MCDONNELL <MD> SAID TALKS AT INFORMAL STAGE
McDonnell Douglas Corp said recent talks
with Airbus Industries about joint development and production
of a new jetliner with the European aircraft manufacturing
consortium have been very informal.
    "If there have been talks, they were casual at best," said
a source at the company. "There is nothing going on that would
lead to immediate or near-term collaboration" on a new plane.
    Senior officials at the aerospace firm's St. Louis
headquarters were unable to comment more specifically on
weekend published reports from Europe that talks about a joint
venture have resumed after they broke off last fall.
    McDonnell Douglas and Airbus last spring and summer had
discussed jointly developing and building a long-range aircraft
to compete with Boeing Co <BA> 747 wide-body jetliner, or its
successor. Talks ended when neither side wanted to forego plans
to launch its own widebody jetliner projects - McDonnell
Douglas with its MD-11 and Airbus with its A340.
    McDonnell Douglas has since launched the MD-11 jetliner, a
successor to its DC-10, and has more than 100 orders and
options.
    Airbus wants to launch its program this spring and is now
seeking customers for the long-range A340 and a companion
plane, the shorter-range A330.
    "I don't want to say we're not interested, because we are
in any collaboration that benefits McDonnell Douglas without it
giving up anything," the source told Reuters. "There just
haven't been in-depth discussions."
    He said any joint venture would not affect the MD-11
program already underway.
    McDonnell Douglas last month claimed Airbus tried to
overturn pledges made by airlines to buy the MD-11 by offering
cut-rate prices for the A340.
    The firm said Airbus, in an effort to line up enough
customers to launch the program, is engaging in "predatory
practices" with prices substantially below those needed to
recover the cost of developing and building the plane.
    U.S. government and aerospace industry officials believe
Airbus can offer low prices because the consortium gets
government subsidies that cover many of its costs.
    The Reagan Administration decided last month to consult the
General Agreement on Tariff and Trade, GATT, to determine
whether Airbus is unfairly subsidized. Under GATT rules an
enterprise can be subsidized but only if it will make a profit.
    U.S. officials say Airbus countries have poured 15 billion
dlrs into Airbus since the early 1970's and the consortium has
yet to make a profit.
 Reuter
