Boeing lands orders for 66 more planes worth $5B

Boeing continued to announce orders on the second day of the Farnborough Airshow in England with new deals for 66 planes worth about $5 billion at list prices.

FARNBOROUGH, England —

Boeing continued to announce orders on the second day of the Farnborough Airshow in England with new deals for 66 planes worth about $5 billion at list prices.

Air Lease Corp. ordered 54 Boeing 737s worth more than $4 billion and has options for six more. Another leasing company, Ireland-based Avolon, ordered 12 Boeing 737s worth nearly $1 billion.

In addition Boeing identified Royal Jordanian at the buyer of three 787s worth about $500 million, which were previously attributed to an unidentified customer.

On the first day of the show Boeing announced orders for 85 planes - 737s and 777s - worth about $13 billion to Dubai-based Emirates, GE Capital Aviation Services and Norwegian Air Shuttle.

The Associated Press

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Boeing Reports $1.6 Billion Loss Because of Delays

The Boeing Company, which has been struggling with costly delays on two airplane programs, reported a larger third-quarter loss on Wednesday than analysts had expected and lowered its full-year profit forecast.

But the company said it still expected to begin flight tests of its 787 passenger jet, known as the Dreamliner, before the end of the year. And it could decide within the next two weeks whether to build a second production line for the plane at its plant in Everett, Wash., or in North Charleston, S.C.

Boeing’s net loss totaled $1.56 billion, or $2.23 a share, for the third quarter. That included $3.5 billion in previously announced charges to cover problems with the 787, the first commercial plane made mainly with lightweight carbon composites, and with the 747-8, a new freighter plane.

Analysts had estimated, on average, that the company would post a net loss of $2.10 a share.

The difference in that estimate and Boeing’s reported profit probably reflects 14 cents a share in additional costs, disclosed Wednesday, involving the first three 787s. Those planes have undergone so many changes that Boeing will not be able to sell them commercially.

The loss was in contrast to a profit of $695 million, or 96 cents a share, in the quarter a year ago, which was affected by a machinist strike. Boeing reduced its guidance for its full-year earnings to $1.35 to $1.55 a share from its earlier level of $4.70 to $5 a share.

Boeing’s chief executive, W. James McNerney Jr., told analysts that the rest of its commercial airplane business and its military division were holding up reasonably well in a difficult market.

Despite nearly two years of design and production delays, he said, the company still has 840 orders for the Dreamliner, just 10 fewer than during the second quarter.

The plane is crucial to the company’s future and could give it an edge over Airbus, which is not expected to complete its first composite plane until 2013.

Mr. McNerney said the company expected to decide over the next couple of weeks where to locate a second line as it gears up production of the plane.

Mr. McNerney said that building it in South Carolina, where Boeing does preassembly work on the 787, could help the company diversify its labor base and avoid the possibility of more costly labor strikes. “I’ve got to figure out a way to minimize that risk to the company,” he said.

Political leaders in Washington State, where Boeing builds most of its planes, have been urging the company to expand its line there. Boeing has been seeking a no-strike agreement from the machinists’ union there.

Boeing’s shares closed down $1.26, or 2.4 percent, at $50.63.

By CHRISTOPHER DREW

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Boeing Airbus and the WTO

The WTO has found that loans from European governments to Airbus were not only unfair subsidies but in some cases violated a tougher ban on export aid, according to sources familiar with a report that also rejected some U.S. complaints.

The findings are contained in a confidential interim report distributed by the World Trade Organization to the parties in a row between the United States and European Union over aircraft subsidies that could affect planemakers worldwide.

U.S. lawmakers briefed on the report said on Friday that the WTO had ruled against European government loans for Airbus, backing claims that they harmed Boeing. European sources denied there had been a clear-cut result.

Picking apart the contrasting claims, two sources familiar with the case told Reuters the draft conclusions of a five-year WTO probe overwhelmingly backed U.S. charges that the dozen or so loans were "actionable" subsidies that harmed Boeing.

Washington won a partial victory on a second key claim: that most of the same loans further violated WTO rules by amounting to prohibited export subsidies, the sources said. The extent of the U.S. victory on this point remained unclear.

SUPERJUMBO

Under trade rules, "prohibited" subsidies must be dismantled or amended swiftly after the conclusion of a case without the complainant needing to prove its firms were harmed. "Actionable" subsidies are seen as harder to attack and remedies are slower.

At least one of four loans given by European governments to help fund the A380 superjumbo was cleared of being a banned export subsidy, but the rest were found illegal, sources said.

Washington however lost a third claim: that the overall use of European loans was an invalid program of support in its own right, several sources familiar with the matter said.

The United States had not only attacked the individual loans but claimed they were part of a concerted and open-ended system in a bid to implicate future loans for Airbus's future A350, which fell outside the jurisdiction of the WTO complaint.

Washington is expected to protest those loans separately.

The United States broadly won its case against European Union research and development funding for Airbus, as well as infrastructure projects that Washington regards as a covert boost for the European planemaker, two of the sources said.

R&D spending and infrastructure projects in the United States are also at the center of an EU counter-claim against the United States. The process is about six months behind the U.S. case against Airbus, though the two are not officially linked.

The United States lost its case against loans by the European Investment Bank awarded to Airbus, the sources said.

None of the sources agreed to be identified because no one is authorized to speak publicly about the WTO findings ahead of their publication in several months.

The United States and European Union said on Friday they would not comment on the findings in the 1,000-plus page report, which was passed to them for comments ahead of a final ruling.

Airbus and Boeing declined comment. The European Investment Bank was unavailable for comment.

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Dubai - Pratt and Whitney and Boeing Orders

Dubai: Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE), the global aerospace, manufacturing and services corporation, has acquired three Airbus aircraft ordered by Kingfisher Airlines in a sale and leaseback deal.

DAE Capital, the aircraft leasing and financing business, announced the completion of the acquisition of three new Pratt and Whitney-powered Airbus A330-200 wide-body aircraft ordered by Kingfisher Airlines from Airbus. Delivery of all three aircraft concluded in August 2008. .

Dubai-headquartered DAE Capital is rapidly establishing itself as a world-class aircraft leasing business. It currently has 33 aircraft on its books, with a further 200 Boeing and Airbus aircraft on order with deliveries commencing from 2010.Dr.

Omar Bin Sulaiman, DAE Group Managing Director, said: "The continuing growth of DAE's leasing business reflects our position as an emerging power within the aviation and aerospace sector. The Middle East is recognised for being one of the world's most ambitious and dynamic regions and our goal is to continue to develop DAE business synergies and fully transform the aviation experience."

gulfnews.com

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