Boeing received orders for 25 commercial transports and one BBJ in the period Feb. 1-March 1 inclusive, bringing year-to-date orders to 65, according to information on the company's website. February orders included three 737s from Alaska Airlines, three from WestJet and 16 from an unidentified customer(s) for a total of 22. Unidentified customer(s) also ordered two 747s and one 767.

Etihad Airways took delivery Tuesday of its first new 262-seat A330-200.

Judging one's worth on the job market is never an easy task, but rarely has that process been more in the spotlight than today. This is an emotional issue at every level, yet all are asked to set emotion aside and focus on larger concerns. Ultimately emotions cannot be ignored, for unless the outcome of these compensation calculations is carefully proportioned and falls within an acceptable range as viewed from below, the seeds of disaster will be planted. Labor/management distrust and even hatred have accompanied some airlines' extinction and may have played a key role in their demise.

Airline efforts to fend off the building pressure to penalize the industry for aircraft noise and emissions run into two key difficulties. First, as anyone familiar with the evolution of turbine aircraft powerplants can attest, the road to a cleaner engine is very rough indeed, with much money and time required to achieve each step of improvement. Second, visible signs of progress are hidden deep within the engine's guts with the exception of noise, which at least has some visible changes in fan and nacelle design. All the rest must be taken on faith in the measurements and the measurers.

That's all one can ask after Airbus and Boeing combined to book more than 2,000 aircraft orders last year. Prior to 2005, Boeing's best year was 1989 when it booked 1,120 including McDonnell Douglas orders, according to the Airline Monitor. Airbus's previous peak was 1998 with 556 firm orders. Last year's performance is even more striking in comparison to 2004, when the two combined to sell 622 jets. But few expect a repeat in 2006. "We probably won't get as many orders this year as last year," Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney said last month.