Caribbean Airlines will introduce an eighth 737-800 into service on Nov. 15. It also operates five Dash 8-300s.

As the strike by the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers appeared to be concluding, Boeing's largest airline customer for the 787, Qantas Group, confirmed that its first Dreamliner could be up to an additional six months late.

Pratt & Whitney Canada announced that it is establishing a "world-class" aerospace center at Montreal Mirabel for final assembly and test of the new-generation PW800 family of small jet engines as well as the PurePower PW1524G geared turbofan for the Bombardier CSeries. Total of C$575.3 million ($448.4 million) will be invested, with the Quebec provincial government contributing C$141.9 million for infrastructure and equipment. New facility will be "the global hub" for Pratt''s integrated flight test operations and include two bays for the engine-maker's 747SP flying testbed.

Copa Airlines took delivery of its 14th E-190. It also operates 27 737NGs.

GE Aviation this month held a dedication event for its 91,440-sq.-m. composites factory in Batesville, Miss. Officially known as the GE Batesville Composites Operation, the facility will produce the fan platforms and fan case for the GEnx.

Emirates took delivery of its second A380 and 122nd aircraft overall Friday in Dubai. It is scheduled to enter service on Dubai-New York JFK today. It will seat 14 in first class, 76 in business and 399 in economy.

GE Aviation is working with NASA on a wind-tunnel test program to evaluate counterrotating fan-blade systems for an "open rotor" engine design that hearkens back to their joint efforts a quarter of a century ago. Testing will begin at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Ohio in early 2009 and continue into mid-year, GE said. The company noted that "this is not a full engine test, but a component rig test to evaluate subscale fan systems using GE's and NASA's advanced computational tools and data acquisition systems."

International Aero Engines announced an order from Grupo TACA for V2500 SelectOne engines to power an additional 15 A320 family aircraft. Contract includes the V2500Select aftermarket agreement and is valued at $400 million at list prices. TACA currently flies 37 V2500-powered aircraft and is awaiting delivery of four more, giving it a 19-aircraft backlog with IAE.