"There are several ways to play the airline industry without buying the airlines themselves." explains Benjamin Shepard, a research editor for Personal Finance. Here, he looks seven stocks that are poised to profit as the sector "gets its wings again."

Hexcel Corp. (NYSE: HXL), he notes, is the largest producer of woven carbon-fiber sheets, which are extremely important for both Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner, as well as for the new Airbus A380. He rates thes tock a buy up to 25.

Aircastle (NYSE: AYR) and Genesis Lease (NYSE: GLS) are both aircraft leasing companies and publicly traded partnerships, and both are holdings in the Personal Finance model portfolio. He notes, "As airlines continue their recovery and passenger volume rises, older planes must be replaced and new planes added to the fleets."

Both partnerships, he notes, are based in Ireland and lease to both passenger airlines and cargo companies around the world. He says, ""Aircastle and Genesis are excellent bets on the continued growth of air travel and pay dividends of around 6% and 8%, respectively."

Back in June 2005, the Canadian private equity firm, Onex formed a new company, Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, to buy the aircraft component factory business from The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA).

In the deal, Onex invested roughly $375 million and borrowed $700 million.

This week, Spirit went public. And it was a huge windfall for Onex, which got $1.16 billion in cash plus an equity stake worth about $1.9 billion.

Another example of private equity firms feeding at the trough? Perhaps. However, Onex had to deal with contentious negotiations with Spirit's unions. Basically, the unions agreed to wage cuts -- in exchange for equity.

It was certainly a good move for workers. On average, a union employee got about $60,000 in a stock windfall.

Also, Onex made some other smart moves, such as purchasing a factory from BAE Systems PLC (ADR) (OTC:BAESY).

Oh, and timing has been good, too. There's been a big jump in airline orders -- especially for Spirit's largest customer, Boeing.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook. He operates InvestorOffering.com.