Associated Press
PARIS — The head of European aircraft manufacturer Airbus criticized recent U.S. government aid packages issued in the aftermath of Sept. 11, saying they provided "direct help" for Airbus’ U.S.-based rival, Boeing Co.
Airbus president Noel Forgeard said in an interview published in Thursday’s edition of Les Echos, a financial daily, that the U.S. aid was a "veritable Boeing Marshall Plan."
In September, Congress approved a $15 billion relief package for the U.S. airline industry. The package seeks to restore vitality to a sector of the economy devastated by the Sept. 11 attacks.
Forgeard also denounced parts of a separate $20 billion anti-terrorism package for the Pentagon, which was approved by Congress last week.
The defense measure includes language that would establish a new program in which the government would lease up to 100 Boeing 767s to be used as air tankers to replace an aging fleet.
Forgeard called it "a form of direct help" for Boeing.
The arrangement, which would cost at least $20 billion over a decade, would be a financial boon for the struggling aerospace company, which this fall announced plans to cut 30,000 of 95,000 jobs at its Seattle-based commercial airplanes division by the end of 2002.
Forgeard said Airbus planned to deliver 300 civil aircraft in 2002, compared with the 375 planes it had expected to deliver prior to the Sept. 11 attacks.
The company has agreed with United Airlines — which lost two of its aircraft in the suicide hijackings — to shelve about half of United’s order for 44 aircraft, which was due for delivery next year, he said.
Forgeard said Airbus hoped to find new buyers for about 15 planes that collapsed carrier Swissair had ordered for delivery between 2002 and 2005.
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