Transferring leased aircraft between different regulatory authorities can cause headaches and add maintenance costs.

Frankfurt Tight Space

Welcome to the first Aviation Week & Space Technology MRO Edition! Each monthly edition is for readers like you who are involved in the airline aftermarket. Overhaul & Maintenance readers will find the same editorial elements, except in a different order—plus you get this week's regular AW&ST. We embedded two data-rich media extras in the iPad version of the magazine, which is available to you free through Zinio (www.zinio.com/apps). AW&ST subscribers who register their subscriptions can view the extras at AviationWeek.com/awst.

Airbus's interest in setting up a U.S. final assembly line for the A320 may seem like the aerospace equivalent of painting the white roses red, but there are larger business issues at stake than just trying to fool U.S. buyers into thinking they are “buying American.”

A week before the Farnborough International Airshow, Boeing officials are not saying whether they will break a 28-year-old rule and fly a 787 during the week-long biennial exhibition. The 787 debuted at the last Farnborough outing in 2010 and was at the Paris air show last year, but at both events it was in a static display.

The supply chain train wreck that engulfed Boeing and others in recent years taught invaluable lessons to the rest of the aerospace industry, particularly those companies ambitiously planning to advance on the systems integration scale.

Poor roads and rail infrastructure have long made Africa a poster child for promoting growth in aviation, but regulatory, safety and financial issues have overshadowed the market's development.

Turboshafts seem to last for generations, as many engine mechanics who have tended to just a handful of major types throughout their entire career can attest. Small wonder then that opportunities for new engine launches come along once in a blue Moon, particularly in the rarified world of heavy-lift helicopters.