United Technologies Corporation (UTX) reported third quarter 2009 earnings per share of $1.14 and net income attributable to common shareowners of $1.1 billion, down 14% and 17%, respectively, from the year ago quarter. This was ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.12.  Revenues for the quarter at $13.4 billion were 11% below prior year including organic decline (7%) and adverse foreign currency translation (3%). Segment operating margin at 14.5% was 20 basis points higher than the prior year.  Cash flow from operations less capital expenditures was 160% of net income attributable to common shareowners on significant inventory reductions across both commercial and aerospace businesses. Cash flow from operations was $1.9 billion, including $150 million of domestic pension contributions. Capital expenditures were $161 million in the quarter.  United Technologies expects 2009 earnings per share at $4.10, the midpoint of the prior range of $4.00 to ...

Revenues and profits for Titanium Metals Corporation (TIE) plunged in the third quarter of 2009 due to lower shipments on the back of weak demand from commercial aircraft builders and lower selling prices. Earnings per share for the country's largest producer of titanium was $1.1 million, or $0.01 per share, compared to last year's $40.2 million, or $0.22 per share. Earnings also missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 3 cents.

Revenues of $181.4 million declined 39% year over year. Volumes in the melted product segment were down 39% to 675 million tons while prices weakened 20% to $23.9 per ton from $29.85 per ton last year. Shipments in the mill product business plummeted 31% to 3.8 billion tons and prices dropped 6% to $56 per ton from $59.4 per ton. Lower sales were followed by a significant 93% fall in operating income to $3.5 million. Cost of sales declined

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United Technologies Corporation (UTX) announced George David, 67, will retire as Chairman of the Board of Directors at the end of the year, concluding 34 years of service with UTC, including 14 years as Chief Executive Officer. Louis Chenevert, 52, President and Chief Executive Officer, will succeed David as Chairman, effective Jan 1, 2010, following his election by the UTC board. David will remain a consultant and adviser to the corporation for 2010.  During George’s tenure, notable changes were UTC's global expansion, with international revenues growing from 25% to more than 60% today, and its focus on process and research disciplines.  Since David took the helm in 1994, profit and revenue soared, with much of the success attributed to his hard-charging style. But with the start of the global recession last year, it is up to Chenevert to push through a large restructuring plan that will eliminate ...

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has been awarded a 10-month contract by Lockheed Martin for preliminary design of the high speed accelerator for a turbine-based combined-cycle (TBCC) propulsion system, which could support flight up to Mach 6. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a unit of United Technologies Corporation (UTX).  In Phase I of the TBCC Mode Transition Demonstrator Program, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne will develop preliminary designs for a dual-mode ramjet combustor with related control and fuel system components.  El Al , Israel 's national airline, signed a five-year, $70 million extension agreement with jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney for engine maintenance and overhaul. The service is for PW4060 engines on El Al's Boeing 767s and 747-400s. The agreement includes management and overhaul of the engines with an option to extend the contract for up to five more years.  United Technologies Corp.'s Sikorsky Aircraft received ...

The governor of Connecticut has offered $100 million worth of incentives to jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies Corporation (UTX) company, to prevent the possible loss of 1,000 jobs. The five-year plan includes lifting a cap on tax credits for the parent company, providing training assistance and establishing a job retention tax credit. It also includes investments in machinery and equipment and the building of an Engineering Center for Excellence for engineers at Pratt & Whitney and other aerospace companies. The state has joined hands with the International Association of Machinists, which represents 3,700 workers and has been negotiating with Pratt & Whitney for weeks in an attempt to retain existing jobs. The Machinists offered $63 million in annual cost reduction, including reduced overtime, to help save jobs. Pratt & Whitney has been affected by the steep decline in the commercial airline ...

Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) yesterday (Thursday) announced it would test-fly its 787 Dreamliner later this year but disappointed customers by delaying delivery of the plane until the fourth quarter of 2010.

Wall Street cheered the announcement as Boeing’s stock soared more than 6% in New York trading after the company said it still expects the 787 to be profitable.

The rally came despite news that costs for the first three test planes would be charged-off as having no commercial value, resulting in an estimated pretax charge of $2.5 billion, or $2.21 a share, in the third quarter. Boeing said the charge wouldn’t affect its cash flows.

“This new schedule provides us the time needed to complete the remaining work necessary to put the 787’s game-changing capability in the hands of our customers,” said Boeing Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney.

The 787, already two years behind its original schedule, was scheduled for its

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Boeing Company (BA) yesterday bagged an order for fourteen 737-700 series aircrafts from Canadian airliner WestJet. This took WestJet’s pending deliveries for 737-700 series aircraft from Boeing to 54. With this order, Boeing has been able to maintain its position as the sole supplier to WestJet. As of now, WestJet’s fleet consists of an all-Boeing squad of eighty-one 737 aircrafts. Boeing’s 737-700 aircraft is pitted against Airbus’s A319 aircraft. To date, Boeing has booked more than 5,000 orders from around 120 customers spread around the globe. Of this, more than 2,100 deliveries worth more than $158 billion are pending. Boeing’s focus on 737-700 is evident with its earlier revelation of 2% improvement on fuel consumption by 2011, through a combination of airframe and engine improvements. Headquartered in Chicago, Boeing is the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial jet liners and military aerospace products (based on total ...

Aviation electronics manufacturer Hamilton Sundstrand Corp., a division of United Technologies Corporation (UTX), announced receipt of a contract from Irkut Corp. to supply systems for the Russian company's MC-21 commercial aircraft. The company will develop the plane's advanced electric power generating system, secondary electrical power distribution, Auxiliary Power Unit, wing anti-ice and bleed air conditioning for the Nitrogen Generation System. It will jointly develop the integrated Air Management System with partner NPO Nauka. Kidde Aerospace & Defense, a Hamilton Sundstrand subsidiary, will supply the fire detection and suppression system. The contract is expected to generate $2.3 billion over the life of the program. The MC-21 will carry 150 to 230 passengers at a time and is scheduled to enter services in 2016. United Technologies Corporation is a diversified company whose products include Carrier heating and air conditioning, Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace systems and industrial ...

Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) shares have fallen 50% in this past year, their ongoing strike is costing them $100 million or more per day in deferred revenue, and now shareholders have to worry about another earnings call? Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, on average, expect third-quarter earnings of 99 cents per share on revenue of $14.66 billion. Some analysts have cut their earnings estimates to account ...

In the battle for supremacy in the aircraft business, there are only two real players - Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) and Airbus (EPA:EAD).  These two companies compete for market share in commercial and military planes, with demand far exceeding each company’s manufacturing ability, and both have a long order backlog.  Some of Boeing’s customers, for example, will wait as long as five years before the planes they ordered are delivered.  And while they fill these orders, both companies must keep innovating.  As oil prices continue to soar, and airline companies like Delta and American Airlines struggle with tight margins, planes that fly faster, fit more passengers, and consume less fuel are at a premium.

And so each company has designed its own new super-plane - for Airbus, the A380, and for Boeing the 787 Dreamliner.  The Airbus plane has already debuted (its first flight was in October 2007),

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