When Arinc developed the Acars (aircraft communications addressing and reporting system) model in the late 1970s, the goal initially was relatively straightforward: Create a type of time stamp for aircraft taking off and returning to the hangar, says Dan Pendergast, Arinc's international division senior director.

A new mid-year report from Aviation Week's Top-Performing Companies (TPC) study reveals that the aerospace and defense (A&D) industry remains resilient, even as potentially deep cuts to Pentagon spending draw closer. Boeing held on to its top ranking of 10 publicly traded contractors with revenues of more than $20 billion, raising its TPC score two points in the first half of 2012, to 89. And the next three companies, all pure-play defense contractors, also managed to boost their performances, reversing declines in 2011.

FAA may provide more than $1 billion to help cover buying and installing NextGen CNS avionics

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has approved the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) unit at India’s Cochin International Airport to conduct line maintenance on Airbus narrowbodies. Cochin International Aviation Services Ltd. has two hangars with an area of 35,000 sq. ft. that can handle two narrowbodies simultaneously. The MRO business in India is estimated to be worth $800 million and likely to grow to $1.5 billion by 2020, says India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

David Barger, president and CEO of JetBlue Airways, has joined the Dallas-based ISTAT Airlink Advisory Council. Barger also is chair of the FAA's NextGen Advisory Committee and a member of the board of governors and treasurer of the Flight Safety Foundation.

Joe Bento (see photo) has joined Itasca, Ill.-based SEKO Logistics as chief sales officer for North America. He was executive VP of CEVA Logistics.

Ginger Wierzbanowski (see photo) has been named VP-space, missile defense, advanced technology and ground programs at Northrop Grumman Corp., Falls Church, Va., succeeding John R. Landon, who is scheduled to retire at year-end. Wierzbanowski has been VP-government relations and was legislative assistant to the vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

David Davenport (see photo) has been promoted to VP and regional operations manager of New York LaGuardia Airport-based FlightSafety International from manager of the Savannah (Ga.) Learning Center. Fabio Miguez was promoted to manager of the Columbus (Ohio) Learning Center from manager of the Detroit Metro/Toledo Center. He succeeds Chip White, who moved to the Gulfstream Learning Center. Daniel MacLellan has been promoted to regional operations manager and will continue as manager of the Dallas/Fort Worth Learning Center.