Can industry really police itself? That's the question the Transportation Department's Inspector General will pose the second time starting Sept. 19, in an audit of the FAA's voluntary disclosure reporting program. The IG's review of the program comes as lawmakers continue to be concerned about the findings of a 2008 Inspector General's audit that found an FAA inspector and Southwest Airlines ducked the system.

Last week, a fresh set of calls urged Congress to address the nation's financial situation. Executives from Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems and EADS North America are proceeding with pre-election plans to warn thousands of workers that they might be laid off early next year. Two former Treasury secretaries, one Republican and one Democrat, said failing to address America's debt problem has dire economic and foreign policy implications. And Moody's rating agency now says the nation's long-held AAA rating hinges on congressional budget negotiations. Sen.

Francesco Caio Title: CEO, Avio Age: 55 Birthplace: Naples, Italy Education: Engineering degree from Milan Politecnico and MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

As Airbus's new CEO, Fabrice Bregier, and COO, Gunter Butschek, make major changes to the aircraft manufacturer's organization, the company's position within the EADS group has been strengthened. Two Airbus executives, Butschek and COO for Customers John Leahy, have been added to EADS's executive board, which now has 13 members including CEO Tom Enders.

U.S. airlines will continue to drop 50-seat regional jets from their operations; that is a certainty. Higher fuel costs have made them unprofitable on many routes, and the clauses in pilot union contracts that severely restricted the major carriers from outsourcing the flying of larger RJs have largely evaporated. Delta Air Lines has vowed to shed another 200 of them by 2015; American Eagle seems poised for a purging.

Schoenefeld is directly adjacent to Berlin Brandenburg Airport

The Irish commercial aircraft MRO industry is positioning itself for growth, as Ireland's economy slowly recovers from its own financial crisis and the global economy falters

Reconfiguring an aircraft part can cut the number of components from 300 to 10.