Don't tell Hawaiian Airlines that a sputtering global economy will slow demand for air travel. While other U.S. carriers are putting the brakes on expansion, Hawaiian is expanding capacity at double-digit rates and adding to its fleet of widebody jets—primarily with Airbus A330s, and A350s to follow starting in 2017. Hawaiian estimated capacity would grow 15.5-17.5% in the quarter that just ended, compared with a year earlier. The consistently profitable Honolulu-based carrier expects an average load factor of 84% for the quarter and has no plans to slow its growth.

The June 7 initial bid deadline for bankrupt Canadian MRO provider Aveos's assets passed with mixed news, including indications that Air Canada is willing to help land work for the buyers of the engine and component businesses, while no bids were received for Aveos's airframe assets.

The economic life of the ATR 72 is 70,000 cycles, but based on innovation from the manufacturer and operators alike, ATR is “evaluating the possibility” of setting the limit even higher. Cycle ceilings are important, but it's the optimization of operations during that economic lifetime that matters most.

For U.S. Boeing 747-400 operators, going outside the country for heavy airframe maintenance may be the only choice, as North American MRO capacity for the huge aircraft becomes increasingly limited. It's easy to see why, given what has become a relatively small number of aircraft.

What started as routine maintenance for Transaero Airlines turned into an MRO acquisition. The Russian airline had chosen Shannon Repair Services (SRS) to refurbish its aircraft to make them Wifi-enabled, but subsequently decided to invest in the MRO and take it over. The move is giving Transaero access to another in-house maintenance base.

With a record year in the offing for 2012, the three-year worldwide market for overhauls of International Aero Engines V2500 medium turbofans is expected to top $6 billion, half of which will come from carriers in the U.S., China and the U.K.

The first-stage engine blade on one of Delta Air Lines' fleet of 152 CFM CFM56-7 engines may cost around $1,000, but the ramifications of unmitigated pitting and cracking can cost much more in unscheduled maintenance. To prevent this corrosion pitting, fretting, stress corrosion cracking or foreign object damage from causing major problems in its fleet of 152 CFM56-7 engines, Delta TechOps partnered with Lambda Technologies of Cincinnati to develop a technology called low-plasticity burnishing (LPB).

The FAA's new proposed repair station regulations appear to mix much-needed improvements with bureaucratic burdens that may ultimately increase the complexity of Part 145 certification and compliance, initial analysis of the major proposal reveals.