General Electric Will Choose Boeing

General Electric Co.’s jetliner-leasing unit is close to giving The Boeing Co. an order for as many as 60 planes valued at more than $3 billion, a news report said Monday.

The unit also is expected in coming weeks to place an order with Europe’s Airbus Industrie for at least 40 smaller jets valued at $1.7 billion or more, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the negotiations.

Nick Milham, a spokesman here for Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, said he could not confirm the report. Boeing allows its customers to announce orders.

Officials of GE Capital, which handles the company’s leasing activities, could not be reached for comment. Its offices in Stamford, Conn., had been closed by the Eastern blizzard.

The Boeing order is expected to include options for as many as 40 more plane purchases, which would push the value of the deal to well over $4 billion.