It does not even have a formal name, but a new aviation and travel industry coalition could have a big impact on those long lines and wait times at Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that are dissuading travelers from coming to the U.S. It also could be setting the stage for an intense battle over a critical element for some of the improvements: How to pay for them.

Uncertainty hits defense contractors, but civil airframers take up the slack

The great strides that Africa's commercial aviation industry has made in recent years—with the emergence of strong scheduled carriers such as Egyptair, Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways—has not been beneficial for Africa's wet-lessors. “Wet-leasing is not as popular as before,” says Apandi Lakhiyalov, group CEO of Aerovista, a leasing company based in Dubai that provides wet leases in Africa and other emerging markets using its Georgian and Tanzanian air operator certificates (AOCs).

In the 1930s, large segments of France's economy—including the aviation industry—were acquired by a newly elected left-wing government. The final part of the nationalization program became reality shortly after World War II ended, when engine manufacturers Gnome & Rhone and Renault were consolidated to form state-owned Snecma.

Atlantic Aviation, which earlier this month filed a lawsuit to halt plans for a Signature Flight Support fixed-base operation at Mineta San Jose Airport citing environmental and safety concerns, is filing a second suit, this time claiming the city had broken its own rules on fair, competitive bidding. Atlantic asks the Santa Clara County Superior Court to order the city to reissue a request for proposals (RFP).

The Internal Revenue Service has agreed to suspend audits the agency has been conducting on aircraft management fees and services while the agency drafts new guidance on taxing management activities. The agreement follows another recent meeting agency officials held with industry leaders, who have been appealing to the IRS to hold off on action against management companies until the management-fee tax issue could be resolved.

General aviation groups this summer have agreed to highlight skills to avoid loss-of-control incidents as part of a multi-pronged effort to stem the recent increase in accidents that has raised the concern of industry, FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board. FAA last week held a meeting with a number of general aviation stakeholders to look at both short-term and long-term initiatives to help turn the accident rate, which has been stubbornly flat over the past five years and up in the past six months.

While Dassault’s business jet deliveries dropped in the first quarter, the French manufacturer expects shipments to improve throughout the year and remain on track to reach the highest total in three years. Dassault expects to deliver 70 Falcons this year, up slightly from the 66 delivered in 2012 and 63 in 2011, company executives say. As Dassault worked to certify its newest Falcon 2000 models, deliveries were down nearly 50% in the first quarter to eight, compared with 15 in the first quarter of 2012.