After a year in which Airbus and Boeing booked more than 2,000 new firm orders, is it possible that they will do even better in 2006? The history of recent past cycles suggests the answer may be yes, as hard as that is to believe. The outlook should become clearer when the global aerospace community meets at the Changi Exhibition Center Feb. 21-26 for the biennial Singapore show.

This month, Vueling Airlines and JetBlue Airways are trialing an exchange program whereby cabin staff from the Barcelona-based low-cost carrier are heading to New York to fly with JetBlue and some of the latter's attendants are coming to Spain to fly with Vueling.

With this issue, ATW continues for a 32nd year one of our proudest traditions: The presentation of our Annual Achievement Awards. In an industry that sets its internal bar very high, the seven winners each have accomplished things that the editors of ATW view as extraordinary.

Boeing announced yesterday that it will develop a new derivative of the 737-700 on the strength of an order conversion from ANA for two aircraft.

China Eastern Airlines took delivery of its first A330-300 on Jan. 25, becoming the aircraft type's first operator in China. The Trent 700-powered aircraft will seat 300 passengers in a two-class configuration.

Spirit AeroSystems, the former Boeing Wichita facility spun off and sold to Onex Corp. last year, will acquire the Aerostructures business unit of BAE Systems for £80 million ($142 million) plus certain liabilities in a transaction expected to be completed before July. The BAE unit, which employs more than 800, has facilities in Prestwick, Scotland, and Samlesbury, England, and produces structural components, chiefly on wings. It had revenues of approximately $367 million last year, more than 80% of which came from its work as a supplier to Airbus on the A320, A330 and A340.

Airbus began construction of its Mobile Engineering Center with a groundbreaking ceremony Monday. The center is scheduled to open in January 2007 and will employ at least 150 engineers at full capacity. It will be responsible initially for assignments related to the A350.

Bombardier announced yesterday that it is putting the CSeries aircraft program on hold after failing to find a launch customer for its proposed 110/130-seat jet, but it stopped short of pulling the plug entirely. "We are not talking a cancellation. We are putting together a team to rethink the program," Bombardier Aerospace President and CEO Pierre Beaudoin said during a conference call. "We have to have firm orders before moving ahead on CSeries." The company is looking for potential partners in growth areas like China, India and Russia, "including Sukhoi," he confirmed.