News Articles March 31, 2010

• March 31, 2010
  
  

  Posted on Mar. 31, 2010

  Quick summary of today’s news articles (Full text of articles follows):

  - Enid Woodring Regional Airport is a busy place these days, not just with
  airplanes and fuel but expansion work as well.

  - Russia’s Antonov AN-124 cargo jet, one of the largest aircraft in the
  world, landed at Tulsa International Airport on Tuesday for refueling and a
  crew rest, airport officials said.

  - Putting on protective goggles, latex gloves and a plastic apron, U.S.
  Rep. Mary Fallin went to work Tuesday morning at a NORDAM assembly line in
  north Tulsa.

  - Journal Record op-ed by Phil Busey and Dick Burpee comparing San
  Antonio’s aerospace industry to Oklahoma’s aerospace industry, in
  particular Tinker Air Force Base.

  - Tulsa World editorial encouraging the state’s education leaders to
  continue its efforts to obtain a federal grant through the Race to the Top
  initiative.

  - The aviation industry is recovering from the downturn, National Air
  Transportation Association president Jim Coyne told attendees at Tuesday’s
  Wichita Aero Club luncheon. Fuel sales, used aircraft prices, flight hours
  and business with fractional ownership companies have risen during the
  first quarter of 2010, he said.

  - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday pressed President Barack
  Obama for assurances that the Pentagon’s continuing search for a contractor
  to build a $35 billion fleet of new aerial-refueling tankers would be fair.

  - Column from Time magazine questioning why the Obama Administration is
  finding it difficult to fill the Transportation Security Administration’s
  top spot.

  STATE AIRPORTS

  Hammers are flying at Woodring airport
  By Robert Barron, Staff Writer
  Enid News and Eagle
  3/20/2010

  ENID – Enid Woodring Regional Airport is a busy place these days, not just
  with airplanes and fuel but expansion work as well.

  A new airport rescue firefighting vehicle and maintenance building
  currently is under construction. The facility will house the airport’s
  firefighting and snow removal equipment. It replaces a building constructed
  in the 1940s, and Airport Director Dan Ohnesorge hopes to see it complete
  this summer.

  Another project is lengthening 66th Street, where it runs along the east
  perimeter of the airport, for better utilization by Cimarron Industrial
  Park and the foreign trade zone there. That project is expected to start in
  mid-May and be completed in about eight months, Ohnesorge said.

  “It was helped along with a $400,000 grant from the Oklahoma Department of
  Transportation industrial road program,” he said.

  The foreign trade zone allows businesses to trade in products duty free or
  at reduced duty costs.

  KC Electric also is installing a Precision Approach Path Indicator that
  guides approaching aircraft to the proper angle when landing.

  “We’re also working with other electrical projects on the main runway. It
  should be done in 60 days depending on weather,” he said.

  Ohnesorge and Airport Advisory Board members are proceeding with the
  airport master plan to build the type of airport Enid will need in the
  future.

  “We envision 25 years in the future and try to sequence improvements to the
  airport. We’re getting input from pilots, the airport board members,” he
  said.

  A major project coming in the near future is a micro-surface for runway
  13/31 and the associated taxiway. Ohnesorge said the current overlay is
  asphalt containing significant cracking, and Oklahoma Aeronautics
  Commission has allowed a grant to fix the cracks and put a micro-surface on
  it.

  Crews also are working on a terminal renovation. The old TSA room has been
  turned into an additional dining area, and Ohnesorge wants to perform some
  remodeling to make it bigger. City crews have done part of the work, which
  saved the city significant savings on the project.

  Welcome to Tulsa
  One of the world’s largest planes lands at the airport
  By D.R. STEWART, Staff Writer
  Tulsa World
  3/31/2010

  Russia’s Antonov AN-124 cargo jet, one of the largest aircraft in the
  world, landed at Tulsa International Airport on Tuesday for refueling and a
  crew rest, airport officials said.

  The Antonov Airlines jet, with four turbofan engines, was parked most of
  the day on the apron between the east and west concourse at Tulsa
  International.

  The flight originated in Lawton and was scheduled to depart Tulsa at
  midnight, said Jeffrey Strow, office manager of Atlantic Aviation, 7500 E.
  Apache St.

  “They’re headed overseas,” he said. “We provide all the ground-handling
  services, ground transportation, catering and hotel reservations for them.“

  The AN-124, which first flew in 1982, was designed by Russia’s Antonov
  Design Bureau to be the largest transport aircraft in the world.

  With a wingspan of 240 feet, 5 inches, it is larger than the United States’
  Lockheed C-5B Galaxy’s 222-foot, 8-inch wingspan – the largest aircraft in
  North America.

  However, it is smaller than the Antonov AN-225 Cossack, which measures 290
  feet, 2 inches across the wings.

  The Antonov cargo jets occasionally visit Tulsa to transport aircraft
  components for Spirit AeroSystems Inc., officials said.

  Last year, Antonov Airlines submitted an emergency exemption application to
  the U.S. Department of Transportation to fly a fully assembled G650
  business jet wing manufactured in Tulsa by Spirit AeroSystems to Gulfstream
  Aerospace Corp. in Savannah, Ga., government documents say.

  Antonov’s application to DOT said the wing measures 58-by-19.25-by-9.25
  feet and “cannot be accommodated by any freighter aircraft operated by U.S.
  carriers.“

  OK AEROSPACE INDUSTRY

  Fallin gets to work on campaign
  Gubernatorial hopeful launches bid in factories
  By MICHAEL OVERALL, Staff Writer
  Tulsa World
  3/31/2010

  Putting on protective goggles, latex gloves and a plastic apron, U.S. Rep.
  Mary Fallin went to work Tuesday morning at a NORDAM assembly line in north
  Tulsa.

  Saying they expected her to do it just long enough to have a picture taken,
  plant managers deliberately assigned her one of the most labor-intensive
  jobs – using hand-held power tools to put the final polish on newly
  manufactured aircraft windows.

  Then the Republican gubernatorial hopeful kept at it for nearly 45 minutes,
  even starting over on a Boeing 747 window after it failed inspection. All
  without a photographer in sight.

  “I wanted to work,” Fallin said. “And this is hard work.“

  So is running for governor.

  With Congress in recess, Fallin embarked this week on a 15-day tour that
  will take her to 21 counties across the state to experience a variety of
  “ordinary” jobs.

  Among others, she plans to work as a veterinarian’s assistant in Nowata, a
  nurse’s aide in Muskogee, a UPS driver in Oklahoma City and a ranch hand in
  the Panhandle.

  “I want to be sure to listen to the people of Oklahoma,” Fallin said. “Not
  only the employers, but the employees.“

  Fallin and state Sen. Randy Brogdon are the leading Republican contenders
  to appear on November’s ballot for governor.

  Tuesday afternoon, after her stint at NORDAM, Fallin spent half an hour
  operating heavy machinery at a Webco factory in Sand Springs.

  The company recently cut back on health-care benefits after state mandates
  caused premiums to increase, Fallin said.

  “So mandates can backfire,” she said later, while meeting with members of
  the media at the Tulsa Press Club. “You don’t do the employees any favors
  by making the costs go up for the employers.“

  Along with a few other congressional Republicans, Fallin recently made
  national news by appearing on a U.S. Capitol balcony with a “Don’t Tread on
  Me” flag during a tea party rally against the Democratic health-care
  legislation.

  Other members of Congress used underground passageways to avoid the
  protesters, Fallin said.

  “But I wanted to mingle with the people,” she said, “and I wanted to hear
  what they had to say.“

  Some Democratic lawmakers accused the protesters of using racial slurs and
  making physical threats.

  “There’s no place for that whatsoever in our political system,” Fallin
  said.

  “From what I saw, it was peaceful. And people on both sides were expressing
  their opinions.“

  Other jobs on the “Working Across Oklahoma” tour will include driving a bus
  in Lawton, waiting on tables in Muskogee and hosting a radio program in
  Weatherford.

  Other Republicans in the governor’s race are Roger Jackson of Oklahoma City
  and Yukon businessman Robert Hubbard.

  Democratic candidates are Lt. Gov. Jari Askins and Attorney General Drew
  Edmondson.

  Primary elections are set for July 27.

  Aerospace growth critical to oklahoma
  By Phil G. Busey Sr. and Dick Burpee
  Guest Columnists
  The Journal Record
  3/26/2010

  Aerospace is a strong business platform for economic growth in Oklahoma.
  While the recession batters many industries, government-related aerospace
  and Department of Defense contracting remains strong.

  Critical to Oklahoma is the sustainment and commitment of Oklahoma and our
  congressional delegation to ensure the viability of U.S. Air Force bases
  like Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City and support for commercial
  aviation giants like American Airlines. Tinker has more than 25,000
  employees and contributes $3 billion to Oklahoma’s economy annually.

  Nothing is certain and Oklahoma must work diligently to ensure our military
  facilities remain BRAC (Base Closure and Realignment Commission) proof
  while we offer incentives for new companies to consider Oklahoma as a base
  of operations. Critical to the sustaining of larger defense-oriented
  aerospace companies are efforts to continually ensure new work is added to
  Tinker AFB.

  As the Air Force brings on new aircraft platforms, maintenance repair and
  overhaul work is funneled to Tinker. There are three Air Force depots
  nationally. All compete for work.

  Oklahoma cannot take its eye off the ball. This competition is fierce.
  Right now 70 percent of Tinker’s $5.2 billion annual budget is spent out of
  state.

  There is a core of capable small business suppliers that can be attractive
  to larger companies for support. Supporting and marketing an Oklahoma
  supplier base can be an economic incentive. Further, segments of the
  industry are experiencing an inability to find and hire trained mechanics,
  engineers and support technicians. This is both local and national.
  Oklahoma must meet these demands to compete effectively. Strong work force
  development is a business plus.

  Oklahoma can learn from San Antonio. Kelly Air Force Base was a competing
  depot until closed during the BRAC round in 1995.

  A critical evaluation factor then and for Tinker was efficiency and
  productivity ratings. After Kelly was closed, San Antonio formed the San
  Antonio Port Authority and with the help of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutcheson,
  R-Texas, and Texas leaders, was able to retain large aerospace facilities
  and has grown a premier location for aerospace support.

  Today there are 13 aerospace companies at the complex generating more than
  $1.5 billion in local revenue and 8,000 jobs. This complex is on a rapid
  growth plan into the 21st century.

  Major tenants have announced expansion and new job creation. Boeing is
  adding capabilities to service its new 787 Dreamliner there. Lockheed is
  adding commercial business.

  Touring facilities in San Antonio in April 2009, we were advised a new $84
  million in contract modification work for the KC-135 was coming. The work
  is for Tinker but being performed in San Antonio. We have to strive to
  bring this type of work to Oklahoma.

  Oklahoma’s leaders must come together aggressively identifying and
  developing support to attract new contracts and facilities. We have to
  ensure Tinker and all our military bases are working at the highest
  capacity to withstand future BRAC rounds.

  In tough economic times we have the option to commit to the strategic
  development of this vital industry. Economic diversification building on
  aerospace and an established energy sector means future expansion and the
  ability to compete nationally.

  Phil G. Busey Sr. is chairman and CEO of the Busey Group of Companies and
  retired Lt. Gen. Dick Burpee (USAF) is with RAB Enterprises LLC

  STEM EDUCATION

  Lost race
  We’ll get ‘em next time
  By World’s Editorial Writers
  Tulsa World
  3/31/2010

  The first round of the Race to the Top competition for a federal education
  jackpot has ended, and Oklahoma wasn’t much of a factor. Forty-one states
  competed and Oklahoma placed 34th, well out of the money.

  Considering the efforts of the Legislature, the governor’s office and state
  education officials to make the state competitive in the effort, it would
  be easy to be angry or ungracious in defeat.

  Doubting minds will immediately notice that the two big winners in the
  competition are Tennessee and Delaware, states with congressmen key to
  Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s hopes of passing changes to the No Child
  Left Behind law.

  Coincidence? Probably.

  Those inclined toward conspiracy will also notice the names of key
  political states in the president’s re-election hopes – Florida, Illinois,
  Pennsylvania and Ohio – in the top tier of the competition. Oklahoma, one
  of the reddest of the red states, is at the bottom with other states that
  Obama is likely to ignore in the 2012 campaign, such as Wyoming, South
  Dakota and Alabama.

  Again, no smoking gun, just an itchy feeling.

  But it doesn’t take a paranoid to come to this conclusion: The Obama
  administration had no reason to want to help Oklahoma in its quest for Race
  to the Top money, and apparently it didn’t do so.

  In the end, however, the state’s best response is to behave as if the
  competition was on the level, and resolve to do better in the second round.
  Some $3.4 billion is still available and Oklahoma can compete for as much
  as $175 million of that.

  Remember your elementary school coach’s words: When you lose a competition,
  get up, dust yourself off and start learning from the experience. Accept
  the challenge to win next time.

  State leaders need to study the winning proposals and find out what
  advantages Tennessee and Delaware brought to the competition, and then go
  those proposals one better.

  There is too much money at stake and its potential impact for the
  schoolchildren of Oklahoma is too important to declare Race for the Top a
  politically fixed game. We have to compete with an eye toward winning next
  time.

  GENERAL AVIATION

  Aviation chief sees signs of recovery
  BY MOLLY MCMILLIN
  The Wichita Eagle
  3/31/2010

  The aviation industry is recovering from the downturn, National Air
  Transportation Association president Jim Coyne told attendees at Tuesday’s
  Wichita Aero Club luncheon.

  Fuel sales, used aircraft prices, flight hours and business with fractional
  ownership companies have risen during the first quarter of 2010, he said.

  Coyne expects increases again in the second quarter.

  That’s good news, he said. But it will take time for that to translate into
  new aircraft sales, which lag the rest of the industry.

  “It definitely will be a while,” Coyne said.

  Corporate profits drive aviation sales.

  And businesses still face uncertainty. For one, they are waiting for
  clarity from Congress about tax policies, he said.

  NATA represents about 2,000 general aviation service companies, such as
  fixed-base operators, charter providers, aircraft management companies,
  maintenance and repair organizations, and flight training and airline
  service companies.

  Yingling Aviation president Lynn Nichols said after Coyne’s speech that his
  business validates what Coyne said about an improving aviation industry.

  Two leading indicators for Yingling – fuel sales and part sales – are up.

  “We’re encouraged,” Nichols said. “It’s been a good solid five months in a
  row.“

  Coyne, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is a pilot
  with instrument and multi-engine ratings. He has an undergraduate degree
  from Yale and an MBA from Harvard University. He served in the White House
  as a special assistant to President Reagan and as director of the Office of
  Private Sector Initiatives.

  He was named president of NATA in 1994.

  “I am fully recovered from my time in Congress,” Coyne quipped. “I went
  through the 12-step program.“

  His “greatest loves in life” are aviation and politics, he said.

  A year ago, Coyne wrote President Obama after Obama’s State of the Union
  address in which he criticized the use of private aircraft by CEOs.

  “He took this unnecessary swipe at people who use private jets,” Coyne
  said.

  The comment made the downturn in the business jet industry worse, Coyne
  said.

  In the letter, Coyne told Obama that as president, he would come to
  appreciate the benefits an airplane would give him.

  “It’s a little bit of a stretch to call Air Force One a business aviation
  airplane,” Coyne said. “But that’s what it is.“

  On Sunday, Obama praised the use of the aircraft when he spoke to troops in
  Afghanistan.

  “I’m pleased that he’s figured out what I told him is true,” Coyne said.

  In fact, there’s never been a president who has used Air Force One as much
  as Obama, he said.

  Obama is not the only president who uses an aircraft as a critical part of
  doing business.

  Presidents, vice presidents and many other business people of companies and
  organizations use business aircraft as a “critical” part of their business,
  Coyne said

  TANKER CONTROVERSY

  Sarkozy weighs in on tanker contract
  By JEN DIMASCIO
  Politico
  3/30/10

  French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday pressed President Barack Obama
  for assurances that the Pentagon’s continuing search for a contractor to
  build a $35 billion fleet of new aerial-refueling tankers would be fair.

  Answering a French reporter’s question during a joint news conference with
  Obama at the White House, Sarkozy stressed the importance of trust between
  the two nations, particularly in the bidding for the new tankers.

  The French president and other European officials have criticized the
  bidding process as unfairly favoring Boeing over the European Aeronautic
  Defence and Space Co.

  “I said to him, ‘I trust you.’ And I do trust him,” Sarkozy said. “If you
  say to me that the request for proposals, the call for tenders, will be
  free, fair and transparent, then we say EADS will bid, and we trust you.“

  “The trust is justified,” Obama replied, noting that Defense Secretary
  Robert Gates, who’s been overhauling procurement procedures, would make the
  decision.

  “The president does not meddle in these decisions. … I maintain an arm’s
  length approach,” Obama added, “but I have assurances from Secretary of
  Defense Gates that, in fact, the rebidding process is going to be
  completely transparent, completely open and a fair competition.“

  Earlier, during a visit with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London,
  Sarkozy’s disappointment with the tanker bidding had been more evident.

  “If they want to be heard in the fight against protectionism, they should
  not set the example of protectionism,” Sarkozy was quoted as saying by
  Reuters. “There is what you say, and then there is what you do.“

  This is the third time the Air Force has tried to acquire a new fleet of
  tankers to replace its aging KC-135s first made in the Eisenhower era.

  EADS, which dropped out of the bidding with its U.S. partner, Northrop
  Grumman, is now considering whether to stay in the fight against Boeing on
  its own. Defense insiders say other U.S. companies are unlikely to form the
  kind of partnership EADS had with Northrop.

  Bids for the tanker are due to the Pentagon by May 10, but EADS has asked
  for a 90-day extension to regroup after Northrop pulled out.

  The Pentagon is still considering the request.

  “We have a company that has reached out to us to explore the possibility of
  participating in this bidding process and has raised the prospect of
  needing more time,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters
  Tuesday. “We’re trying to gain a better understanding of why they would
  need more time.“

  AVIATION SECURITY

  Travel Snafu: The Stumbling Search for a TSA Chief
  By Mark Thompson, Washington
  Time
  3/31/2010

  More than a year into President Obama’s Administration – and three months
  after the Nigerian underwear bomber failed in his attempt to blow a U.S.
  airliner out of the sky over Detroit – the nation still doesn’t have a top
  cop at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Why is the
  Administration having such a tough time filling this vital slot?

  Robert Harding, the most recent nominee, withdrew from consideration last
  Friday after concerns were raised about government contracts he had
  received following his retirement from the Army. In withdrawing his
  nomination, Harding said the “distractions caused by my work as a defense
  contractor would not be good for this Administration, nor for the
  Department of Homeland Security.” His withdrawal followed the similar fate
  two months earlier of former FBI agent Erroll Southers, after revelations
  that he had tapped into a federal database seeking information on his
  estranged wife’s boyfriend. Southers had initially told Senators he asked a
  co-worker’s husband in the San Diego police department to run a background
  check, but later admitted that he himself had conducted two database
  searches into the man’s background.

  Political considerations may well have played a role in the derailing of
  both nominations. When Southers withdrew, the White House issued a
  statement quoting him saying that his desire to serve “has been obstructed
  by political ideology.” To be sure, the poisonous atmosphere on Capitol
  Hill has made it necessary for any candidate to be bulletproof in order to
  withstand partisan scrutiny. But it’s clear that, despite the Obama
  Administration’s reputation for scrubbing its candidates before nominating
  them, there appears to have been poor vetting in both these cases. “In this
  politically toxic environment, it only takes one thing to derail a
  nomination,” says Richard Cooper, a former Department of Homeland Security
  official. “But there were a lot of outstanding questions about Harding’s
  contracts.“

  Harding, a two-star Army general, retired in 2001 and two years later set
  up a company with his wife as his partner. Then, in 2008, their company
  landed a nearly $100 million contract from the Army that involved
  identifying people via retinal scans and other unique biometrics. Harding’s
  company was the only bidder, according to the Washington Post. The company
  collected about $200 million in federal contracts before Harding sold it
  last year.

  Harding landed the contract after certifying he was a “service disabled
  veteran” because he suffered from sleep apnea, which would have given him
  an edge over other prospective bidders. Cooper notes skeptically that he
  too suffers from sleep apnea. “But it has never been what I would call
  disabling,” he wrote on his blog Monday. “If anything, I find myself
  shaking my head in complete disbelief that of all the truly serious
  injuries that halt the military careers of our service members, this
  breathing disorder would be excuse enough to get a multimillion-dollar
  contract.“

  A second troublesome contract called on Harding’s firm to provide 40
  interrogators to work in Iraq for his old office – the Defense Intelligence
  Agency – where he had served as director of operations from 1996 to 2000.
  While the contract could have been worth $50 million, the Army ended it
  after spending only $6 million because of the relatively few Iraqis the
  U.S. military wanted to question, Harding told a Senate committee last
  week. But some $2.4 million of that ended up being questioned by government
  auditors. That included “severance payments” averaging $20,000 each that
  Harding had paid to each of the 40 interrogators after the government
  canceled the contract – payments Harding could not legally make because
  they were not provided for in the scope of the agreement with the
  government.

  The Obama Administration now has to start over, for a third time, and there
  is concern it will be months before another TSA nominee can be found and
  vetted. The vacancy could be both a security problem for the nation and a
  political problem for the Obama Administration. Brian Jenkins, a terrorism
  expert with the Rand Corp., says a TSA without a confirmed leader hurts in
  two ways: it’s bad for front-line morale, and it means there will be no
  bold policy proposals coming from the agency. “TSA can continue to tread
  water while it awaits a leader,” says Jenkins. “But the threat is dynamic,
  and treading water isn’t good enough.“

  The failure to get someone running TSA is only a minor irritant so long as
  no major terrorist attack happens on an airplane, ship or train while the
  spot is vacant. But if there’s no one in charge of preventing it when
  something does happen, it’s also a political disaster that could mortally
  wound a President’s hopes for a second term.