Planemaker

It's the second large transaction between Airbus and IndiGo, which announced an order for A320neos from the planemaker in August 2015.

PARIS (Reuters) - European planemaker Airbus is negotiating a new round of plane orders with China, coinciding with a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to the economic superpower later this week, government and industry sources said.

The deal, split equally between France’s Airbus and rival planemaker Boeing, was first reported by Reuters in December and could finally be announced as early as next week, the sources said.

However, even if the new contract is accepted by members, the planemaker still faces the challenge of quickly restoring production to pre-strike levels once workers return.

Significantly, JAL will also buy 11 A321neos, breaking Boeing’s exclusive hold on the airline as its sole supplier of single-aisle jets amid the U.S. planemaker's ongoing production troubles and quality issues exposed by a Jan.

The planemaker saw its share of problems this past year, including a costly West Coast strike, thousands of layoffs — including almost 300 local job cuts — and more government scrutiny after a fuselage plug blew out of a 737 midflight.

Boeing has been working since then to fix the problem, and the planemaker recently revealed the US Federal Aviation Administration (granted it permission to start test flights, raising hopes of a return to commercial service in the not-too-distant future.

Shares of planemaker Boeing added 1.6 percent as its 737 MAX plane resumed passenger flights in the United States for the first time after a 20-month safety ban was lifted last month.

Shares of the planemaker were down 1.1% at $329 in premarket trading.

The world's largest planemaker Airbus has taken the industry by surprise by asking suppliers to prepare for a sharp increase in production after the coronavirus crisis - yet at the same time it quietly delayed its timetable for recovery.

They said the planemaker and its suppliers set the final number of parts it would need for the 747 program at least a year ago.

US airlines have asked for a $50-billion bailout and US planemaker Boeing is seeking at least $60 billion in federal support for the aerospace industry.

Boeing Co's head of corporate communications, Ann Toulouse, elected to step down from her role and would retire next year, the world's largest planemaker said on Friday.

Boeing, the world's largest planemaker, is trying to rebuild trust with customers, regulators and the flying public in the wake of twin 737 MAX crashes in the span of five months that killed 346 people.

But no tariffs will be imposed on EU-made aircraft parts used in Airbus' Alabama assembly operations or those used by rival US planemaker Boeing Co, safeguarding US manufacturing jobs.

Shares of Boeing and its main suppliers fell Tuesday after the planemaker said it would halt 737 MAX production.

Since the grounding, the US planemaker has continued to build its best-selling plane at a slightly reduced rate.

The Dallas Morning News reported that American Airlines pilots pressed Boeing in November — shortly after the first Max crash — on potentially grounding the planes and pushed for a quick software fix from planemaker.

The planemaker so far has shielded the 600 mostly U.S. companies building components for the jet from rate cuts, mindful that its own recovery would be greatly complicated iflayoffs prompted engineers and mechanics at suppliers to move on to other jobs.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) last week gave Washington the greenlight to slap tariffs on $7.5 billion (6.8 billion euros) worth of European Union goods in retaliation for its illegal state support of the planemaker Airbus.