Passengers stranded due to Spanair's decision to stop operating at the end of January are home, and ticket holders who never made their trips have until April 15 to try to get reimbursed. The airline, which ceased operations due to “exceptional circumstances,” according to its website, has been under financial duress for years.

ST Aerospace San Antonio’s new VIP interiors and modifications business is setting its sights on customers outside its U.S. market. “I think the exchange rate between the U.S. and euro makes it attractive to have the work done in the U.S.,” says Ron Soret, general manager of completions at ST Aerospace San Antonio, which recently rebranded its VIP interiors and modifications business, Aeria Luxury Interiors.

Aelux specializes in lighting retrofit projects and audits for warehouses, offices and any type of industrial or commercial setting. Aelux offers a specialized on-site survey for each customer to learn about which type of energy saving solution is best for their facility before performing an installation. Often, that means metering the current light load first to establish a baseline for savings. Aelux models each area of the facility to simulate different lighting options to find the best arrangement.

Atlantic Fasteners has appointed two new hires to direct new business. Tony Orvis has joined the firm's industrial fastener division as a purchasing representative. Bruce Bonzey has been appointed as the wholesaler's director of quality.

PATS Aircraft Systems has added Chris Bott as certification manager. Bott, an FAA designated engineering representative, will oversee certification efforts for PATS Aircraft Systems and Hollingsead International products.

Nordam has named Jeff Chalupa general manager of domestic operations for its transparency division in Tulsa. Chalupa joined Nordam in 2007 and most recently served as senior director of global engineering and quality for Nordam's repair division.

Gulf Air is planning to significantly expand its MRO activities by launching a separate maintenance, repair and overhaul division, The new organization will be a subsidiary of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Co., the Bahraini government's investment company, Hashim told delegates at Aviation Week's MRO Middle East Conference in Dubai. Contracts have been signed for a hangar that Hashim expects to become operational within the next two years.

Biofuels will no doubt bring the next step-change in jet fuel reduction, and airlines have continued to push development forward since Virgin Atlantic operated the first commercial airline flight powered by a biofuel blend in February 2008. As Alaska Airlines CEO Bill Ayer has professed, “To the biofuels industry, we say: 'If you build it, we will buy it.' “