Taiwan is hoping improved relations with China, an upgrade to Taipei's international airport and a new aerospace park will help it establish itself as an Asia-Pacific hub. Better relations with China have led to the opening of flights across the Taiwan Strait, a boon for Taiwanese carriers that are now being welcomed into global airline alliances. Late last month, EVA Air signed an agreement that paves the way for it to formally join the Star Alliance in 2013.

The ambition of Chinese industry is drawing attention beyond anything in Russia, Japan or India.

The CSeries family of medium-range airliners may end up meeting the same fate as the short-lived Boeing 717. So says Bryan Bedford, the CEO and chairman of Republic Airways Holdings, the CSeries' largest customer. Bedford's remarks seem rather curious, particularly since one would expect him to be touting the aircraft. Republic placed a firm order in February 2010 for 40 CS300s for delivery starting in 2015. The U.S. group said the aircraft would be assigned to its carrier Frontier Airlines.

Pinnacle Airlines, the third-largest holding company for U.S. regional airlines, is citing a “race to the bottom” among the country's regionals as a major contributor to its filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this month.

The Antonov An-148 regional jet has never been the kind of industrial darling of the government as the Sukhoi Superjet 100, and it has faced many challenges in development. Ironically, now that the program is reaching operational highs, its prospects are at their bleakest. A weak order backlog is drawing into question the Ukrainian-Russian program, developed by Antonov's Kiev-based design bureau and built under license by Russia's VASO plant. But VASO officials are not ready to throw in the towel yet.

After validating assumptions on the manufacturing cost and efficiency of laminar flow, Boeing says it is proceeding with a baseline design that will apply the technology to the horizontal and vertical stabilizers of the 787-9, but not the wing. “We did it where it is most practical,” says Chief Project Engineer Mike Sinnett, who accompanied ZA003, the third 787-8 flight-test airplane, to its presentation at Chile's Fidae air show here in late March.

As technologies mature and delivery dates for many new products near, the cabin interiors and inflight entertainment (IFE) supply chain must deliver on many its promises—and soon. A host of new services particularly in the IFE world are being installed on aircraft worldwide and, with broadband Internet and communication applications becoming widely available, the key question is whether passengers will use the new services to the extent expected.

Boeing will roll out the second 787-8 destined for Air India from its new South Carolina assembly plant this month, marking another step in that state's expansion as one of the American South's rising stars in aviation manufacturing.