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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Boeing hits milestone with its 5,000th 737

From news wires The Spokesman-Review

Boeing Co. rolled out its 5,000th 737 jet Monday, touting it as the most successful aircraft in commercial aviation history.

Southwest Airlines Co., the world’s biggest low-cost airline, took delivery of the 5,000th plane Monday at Boeing’s factory in Renton, south of Seattle. Thousands of guests, including Boeing and Southwest executives, were on hand to celebrate.

Last year, Boeing took orders for more than 570 of the single-aisle planes, marking the first time more than 500 orders had been placed in one year for any Boeing commercial jetliner. With 45 orders so far in 2006, airlines are waiting on more than 1,100 737s that have been ordered but not yet delivered.

General Motors Corp. and Michigan officials were to make an announcement Tuesday about five of the automaker’s manufacturing sites in the state.

GM spokesman Dan Flores declined to give any details other than to say that four of the five sites are in the greater Detroit area. But The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site that GM was expected to announce it will spend $500 million to upgrade the five sites, which include two assembly plants, one metal stamping plant and two powertrain facilities.

Delta Air Lines Inc. asked a New York bankruptcy court judge Monday to approve its renegotiation of 88 airplane leases, a move that will save it about $200 million a year.

Delta’s request, initially opposed by a committee representing unsecured creditors, will likely be approved Wednesday by Judge Adlai Hardin who is overseeing Delta’s bankruptcy.

Attorneys for Delta said Monday they will return to court with a revised set of renegotiated leases on Wednesday. Some of the alterations to the leases involve changes to how Delta can terminate the leases and a reduction in monthly rents paid on Boeing 767-300 models.

•In a deal with broad ramifications for the securities industry, retail brokerage giant Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. is in talks to trade its asset-management business for a large stake in money manager BlackRock Inc., according to reports published Monday.

The deal would transform BlackRock into one of Wall Street’s top money managers, with an asset base of around $1 trillion, according to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Both papers said the deal could be completed this week.