Following extensive preparation, Oneworld is one step closer to integration through the launch of its information technology (IT) hub, with new member Air Berlin its first user. But for the next few weeks its entire focus will be on keeping the alliance itself integrated with LAN on board and adding TAM after their merger to form the Latam Group possibly in the second quarter.

Mention superconductivity in the context of aircraft propulsion and the skeptics come out in force. But NASA is convinced this technology—still exotic to aerospace—can reduce the fuel consumption and noise of future aircraft. The agency believes turboelectric distributed propulsion (TeDP)—gas turbines generating electricity to power many small fans embedded in the airframe—can meet its aggressive goals for a 2035-timeframe airliner, slashing fuel burn 60% from today's Boeing 737s and 777s.

Here is a notion that will make airlines smile and airframers cringe: oil at $40 a barrel. In a high-profile address to the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading conference in Phoenix, economist Adam Pilarski raised eyebrows with the prediction that crude prices—a key driver of demand for new, more fuel-efficient jets—will crash to $40 by 2018.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines' (CAAP) failure to pass an FAA review and Indonesia's spate of drug cases involving local airline pilots, suggests neither country will escape aviation safety blacklists anytime soon.

Boeing and Airbus have wildly different assessments of the fuel economy of each other's new jets.

European Union officials are seeing some positive movement in the international conflict on the EU emissions trading system (ETS). But if recent comments by their opponents are more than saber-rattling, their optimism may very well be short-lived.

The adage goes that good people are hard to find, and many commercial maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities are reporting difficulties filling technician positions with skilled workers. Given the outlook for the aviation industry, they have legitimate reasons to worry.

Sukhoi's SuperJet 100 (SSJ100) has a “window of opportunity” to break the regional jet Bombardier-Embraer duopoly.