Finnair had a problem that cost it about €100 ($130) per minute and it needed a solution. The culprit was the dual engine bleed air system on its Airbus A330s. The airline suffered two incidents because the system failed—each malfunction resulted in loss of aircraft pressurization and resultant emergency descents.

The ARJ21 program was always supposed be a learning experience. If people learn when things go wrong, then Comac must be learning a lot, and it is giving itself more time for its lessons.

The future of Airbus is riding to a large extent on the success of its new A350 widebody, designed to compete head-to-head with Boeing's hugely popular 787 and 777. And while final assembly is underway at last, the European airframer still faces major challenges before the first jet is delivered in 2014—and even before first flight next year.

“I'm not Richard Branson,” says Tony Fernandes, co-founder and CEO of the AirAsia Group, when asked about the similarities between him and Branson. “I have zero interest to go to the Moon. My sense of adventure is more down to Earth.” Fernandes, who worked for Virgin Records in the U.K. and counts Branson as a personal friend, says the Virgin Group boss is a serial entrepreneur. Branson establishes a business, then finds people to manage it for him so he can move onto the next venture; says Fernandes, noting, “I like to manage the business.”

Europe's big three airline groups are making serious cuts to stem mounting losses. But if British Airways CEO Keith Williams is right, it will be a very long time before they are remotely near the healthy profit margins of 4-5 years ago.

Staffers on Capitol Hill have discussed reauthorizing NASA spending and even approving a spending bill that funds the space agency by the end of the year. But whether they succeed depends on the results of the November election.

Pentagon spending appears on the presidential campaign radar primarily as it relates to the No. 1 issue—jobs and the economy. When the candidates travel to Virginia—a military-heavy state that could make a difference in the election's outcome—they have to address defense issues. But without much emphasis by the campaigns on military matters, Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama wind up stumbling on the details.

While NASA and industry are continuing to push toward a 2015 deadline set by Congress for integrating UAVs into civilian airspace (i.e., National Air Space, or NAS), the FAA is weighing concerns about the potential to compromise safety. NASA is considering a prize challenge to accelerate the integration of unmanned aircraft into the FAA's NextGen airspace system. Two competitions of increasing complexity would be run in late 2013 and 2014, with a combined prize purse of $1.5 million.