Czech Government Picks U.S. Consortium

The government Wednesday chose a consortium led by U.S. manufacturers Boeing and McDonnell Douglas to take a minority stake in the Czech Republic’s Aero Vodochody.

Premier Vaclav Klaus said the government wants to complete the terms of the contract for the 34 percent stake in the troubled Czech aircraft manufacturer by Sept. 30. He declined to give details.

The consortium also includes Czech state airline Ceske Aeroline AS, known by the acronym CSA.

Aero Vodochody manufactures a variety of attack fighters and jet trainers.

The company, which once made as many as 250 planes a year, has produced only a fraction of that in recent years, with the collapse of the Warsaw Pact, the Eastern European security grouping.