When EasyJet confirmed its latest order for a total of 135 Airbus A320s and A320NEOs at the Paris air show, the airline was quick to point out a few of the deal's most important aspects. Flexibility of future fleet size and pricing that management considers to be very favorable to the airline, combined with EasyJet's track record for growth and profitability, make the plan look like a winning formula.

The dominant airline model pioneered by FedEx founder Fred Smith is facing new tests

Amelia Earhart shares her views on running an airline six years before her disappearance.

Fractional ownership provider Avantair is facing an uncertain future as it was forced to furlough its workforce, cease flying operations, deal with a new class action lawsuit and handle potential aircraft repossessions.

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees on June 27 made substantially different recommendations for the fiscal 2014 FAA budget, clearing bills that are nearly $1 billion apart in funding. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill 22-8 that calls for an increase in FAA’s funding over fiscal 2013 levels to $15.921 billion. This would include increased funding for safety inspectors and NextGen investments. At the same time, the House approved 28-20 a bill that would cut FAA’s funding to $15 billion.

San Francisco-based Lam Aviation completed another round of flight tests using a Lancair Columbia fitted with its Lam Aileron, confirming a number of performance improvements that range from 30% improved fuel consumption to a 50% increase in rate of climb over the in-production aircraft, the company says.

If an airline could mix the petabytes of performance data that aircraft generate with Big Data analysis—and control the weather—that could be operational nirvana. Then fuse that with maximizing the customer experience—and save millions or billions of dollars—and you have near-utopia.

The aim is to make it safe to fly unmanned aircraft in U.S. airspace.