Aerospace Industry Europe

United Technologies Corp. and Honeywell International Inc. won European Commission clearance to create a Web site for aerospace customers, giving the first seal of approval to the budding business-to-business Internet exchanges. Airlines and aircraft manufacturers will use MyAircraft.com to buy, sell and trade, potentially generating up to $500 million in sales for the parts and service providers.

FedEx Corp. is likely to order as many as 10 cargo versions of Airbus Industrie's A380 super-jumbo jet, the first order for the plane in the U.S., a person familiar with the talks said. The order would be worth as much as $2.3 billion, based on the list price. FedEx, the largest overnight-delivery service, will decide in the next few weeks, the person said. Boeing Co. also has been talking to Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx about a competing plane, a variant of its 747-400 freighter.

One day last summer, in a government office in Brazil's capital city, European business people taught McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co. a painful lesson in the competitive realities of the new commercial rocket industry. The Huntington Beach aerospace giant, which builds the Delta II rocket, was in a tough fight with Arianespace Inc. of France for a $100-million-plus contract to launch two Brazilian telecommunications satellites.

United Technologies Corp. and Honeywell International Inc. won European Commission clearance to create a Web site for aerospace customers, giving the first seal of approval to the budding business-to-business Internet exchanges. Airlines and aircraft manufacturers will use MyAircraft.com to buy, sell and trade, potentially generating up to $500 million in sales for the parts and service providers.

Airbus Industrie, the world's No. 2 commercial jet maker, said its production lines are struggling to keep up with surging demand but warned that aircraft prices are still too depressed to achieve profitability soon. "It is stretching the imagination to keep up with the throughput we've got now," Ian Massey, financial controller for the European consortium, told analysts and investors at a meeting in New York.

Two of Europe's aerospace giants, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany and Aerospatiale Matra of France, agreed Thursday to a merger intended to challenge the world leadership of Boeing Co. and other U.S. firms in the aircraft, space and defense industries. The new company, to be called EADS--European Aeronautical, Defense & Space--would become Europe's largest aerospace concern and the world's third-largest after Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp.

Airbus Industrie said rival Boeing Co. is making the European consortium a scapegoat for the U.S. company's own operational problems by requesting details of its restructuring and business plans. The French company was responding to a Financial Times report that said the U.S. government would ask the European Commission for details of Airbus' restructuring plans and of two new aircraft programs: extensions of the A340 and a planned giant airliner.

British Aerospace said it is in advanced talks with other parties on a big European aerospace merger, fueling speculation that a deal with Germany's DaimlerChrysler Aerospace is imminent. Both companies refused to go beyond saying they held talks that were part of a wider industry debate on consolidation in aerospace and defense in Europe.

The United States has asked Germany and Britain for details of their proposed funding for the new Airbus super jumbo to see whether it complies with World Trade Organization rules, U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said Tuesday. Barshefsky's comments come days after Airbus Industrie partners upped the pressure on U.S. rival Boeing Co., giving the European consortium a new, leaner corporate structure and the green light to sell the 555-seater A3XX.

Boeing Co. on Friday shrugged off an expanded European regulatory probe into its planned $3.75-billion purchase of Hughes Electronics Corp.'s satellite units, saying it expected the deal to be approved. "We expected a thorough review all along and the process is proceeding normally," said Anne Eisele, a spokeswoman for Boeing Space & Communications Group in Seal Beach. "Our belief that the transaction will be approved remains unchanged.

The United States has asked Germany and Britain for details of their proposed funding for the new Airbus super jumbo to see whether it complies with World Trade Organization rules, U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said Tuesday. Barshefsky's comments come days after Airbus Industrie partners upped the pressure on U.S. rival Boeing Co., giving the European consortium a new, leaner corporate structure and the green light to sell the 555-seater A3XX.

This week's Berlin air show may deliver progress on two of Europe's longest-running aerospace projects--a military helicopter for Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, and Airbus Industrie's proposed giant airliner. Both projects are dominated by companies that are due to merge next month into the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. (EADS)--DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany and France's Aerospatiale Matra.

Boeing Co. on Friday shrugged off an expanded European regulatory probe into its planned $3.75-billion purchase of Hughes Electronics Corp.'s satellite units, saying it expected the deal to be approved. "We expected a thorough review all along and the process is proceeding normally," said Anne Eisele, a spokeswoman for Boeing Space & Communications Group in Seal Beach. "Our belief that the transaction will be approved remains unchanged.

Airbus Industrie, which has spent four years and $1 billion to develop a superjumbo jet, might have to postpone construction of the plane indefinitely as its key potential customers are saying thanks, but no thanks. British Airways, Deutsche Lufthansa, Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways and Cathay Pacific have either lost interest in the behemoth, which would seat 555 passengers, or are putting off orders until they see whether the plane is needed.

A European aerospace and defense conglomerate designed to compete with U.S. giants Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. was formed in a signing ceremony in Madrid attended by the leaders of France, Germany and Spain. The merger brings together CASA of Spain, Aerospatiale Matra of France and DASA, the aerospace unit of Germany's DaimlerChrysler, as founding members of European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co.

The French and German companies that are forming a European challenger to U.S. aerospace giants established a link with a British partner Monday in announcing plans to create Europe's largest space technology business. Marconi Electronic Systems in Britain plans to join with DaimlerChrysler's DASA unit and France's Aerospatiale Matra in the joint venture, to be called Astrium.

The leaders of France, Britain and Germany jointly urged their defense industries Tuesday to adopt by March 31 a "clear plan" to create giant, Pan-European companies that could compete with U.S. rivals.

The proposed mega-merger of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp., seen as completing a consolidation of U.S. aerospace-defense giants, may finally spur a similar round of European aerospace mergers. Europe's five top aerospace companies combined would barely rival the $37 billion a year in sales that Lockheed Martin will command if it completes the $11.6-billion acquisition of Northrop Grumman, announced Thursday.

Two of Europe's aerospace giants, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany and Aerospatiale Matra of France, agreed Thursday to a merger intended to challenge the world leadership of Boeing Co. and other U.S. firms in the aircraft, space and defense industries. The new company, to be called EADS--European Aeronautical, Defense & Space--would become Europe's largest aerospace concern and the world's third-largest after Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp.

The European Commission began a full probe into the proposed merger between AlliedSignal Inc. and Honeywell Inc., citing concerns about its impact on the avionics sector in Europe. The companies shrugged off the commission's move in a joint statement, saying they are confident about final regulatory approval from the 15-nation bloc. "The companies . . . are continuing to work with the commission and expect to complete the review in time to close the merger in the fall of this year," the statement said.