Large-cap U.S. aerospace/defense stocks are spring-loaded, and they are likely to remain that way at least through the first quarter, according to some Wall Street analysts.

Southwest Airlines expects fourth-quarter profits to lag substantially behind earnings for the same period last year.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has concluded that the use of improper procedures by pilots of a ValuJet McDonnell Douglas DC-9 led to deployment of ground spoilers on final approach, resulting in a hard landing last January at Nashville International Airport.

Following in Rockwell International's footsteps, Texas Instruments Inc. has decided the time has come to offload its defense business--despite its earlier insistence that the operating unit was a valued part of the company's long-range business strategy.

Seattle Boeing is studying an "alertness management'' philosophy and other methods, such as cockpit napping and a self-test device, to more accurately gauge and combat pilot fatigue.

Despite a 57% surge in USAir Group Inc.'s third-quarter earnings, no one is apt to mistake the carrier for a serious competitor anytime soon.

Some Wall Street analysts are advising FlightSafety International Inc. stockholders to avoid hastily tendering their shares to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. at the price it is offering to acquire FSI (see p. 31).

A French court is analyzing bids from suitors offering to acquire ailing Air Liberte and is scheduled to make a decision on the carrier's fate early next week.