Canada's CAE and Israeli manufacturer Aeronautics have completed initial flights of a Dominator XP twin-engine unmanned aircraft from Alma Airport in Quebec under Project Miskam. The flights from the UAS Center of Excellence at Alma constitute the first phase of an R&D project aimed at demonstrating how unmanned aircraft can be used for civil applications such as inspecting pipelines and hydroelectric installations, monitoring forest fires and natural resources, and assessing disasters.

Embraer may wait until 2013 to select a new engine for its family of E-Jets as it talks with airlines about what upgrades are needed to keep the aircraft competitive.

Aerospace executives' skepticism about the prospects for implementing the NextGen air traffic control system is fading. With Congress finally having passed an FAA reauthorization bill that allows for new methods of financing the overhaul of air traffic management—the primary hurdle to persuading the airline industry to invest in NextGen equipment—execs are increasingly pointing to the potential payoff. In fact, the campaign now has so much momentum that it will be difficult to block implementation, says Fedex President and CEO David Bronzcek.

Airbus and Boeing face a common problem, with so much interest in their new narrowbodies, the A320NEO and 737 MAX—how to fill production gaps as existing products are replaced.

For EgyptAir, it will be crucial that the country's June presidential elections bring greater political stability if the airline is to have any hope of seeing passenger traffic returning to normal. The Star Alliance carrier has been through a tumultuous 14 months following the civil unrest and violence that toppled the nearly 30-year regime of President Hosni Mubarak. Then in August, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was toppled from power.

The race is on to become one of the six U.S. sites responsible for testing UAVs in civilian airspace. The contest represents a huge opportunity at the dawn of a new industry, and a call last week from the FAA attracted interest from businesses large and small, universities, airports, lawmakers and the U.S. Army. The FAA says it will choose the test sites by December and is currently looking for comments that will help it winnow the many contenders.

That the face of Europe's network carriers is changing has been clear for some time, but even those in the drivers' seats are wondering just how deep those changes will go.

Three years ago, Rolls-Royce & Partners Finance was leasing an engine for a large narrowbody jet for $120,000 a month. Today, a similar powerplant commands a rate of just $50,000. Underpinning the 58% price cut is a simple equation: supply and demand.