Boeing Co. (BA) delivered its first 777-300ER (Extended Range) airplane to GE Capital Aviation Services and its lease customer Philippine Airlines. It is the first 777 in the fleet of Philippine Airlines. The aircraft was packed with relief supplies for victims of Typhoon Ketsana.  The airline has four more of this aircraft on order with Boeing. In the recently reported third quarter of fiscal 2009, the company booked 96 gross orders. The company finished the quarter with segmental backlog of $254 billion.  The Boeing 777-300ER is among the most efficient airplanes in the 300-to-400 seat segment, which would provide the airlines the flexibility to serve key markets worldwide while offering its passengers the highest levels of comfort and reliability. Additionally, the aircraft brings new twin-engine efficiency to the airline's long-haul fleet.  The aircraft is powered by General Electric GE90-115BLs, the world's largest and most powerful commercial jet ...

The video clips below provide a handy summary of the reports expected on the economic, financial and corporate front around the globe during the week ahead.

US: Retail results, economy in focus Retailers including Home Depot and Target will report results and key economic data will include retail sales and industrial output. Meanwhile, nine speakers from the Federal Reserve will offer their views on the economy.

Europe: Air France-KLM report Airbus owner EADS reports quarterly results along with airline Air France-KLM. In the UK luxury-goods group Burberry will provide an update.

Asia: Obama tour, data in focus U.S. President Barack Obama will tour the region, making stops in Japan and China to start

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After months of painstaking negotiations, GM has scrapped the Opel sale on the basis that it was 'no longer in the best interests of GM, now that the environment for car sales has started to improve', reports the Independent.  The decision comes just after Opel's labor force had agreed to contribute $390 million in annual savings.  'Management had planned a release saying that they will proceed with Magna, so there must have been a fundamental change of view within the board', the FT quotes an insider as saying.  The Russian government is planning to raise $1.87 billion to bail out ailing carmaker Avtovaz, most of which will be apparently allotted to bad debts, and some of which will be allocated to modernization and on job creation, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has reportedly announced.  Daimler Trucks will proceed ...

OVERVIEW Inherently, big defense contractors are expected to eliminate jobs as the Pentagon has lowered spending on traditional weapon systems, while smaller, niche companies may accelerate hiring as the United States garners resources to protect ground troops and strategic computer networks. Industry pioneer Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) aims to reduce 600 jobs as a result of the US Defense Department's decision to terminate the VH-71 presidential helicopter program. The Boeing Company (BA) hinted that Pentagon cuts would claim 1,000 jobs in its defense business, affecting staffing at various work sites in the United States in missile defense and in the Army's Future Combat Systems modernization program, which is now being opened to more competition. The large commercial aircraft sector is expected to generate most of its revenue from Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) and the Middle East, relying less on U.S. orders because of the ...

UAE-based budget carrier Air Arabia, the Arab world’s largest listed carrier, announced its intentions to build a new hub in Egypt that would offer connections to Europe, Africa and the Middle East, one month after formalizing a partnership with Egypt’s Travco Group, the Middle East’s largest travel and hospitality group.  “At a time when the global aviation industry is witnessing serious challenges as a consequence of the worldwide financial crisis, we continue to move forward with our strategic expansion strategy, as demonstrated by this important announcement,” said Air Arabia Chairman Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Thani.

Despite the airline industry’s overall close historical correlation with broad market indices, “budget travel” represents an industry subgroup that, from an investment standpoint, can be as good a defensive play as any medical and consumer product company, brewery or tobacco firm.  Air Arabia may be a case in point, having been named the

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Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has lowered its ratings on Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV), lowering the debt ratings to 'BBB' from 'BBB+’ and placing it with negative implications. However, Southwest has retained its investment grade rating. The downgrade reflects lower operating cash flow caused by record high fuel prices, low global demand for air travel and weak prices. The travel downturn has eroded the airline's flow of cash at a time when the airline faces substantial fixed obligations and declining cash balances. Southwest's cash balance fell to $902 million in the third quarter from $1.4 billion at the end of 2008. Recently, Southwest borrowed $124 million under a new term loan agreement secured by five Boeing 737-700 aircrafts. It also replaced its previous $600 million unsecured revolving credit facility with a new $600 million unsecured revolving credit facility that will expire in Oct. 2012. The rating ...

Hillary Clinton has expressed hope that Boeing will win a $3 billion contract to supply planes to Russian airline Rosavia.  Sberbank president German Gref seems to be in the dark about the signing of the Opel deal after thanking reporters for informing him that it may take place this week.  Apparently no industrial partner has been chosen as of yet.  Chinese metals giant Chinalco apparently has its eye on Rusal facilities in Australia, but Deripaska's firm says it has no intention of selling.  The billionaire has suggested breaking RusHydro up into four companies and taking a stake in a large Siberian dam serving his aluminum plants.  Dmitry Medvedev has called upon Alfa Group chief Mikhail Fridman to lead a study of possible ways of seeing the country's economy out of the crisis.  Russian Standard Vodka's billionaire owner, ...

In the third quarter, Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) is expected to post narrow losses. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Southwest is a loss of 4 cents per share. Southwest may see a drain in its profits from non-cash charges in its fuel hedging program. As of June 30, 2009, the company had fuel derivative instruments in place for approximately 30% of its expected third quarter 2009 jet fuel consumption. Though revenue remains a problem for the airline, it is trying to entice the passengers with cheaper prices. More traffic and less capacity or available seats led to a rise in average occupancy for Southwest in September. Load factor jumped to 74.7%, a gain of more than 11% from Sept. 2008. These full loads were built with cheap fares and other promotions which the airline has been offering of late. There have been signs that demand ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 9, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Southwest Airlines (LUV), Frontier Airlines Holdings (FRNT), Republic Airways Holdings (RJET), Continental Airlines (CAL) and United Airlines (UAUA).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:

Southwest September Traffic Spikes

Southwest Airlines (LUV) announced its preliminary mainline traffic results for September. The company reported an 8.8% surge in traffic to 5.8 billion revenue passenger miles from 5.3 billion revenue passenger miles a year ago.

Load factor, or the percentage of available

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Yesterday, United Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of UAL Corp. (UAUA) announced preliminary mainline traffic results for September. The company reported mainline passenger load factor of 81.2%. Total scheduled mainline revenue passenger miles (RPMs) decreased 1.1% on a capacity decrease of 3.7% in scheduled mainline available seat miles (ASMs) compared with the same period in 2008.   The airline has been threatened by volatile oil prices, increased competition, increasing maintenance expenses and a disgruntled workforce. During the second quarter, the company initiated a fleet modernization review to replace its older fleet types. This process could present a unique opportunity for the company to improve its cost structure and fleet strategy.   United Airlines is taking appropriate actions to respond to the current economic environment as indicated by its significant capacity reductions. However, consolidated passenger revenue per ASM was also down 1.1% and 3.7% during September.   In order ...