Here is one simple lesson to be gleaned from Aviation Week's Top-Performing Companies (TPC Study): avoid overconfidence. History shows that a first-place finish is no guarantee of long-term success. Conversely, even consistently strong performers have a bad year every now and then.

As top-tier defense contractors begin to move away from an era of big-ticket weapons procurements, they are scrutinizing their portfolios in an effort to weed out lower-performing businesses. And one problem area keeps coming to the forefront: low-margin government services businesses.

When the U.S. Air Force showed only a tepid interest in unmanned aircraft, a small San Diego company, General Atomics, decided to build them on its own dime. So when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks hit and U.S. forces were suddenly sent to combat guerilla-like forces in the mountains of Afghanistan, the company's Hellfire-equipped Predators were not just a concept—they were in production.

Dubai budget airline, Flydubai, has become the first UAE airline to be approved under the latest airworthiness requirements known as CAR M by the UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).

Emirates airline is shopping locally for an additional multi-aircraft docking system in its Dubai engineering facility

The FAA’s latest effort to modernize repair station regulations could create as many challenges as it solves, expect several industry experts. The notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published May 21 is the latest step in a 23-year odyssey to update FAR Part 145, the rules that govern repair station certficiation. The draft rule’s biggest change is a new ratings system classification aimed at more accurately reflecting today’s industry standards.

Airbus will have to retrofit 120 A380s to resolve a problem with wing component cracking before a permanent fix will be implemented on new-build aircraft. The aircraft maker has already delivered 74 A380s, but the total number in need of retrofit will grow to 120 aircraft because of work already in the production system, says Tom Williams, Airbus’s executive VP-programs.