Aviation Week & Space Technology

Will it or won’t it? Odds are favorable that Congress won’t change the basic structure of the FAA with next year’s reauthorization, but privatization will eventually arrive.

With predictions of a slight reversal in 2016 and a return to slow growth in 2018, the business aircraft industry puts its bets on sustained demand for larger, faster, farther-flying jets.

Peruse every issue of Aviation Week, from 1916 to 2016, in our new digital archive, and help us celebrate Aviation Week’s 100th birthday.

SpaceX is celebrating the first successful touchdown on land of an orbital-class booster, the first step toward a potential paradigm shift in easing human access to space.

At least some of the improvements for the T-50 that KAI is developing for the T-X program, notably the inflight-refueling module, should become lasting assets for KAI, and not just for the trainer version of the type.

A320neo and C Series enter service; F-35A goes operational, JAS 39E flies; emissions measures and tracking mandates for aviation; contract protests and consolidation pressures; unmanned aircraft and suborbital spaceplanes—things will come in pairs in 2016.

2016 will see several new narrowbody types enter the field, but the dominant players remain Airbus and Boeing.

The gap between the Defense Department’s plans and actual funding is about $15 billion.

Russia’s upgrade of military capabilities continues, though economic problems are weighing on the defense budget and forcing hard choices to be made.

With deployments in Afghanistan, Mali and northern Iraq, Germany is increasing its defense budget beyond original plans, with new weapons systems accounting for much of the rise.

With airlines set to modernize their fleets in the coming years in a big way, MROs will need to ramp up their services on a number of fronts.

The merger of Aeroflot’s subsidiaries is part of an effort to avoid competition between the groups carriers in a shrinking market, and strengthens the group’s position in all its segments.

Reported reforms could include slashing army troop levels by 300,000 but a great increase in the PLA’s ability to project power abroad.

See the projected MRO spending in 2016 in each region and other details from the forecast.

While challenges from low-cost carriers remain, legacy airlines in North America expect to continue their return to profitability in 2016.

Jan. 4-8—AAIA/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Conference. Manchester Grand Hyatt. San Diego. See aiaa-scitech.org/SDM Feb. 2-4—The Unmanned Systems Conference and Exposition. World Forum. The Hague, Netherlands. See tusexpo.com

Budget cuts amid political and economic instability in Brazil is forcing rethinking of major defense projects.

The tension between flight-hour maintenance support and operating leases could ease if the MRO agreements could transfer between operators.

Aviation Week’s list of avionics companies and MRO services that help companies prepare for the FAA’s 2020 ADS-B Out mandate.

New standards should change how mechanics are taught and how manuals are distributed.

Pros and cons of registering “drones,” reactions to Person of the Year choice

Airline-representative flight testing continues as Bombardier builds the CS100’s maturity ahead of service entry with launch customer Swiss International Air Lines.

Today, small satellites must hitch a ride into orbit, but an array of small-payload vehicles are under development that promise low-cost, quick-response launches of spacecraft as slight as cubesat-size.

Air cargo continues to battle weak yields and overcapacity as multi-modal transport gains traction.