HEADLINES

BUSI NESS
GATX seizes
former Ayres
assets and
seeks buyer
GATX is seeking buyers for
the former Ayres Thrush agri-
cultural aircraft product line
and Loadmaster turboprop
freighter development pro-
gramme after foreclosing on
the fi rm' s assets at a bank-
ruptcy auction on 7 August.
Five potential bidders have
emerged for all the assets,
and three more are interested
in j ust the Thrush line, says
Glen Hickerson, chairman of
the aviation advisory board of
San Francisco, California-
based GATX Capital.
GATX secured all Ayres'
assets in return for reducing
the fi rm' s debt by $10.3 mi l -
lion. The company had loaned
Ayres $15 million in 1998 to
finance development of the
Loadmaster. By the time the
Albany, Georgia-based fi rm
filed for bankruptcy, the debt
had risen t o $22 million wi th
interest and debtor-in-posses-
sion financing from GATX,
Loadmaster launch customer
FedEx and engine and avion-
ics supplier Honeywell, says
Hickerson.
GATX has formed Crown
Aerospace to take over the
assets. Hickerson anticipated
receiving three bids by the
end of last week. Efforts by
the manufacturer to fi nd a
buyer before the bankruptcy
auction failed because poten-
tial bidders were unable to
reach a deal with sole stock-
holder Fred Ayres, says
Hickerson. "Now they are
dealing with GATX. We have
the assets they can acquire
and not the debt. That stays
with Ayres."
The company has yet to
fufill a US State Department
contract for nine Thrush drug-
eradication aircraft and hol ds
27 orders for the Loadmaster
from customers other than
FedEx, whi ch says it is still
interested in up to 100 of the
turboprop freighters.
AIR TRANSPORT MAX KINGSLEY-JONES / LONDON AND SIMON WARBURTON / PARIS
Airframe manufacturers
scale down output targets
Major airframe manufacturers have
responded to the increasing num-
ber of airlines cutting capacity by
trimming their output targets for
the next couple of years.
The economic slowdown has
started to affect fleet planning, but
so far is manifesting itself only with
a drop in the number of new orders
or the delaying of option conver-
sions. Production cuts are therefore
relatively minor, with Airbus decid-
ing to freeze its output growth at
next year's level and Boeing trim-
ming back plans for 2002 and
2003. Whether more drastic action
will be called for later depends on
whether the slowdown forces cus-
tomers to start cancelling firm
orders, as happened in the reces-
sion of the early 1990s and the
Asian downturn several years ago.
Airbus will deliver about 330 air-
craft this year, and increase output
to 400 next year. "We are consider-
ing holding at 400 in 2003, rather
than increasing production to 450,"
says Airbus. "The decision on
reduction will probably be made
this autumn. It could affect both
the A320 and the A330/A340."
Boeing output is rising from 490
in 2000, which was the bottom of
its last production cycle, to 530 this
year. It had planned to maintain
that level through 2002-03, but
this will now be trimmed to 510-
520 in 2002 and 490-510 in 2003.
The two manufacturers' com-
bined cutbacks equate to a reduc-
tion of about 5% in planned
production over 2002-2003.
600
500
400
200
620 Airbus/Boeing projected annual production
300 294 -
FORECAST
530 530
5fO5t20
489
311
335
400
450
400
1999 2000
j Airbus current plan
J Boeing current plan
2001 2002 2003
Earlier plan _ . |f*i|T
i n m m m j j
DEFENCE PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC
USAF considers options for CSAR
The US Air Force is drawing up
plans to acquire a new medium-lift
helicopter to replace the Sikorsky
HH-60G Pave Hawk, following a
recent Air Combat Command
(ACC) analysis of alternative stud-
ies into its future combat search
and rescue (CSAR) requirements.
The plan would give Sikorsky a
chance to secure a domestic cus-
tomer for the military version of
the S-92.
"We looked at everything in
terms of size and range, as well
as several different options, and
determined that a new medium-lift
helicopter was the most cost-
effective solution," says Maj Dave
Morgan, deputy chief of the CSAR
mission team. The air force was
briefed on the results in July and
has directed the AAC to start for-
mulating an operational require-
ments document (ORD).
The ORD is expected to take
nine months to complete and, sub-
ject to Joint Requirements
Oversight Council approval,
should lead to a request for propos-
als being issued in late 2003 or
early 2004. The ACC hopes to
secure initial funding in the
FY2004 budget and has set 2010 as
target date for initial operational
capability.
ACC is looking for a new
machine offering "close to a 50%"
increase on the 400km (220nm)
mission radius of the HH-60G,
which "we feel is deficient," says
Morgan. Potential candidates in
the study were the Sikorsky S-92
and AgustaWestland EH101.
Other options considered in the
study focused on tiltrotors, such
the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, an
upgrade and service life extension
(SLEP) of the HH-60G, a com-
pounded H-60 derivative employ-
ing a Piasecki vectored thrust
ducted propeller and composite
wing, and/or a mixed fleet also
using ex-Special Operations
Command Sikorsky MH-53E
Pave Lows.
As an interim measure, the air
force says it will have to SLEP its 10
oldest HH-60Gs, which were deliv-
ered in 1981 and are close to their
8,000h airframe life. The remaining
95 Pave Hawks were delivered from
1987 onwards and should last until
replaced.
6 14-20 AUGUST 2001 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com