Boeing posts loss on settlement costs

Boeing posts loss on settlement costs
By Jonathan Karp
The Wall Street Journal Europe
27 Jul 2006

Boeing Co. reported a secondquarter loss of $160 million, as strong demand for commercial airplanes was overshadowed by $1.07 billion in previously disclosed charges related to a legal settlement with the U.S. government and program delays at its... read more...

Foreign role in U.S. airlines is hard sell

Foreign role in U.S. airlines is hard sell
By Laura Meckler
The Wall Street Journal Europe
24 Jul 2006

AWashington S THE ADMINISTRATION of U.S. President George W. Bush tries to seal a trans-Atlantic aviation deal, it is struggling to placate two very different constituencies: European governments demanding that their citizens be allowed to help run... read more...

Can A350 dream revive Airbus fortune?

Can A350 dream revive Airbus fortune?

Times of India New Delhi Edition
25 Jul 2006

Airbus gets to work on its medium-sized aircraft, but deeper problems remain as the final assembly-line of its A380 superjumbo in Toulouse ground to a halt and engineers scrambled to fix wiring problems, Airbus this week revealed its plans to close the... read more...

BA’s pension deficit doubles

BA’s pension deficit doubles
RICHARD NORTHEDGE
Business
23 Jul 2006

THE DEFICIT on British Airways’ pension fund has almost doubled to nearly 18bn, according to a new valuation being carried out by actuaries. The airline now faces a battle with its trade unions over reducing future benefits by raising retirement... read more...

From holidays to houses: stock up on extra benefits

From holidays to houses: stock up on extra benefits

Your Money
15 Jul 2006

SHAREHOLDERS own the companies which make the goods and services we buy in our everyday lives – and some of these companies offer their owners cut price deals. Did you know, for example, that British Airways will knock 10pc off the cost of its fares... read more...

Airlines set to be forced to disclose all hidden charges

Airlines set to be forced to disclose all hidden charges
MARTYN McLAUGHLIN martyn.mclaughlin@theherald.co.uk
The Herald
19 Jul 2006

AIRLINES will be forced to disclose all hidden charges on fares under new laws proposed by the European Commission yesterday. The full cost of air fares – taxes, charges and fees – will have to be published by carriers as part of the proposed... read more...

U.S. airlines’ net surges, despite fuel costs

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U.S. airlines’ net surges, despite fuel costs
By Melanie Trottman
The Wall Street Journal Europe
20 Jul 2006

American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and Southwest Airlines reported sharply increased profits for the second quarter, signaling a rebound in the U.S. airline industry even as fuel prices remain high. The results underscore how aggressive airlines... read more...

Airbus secures order from Libyan carrier for 12 planes

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Airbus secures order from Libyan carrier for 12 planes

The Wall Street Journal Europe
19 Jul 2006

A WALL STREET JOURNAL NEWS ROUNDUP Airbus announced the sale of 12 passenger jets to Libya’s Afriqiyah Airways, securing one of the first plane deals with the North African nation since international sanctions were lifted in 2004. Tripoli-based... read more...

Airbus to fly in the face of critics in display of bravura at Air Show

Airbus to fly in the face of critics in display of bravura at Air Show
by Ross Tieman
The Business
16 Jul 2006

EUROPEAN aerospace firm, EADS, will this week launch a drive to restore its credibility before the world’s aerospace industry at the Farnborough Air Show in Hampshire. The centrepiece will be a flying display by the A380 super-jumbo – the world’s... read more...

FARNBOROUGH INTERNATIONAL AIRSHOW 2006 Airbus unveils widebody

FARNBOROUGH INTERNATIONAL AIRSHOW 2006 Airbus unveils widebody
BY JAMES WALLACE P- I aerospace reporter
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
18 Jul 2006

LONDON – The new Airbus A350 will be four years behind The Boeing Co.’s 787 in getting to market, but Airbus will use that time to make its jet superior to the Dreamliner and Boeing’s 777. That was the spin coming from Airbus on Monday as it finally... read more...

Airbus unveils new plans

Airbus unveils new plans
By Daniel Michaels And J. Lynn Lunsford
The Wall Street Journal Europe
18 Jul 2006

TFarnborough, England RYING TO shake off commercial setbacks and management turmoil, the new chief executive of Airbus unveiled plans for a trio of midsize planes designed to catch up with popular models by rival Boeing Co. Christian Streiff, in his... read more...

How 2 big mistakes left Airbus behind Boeing in jet race

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How 2 big mistakes left Airbus behind Boeing in jet race

The Wall Street Journal Europe
14 Jul 2006

proposed two other projects and then dropped them. The European plane maker had dominated the market for several years and thought that would continue. ThenAirbusdidn’tlistenwhen customers warned that the A350 didn’t address economic changes plaguing... read more...

How Airbus fell behind in jet race

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How Airbus fell behind in jet race
By Daniel Michaels And J. Lynn Lunsford
The Wall Street Journal Europe
14 Jul 2006

Nick Tomassetti, a retired Airbus executive, was fishing in the Gulf of Mexico in early March when he received an urgent message from his former employer: Help us save the A350. Airbus’s latest long-haul jetliner was failing with customers. Desperate... read more...

Rivals attack Ryanair as MEP calls for inquiry

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Rivals attack Ryanair as MEP calls for inquiry
Hans Kundnani
The Guardian
11 Jul 2006

Airlines yesterday accused Ryanair of surreptitiously overcharging passengers through hidden costs, which allow it to keep its headline flight prices low and claim it is the only airline that does not charge passengers for rising fuel costs. Ryanair’s... read more...

Ryanair may face EU ‘tax’ inquiry

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Ryanair may face EU ‘tax’ inquiry

Business
10 Jul 2006

RYANAIR could face an EU investigation into alleged misstating of taxes and airport passenger fees on its European routes. The low-cost carrier has been accused of systematically inflating charges added to ticket prices for flights from airports... read more...

Airbus plane orders lag far behind rival Boeing

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Airbus plane orders lag far behind rival Boeing

The Wall Street Journal Europe
11 Jul 2006

A WALL STREET JOURNAL NEWS ROUNDUP Airbus won 117 plane orders in the first half, the company said— less than a quarter of the orders announced to date by U.S. rival Boeing Co. Orders fell 58% from 276 in the comparable year-earlier period, a sharper... read more...

Back to the drawing board

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Back to the drawing board
by Ross Tieman IN TOULOUSE
The Business
09 Jul 2006


EXECUTIVESOF EUROPE’S AIRCRAFT manufacturer Airbus were engaged this weekend in another crisis. They had hoped to unveil the design of their new A370 aircraft this week on the eve of the Farnborough Air Show. The “launch” of the new plane, which is even more critical to the company’s future than its troubled A380 super-jumbo, had been pencilled in for 14 July until British partner BAE Systems announced it was triggering a full audit of the Toulousebased European planemaker.



On Friday, the launch of the mid-sized jet was suddenly suspended to allow new chairman Christian Streiff to “review” the troubled project, so Airbus claimed.



BAE’s move came after an independent investment bank, NM Rothschild, valued BAE’s 20% stake in Airbus at just 1.9bn (€2.75bn, $3.50bn), half what BAE chief executive Mike Turner expected two months ago when he invoked his option to sell its stake to EADS, the parent company of Airbus.



BAE’s indecision about whether to sell its Airbus stake now at this price has major implications for financing the A370 development. The audit announcement has caused consternation at Airbus’s Toulouse headquarters where executives have been fire-fighting since Airbus’s 13 June announcement that its super-jumbo A380 had hit technical problems resulting in late delivery to customers... read more...

Sibir Jet Veers Off Runway, 122 Dead

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Sibir Jet Veers Off Runway, 122 Dead
By Conor Humphries STAFF WRITER
Moscow Times
10 Jul 2006

An Airbus jetliner slid off a rainsoaked runway, crashed into a concrete barrier and burst into flames at the Irkutsk airport early Sunday, killing at least 122 of the 204 people on board.

A brake failure on landing appears to be the most likely cause of the crash.

S7 Flight 778 from Moscow was carrying 14 children under the age of 12 and 12 foreigners, said the airline, formerly called Sibir.

Footage broadcast on NTV television showed the tail of the A310 visible through billowing black smoke as flames engulfed the rest of the plane after it crashed into one- story brick garages at the airport’s perimeter.

“It was terrible, really terrible because people were shouting, people were on fire,” survivor Margarita Svetlova told Channel One television. “Someone shouted that it was all going to blow up. So I ran out of fear. I ran out.”

Ten passengers were able to escape through the rear door of the plane... read more...

BAE challenges valuation of stake in Airbus

BAE challenges valuation of stake in Airbus
Terry Macalister
The Guardian
06 Jul 2006

The fragile peace between the two key shareholders inside Airbus was shattered last night after BAE Systems called for an independent valuation of its 20% stake in the troubled European plane-maker. EADS, which owns 80% of Airbus and wants to buy... read more...

Boeing doubles up on retreats

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Boeing doubles up on retreats
AEROSPACE NOTEBOOK
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
07 Jun 2006

PARIS – Boeing commercial airplanes boss Alan Mulally and several members of his executive team were in the lobby of the Le Meridien Montparnasse Hotel here early Tuesday, waiting for a ride to Le Bourget airport. That’s where a Boeing Business Jet... read more...

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