Air Lease Corp. has ordered eight Boeing Co. 787-9 aircraft, the leasing company said Monday. The 787-9s will be leased to Vietnam Airlines. Boeing is expected to deliver the eight airplanes in 2017 and 2018. ALC said this is the longest lead time for a lease the company has arranged so far. The leasing company was founded in 2010 by Steven Udvar-Hazy, who also started International Lease Finance Corp. ALC also is close to ordering as many as 60 737 MAX airplanes, The Wall Street Journal reported. Udvar-Hazy initially wasn’t impressed with Boeing’s re-engined 737, saying the jet maker took a “Band-Aid approach” on upgrading the single-aisle jet. ALC also is working to finalize a deal for 50 Airbus A320 new engine option aircraft, the rival to the 737 MAX.
Boeing sells 20 777s, buys 5 Airbus jets
China Eastern Airlines Co. is buying 20 Boeing 777 jets worth nearly $6 billion while also selling five Airbus A340s to the U.S. plane maker because they’re costlier to run, the Shanghai-based airline said Monday. The airline said it’s selling the Airbus A340-600 airplanes worth $708 million to Boeing because they have high operating costs and “relatively weak route competitiveness.” The Airbus jets are about 8.3 years old, on average, and fly long-haul routes to New York and Los Angeles. China Eastern said list price of the 777-300ERs is $5.94 billion but it negotiated a discount. Boeing said the deal needs Chinese government approval.
Delta buys refinery in bid to cut its fuel bill
Delta Air Lines said on Monday that it will buy a refinery near Philadelphia in the hope of slicing $300 million a year from its jet fuel bill. Delta said a subsidiary will buy the Trainer, Pa. refinery from Phillips 66, a refining company being spun off from ConocoPhillips. Delta is paying $150 million, including $30 million in job-creation assistance it expects to get from the state of Pennsylvania.
Strong Jeep sales keep factory humming
Sales of Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango SUVs are so strong that their Detroit factory will stay open through the normal two-week summer shutdown, Chrysler said Monday. Plant employees already are working overtime and the factory is staying open for two shifts on two out of every three Saturdays. Chrysler sold nearly 38,000 Grand Cherokees from January through March, up 44 percent from a year earlier. Durango sales jumped 33 percent to just over 11,000.
UK court orders blocking of pirate site
Britain’s High Court has ordered the country’s Internet service providers to block file-sharing website The Pirate Bay, the U.K.’s main music industry association said Monday. A High Court judge told ISPs on Friday to prevent access to the Swedish site, which helps millions of people download copyrighted music, movies and computer games.
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