The future of Virgin Atlantic has been one of the big unknowns in the European air transport sector. Now it seems it might join forces with Delta Air Lines, a move that would have repercussions far beyond the two players.

Tablets could be a natural device for disseminating maintenance information.

Our chief pilot evaluates Boeing's high-tech twin, the 787.

It's been a tough trail to blaze, but this December, as Boeing marks the third anniversary of the first flight of the 787, the evidence suggests the twinjet program has officially turned a corner. Production is stepping up smoothly and is now halfway toward a target of 10 per month by the end of 2013; assembly is underway of the first 787-9; deliveries are accelerating and, most important, the aircraft has been well accepted by airlines and passengers alike.

After weeks of increasing disputes about everything from benefits for gay engineers to pay scales for young workers, contract talks between Boeing Commercial Airplanes and the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (Speea) were called off by mutual agreement until after the New Year.

After a crash-sprinkled early history of trial and error, the developer of a modern reinterpretation of the autogyro is reporting progress in flight testing. Carter Aviation Technologies says it has achieved lift-to-drag ratios greater than 12—flight efficiencies 2.5 times that of a helicopter—in tests of its four-seat Personal Air Vehicle (PAV) prototype.

Engineers do not expect three small cracks that appeared in the Orion multipurpose crew vehicle pressure vessel to delay the planned first flight of NASA's next human spacecraft in 2014. The cracks in three adjacent radial ribs machined into the aft bulkhead did not go all the way through, and the vessel continued to hold pressure after the cracks appeared when pressure reached 21.6 psi, according to a NASA spokeswoman. Orion's normal operating pressure is 14.7 psi.

Simulator and flight training adjustments offer promise of big gains in airline safety.