ARINC/SITA

ARINC and SITA formed an industry work group to define the next generation of business-to-business messaging for the air transport industry. The technical work group will formalize standards to complement industry Type B messaging with a new approach using XML technology and Service Oriented Architecture for communications. Group members include Northwest, BA, Worldspan, Amadeus, Lufthansa Systems, Sabre, Galileo and Mercator. The application is for reservations, passenger processing and general operations as well as the equivalent of email to airplanes. An estimated 40 million Type B messages per day are processed by ARINC and SITA and delivered across extranets to a wide variety of industry participants.

CAE

CAE won an order from Flight Training Finance (FTF) for an Embraer 170/190 full flight simulator incorporating its latest simulation technology as well as a CAE Tropos visual system. The simulator is slated for delivery to Panama City, Panama in Summer 2007 where it will be used to train Copa Airlines pilots.

Iridium

Iridium expects traffic on its mobile satellite communications network to surge 300 percent this summer in Alaska, following a 40 percent annual growth rate in Alaska- based traffic. The primary satcom service company in Alaska is marking its fifth year of providing safety coverage of the state including the Aleutians and off-shore sites, connecting satellite phone, data devices and accessories. It has been integrated into the state's telecommunications infrastructure. The company just completed construction of a new telemetry, tracking and command/control site in Fairbanks, adding redundancy to its network.

Standard Aero

Standard Aero is expanding the range of services with a five-year agreement covering PT6 engine work with Pratt & Whitney Component Solutions Inc. (PWCS). The agreement includes material purchase arrangements, component repair services, and engine teardown services. Through this agreement, idle engines drawn out of the market will provide parts for active engines, ensuring a secure quality source of serviceable material via the PWC aftermarket network and allowing greater access to quality serviceable material and repaired components.