When an Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300ER completed a Los Angeles-Auckland flight in December, it was the first time an airline operated under 240-minute extended operations (ETOPS). But the new 240-minute limit is no longer the edge of the envelope, as a 330 minute time is now poised to become the new ETOPS gold standard. That's because in November Boeing received type design authority from the FAA to offer a 330-minute ETOPS “option” on the GE90-powered 777 family.

The A380 has only been in service for five years, but it has clearly received much more coverage regarding technical failures than Airbus would have wished.

Airlines push old programs and new technologies to deliver big fuel savings.

Boeing is a founding member of the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association, formed in 2006. Since 2004, the company has been researching and developing ways to recycle composites, starting with carbon fiber reinforced plastic from F-18 aircraft and then scrap from the Boeing 777 and Boeing 787. More than 50,000 lb. of carbon fiber are used to construct each 787 airframe, most of which should be salvageable at the end of its life.

The University of Nottingham's Institute for Aerospace Technology has a portfolio of projects valued at more than £35 million. Main aerospace research themes include advanced materials; advanced manufacturing; applied optics; electromagnetics; polymer composites; power electronics, machines and control; satellite navigation technologies; structural integrity and dynamics, as well as thermodynamics and fluid mechanics. The University of Nottingham's research base includes more than 50 academic researchers who often work with leading aerospace companies.

GKN is a global engineering business with operations in more than 30 countries, employing more than 42,000 people. Its aerospace operation is a major supplier of complex composite structures and focuses on the three major product areas of aerostructures, propulsion systems and transparencies in addition to specialty products. In November, GKN partnered with Airbus, AgustaWestland, Rolls-Royce, Umeco and Vestas to open the 8,500 sq. meter national composites center in the U.K. GKN is a founding member of the U.K.'s national composites network, launched in 2005.

U.S.-based leisure carriers Allegiant Air and Spirit Airlines are exceptionally profitable but couldn't be more different in their aircraft acquisition policy and operating philosophy, including route selection, flight frequencies and aircraft utilization. Those factors affect their maintenance modus operandi, although both outsource heavy maintenance.

In 2005, airframe manufacturers determined that passive radio frequency identification (RFID) technology presented an opportunity to get timely access to maintenance histories for parts. Through the efforts of the Air Transport Association (now A4A) and SAE International, testing standards and data specifications are in place to support passive RFID for storing parts' history directly on the parts.