Aircraft competition, and a serious comment from Kim Kardashian

[DISCLOSURE: A company that is associated to my employer was a participant in this project.]

When we think of aircraft companies, we think of Boeing and Airbus. But there are other firms:

Armenia’s Armavia Airlines took delivery Tuesday of the first Sukhoi Superjet 100 to roll off the production line. It made its maiden flights from Moscow to Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport.

The aircraft was christened “Yuri Gagarin” in memory of the first cosmonaut. The Armenian carrier holds two firm orders plus two options.

“This is definitely a great milestone for the Russian aerospace industry, because this SSJ00 is in fact the first production aircraft of modern Russia, created in partnership with worldwide aerospace leaders,” said Armavia owner Mikhail Bagdasarov.

And Sukhoi is not the only Russian aircraft company. In fact, one person heads two Russian aircraft firms:

Chief of Russia’s Sukhoi holding company, Mikhail Pogasyan, will replace Alexei Feodorov as the CEO of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), according to a top Kremlin aide....

Mikhail Pogosyan's Sukhoi Holding is involved in the development of fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) on the basis of PAK-FA T-50 project in which India also has a stake.

Fyodorov lost his post for failing to implement President Medvedev’s orders on drafting innovation programmes for the company, Ria Novosti reported.

UAC, a state-controlled corporation, was established in 2006 to streamline the Russian aircraft making industry.

And if you want to talk about companies being in bed together, Boeing is an advisor to the Sukhoi Superjet 100 project.

Oh, and Armenia's good friends in Turkey have selected Sikorsky for a regional project.

P.S. Sometimes personalities are dismissed for being vapid, but Kim Kardashian took a stand in April when she discovered that her picture appeared on the cover of a Turkish Cosmopolitan magazine during the same month that Genocide Remembrance Day is observed. But what will happen if Lamar Odom faces Boston or Chicago in the NBA Finals?