On The Fly…

Goodrich Corp. will sell its avionics business to L-3 Communications Holdings for $188 million. The sale will close within a couple of months. Goodrich makes aircraft instruments, while L-3 makes intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance products for military and intelligence agencies…

Jane Garvey, former FAA head, is no longer an unemployment statistic. Garvey has joined APCO Worldwide as its VP in charge of transportation issues. APCO calls itself a “strategic communications” organization specializing in, among other things, government relations, which sounds a lot like lobbying to us. We were never worried about her being able to make the rent…

A Northwest Airlines pilot who jumped the gun, so to speak, by packing a pistol with him in his carry-on has illuminated the issues that will arise when pilots can legally carry guns to the cockpit. The Northwest pilot was arrested, but soon there will be thousands of “federal flight deck officers” allowed to carry guns. The Transportation Security Administration has until Feb. 25 to come up with a plan to train them…

E stands for efficiency in the new Boeing 7E7 as the world’s largest aerospace company and soon-to-be second-largest maker of airliners plays catch-up with archrival Airbus. Boeing will go head to head with Airbus’s 320 and 330 series with a 200- to 250-passenger, twin-aisle jet that will have a range of up to 9,200 miles. Boeing will start taking orders on the 7E7 in 2004 and hopes to have them in the air by 2008…

EAA AirVenture Museum has announced its 2003 calendar of events. Among the highlights is the Gary Powers U-2 display, Laughter and Tears, an exhibit of art by George Rarey, who was killed flying P-47s in WWII, as well as numerous family and children’s events…

If you can’t take your own plane to EAA AirVenture this year, airlines are helping ease the pain of flying with them by offering special fares. Most are offering 8- to 10-percent discounts on flights booked well in advance and 5 percent on last-minute purchases. Arrival cities include Appleton, Milwaukee, Chicago and South Bend, Ind.