Tassili Airlines of Algeria signed a contract valued at $103 million for four Q400s. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in third-quarter 2007. The carrier is a subsidiary of Sonatrach State Energy Group, which will use the aircraft to transport workers to oilfields.

Pratt & Whitney said last week that it secured nearly $1.5 billion in new business for its Commercial Engines unit at the Farnborough Airshow earlier this month.

Boeing said design enhancements that increase the short-field performance of the 737NG earned US FAA certification this week after a four-month test program. The improvements allow carriers to fly increased payload at airports with runways shorter than 5,000 ft. and include a two-position tail skid that reduces approach speeds, sealed leading-edge slats for lift and increased spoiler deflection on the ground. The features are standard on the dash 900ER and optional on the dash 600, dash 700 and dash 800. Gol is the launch customer for the short-field performance package.

Airbus parent EADS yesterday reported a €527 million ($663.9 million) second-quarter net profit, down 9% from €582 million in the year-ago quarter, on revenues of €9.9 billion, a 10% rise over last year. It conceded that "operational issues" leading to A380 delivery delays, the A350 redesign and the resignations of top executives at both EADS and Airbus made the second quarter a difficult one.

Boeing yesterday reported a second-quarter net loss of $160 million, a significant decline from net income of $532 million a year ago owing to more than $1 billion in one-time charges related to delays in its Airborne Early Warning & Control surveillance program and a previously announced settlement with the US Justice Dept. in two criminal cases (ATWOnline, June 30).