Boeing would pick up orders for 58 airplanes in tentative deals reported Wednesday with Saudi Arabia's flag carrier and Southwest Airlines - enough, analysts say, to stabilize production and employment at its Puget Sound plants.
According to reports from the Middle East, Saudia Airlines will buy 46 Boeing planes and 15 McDonnell Douglas jetliners in a $6 billion order announced earlier this year by President Clinton.And Southwest Airlines, the only consistently profitable carrier in the U.S. airline industry, said Wednesday it has agreed to buy 12 more 737-300 jetliners from Boeing. No sale price was announced, but a 737-300 sells for between $34 million and $40 million.
Both al-Hayat, a London-based newspaper, and The Associated Press reported the breakdown of the Saudia order as 29 737s, five 747-400s and 12 of the new 777s from Boeing and 15 MD-11s from McDonnell Douglas.
A Boeing spokesman, who declined to confirm the reports, characterized al-Hayat as a reliable source of Middle Eastern news.
The newspaper, in a report from the Saudi city of Jeddah, said Saudia had concluded its talks with the two U.S. plane manufacturers and would seek government approval of the deals, which could come sometime this month.
The Associated Press filed a similar report from the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, quoting unnamed "executives" as its source.
In Dallas, meanwhile, Southwest Airlines said it will place an order worth about $420 million for an additional 12 737-300s. The aircraft would be delibered in 1995 and 1996.
The two deals will help stabilize the production rate for three of Boeing's major models and should prevent further cuts in its Puget Sound area work force, industry analysts said.
Based on average prices for the models, Saudia's order from Boeing could be worth close to $4 billion for Boeing, one analyst said.
But the reports did not specify what versions of the Boeing models Saudia wants to buy, which is key to assessing the order's ultimate impact on the company's Puget Sound area production lines and work force.
Al-Hayat also said General Electric will get 46 percent of the engine orders for the 61 aircraft, followed by Rolls-Royce with 28 percent and Pratt & Whitney with 26 percent.
Representatives from the two manufacturers and one of the engine makers would not confirm the reports, but sources close to Boeing said the proportions are right.
"At this time we can not speculate on the outcome of those negotiations and any eventual announcement would have to come from Saudi Arabia's airline," Boeing spokesman Mark Hooper said in Seattle. "Any order is great news."
Hooper did say al-Hayat is a reliable news source.
"They're one of our key media contacts over there," he said. "It's a good outfit. These guys have their finger on the pulse."
McDonnell Douglas officials also deferred comment on the al-Hayat report or the talks that started six weeks ago after Clinton announced Saudia would renew its fleet with aircraft assembled in the United States.