Lockheed Martin Corporation. In addition to defense policy issues, the council oversees the International and Technical Operations councils and the Electronic Business Steering Group. New committees have been formed to work specifically on industrial base and workforce, homeland security, defense policy, and defense budget and resource issues. AIA Source: mark.esper@aia-aerospace.org WASHINGTON WATCH: Workshops Evaluate Data, Methods for NGATS Cost Estimates AIA's Air Transportation Services Committee attended the first of three, two-day Next Generation Air Transportation System (NGATS) Institute workshops in April to evaluate FAA's data and methodology for estimating NGATS costs. The meeting was for commercial operators and operations and maintenance providers. Attendees were briefed and then assigned to one of three discussion groups, presenting their conclusions to FAA Administrator Marian Blakey at the end of the meeting. Blakey said that FAA needs industry help to design incentives for its participation in early implementation and indicated that she understood industry's reluctance to invest in new technology without an FAA commitment to implement it. The next two meetings are for general aviation, rotorcraft, and public safety and military representatives and for airport and state and local aviation officials. AIA Source: susan.mertes@aia-aerospace.org AIA Supports Aircraft Emissions Rule State and local air pollution authorities in January challenged the Environmental Protection Agency final rule adopting the United Nation's International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) CAEP/4 engine emissions standard. AIA and the Air Transportation Association are filing a brief supporting the EPA regulation. Among other things, the State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators and the Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials requested that the court find EPA acted arbitrarily and capriciously by failing to:
The EPA standard is equivalent to the ICAO standard adopted in 1999 for implementation beginning in 2004, harmonizing the U.S Federal Aviation Regulations to the global regulatory standard. Two years ago ICAO adopted the CAEP/6 engine emissions standard effective in 2008. AIA is committed to continuous environmental improvement. Regulatory noise and emissions standards are not the means to do this, however. To ensure continued and rapid improvement in aircraft and engine environmental performance, AIA is working with its international partners through ICAO to establish practical, long-term, environmental technology goals. Throughout the world aircraft must meet all applicable airworthiness requirements to qualify for flight and to remain in service. The EPA standard ensures all new engines will simultaneously meet all federal safety requirements and incorporate the best available proven emissions technologies. Progress toward meeting these goals will be documented on a periodic basis through a transparent stakeholder process. AIA encourages state and local environmental officials to join this effort to ensure their interests are represented. AIA Source: howard.aylesworth@aia-aerospace.org AIA Testifies to Senate Manufacturing Caucus
Senators Clinton and Graham created the caucus to promote the interests of domestic manufacturing while creating a dialogue between industry leaders and members of Congress. The meeting opened the door for future dialogue, including Berry Amendment restrictions, export reform controls, and industrial base and workforce issues. Clinton discussed policies that would strengthen the defense industrial base, including energy efficient building practices to save companies money and keep them in the United States. Export control reform was of particular interest to Graham. "A strong manufacturing base is important in order to keep our economy and middle class strong, but it's also important to support our national security," said Clinton. Graham added, "It's now time for Republicans and Democrats to join together to strengthen the manufacturing sector and take steps to create a better business environment to ensure our soldiers and sailors have the equipment they need to carry out their mission." Participants included John Douglass, AIA president and CEO; Loren Thompson, COO of the Lexington Institute; Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the Electronic Industries Alliance; Bob Roberts, president and CEO of the Syracuse Research Corporation; Brian Dailey, senior vice president of Lockheed Martin Corporation; Steve Evered, director of government affairs for Michelin North America, Inc.; and Mike Aldrich, vice president of Force Protection, Inc. AIA Source: jana.denning@aia-aerospace.org AIA VIEWPOINT: U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative Expected to Bolster Trade and U.S. Security By Remy Nathan, AIA Director of International Affairs AIA supports the landmark U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative, under consideration by Congress because it moves this bilateral partnership to the next level of political, economic, and security cooperation. In exchange for peaceful nuclear cooperation and the reliable supply of nuclear fuel from the United States, the Indian government makes explicit commitments to:
The direct security benefits of the agreement are very compelling. For instance, it enhances U.S. national security by fostering cooperation in a number of areas that will promote peace, stability, and prosperity in the region. The agreement also will create a positive environment to further develop bilateral defense cooperation and integration in a region of great and growing importance to America, particularly with regard to our counter-terrorism and counter-proliferation efforts. The United States and India have seized an unprecedented opportunity to build a new strategic partnership. AIA urges full and swift congressional support for the initiative. Delegation Visits AIA AIA hosted an 11-member delegation from the UK House of Commons Defense Committee in May. Led by Defense Committee Chairman James Arbuthnot, the delegation visited Washington to meet with government and industry counterparts to discuss current UK-U.S. defense issues. AIA President and CEO John Douglass set the stage for the discussion with a short briefing on the state of the U.S. aerospace industry and the political environment affecting defense trade and cooperation. AIA Source: remy.nathan@aia-aerospace.org Aerospace Employment Mixed in March, Down from December Total aerospace employment for March declined 0.4 percent from year-end levels, according to figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Production worker employment, however, rose sharply — up 11,200 or 3.7 percent. Aerospace employment totaled 624,300 in March 2006 — down from 626,800 last December but up 21,200 from the previous March. "Aerospace," in AIA's shorthand, equals the sum of "Aerospace Products and Parts" and "Search, Detection, and Navigation Instruments" manufacturing. The 624,300 aerospace workers in March comprised 390,000 from Aircraft and Parts, 76,300 from Guided Missiles, Space Vehicles, and Parts, and 158,000 from Search, Detection, and Navigation Instruments manufacturing sectors.  For more information, see Group II (Employment) Statistics. AIA Source: david.napier@aia-aerospace.org There's Still Time to Sponsor an AIA Event at Farnborough Airshow Sponsorship opportunities are open to all levels of AIA membership. Choose from the list below and gain visibility for your company at the Farnborough International Airshow, July 17-23. Ambassador's Reception – Largest U.S. event. Held at Winfield House. AIA will host a Gold Room Reception before the event for sponsors. Sponsorship is limited! Gold Level Sponsorship: $10,000Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies (SJAC) AIA hosts the networking event for SJAC and dignitaries from the U.S. and Japanese governments. For $2,000 companies receive signage at the event and 20 tickets. Aircraft Gain high visibility for your company in the corrals by supporting U.S. Defense Department military aircraft and crew. Sponsors will have exclusive VIP access to the corral the first two days of the show. Trade/Buyers Days Sponsorship for these events is $1,000. Sponsoring company logos will be on all signage throughout the show site advertising these scheduled sessions. Golf Carts AIA will have several golf carts for transporting U.S. air crew and delegations. Sponsoring a golf cart gives your company name visibility throughout the show. To sponsor an event, contact Michelle Princi at michelle.princi@aia-aerospace.org or Sherry Epperson at sherry.epperson@aia-aerospace.org. |
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