The jigsaw pieces are coming together for a future “all-electric” commercial airliner by the second half of the 2020s. Seeking higher efficiencies, lower costs and easier maintenance, airframers and equipment manufacturers alike are pushing ahead with development of electrically powered replacements for today's pneumatic, mechanical and hydraulic systems.

Aviation groups are concerned that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will fail to issue foreign repair station certification rules by the year-end deadline the agency once projected.

Embraer has started negotiations with Kenya Airways to open the airframer’s second authorized service center in Africa.

ST Aerospace is reviewing its narrowbody maintenance facility in Panama, which is recording the lowest demand among the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) provider’s global facilities, says President Chang Cheow Teck. The MRO provider opened the Panama facility in 2007 to take advantage of lower labor costs in the region and access to local operators. While ST Aerospace hoped to take advantage of its global network, competitors from established MRO companies—Aeroman in El Salvador and Coopesa in Costa Rica—did not leave much space for a third provider.

The FAA has ordered Boeing 737 Next Generation operators to replace engine strut fluid draining systems.

The FAA’s sweeping effort to align its draft repair station regulation with industry reality should go back to the drawing board for a second draft that incorporates feedback generated by the initial proposal, the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) tells the FAA.

The changing roles of OEMs and MRO providers in the aftermarket are cause for concern to some industry observers, but no one denies an evolution is under way.

Rolls-Royce has downplayed suggestions it needs to establish an engine overhaul facility in mainland China.