Aviation Partners Boeing officially launched its 767-300ER blended winglet program this week, saying it has firm orders for 68 shipsets from three airlines on three continents. It expects US FAA certification in the fourth quarter of 2008. AVP said the winglets, available for both passenger and freighter versions, are worth 350,000 gal. in annual fuel savings per aircraft, a payload improvement of up to 12,000 lb. and a range increase of up to 360 nm.

Rockwell Collins was selected yesterday by Boeing to provide the avionics system for the 747-8 Intercontinental and -8 freighter. Value was not disclosed for the deal, which includes the entire suite of flightdeck displays as well as autopilot, communication, navigation, surveillance, maintenance, emergency and data management systems. The 747-8F is scheduled to enter service in late 2009 with initial deliveries to Cargolux and Nippon Cargo Airlines (ATWOnline, Nov.

All Nippon Airways, which launched the 787 program with an order for 50, has chosen the industry's first commercial electric braking system, Goodrich announced yesterday. "We anticipated demand for an alternative to traditional, hydraulically actuated braking and began the pursuit of electronically actuated braking more than a decade ago," Goodrich Airframe Systems Segment President Jack Carmola said.

FAA and several contractors in March will begin testing a prototype communications scheme that theoretically could save millions of dollars per year for airlines and possibly give them some extra revenue to boot. The concept, called Aerosat Airborne Internet, calls for using the thousands of en route aircraft in the skies at any moment to create a communications "mesh" that proponents say could increase bandwidth dramatically and reduce the cost of existing communications pipes.

If you can handle the A340-600, the 777 or the 747, then you can handle the A380 from the GSE side," says Bernd Scholz, senior manager-equipment for Fraport, the management company for Frankfurt International Airport.

Not for nothing is the training branch of Airbus designated the Airbus Training & Flight Operations Support and Services Division. This reflects the recognition that a holistic approach to training and day-to-day operations is critical to the safe and efficient operation of the fleet. Training in new technologies and procedures for the A380 has served as a catalyst for revision of the Airbus training methodology and, where appropriate, is already being integrated into training programmes for the rest of the Airbus fleet.