MROs around the world create, innovate and perform daily. Now is the time to take a few minutes to nominate those aftermarket service providers that go above-and-beyond the standard.

Monarch Aircraft Engineering has opened the doors on its new heavy maintenance facility in Birmingham, and if all goes to plan, the facility will see its fair share of non-Monarch livery. The 110,000 sq. ft. shop is Monarch's third heavy check base, joining London Luton and Manchester. Company executives say the new facility will play a key role in helping the company boost third-party revenue to 40% of its total by the middle of the decade. 

Fokker is investigating reports of fuel boost pump wiring damage

The FAA has ordered inspections of Boeing 747-8 forward engine mount barrel nuts and bolts after cracked nuts were found on two aircraft, including a Boeing test airframe. The Dec. 2 airworthiness directive (AD), which was immediately adopted, orders operators to follow initial and repetitive inspection instructions issued by Boeing in a Sept. 27 alert service bulletin. The bulletin has yet to be made public.

Maintenance-management applications at even the largest airlines are still a mixture of old systems, newer applications and plenty of work in progress. Among the carriers that the International Air Transport Association ranks as the Top 10 in passengers transported in 2012, those in the U.S. are furthest behind, those in Europe are the most advanced and one in China is taking an in-house approach.

The Big Three carriers' vast expansion plans and their implications

The latest version of the Maintenance Annex Guidance (MAG) between FAA and EASA goes into effect today.Change 3 of the MAG includes 15 notable updates, including a requirement for the agencies to coordinate so-called "external" audits, such as by DOT's Office of Inspector General. Coordination will be done between FAA's Aircraft Maintenance Division (AFS-300) and EASA's Standardisation Department.

Virgin America by mid-2014 will likely be the first airline to begin using a new NASA-developed software application designed to help pilots save time or fuel by optimizing routing and altitude during the climb and cruise portion of a flight. The capabilities are part of the NASA Langley Research Center’s Traffic Aware Planner (TAP), an advisory application designed to be installed on electronic flight bags (EFBs) in the cockpit. Armed with a time or fuel-saving alternative, pilots contact air traffic control to ask for a change to their route and altitude.