The world 's best-selling jet is a winner for aftermarket suppliers

Can you pinpoint one or two industry trends that emerged in 2013? One could argue that the debates about OEMs' increasing penetration of the aftermarket became more vociferous this year. But did they? While safety issues will be mainly black or white, many MRO issues have shifted to shades of gray.

When Northern European and North Atlantic air traffic came to halt in 2010 following the eruption of the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, Air France Industries KLM Engineering and Maintenance (AFI KLM E&M) continued to serve its customers by shipping parts and components from its operations in Miami and Kuala Lumpur. This is one example of the risk-management initiative supporting its supply chain operations, say Benjamin Moreau and Harmen Lanser, members of the component services team.

Fuel savings, durability are behind enhanced powerplant repairs

China’s unsettling new air defense zone is taste of things to come

Aviation Week Senior Air Transport Editor Adrian Schofield was honored at the 2013 Australia and New Zealand Aviation Media Awards, an event held by the National Aviation Press Club in Sydney. Schofield, who works from Auckland, New Zealand, won the Rolls-Royce Trophy for Technical Story of the Year, for an article on automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (AW&ST Feb. 11, p. 46). He was also runner-up in the News Story of the Year category and a finalist for Journalist of the Year.

By making its announcement on Cyber Monday, Dec. 2, the biggest online shopping day of the year in the U.S., electronic-commerce giant Amazon was certain to get exhaustive and enthusiastic news coverage of its plans to use unmanned aircraft to deliver packages directly to customers. While Amazon has conducted test fights using a small quadcopter UAV to deliver a package, the realities of the FAA's regulatory requirements make it unlikely the delivery service, called Amazon Prime Air, will become available in 2015 as the company suggests.

While there is plenty to debate about where U.S. defense budgets could settle in 2014-15, there is no debate about the Pentagon's desire to continue to compete with cutting-edge technology. It expects defense advantages to be sustained through investment in new weapons and support systems that provide a generational lead over those fielded by adversaries.