Business news with words aircraft+department. 11 news.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- A big jump in demand for civilian aircraft pushed durable-goods orders up for the first time in four months in November, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- A big jump in demand for civilian aircraft pushed durable goods orders up for the first time in four months in November, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Excluding transportation orders, however, durable goods orders fell by 0.7% in November. New orders for non-defense aircraft and parts shot up by 20.9% in November, the data show. However, new orders for defense aircraft and parts dropped by 20.1% in the same month. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch were expecting orders for durable goods to climb by 2.9% in November after falling by 0.2% in October.

Willard Walpole got his start in business by buying and selling surplus airplane parts in the years after World War II. The company he founded, Wilco Inc., has grown into a multiline distributor, selling general aviation aircraft parts, motorcycle parts and a specialty line of strong, lightweight metal alloy called 1430 steel sheet and plate metal. The company is now owned by his son and daughter, Floyd Walpole and Muriel Walpole. Floyd Walpole joined the company after a career that included time at QuikTrip, the Derby refinery and, finally, the Wichita Police Department. He retired as a financial crimes detective and came back to run the family company when his father's health began to fail. About two years ago, Mike Hattrup joined the company as a sales manager after operating his aircraft parts business for 25 years.

CHINA will begin research on a larger version of its first homemade passenger jet Xiang Feng after its first flight next year, Shanghai Securities News reported yesterday. The China Aviation Industry Corporation I, better known as AVIC I, will cooperate with Canada's Bombardier to initiate the research, the report said. Talks between AVIC I and Bombardier are going smoothly, but the final design of the new jet is still under discussion, the report quoted Wang Weiya, the head of AVIC I's civil aviation department as saying. ARJ21-900, the second generation jet of Xiang Feng, whose code name is ARJ21-700, will have 105 seats with all economy class, a larger capacity than Xiang Feng's 90 seats, Wang said. China launched Xiang Feng in Shanghai on December 21, marking a major step forward for the domestic aviation market. China is estimated to need another 800 to 1,000 regional jets by 2020 and the production capacity of ARJ will reach 30 aircraft annually by 2011.

For Sarah Scott and Susan Bane, balance has been a long time coming. When the two met in the technical publications department at Cessna Aircraft 16 years ago, they struck up a friendship thanks to their mutual love of fine art. That love would take them far from each other, only to bring them back together in Wichita. The pair, both Wichita natives, recently combined their businesses to open VidichiArt in Clifton Square. "We didn't plan this," Bane said. "It just happened." Bane, who holds bachelor's degrees in both studio art and graphic design from Wichita State University, had come to Cessna after living and working in New York for nine years.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Orders for U.S.-made factory goods rose 0.2% in September on higher gasoline prices, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Orders for durable goods fell 1.7% on a big drop in orders for defense aircraft and other defense goods. Orders and shipments for nondurable goods rose 2.1%. The value of shipments from petroleum refiners jumped 11.2% on the month, accounting for all the gain in nondurables. Total factory orders were stronger than the 0.7% decline expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. Factory orders had fallen a revised 3.5% in August. Special one-time factors in both directions clouded the underlying trends in September. Compared with a year ago, orders were down 0.1%, while shipments were off 0.2%.

A controversial scheme for American aid to help its southern neighbour fight drugs looks useful but underwhelming THE idea was first mooted at a meeting near Merida last March between Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, and George Bush. Months of negotiations culminated in weeks of leaks, mainly from American officials. But for such a well-rehearsed exercise, the announcement when it finally came was oddly low-key. On October 22nd both governments said that in an early-morning telephone call the two presidents had agreed on a plan under which the United States will provide Mexico with $1.4 billion in aid over the next three years to fight drug traffickers. Patricia Espinosa, Mexico's foreign minister, said the largest single chunk of an initial $500m would be spent on aircraft--mostly transport planes, she said, although in Washington, the State Department talked of surveillance aircraft and helicopters. There will also be scanning equipment at the border, and new communications systems, training and technical advice for Mexican police, including help on a witness-protection programme. And the United States will also give $50m in anti-drug aid to the Central American countries.

THE Chinese government is considering cutting taxes on the import and leasing of aircraft to bring the country in line with international standards, according to a senior official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China. "China's tax on the import and leasing of aircraft is higher than most countries in Europe and the United States. Many European countries, such as Germany and UK, levy no taxes on aircraft imports, so we are considering cutting the tax," Sha Hongjiang, CAAC vice director of planning and development department, said yesterday.

THE US trade deficit narrowed more than forecast in August as exports climbed to a record for a sixth consecutive month. The gap shrank 2.4 percent to US$57.6 billion, the smallest since January, from a revised US$59 billion in July, the Commerce Department said yesterday in Washington. Foreign companies, benefiting from growing demand and a weaker dollar that's made American goods less expensive, have been snapping up Boeing Co aircraft and General Electric Co turbines. Rising exports will help keep the economy from falling into recession even as the housing slump persists. "The dollar is continuing to decline, which is giving a huge boost to competitiveness," Nigel Gault, chief US economist at Global Insight Inc in Lexington, Massachusetts, said before the report. Economists had forecast the deficit would narrow to US$59 billion, from a previously reported US$59.2 billion in July, according to the median of 74 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. Prices of goods

Factory orders decline more than expected Orders to factories fell in August by the largest amount in seven months, reflecting weakness across a wide swath of manufacturing as the turbulent financial market made businesses more cautious. The Commerce Department said orders dropped 3.3 percent in August, even worse than the expected 2.8 percent decline. It was the biggest setback since orders fell 4.2 percent in January. Demand for commercial aircraft fell 39.9 percent, leading the overall decline. Orders also were weak for other industries, from autos and home appliances to industrial machine

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Orders for durable goods plunged 4.9% in August after a 6.1% gain in July, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday, as bookings for new aircraft see-sawed lower. It was the biggest decline since January. Excluding the 11.2% drop in transportation goods orders, new orders fell 1.8% in August after a 3.4% gain in July. Shipments of durable goods fell 1.6% in August, the biggest decline in 11 months. New orders were soft across the board, reversing the universal strength seen in July's report. Businesses reduced their orders for capital equipment from U.S. factories in August by 0.7%, another sign that capital spending and exports may not be strong enough to offset weakness in other areas of the economy.