The number of engine overhauls this year should experience a 3.7% compound annual growth rate over last year, according to Aviation Week’s MRO Prospector data, with the IAE V2500 requiring the most, at 1,034 overhauls. Roscoe Musselwhite, who was promoted to president and CEO of AirLiance Materials in January, expects the V2500, CFM56-5 and CFM56-7 engines to drive about two-thirds of worldwide engine MRO business in two to three years.

Air New Zealand expected almost all of its regional services to be operating yesterday after the temporary grounding of its fleet of 11 ATR 72-500 turboprops caused major flight disruptions in the past few days.

Aveos Fleet Performance, the former maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) arm of Air Canada that has been operating as independent, privately held company since 2004, suddenly closed its doors over the weekend and sought court protection from its creditors under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). In a statement late Monday afternoon, Aveos, whose primary customer is Air Canada, said it has ceased its airframe MRO operations and will make decisions about its other operations, primarily engine and component MRO, after assessing its options.

Members of the Aeronautical Repair Station Association (ARSA) voted overregulation as their number one long-term concern in the association’s annual member’s survey, but uneasiness about skilled worker shortages was close behind at the number two spot, said Christian Klein, EVP, ARSA, at the association’s symposium last week in Arlington, Va. The workforce issue came in as the second most important long-term threat to the aviation maintenance industry, tied with high fuel prices and grievances with the FAA.

After years of delay, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is placing a high priority on its long-awaited repair station security rule, but is still targeting the fourth quarter for its release, a senior TSA official says.

Norwegian Air Shuttle has become the first customer for Boeing’s GoldCare line maintenance option as the low-fare carrier commits to the fee-for-service maintenance package. The deal covers six 787s, including three technically still listed as options. Norwegian has coupled fielding of the 787 with the start of long-haul operations. In announcing the GoldCare agreement, Chief Operating Officer Asgeir Nyseth says that “for Norwegian, it is fundamental that we have the best maintenance program when we launch our long-haul operation.”

FedEx Express faced high no-fault-found rates and failure modes on its MD-10 versatile integrated avionics (VIA) unit. Removal rates were increasing. FedEx has full automated testing equipment sets and knowledgeable avionics test bench mechanics who can repair circuit cards down to the piece part, but Patrick Doyle, FedEx Express's senior manager of powerplant and avionics maintenance, knew they needed outside help to get to the root problem. He contacted OEMs Boeing and Honeywell, which undertook hundreds of hours of analysis.

Power-saving integrated circuits that extend battery life in portable electronics, and are being applied to military radios and investigated for avionics, are the overall winner of Aviation Week's 2012 Innovation Challenge, organized to bring new technologies and processes to the attention of aerospace and defense leaders.