ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997            TAG: 9701220035
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-6  EDITION: METRO 

IN BUSINESS

Airbus goes ahead with superjumbo

NEW YORK - Despite Boeing's plans to shelve development of a superjumbo jet, rival Airbus Industrie said Tuesday it is proceeding on schedule and should be ready to launch the mammoth plane next year.

Boeing Co. said Monday it was mothballing plans to develop the larger and longer-range versions of its workhorse 747-400 jumbo jet because it didn't have enough orders to justify the $7 billion project.

David Venz, a spokesman for Airbus in Herndon, Va., said its superjumbo, called the A3XX, should be launched in 1998 and enter service in 2003.

Rather than revamp an existing model, Airbus is designing the new plane from scratch. The first version is to seat 550 people, with the potential for future versions to seat up to 800. Its range would run up to 8,500 miles, Venz said. The plane will have three levels: two for passengers, and a lower deck carrying either cargo or additional people.

Airbus expects buyers to want 1,380 planes with 500 or more seats in the next 17 years.

-Associated Press

Rail strike averted; talks will continue

WASHINGTON - A nationwide rail strike was narrowly averted Tuesday when industry and union leaders agreed to continue discussions about a proposed change in disability benefits.

Attorneys for the railroads were already at federal court to seek a restraining order when several unions agreed to delay a walkout threatened for today.

At issue is a Dec. 18 vote by the federal Railroad Retirement Board to change the 50-year-old guidelines for determining eligibility for disability pay. The change was proposed by the railroads.

Ed Wytkind, executive director of the AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department, said the unions were satisfied that the railroads would collaborate with labor about any changes to benefits.

-Associated Press

Briefly ...

* ETS International Inc. of Roanoke said Tuesday its subsidiary, ETS Water & Waste Management Inc. of Richmond, has won a contract for $1.8 million for a water and sanitary sewer system at White Oak Semiconductor plant in Henrico County, a joint venture between Motorola Inc. and Seimens AG. Work on the project starts immediately and must be completed by June1.

* Two former AT&T Corp. employees have agreed to pay $273,000 in fines and ill-gotten gains to settle civil charges they used inside information to profit from the company's pending acquisition targets. The Securities and Exchange Commission said the agreement by William Mylett, deputy to the former AT&T vice president said to have masterminded the scam, and Thomas Alger, a former AT&T labor negotiator, brings to seven the number who have settled the civil charges in the $2.7 million scam. The SEC still has cases pending against 10 people and expects about five to go to trial.

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