Med Atlantica, which recently purchased Mexicana de Aviacion, has signaled its intent to retain Mexicana MRO Services.

U.S. aircraft parts manufacturers now have access to a new source of financing.

Standard Aero will continue providing engine maintenance on Pinnacle Airlines’ Bombardier CRJ200 aircraft until mid-August while the U.S. regional transitions to a new provider. The Tempe, Ariz.-based maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) provider had asked Pinnacle’s bankruptcy court to terminate its contract immediately, citing a long-running dispute about pay rates with Delta Air Lines, which owns the aircraft operated by Pinnacle.

Jim McNerney smiled broadly as he bounded onto a podium in a historic hangar at Reagan Washington National Airport this month, a gleaming Boeing 787 serving as a dramatic backdrop just beyond the open hangar door. The chairman and CEO of Boeing was accepting the 2011 Robert J. Collier Trophy on behalf of the team that developed the 787, a jet that is finally in service following more than three years of delays.

Here is one simple lesson to be gleaned from Aviation Week's Top-Performing Companies (TPC Study): avoid overconfidence. History shows that a first-place finish is no guarantee of long-term success. Conversely, even consistently strong performers have a bad year every now and then.

As top-tier defense contractors begin to move away from an era of big-ticket weapons procurements, they are scrutinizing their portfolios in an effort to weed out lower-performing businesses. And one problem area keeps coming to the forefront: low-margin government services businesses.

When the U.S. Air Force showed only a tepid interest in unmanned aircraft, a small San Diego company, General Atomics, decided to build them on its own dime. So when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks hit and U.S. forces were suddenly sent to combat guerilla-like forces in the mountains of Afghanistan, the company's Hellfire-equipped Predators were not just a concept—they were in production.