The futuristic credentials of predictive maintenance are often described by the ability of aircraft health monitoring systems to update ground teams of faults before a flight has even touched down.

Following the debut of ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) on CFM’s LEAP engine, other manufacturers are boosting research into the new material.

Marketing for the Boeing 787 has focused heavily on its oversized windows, which replace the mechanical blinds found on other commercial aircraft with an electrochromic dimming function.