The Web has done more than any medium to pin the pejorative label “drones” on unmanned aircraft. But now, two giants of the Internet are taking a new look at the old idea of using unmanned platforms as “atmospheric satellites” to bring affordable, accessible connectivity to all parts of the world (see page 28).

Three big trends are underway in the Chinese airline industry: local government backing of services to promote economic growth, a westward push by carriers seeking to corral new markets and an outward push by airlines trying to make up for decades of underperformance in international operations. Movement on each of those fronts has occurred in the past few weeks.

Talk of streaming flight data from aircraft, sparked by the Air France Flight 447 crash into the Atlantic in 2009, has been rekindled by Malaysia Airlines Flight 370's disappearance over the Indian Ocean.

Mention aircraft broadband connectivity and the first thought is Wi-Fi access for passengers. But engineers are already looking beyond updating Facebook and streaming YouTube inflight

Airbus has presented the cabin of its new Airbus A350

The A350-800 backlog shrinks to just 34 aircraft after Aircraft Purchase Flee cancelled 12

Embedded inflight entertainment (IFE) systems have become synonymous with long-haul air travel, providing a welcome distraction to passengers seated in tight quarters for many hours

In this week's Check 6 podcast, Aviation Week editors discusss what connectivity means for aircraft and what aircraft can do for connectivity.