Every day, in maintenance hangars all over the world, technicians are interrupted or distracted during safety-critical maintenance tasks.

The deficit-reduction measure that went into effect March 1 cuts 7.9% from discretionary defense spending and 5.3% from non-defense discretionary spending. Surely, Washington's latest manufactured crisis will not do any serious damage, will it? Well, consider this:

AW&ST: What challenges have been presented by your fleet growth? Hockin: In a short space of time, Virgin Australia has gone from operating just Boeing 737s to also operating Embraer 190s, Airbus A330s and 777-300ERs. The challenge has been around having a far more varied fleet rather than just a larger fleet. What are your heavy maintenance arrangements in Australia?

A shortage of skilled labor is severely affecting Hong Kong aircraft maintenance provider Haeco, and this year will cause a second annual decline in airframe maintenance volume. Although group sales and profits rose in 2012, Haeco was unable to fully exploit strong demand for its services at its Hong Kong base. It sold 1.3% fewer worker-hours last year than it did in 2011, says Chairman Christopher Pratt.

EgyptAir Maintenance and Engineering company's Mohamed El Sherbiny called on African maintenance companies to engage with their staff if they are to develop successful businesses in the changing world.”

India’s burgeoning maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry received a much-needed boost after the government announced tax concessions on the import of spare parts and testing equipment. The government also extended the period for required installation of the parts and equipment to one year from three months. “The MRO sector is at a nascent stage. Encouraging the industry will generate employment besides other benefits,” Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said in a budget presentation to parliament.

Lion Air’s wholly owned maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company Lion Technics is scheduled to open a heavy maintenance base later this year on Batam island, off the coast of Singapore.

Aeronautical Engineers, Inc. (AEI), betting that freight-hauling economics will differ significantly from the passenger-hauling returns that are driving 50-seat regional jets from airline service, has given the go-ahead to its Bombardier CRJ100 and 200 passenger-to-freighter (PTF) conversion program. AEI, which has been studying the CRJ conversion market for some time, says it is “fully funding” the program’s development costs. It will convert the regional jets (RJs) under a supplemental type certificate (STC) licensed from Bombardier.