One goal: a consistent passenger experience across aircraft types.

The big European legacy carriers will have to focus on replacing their widebody fleets in the next few years, and orders are in place for some, but not all, of their requirements.

The acquisition of TAP Portugal by Synergy Group could be one of the most significant.

Pratt & Whitney always believed the pivotal launch of the geared turbofan for regional and smaller airliners was the first step to opening a crack in the door back to the big time. Now, with tests of the first Airbus A320NEO engine about to begin, there is no disguising Pratt's view that the door is finally yawning wide open.

Is the retirement rate for airliners accelerating?

If present trends continue, no airline pilot will fly without a tablet computer; nor will any aircraft mechanic attempt a repair without one. For the pilot, the devices represent the latest evolution in electronic flight bags (EFBs), which first made inroads, nearly two decades ago via the laptop computer. For mechanics, the far less bulky tablets will provide a new measure of mobility, as digital maintenance manuals can be downloaded and taken where the work is being done.

Holographic video, headphone-less audio and social media may be coming.

Supply is slowly rising to meet a long-standing demand in the broadband connectivity market for passenger cabins and cockpits. The rebalancing is driving a flurry of forward-fit and retrofit activity in the sector as airlines struggle to meet the bandwidth-heavy habits of their customers.