After a long and unusually contentious debate in Congress, President Obama signed into law a bill to extend the Export-Import Bank's charter and provide $140 billion in lending authority by 2014. The debate this year turned into a tiff between aerospace giants Boeing and Delta Air Lines, with Delta expressing fear that Ex-Im financing of widebody jets undercuts its global competitiveness. And some Republicans and conservative interest groups called for an end to the bank and its corporate welfare.

Hardly a month passes without the debut of required navigation performance (RNP) procedures somewhere around the world.

The Eaton chief suspects that the introduction of new technologies that make aircraft cheaper to operate may have permanently shortened their economic lifecycles.

Defense companies that primarily provide services rather than products will be among the first to be hit by reductions in military spending, Moody's Investor Services warns in its latest commentary. Beyond the next fiscal year, a decline in troop deployments overseas will lead to lower services outlays, Moody's says. And as contracts roll over and the Defense Department's heightened focus on procurement cost control takes hold, margins are likely to shrink.

Six months from a potential blunt cut to federal spending and government is continuing to warn, industry is starting to act, and lawmakers are looking for an escape hatch. If Congress does not approve $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction or reverse a law passed last year, the entire federal government will suffer an across-the-board budget cut of the same amount. And half of that will be targeted at the Pentagon.

Momentum is growing behind the desire for a step-change in rotary-wing performance. More speed is most often mentioned by customers and manufacturers, but range and payload limitations are also seen as holding back rotorcraft from wider use.

Before they move any earth, Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) officials are going to have to move a mountain of paper. The airport has launched the multi-year regulatory approval process needed for a major expansion, one of the most important aviation infrastructure projects in the Asia-Pacific region. Built on a 1,250-hectare (4.8-sq.-mi.)man-made island, HKIA was considered an engineering marvel when it was completed in 1998. Now efforts are underway to add another 650 hectares to the north side of the island to accommodate a third parallel runway.

As Tom Enders assumes the role of chief executive of EADS, he finds himself at the helm of an enterprise much changed from five years ago, when he and his predecessor, Louis Gallois, last shared responsibility for running the company. To his credit, Enders agreed to step down to lead Airbus and help simplify the corporate structure. The internecine warfare between French and German factions has eased. Even the A380 appears to be on a solid footing.