Efforts to reshape and morph the avionics and air traffic management portfolios of Thales Aviation Solutions could put the U.S. arm of the French company in a better position to win work on upcoming FAA and Boeing platforms. The evolution is part of a broader company review launched by Thales Chairman and Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy after he stepped into the top position in December. Levy asked executives to come up with ways to increase growth and profitability, in part by creating value for customers.

A new publicly funded flag carrier has been launched in Europe. Air Lituanica commenced scheduled operations on June 30 with a six-times-per-week service from its base in Vilnius to Brussels. A second route, to Amsterdam, started one week later, and a four-times-per-week service to Berlin Tegel is to follow in August. The operator's business plan forecasts a fleet of five Embraer E-Jets and 13-16 destinations in 2015, by when it aims to break even and carry 600,000-700,000 passengers.

EU revises rules for state aid to regional airports and airlines

After receiving initial FAA certification in March of a system combining satellite-based communications with helicopter health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS), Honeywell aims to evolve the capability for inflight broadband connectivity on passenger airliners. (Photo: Inmarsat)

The power of carbon fiber is bringing engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce back to composites more than four decades after it learned one of the harshest lessons in aerospace about the risks in being first with a new technology.

Avic commercial arm plots its course in global aerospace manufacturing

When Innovative Solutions and Support signed on with Eclipse Aviation in 2007 to replace the original semi-completed cockpit in the Eclipse 500 very light jet, the primary means of navigation and weather for many pilots in the nascent fleet was a Garmin GPS496 portable on the dashboard.

Talk of composites tends to focus on the materials in the forms used by aircraft manufacturers—tows, tapes and fabrics. But work is underway to reduce the cost and improve the performance of composite structures by looking at the carbon fibers that give the material its strength and stiffness.