Operators and OEMs are lining up against the FAA over a proposed Boeing 757 airworthiness directive (AD) that they see as an unsubstantiated shift in the agency's view on the likelihood of fuel tank explosions on older freighters—a change that could have broader rulemaking ramifications.

Pratt & Whitney (P&W), a unit of United Technologies Corp. (UTC), recorded higher engine sales in the second quarter but overall profits fell as airlines cut purchases of spare parts. P&W’s operating profits fell 1% from the same quarter in 2011 to $427 million despite strong sales of the company’s geared turbofan engine (GTF), UTC CEO Louis Chenevert told analysts July 26 during a second-quarter earnings call.

JetBlue sold six spare engines and replaced them with new engines acquired in 2012

ST Aerospace and AirAsia have signed an $80m component repair agreement

A slight dip in Rockwell Collins’s third-quarter aftermarket sales should reverse course in the fourth quarter on the strength of increased air transport business, company CEO Clay Jones reports.

Budget and political decisions made in Berlin, Brussels and Washington will help shape the global aerospace industry. So it was not surprising that an undercurrent of anxiety ran through the recent Farnborough air show (see p. 43). Uncertainty from a financial crisis in Europe, potentially hefty cuts to U.S. defense spending, and slower economic growth in Asia and Latin America have put buyers and suppliers on edge.

Purchasing Finnair’s engine services operation would open up a new business line for GA Telesis, but one that fits tightly with the leasing and service provider’s overall strategy, a company executive tells Aviation Week. “In our business, we’re focused primarily on mid-generation assets,” says Alvin Khoo, chief investment officer of Fort Lauderdale-based GA Telesis. “We own aircraft and engines and manage them. If you think about the value in aircraft as they age, the value is in the engines. So owning an engine shop is a very strategic fit for us.”

Airports Council International , Montreal, appointed Michael Rossell director of ICAO relations.