Boeing Reports Loss After Government Settlement

Boeing on Wednesday reported a quarterly loss as it took USD$1.1 billion of previously announced charges to settle government investigations into its defense unit and to cover the costs of delayed surveillance aircraft.

Boeing, which is outselling its European commercial aircraft rival Airbus more than two-to-one this year, cut its full-year earnings forecast to account for the charges, but raised forecasts for next year on strong plane sales.

Boeing reported a loss of USD$160 million for the second quarter, compared with a profit of USD$566 million in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue rose 2 percent to USD$15 billion.

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Germany Liable For Russian Plane Crash

A German court ruled on Thursday that Germany wrongly subcontracted its airspace control to a private firm and was liable for a 2002 crash between a Russian passenger jet and a cargo plane that killed 71 people.

The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Bashkirian Airlines over the mid-air collision involving a Bashkirian plane and a DHL cargo aircraft over the German village of Ueberlingen close to the Swiss border.

The court said Germany breached its constitution by subcontracting airspace control to private Swiss firm Skyguide and Germany was responsible for compensation for the crash.

"The sovereign task of securing air space has never been effectively transferred to Switzerland," the court said in its ruling.

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Saudi Airline To Privatize Five Units

Saudi Arabian Airlines will privatize five units next year, some through public listings, to pave the way for the flotation of its core transport business, company and banking sources said on Sunday.
The sources said the government had given the flag carrier's board the green light to turn its catering, handling, cargo, pilot training and technical and maintenance units into independent firms.
"Some of these firms can be listed, mainly catering and cargo, but others will probably need to be managed by the private sector, or outsourced," a source from French bank BNP Paribas said.
The bank is helping plan the privatization of the airline, one of the largest in the Middle East.

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Delta To Buy NY-London Flight Rights

Delta Air Lines is buying rights to fly between New York and London from rival United Airlines for up to USD$21 million, a Delta spokeswoman said on Monday.

Delta plans up to three flights a day between New York's John F. Kennedy Airport and London's Gatwick Airport, with the first expected to start in the autumn, spokeswoman Betsy Talton said.

It plans to add up to two more flights a day next year, Talton said.

Atlanta-based Delta, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, would pay USD$13 million to United Airlines once the deal closed, with additional payments of USD$2 million per year, unless an "Open Skies" agreement were reached.

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