Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. only delivered one-third of the number of Superjet 100 aircraft it had planned for last year, yet the ones it did deliver to Armavia and Aeroflot are logging high daily utilization numbers. As it prepares to receive European type certification early this year, the company is increasing delivery volumes and expanding training facilities to ensure smooth operations for new customers.

Boeing certified the 747-8 passenger aircraft without use of a 3,300-gal. tail fuel tank, a restriction that is only likely to affect the nine VIP Boeing Business Jet orders among 106 the company has received for the four-engine jet. The lockout of the tank in the horizontal stabilizer cuts 300-400 nm off the airplane's maximum range. It was ordered because of an FAA certification requirement that Boeing demonstrate that the airplane will not be affected by the loss of a fitting in its wing-to-engine strut joint.

Despite continuing high fuel prices and a fragile economic recovery, analysts see an upside.

While 2011 was a tumultuous year for Australian airlines, enough challenges remain to make 2012 another pivotal period. Australian carriers certainly had a bumpy ride over the past 12 months—even by the volatile standards of the global airline industry. For some the upheaval was intentional, but for others the year was marked by unwelcome setbacks that are affecting their 2012 plans.

Boeing's progress toward producing two aircraft per day from its Renton, Wash., 737 factory has reached another milestone with the rollout of the first aircraft on a 35-per-month cycle. Renton's parallel final-assembly lines are scheduled to reach a combined rate of 42 aircraft/month in the first half of 2014. With 21-22 production days per month, that rate equals about one aircraft per day from each of the two lines. The last time Boeing increased its rates was in 2009.

In early 2008, Avic I, as it was called then, announced it was setting up an airline that would buy its regional airliners, a move that had many industry watchers perplexed. To any trenchant doubter of China's future in civil aeronautics, it must have seemed that the product—the 50-60-seat MA60 turboprop—was so uncompetitive that Avic I could only sell it to itself.

Boeing's decision to close its Wichita defense plant is a story of too much factory capacity and not enough work. The 2013 closure raises concerns about the future of the company's more than 2,100 employees as jobs shift to facilities in other states.

Weak markets, additional taxes and poor planning during good times are likely to force a culling on carriers.