Largest Gear Ever Supplied By Messier-Dowty

On Monday, Messier-Dowty announced the delivery of the first test A380 nose landing gear to Airbus UK. Standing at 4.8 meters tall when fully extended, the A380 nose landing gear is the largest landing gear ever supplied by Messier-Dowty to Airbus. The gear will be fitted to the Airbus system test rig located in Filton, England to allow Airbus UK to perform the aircraft systems testing validation. Messier-Dowty was selected in 2001 to design, manufacture, test and support the nose landing gear for the Airbus A380. The nose gear development benefits from Messier-Dowty's extensive experience on previous Airbus aircraft, including the A340-600, and will ensure a future growth capability of the aircraft up to 620 tons. Th

Well Positioned for 2004; High Fuel Prices Remain a Challenge

On Tuesday, Continental Airlines reported a fourth quarter net income of $47 million ($0.67 diluted earnings per share). These results include additional net income of $85 million relating to special items, primarily driven by the sale of interests in Hotwire and Orbitz.Excluding the special items, Continental's loss per share was $0.58 for the quarter, which compares favorably to the First Call mean estimate of $0.81 loss per share. The results, excluding special items, are a 65 percent improvement over the fourth quarter 2002 loss per share of $1.67. Continental's net income for the full year was $38 million ($0.58 diluted earnings per share). Excluding special items ($136 million after taxes) and the gove

Kirk Watson Named VP, Aircraft Technical Services

AeroCentury Corp., an independent aircraft leasing company, announced on Monday that JetFleet Canada Ltd., a subsidiary of its management company, JetFleet Management Corp., has hired Kirk Watson as Vice President, Aircraft Technical Services. Mr. Watson joins AeroCentury from Avionco Inc., where he served as Technical Director since 2001. Prior to joining Avionco, Mr. Watson held various positions of increasing responsibility at Avmax Group, Field Aviation West Ltd., and several regional airline and airline service firms. Mr. Watson holds a Certification in Management from Canadian Institute of Management along with various airline maintenance licenses. AeroCentury is an aircraft operating lessor and finance co