The integration of the United and Continental maintenance organizations proceeds cautiously.

An AOG due to a faulty engine can be the worst and most expensive nightmare maintenance faces. A grounded aircraft can cost an airline tens of thousands of dollars per day in lost revenue. MROs and leasing firms will scramble to provide help, but existing relationships count strongly in how fast assistance arrives.

Jon Oberdick, US Airways managing director technical services, A4A EMMC chairman

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Although passengers often worry about contracting illnesses from recirculated air on aircraft cabins, most aircraft are actually fitted with special filters that allow them to breathe air that is very clean. Our hot water tanks at home have HEPA filters, but those rated for aerospace are microbially tested at higher efficiencies and do a better job of removing small fibers and dust particles from the aircraft cabin and eliminating viruses and bacteria.

It is always a good strategy to emphasize jobs and economic growth in an election year. That is what the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAW) are doing as they urge Congress to address a looming budget deadline that could bring $600 billion in defense cuts over the coming decade, plus deep reductions to NASA and the FAA for NextGen air traffic modernization.

Ten years ago, airlines just had to be in. If they were not part of one of the three global alliances, they were second class, or their home market was too small and uninteresting to be considered. Alliances gave them the access to markets they needed and, as importantly, to their future merger partners.

Consolidation has led to the formation of the Big Three airline groups in Europe: Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and the International Airlines Group (IAG). But all three are finding that some takeovers simply do not work, and antitrust authorities and economic realities might block further steps.