Boeing Wins Exclusive Deal With Continental

Boeing Co. has won a third deal to be an airline’s exclusive aircraft supplier, this time a 20-year pact with Continental Airlines. As part of the announcement, Continental said its first order will be for 35 wide-body jets worth about $4 billion. The sole-supplier deal is similar to ones Boeing signed in March with Delta Air Lines and in November with American Airlines. The Continental deal, still to be negotiated and finalized, would have the Houston-based airline buy all its new jets, other than small regional craft, from Seattle-based Boeing over 20 years. Airlines like the sole-supplier arrangements because they offer favorable prices, predictability and the chance to easily substitute other aircraft as conditions change.