Aerospace & Defense News - Defense

AirGuide Business, April 7, 2008

Apr 7, 2008

A former Iraq war contractor accused of trying to take bomb components on an airplane had a history of mental illness and was distraught over his mother's 2005 murder, according to a lawyer for the family.Kevin Christopher Brown, 32, had been in and out of hospitals before his arrest Tuesday at Orlando International Airport, said H. Charles Johnson, who is representing the family in the murder case.Brown was charged with one count of attempting to carry an explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft. On Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Karla Spaulding found probable cause to detain the former U.S. Army solder and Iraq contractor, pending a grand jury indictment. Apr 3, 2008

ATA Airlines Inc. filed for protection under Chapter 11 April 2 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana, and discontinued all operations as of 4 a.m. ET April 3. The Indianapolis carrier said Thursday that a primary factor leading to the actions was the unexpected cancellation of a key contract for ATA's military charter business, which made it impossible for the airline to obtain additional capital to sustain its operations or restructure the business. ATA said it was recently notified by FedEx Corp. (FDX) that ATA would no longer be a member of the FedEx Teaming Arrangement for the government's 2009 fiscal year - a period that begins in October 2008 and runs through September 2009. It said this termination is a full year earlier than the term specified in a letter of agreement between FedEx and ATA Apr 3, 2008

ATA Airlines shut down operations and stranded thousands of travelers Thursday when an unexpected loss of key charter flights and soaring fuel costs forced the carrier into bankruptcy.Once the nation's 10th-largest air carrier, ATA entered bankruptcy for the second time in just over three years. The company had more than 2,200 employees, and "virtually all" were told that their jobs were gone, company spokesman Michael Freitag said.Many passengers learned of the collapse at ticket counters, where advisories were posted in the handful of cities ATA still served. About 10,000 passengers flew ATA each day when operations were shut down, according to the airline."It ruins my vacation," said Beatrice Martinez, who was trying to reach Guadalajara, Mexico, from Midway International Airport in Chicago. "I'm in shock. So I guess I'll try to make other arrangements. Right now I just need to get to Mexico."Airlines are struggling with rising fuel prices, labor strife, depressed ticket demand and heightened competition, said George Godlin, an analyst for Moody's Investor Service. Apr 3, 2008

ATA, nearly 35 years old, died suddenly, although it had been ill since 9/11. It was born in December 1973 with a single plane called Miss Indy.The airline's father, J. George Mikelsons, had persuaded 100 people to put up $1,000 each to start the Ambassadair Travel Club. The Ambassadair club survives. Grueninger Travel bought it in 2006 after ATA's previous bankruptcy.Mikelsons, a Latvian immigrant who decided he wanted to be a pilot when he watched bombers fly over during World War II, wore the captain's wings. But he also scheduled tours, sold them to the locals and handled their luggage.Capt. Geoffrey Brown, who spent 25 years with ATA, quit counting the countries he'd visited when he hit 120. "At some point, you just want to be home," he said. Brown was stranded in sunny Hawaii, when ATA's latest bankruptcy was announced. He'd piloted a 757 over, but had a ticket to ride another jet home. Apr 3, 2008

Investigators in the U.S. and overseas are carefully retracing the movements of a man arrested Tuesday at a Florida airport with bomb-making materials in his luggage to determine whom he associated with as a contractor in Iraq, ABC News has learned. A Jamaican passenger carrying bomb-making materials is arrested in OrlandoIt remained unclear Thursday whether Brown's apparent mental problems prompted him to tell authorities after his arrest that he was planning on building a pipe bomb to show his friends in his native Jamaica or whether he harbored more nefarious motives. Apr 3, 2008

Members of Congress have as much as $196 million collectively invested in companies doing business with the Defense Department, earning millions since the onset of the Iraq war, according to a study by a nonpartisan research group.Not all the companies in which lawmakers invested are typical defense contractors. Corporations such as PepsiCo, IBM, Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson have at one point received defense-related contracts, notes the report by the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics. Apr 3, 2008

Technology contractor SRA International Inc. said Thursday it won a contract worth up to $48.1 million to provide architectural design, database management and software support to the Department of Defense. Apr 3, 2008

The Government Accountability Office on Wednesday denied requests by Northrop Grumman and the Air Force seeking dismissal of an appeal by The Boeing Co. over the award of a lucrative tanker jet project to Northrop and Airbus parent EADS.But even this latest developed touched off a war of words between Northrop and Boeing.Northrop, in a statement, said the denials came after a supplemental filing by Boeing that "streamlined its original protest and eliminated many of the elements that were central to the Air Force and Northrop Grumman motions." Apr 3, 2008