Sir Martin Sweeting, executive chairman of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. and director of the Surrey Space Center at the University of Surrey, England, has received the International von Karman Wings Award for his contributions to aerospace, presented by the Aerospace Historical Society and the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Careful succession planning is the hallmark of any well-managed company. Chris Kubasik may be taking over as CEO of Lockheed Martin at the beginning of 2013, but the company telegraphed his ascent back in 2010, when he was elevated to president. Louis Chenevert was eased into the position of chairman and CEO of United Technologies over several years. And General Dynamics has long been grooming Phebe Novakovic, who plans to succeed the retiring Jay Johnson as CEO on Jan. 1. Now Rockwell Collins has chosen an heir apparent for its longtime chairman and CEO, Clay Jones.

USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Dick Newton has been appointed executive VP of the Arlington, Va.-based Air Force Association, succeeding David T. “Buck” Buckwalter. Newton was assistant vice chief of staff/director of the air staff at USAF headquarters at the Pentagon.

Excluding retrofits or airworthiness-directive compliance, the worldwide market for overhauling Rolls-Royce Trent 700-series turbofans is projected at about $2 billion for the next three years, with Asian carriers accounting for the largest share of the work.

US Airways is increasing capacity on its fleet of Airbus A321s by adding four seats to each aircraft.

Aviation industry groups will seek congressional penalties against the Transportation Security Administration if the agency fails to release its foreign repair station security rule before the end of March.

Think tanks, analysts and politicians have been predicting the rise of Africa’s economies and subsequent opportunities for air travel for many years. The forecasts, for various reasons, have often not turned into reality. But now it seems that foreign airline investors are gaining confidence in the region’s growth potential.

How would you define data harmonization and why does our industry need to strive for this? In preparation for our MRO IT Forum in Miami Sept. 19-21, I asked the industry via social media and LinkedIn groups for help with the definition.