Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways are already investors in European Union carriers. Now Turkish Airlines is considering following suit. Turkish Chairman Hamdi Topcu said last week his company was close to making a bid for LOT Polish Airlines, a partner in the Star Alliance. Details of the possible transaction were not made public, but foreign ownership restrictions would limit an investment to a minority share. Turkish would also not be able to exert effective control of LOT if the Polish carrier is to retain traffic rights outside the European Union.

Discovering what caused a Sukhoi Superjet 100 to crash on a demonstration flight in Indonesia last week could have major implications for the Russian and Indonesian air transport sectors and the Superjet program. A development aircraft (SN95004) crashed May 9 shortly after taking off from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport near Jakarta, when it flew into terrain on Mount Salak in the West Java province, apparently killing all 45 people onboard. The crash site was located May 10, but cockpit voice and flight data recorders had not been recovered by press time.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has helped to block airline consolidation in the past, and now he has set his sights on the proposed union of US Airways and American Airlines. Schumer, a leading Democrat in the Senate, met last week with US Airways CEO Douglas Parker. Shortly after, Schumer followed up with a letter to the airline executive expressing his concerns about the merger's potential to disrupt airline service in upstate N.Y. Schumer is also asking whether a merger would derail American's plan to expand its hub at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

When Republicans talk about reducing the deficit, they don't mean reducing defense spending. House lawmakers last week passed a bill that would prevent massive budget reductions from taking place at the Pentagon next year by instead cutting funding for food stamps and other social programs. “This plan ensures that we maintain our fiscal discipline and commitment to reducing out-of-control government spending, while making sure our top priority is national security,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said after the bill passed.

If only the court system worked faster. A judge last week dismissed drunken driving charges against former FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt after watching video of the incident and concluding Babbitt should not have been pulled over in the first place. And although his legal record and now his reputation are restored, the decision will not allow him to return to his old job. His former deputy, Michael Huerta, has been nominated by the president to replace him and is awaiting Senate confirmation.

Are higher fuel prices a blessing for aircraft manufacturers and, maybe, for airlines? They are if they prompt technology improvements that bring long-term savings.

Pratt & Whitney’s latest geared turbofan engine – the PW1200G for the Japanese MRJ project – is now starting test flights on the company’s recently-inaugurated Boeing 747SP flying testbed.

Composites improve aircraft performance but production must quicken.