Qantas has officially launched its Q Streaming inflight entertainment system on a Boeing 767-300 aircraft. The IFE system is powered by Lufthansa Systems' BoardConnect wi-fi network, which is comprised of an onboard server and five access points distributed throughout the cabin.

Thales and British Airways have entered into a new agreement for component repair and overhaul based at British Airways Avionics Engineering in South Wales, U.K. The facility has the ability to repair and overhaul more than 3,000 different components.

Boeing is a founding member of the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association, formed in 2006. Since 2004, the company has been researching and developing ways to recycle composites, starting with carbon fiber reinforced plastic from F-18 aircraft and then scrap from the Boeing 777 and Boeing 787. More than 50,000 lb. of carbon fiber are used to construct each 787 airframe, most of which should be salvageable at the end of its life.

An outsider looking at the MRO industry might think we send conflicting signals about our workforce needs.

Era has received a type certificate from the Interstate Aviation Commission to use its equipment in wide area multilateration and height measurement applications within Russia and 12 former USSR states.

The University of Nottingham's Institute for Aerospace Technology has a portfolio of projects valued at more than £35 million. Main aerospace research themes include advanced materials; advanced manufacturing; applied optics; electromagnetics; polymer composites; power electronics, machines and control; satellite navigation technologies; structural integrity and dynamics, as well as thermodynamics and fluid mechanics. The University of Nottingham's research base includes more than 50 academic researchers who often work with leading aerospace companies.

Applications come and go, but aircraft and maintenance data is forever. That rule is becoming more important in the digital age. Correlating maintenance with operational data can yield big gains in reliability, revenue and cost reductions. New aircraft will yield much more data helpful to maintenance. Unstructured data such as pilot and mechanic notes also can be exploited. New maintenance models, with technicians ready for problems as aircraft hit gates, require speed as well as power.

GKN is a global engineering business with operations in more than 30 countries, employing more than 42,000 people. Its aerospace operation is a major supplier of complex composite structures and focuses on the three major product areas of aerostructures, propulsion systems and transparencies in addition to specialty products. In November, GKN partnered with Airbus, AgustaWestland, Rolls-Royce, Umeco and Vestas to open the 8,500 sq. meter national composites center in the U.K. GKN is a founding member of the U.K.'s national composites network, launched in 2005.