Boeing breaks '05 record order for jets

Pacific Northwest

With a rush of last-minute commercial jet sales, Boeing has broken its remarkable 2005 record order tally.

Korean Air on Friday firmed up a previously announced contract to bring the 2006 sales total to 1,014 net jet orders, compared with 1,002 net orders last year, said Boeing spokesman Randy Harrison.

The Korean order for 10 777-300ERs, five 747-8 freighters, five 777 freighters and five 737s is worth $5.6 billion at list prices. The actual purchase price is estimated at about $3.2 billion, based on data from aircraft valuation firm Avitas.

In mid-December, European rival Airbus was trailing Boeing by more than 200 orders. Boeing's strong finish to the year virtually ensures it will outsell Airbus for the first time since 2000.

Real estate

Business park at Paine Field sold

Portland-based Harsch Investment Properties said Thursday it bought Paine Field Business Park in Everett for $9.35 million from Washington Capital Management of Seattle.

The 81,621-square-foot business park is about 85 percent occupied, with such tenants as Adaptive Equipment, Paragon Manufacturing and Steller Industrial Supply. It sits on 5.3 acres just south of State Road 526 and near Boeing's Everett plant.

Nation / World

Chunghwa Telecom

Taiwan firm rejects idea of backup lines

Taiwan's largest telecom company said Friday it will not invest more in backup lines to protect against disasters like the recent earthquake that snarled telephone and Internet service across Asia, affecting service as far away as the United States.

The quake, which damaged undersea cables off Taiwan on Tuesday, was so rare that there is no need to spend money on extra lines, said Wu Chih-ming, a senior official at Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan's largest telecommunications company.

On Friday, companies from Japan to Singapore were still scrambling to fully restore service. Since it will take weeks to repair the cables off Taiwan, companies were rerouting traffic through satellites and cables that were not damaged. Many of the cables are owned by groups of telecom companies, who share the costs and capacity.

Delta Air Lines

Narrower loss seen as a boost

Delta Air Lines reported Friday its loss narrowed in November to $49 million, which analysts said may bode well for the nation's third-largest carrier to fly solo when it emerges from bankruptcy.

The news comes as Delta is trying to fend off a hostile takeover bid from US Airways.

The November figure compares with a $181 million loss it posted for the same month a year ago, the company said in a monthly operating report it filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

Excluding reorganization items, Delta said its net loss for November was $12 million — still enough to raise some concerns in what analysts consider an otherwise positive report.

NYSE

Markets to close to honor Ford

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) said Friday it will close Tuesday as part of a national day of mourning to mark the funeral of former President Ford. The NYSE joined the Nasdaq Stock Market, which made a similar announcement Thursday.

It had been expected that the stock exchanges would close out of respect for the 38th president. Financial markets have traditionally closed for presidential funerals, the last time being the burial of former President Reagan in June 2004.

Compiled from Seattle Times staff and The Associated Press