The European Commission (EC) is between a rock and a hard place with more European airlines turning to their governments for financial support. It can either strictly apply its state aid rules and risk more bankruptcies, or the EC can compromise its tough stance and help struggling carriers to survive.

First the good news: The latest slump in the financial health of the airline industry appears to have bottomed out. Any celebration will be muted, however, since the recovery could be so gradual that it may not be noticeable in many major markets.

In November 2008, the year Wanda Austin became CEO of The Aerospace Corp., Aviation Week & Space Technology featured her on the cover with a three-page profile inside. “The fact that Austin is a woman and an African-American is impossible to miss,” the magazine wrote.

As part of Boeing and Embraer's recent pact to cooperate on commercial aircraft features designed to enhance safety and efficiency, the two airframers are planning an initiative to reduce runway excursions. These have resulted in more than 780 fatalities in 15 accidents from 2002-11.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), currently the longest-serving woman in Congress, will now become the first woman to lead one of what is perhaps its most powerful panels, the Senate Appropriations Committee. Mikulski takes control of the committee after the recent death of Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), who had chaired the full committee since 2009 and led Democrats on the defense subcommittee since 1989. And she will serve alongside Sen. Richard Shelby (Ala.), who will lead Republicans on the panel.

Teeing up an issue for Congress in 2013, Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), have introduced a bill that would push the FAA to begin setting privacy rules for the use of UAVs in civilian airspace. UAVs can carry “infrared thermal imagers, radar and wireless network 'sniffers,' with the capability to collect sensitive detailed information while operating in the skies above,” according to Markey. As such, he is seeking to regulate their use.

Turkish Technic is in the process of networking its entire MRO operation to better track, measure and control its resources.

Washington NTSB's revamped most-wanted list of safety improvements and a set of related recommendations are challenging the FAA to revisit its recently established position against mandating cargo aircraft fire-suppression systems.