EoW March 2008

EuroWire – March 2008

The prospect of the lapse of these provisions this February drove

Mr Bush, in October 2007, to yet another ringing assertion that

curbs on his power amount to nothing less than complicity with

the powers of darkness. Making his meaning clear despite the

murky Presidential diction, he said: “The problem is, the threat

to America is not going to expire in February. So Congress must

make a choice. Will they keep the intelligence gap closed by

making this law permanent, or will they limit our ability – collect

this intelligence and keep us safe, staying a step ahead of the

terrorists who want to attack us?”While Mr Bush, along with the

rest of us, awaits his answer, we might consider another question:

How much longer will the mere mention of 9/11 suffice to silence

not only the dissenter but also the honest seeker of reliable

information?

Aerospace

As airlines manoeuver for position under the new Open Skies

agreement on airline service between the US and Europe,

Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines Inc have formed a joint

venture that will enable them to share profits and eventually

up to $8 billion in annual revenue on transatlantic routes.

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The two companies said that the French-American venture,

set to launch in April, will generate an estimated $1.5 billion

a year in revenue in its first phase. Under the deal signed in

October, this first phase will cover all transatlantic flights

among Air France and Delta hubs, as well as all flights

operated by both carriers between London-Heathrow and

the United States.

Boeing Co said on 3

January that it had delivered 441 planes

in 2007, nearly 10%more than in 2006.Chicago-based Boeing,

which had predicted it would deliver 440 to 445 planes in the

year, made 112 deliveries in the fourth quarter. Its rival Airbus

SAS had projected delivery of 450 to 460 planes in 2007, and

as of 30

November had delivered 410 planes. At the final

tally, Airbus is expected to have met its projection. In 2006,

Airbus delivered 434 planes; Boeing, 398.

Airbus is also expected to come out ahead of Boeing

on orders for 2007. Boeing said that, as of 18

December,

it had booked 1,213 orders. Airbus, which was set to

release its information for last year in mid-January, reported

1,204 orders as of the end of November. This total beats

the Toulouse, France-based company’s own record of

1,111 orders, set in 2005.

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