Rockwell Collins reached a deal with US Airways for provision of its WXR-2100 MultiScan Hazard Detection System and other avionics for A320s and A330s. System features advanced radar and weather assessment capabilities.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines placed an order yesterday for four 737-800s valued at about $320 million plus two options, bringing to 12 the number of Boeing aircraft it has ordered this year as it attempts to modernize its aging fleet.

China's new turboprop aircraft, the MA600 (an enhanced version of the MA60), is scheduled to roll out in Xi'an on Sunday. The MA600 was designed to optimize the MA60's structure and avionics system as well as improve its cabin interior. To date, the 50/60-seat MA60 has received 122 orders from Asia, Latin America and Africa, with seven aircraft delivered since 2005.

Boeing moved a 787 designated for fatigue testing from the final assembly line in Everett, Wash., to another production bay at the facility to complete assembly and start fatigue test preparation. Another 787 already is undergoing structural testing. The move paves the way for the second flight-test airplane to advance to the next position in the production line.

FedEx Express received a US FAA supplemental type certificate for a new avionics system that combines Honeywell's Head Up Display and Elbit Systems of America's infrared Enhanced Flight Vision System and plans to install it on its MD-10 freighters.

Midwest Airlines is grounding its 12 MD-80s "sometime near fall" as part of a restructuring effort, a spokesperson confirmed yesterday to ATWOnline.

Bombardier yesterday announced the sale of four CRJ700 NextGens plus four options to an unidentified carrier and an order for three Q400s from ANA. The firm CRJ order is worth $146 million at list prices. The ANA deal represents the conversion of three previously held options and is valued at $80 million. Delivery will begin in 2010. The carrier said it will sell one of its current 14 Q400s and replace its F50s.

Northwest Airlines President and CEO Doug Steenland testified before a US House of Representatives subcommittee yesterday that US airlines are expected to spend $61.2 billion on jet fuel in 2008, $20 billion more than in 2007, and are projected to incur losses totaling close to $10 billion for the year. "If the current pricing dynamic does not change, our industry will be severely challenged and will continue shrinking," he said. "It is as simple and stark as that. .